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The greeting should have been upbeat, something Maybelle imagined Penny would have called out to her in that high-pitched chipper voice of hers, but Trey’s husky baritone made it sound so unbearably, frustratingly sensual.
Like something she’d want him to whisper into her ear as he shoved her up against a wall, creating a physical storm between their bodies that would drown, no, annihilate the term “friend”, leaving no chance for a platonic survival—
Pause, delete delete delete.
Not the type of thoughts to be having for a guy who kissed another girl in front of her or whom she just recently banished into the friend zone.
Nope, she needed to pull her whipped, hormonal mind out of the pleasurable, veryverydirty gutter and focus, no matter how fun and enticing that gutter may seem.
Trey Turner was off limits. End of story.
Maybelle relaxed and shot him her own mocking smirk as she gave him a light, friendly pat on the beefy shoulder.
“Hey buddy.” She chirped back and his face fell into a grimace. Maybelle smiled brighter, poor boy must not understand yet that Maybelle Mason will always win in a battle of wills.
She grabbed the utensils she had previously been attempting to retrieve, before the distraction, setting forks and spoons on the three placemats at the small dining table.
Maybelle didn’t listen to Trey and his mom as they continued to catch up, instead she pulled out her vibrating phone to see a couple new messages pop up across the top of the screen.
Penny: Girl, I’m literally quaking
with excitement.
Penny: Please tell me you have told them.
Maybelle bit her lip to hide her glee that threatened to give her away too soon.
Maybelle: Sitting down with them right now. Call you after to tell you all about it.
That night at the football scrimmage Maybelle had been caught off guard by Penny’s ridiculously friendly peppy-ness but quickly grew fond of it through the night and even more attached as they continued to talk in the days following.
The two girls had texted and called one another every day the last week and through all the conversations Maybelle instantly adored the very outspoken, affectionate redhead.
“Who are you texting, Maybelle? Is it Penny?” Chelsea inquired as she approached with the pot of pasta straight off the stove.
Maybelle had been telling Chelsea all about Penny and their rapidly growing friendship, which Chelsea was so happy for and continued to remain in tune when the girls were in touch.
Maybelle dropped her phone into her back pocket, “Yes, she wanted to call me later.”
Maybelle ignored Trey’s curious gaze.
She wondered if it surprised him to hear she wasn’t entirely friendless without him.
Chelsea’s demeanor was sunshine as she took a seat at the table, “I am so glad you made a friend. Especially with Penny Howell. I met her mom once, bit of a stern lady, a little difficult to get along with but Penny has always been so sweet.”
Maybelle sat into her own chair, draping her napkin across her lap, perhaps this might be the perfect moment?
No sense in waiting til after the meal if they were already practically on the topic, “I’m so glad you feel that way, Chelsea.” Maybelle started her heart suddenly crawling up her throat, “Because she asked me to move in with her and I said yes.”
The silence and shift in the room were so abrupt Maybelle regretted not planning out her presentation of the big news a bit more. Chelsea’s expression had fallen with weary concern, her lips pursed while Trey’s brows were furrowed in confused astonishment.
After a few beats Trey finally broke the silence.
“Penny lives in the dorms as a student Maybelle, you can’t just move in. You have to be a student.”
Trey’s immediate assumption that she didn’t know that or hadn’t thought that far ahead was almost offensive to the point she wanted to snark back with a sassy comment or two but Maybelle bit her tongue. She really only needed Chelsea’s blessing and support for this to work but it would be good to have Trey as a friend and someone who wanted her around when she did end up moving.
“I understand, that is why I enrolled into UCLA. I guess I had applied and got accepted before the accident, I actually found my acceptance letter in that bagyougot for me, Trey.” Maybelle couldn’t help it, sass and sarcasm were just expressions of her character, “At the scrimmage when I met Penny, she said they needed another roommate, so I called the school Monday, they are allowing me to start up this semester since I had a pretty good excuse for missing those first semesters. I start next week with everyone else.”
