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Finishing with the strap, Trey collard the base of Maybelle’s ankle with one hand before lowering her foot back tothe ground and let his touch slowly slip up her calf as he risked one last, full inhale of her sweet vanilla scent.
Then he rose, coming face to face with Maybelle. Well, they were facing each other, even in heels she barely reached the bottom of his chin.
Maybelle’s blue favoring eyes were still smiling up at him and she opened her mouth like she might say something, but Sam Cameron was there, lacking the necessary social skills to see he was interrupting a damn good moment.
“You look beautiful tonight, babe.”
And Maybelle’s glossy mouth clicked shut.
That was the reality gut punch Trey needed to remember himself and where he was. He briskly turned away then, leaving Sam and Maybelle alone.
He needed out of here,now.
Trey shot a quick look to Williams as he grabbed his keys, “You ready?”
Williams was crouched in the pantry stuffing one of Trey’s pop tarts in his mouth, but Trey couldn’t give a shit right now, he just needed out of there.
Williams nodded concentrating on chewing his food before swallowing and saying goodbye to Maybelle and Sam. Trey didn’t bother, he was too far down the hall to even hear her say goodbye.
…
The banquet was beautiful.
It was held in an event center where there were large tables and chairs scattered about the place and a stage at the head where coach and other important members of the team gave speeches expressing their appreciations, reminders about the fundraiser and goals to make this the best season yet.
Even Larson, as one of the captains of the team, got up to speak. He had been so nervous for his speech, and to Maybelle’s surprise he had shown up out of the blue earlier that day to her apartment asking for help on his oration.
After running through it with her a few times and some words of encouragement Larson felt ready. Who would have thought the smooth, sweet-talking Larson would be nervous for anything?
Now they were all seated eating the dinner provided of grilled chicken, filet salmon, roasted vegetables, salads and yummy cream puffs Maybelle couldn’t stop grabbing more of.
She and Sam hadn’t spoken much, not because he wasn’t saying anything, no, Sam wouldn’t shut up about some political dispute happening in the Middle East.
The problem was she didn’t have the motivation to return his same energy. Maybelle was still bitter about the whole girlfriend fiasco and was planning to confront him about it but not until after the banquet so he could just focus on enjoying his time with his team for now.
Another thing that had her biting her tongue in silence was sitting across the table from her, clutching Trey’s arm like one would a freaking pool noodle in the middle of a turbulent sea.
Her Trey.
Juliette had been a whole new kind of loud and annoying tonight and Maybelle’s head pounded with annoyance. Especially since Trey wasn’t doing anything about it! It was almost like he welcomed her insistent touches and never-ending interruptions which had Maybelle’s blood broiling.
One small saving grace was that she was at a small table seating people she mostly knew.
While Sam was to Maybelle’s right, Bear was sitting to her left a quiet, comforting presence. To Bear’s left sat a girlwho rivaled Penny in fun, outspoken, excited behavior. She was short, had bobbed, chestnut brown hair, deep brown eyes and a darling round face that was beautifully youthful. Her name was Gracie and Maybelle really liked her.
Bear’s date had the attention of everyone at the table telling hilarious jokes, intelligent quips and stories that almost had Maybelle shooting her water out her nose.
Of course, Juliette took this as a challenge. Following up each one of the told stories with a tale of her own that was much more long-winded and extravagant. Maybelle doubted half the things she said were true which bothered her even more.
Williams was also at the table, across from Maybelle next to Trey. His date was a beautiful girl with raven black, curly hair pinned up on the top of her head, light brown skin beautifully complimented by the deep purple of her strapless dress.
Her name was Sabrina and the way she and Williams shared quick glances and small touches was incredibly cute. Maybelle smiled to herself, heart full for her friend.
“Ain’t no way!” Williams shouted across the table, bringing Maybelle back to the conversation at hand, “You're telling me you actually lived in Egypt?”
Maybelle followed Williams's line of sight to see his question was directed at Gracie who beamed brightly.
“I swear it’s true!” Gracie insisted and she opened her mouth to explain more but was interrupted by Sam clearing his throat.
