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-Help Noah get the side slant pass down
-Buy my own car
-Hang up the frames for mom, in the living room, before I move out
-Get onto the same NFL team as Trey
-Be a better brother
Now, Maybelle held to the loose paper of written goals, reading it over and over again. Still, the last one had Maybelle crumpling to the bedroom floor just like she had when she read it for the first time.
She and Liam had never been best friends, and maybe that was because of the wedge her past and secrets had split between them. But there was no doubt in her mind that he loved her, and she had loved him. Maybelle was proud to be the sister oftheLiam Mason. The fun, boisterous, social, intelligent, and talented Liam Mason. As Maybelle curled up on Liam’s bedroom floor, she didn’t feel so alone for the first time since her memories returned. If she thought about it long enough, she felt warm, bolstered up. Like a strong, stable arm wrapped around her shoulders, a presence that kept her from crying or shattering more.
Rather, she felt safe. She knew she wasn’t alone, that she was watched over and that she was loved.
Maybelle stepped out of Liam’s bedroom and drifted to her own. There in the corner was the vanity she had sat at as her mom had braided her hair graduation night, where Liam had stood by them, where the three of them had been together for the last time in this house.
With that acknowledgment, Maybelle fell to her kneesand whispered into the space that listened and held to her every word, “I’m sorry.” She sputtered, the tears returning in full force, “I’m sorry, it was me and not you.”
Sorry that the captain and the healer of souls were not the ones to live but the ghost, the quiet, fearful girl was. It should have been them. They were the heroes; they were the ones people mourned. The world would not have wept if it had been her, it would have forgotten, it would have moved on. Stephanie and Liam Mason, moved mountains, had built up people and communities for themselves while Maybelle had faded and melted away.But that wasn’t true anymore, was it?
It may have taken a solid hit to her brain, a coma and amnesia but she hadlivedevery moment since waking up. Maybelle Mason had found herself a community, a family. She had created memories, excelled at school, fallen in love, realized her desire to be so much more than a ghost.
Maybelle sniffed as she dropped her weight onto her hands, struggling to hold herself up, “I made myself a promise that night. A promise I will make to you both now.” She said earnestly, her nails digging into the carpet as she cried.
“I promise to live. To make the most of this chance. To overcome the past and to build a life. I promise to bring you both with me every step of the way. To care for people and hold them up when they don’t have the strength to stand. To be a leader, and source of light for my friends. To always wake up, never hide, make memories, and never stop running. To give it everything I have like you both did every single day.”
Maybelle rocked back on her heels wrapping her arms around herself, letting the tears poor down her cheeks, “And I will never forget how strong I am, ever again.”
Later that night Maybelle was heating up a microwaveable meal she had gotten from the grocery store onlya fifteen-minute walk away when there was a knock on the door. It was probably Chelsea coming to check up on her like she had every night. She would only spend a few short minutes there each evening just to make sure Maybelle was safe and eating then she would leave her as requested.
Tonight though, Maybelle was thinking she would invite her in, show her the pictures she found in an old closet earlier that day from when she was a child. Chelsea would like that. Maybe she would borrow Chelsea’s phone and finally call Trey. She missed him and her fragile heart cracked at the thought of how he must have felt when she left with no warning. She prayed he would forgive her that he would understand.
Maybelle tossed her frizzy long braid over her shoulder as she hefted the door open not to Chelsea and her sweet smile, but a slack-jawed Trey and a small box gripped between his two large hands.
42 Can I Hold You?
Trey.
Maybelle didn’t know what to say, let alone do. Trey Turner was on her porch, and he was looking at her like she could destroy him with one dismissive bat of her eye.
With the summer breeze tickling her bare skin Maybelle suddenly felt so exposed in the tank top and cotton shorts she wore for work clothes. But Trey, He was beautiful standing there, his curls were messy on the top of his head and a week’s worth of scruff shadowed his jaw line. He wore a stormy, sky-blue shirt, and khaki pants, his tan skin looking remarkable against the light colors. Trey’s green eyes roamed up and down her body and Maybelle felt subconscious of how ratty she probably looked right now compared to his perfectness.
Trey opened, closed his mouth then licked his lips. Maybelle stilled,holy smokes… she has kissed those lips and those lips have kissed her—her everything. She has seen that body that ripples and swells against the confines of his clothing. Trey Turner in all his glory has seen every single inch of her, has worshipped and caressed every bit of her skin. The skin that was now on fire as both her worlds collided before her, leaving her breathless, speechless.
Trey watched her wearily but finally spoke, “Mayhem?”
Maybelle couldn’t help the twitch of a smile at the corner of her mouth. She reallyreallyliked that nickname.
Trey took a step toward her, and her breath caught, “Can I come in?” He asked tentatively.
He was nervous.
TheTrey Turner was nervous talking to her. But he knew her, every bit of her. He had read her journal for hell’s sake—holy shit, Trey Turner has read her journal. Her blush became scorching as she recalled him claiming that journal was his. Thatshewas his.
Maybelle couldn’t keep up with the molding of her life before the coma and after. It was all a lot. But Trey didn’t seem to be expecting her to speak. He stepped cautiously across the threshold, set his little box down and a bag he had over his shoulder as he let the front door snick shut. All while keeping hisgaze locked with hers.
Maybelle was going to melt into a messy puddle of slush, and she just cleaned in here.
