So many eyes were on me.
I couldn’t make out any familiar faces in the surrounding crowd.
I was stuck.
At a loss, I managed to bob my head up and then down. Juliette’s freakishly long arms tied around my neck once again as she reached for another kiss on the lips. This time I was prepared and dodged with the turn of my head, letting her land one on my lower cheek.
Before pulling away, she spoke low enough that only I could hear her above the crowd, “Sorry, but I’m notthatpatient.”
She grinned, shot a wink at someone over her shoulder and bounced her way to the other girls without another word to me. As they trotted away, more of the faces in the gathering around me came into focus.
Maybelle’s face was hard, eyes misty, as she held to Williams’s arm like he was an anchor keeping her stable in the tsunami of emotions that were taking over her bright features.
She couldn’t have seen the whole thing… She couldn’t have seen Juliette kissing me. I glanced at Williams and by the worry lines in his face—I knew they saw everything.
Too fast… I couldn’t catch up with the mess unraveling before my eyes. It was too fast.
I made to approach her, to slow her down. I just needed one second. One second to explain, to fix, to ease her worries, and erase those doubts. I just needed a moment. I needed it all to slow down.
I managed a few steps toward her before she turned her back on me, walking away on wobbly legs. I kicked up my speed, getting myself between her and her escape.
“May, please, just pause one second. Let me explain—” The look on her face destroyed me. She peered up at me through tear-filled eyes, face flushed.
I did this.
God, this night was falling apart right through my fingertips, and I was helpless in salvaging it. I lifted a hand to her face, but she jerked away.
“I’m getting a ride home with Bear. I’ll see you at the apartment,” she said, avoiding my gaze.
No, no, no, she needed to stay. We needed to talk. I needed to take care of her.
I stepped toward her, and she immediately backed away. “Trey, please,” she implored, a small whimper escaping through her harsh tone. I wanted to die right there.
I stapled myself to the ground, against every fiber in my being begging me to hold her, to not let her leave me.
Instead, I saw Bear approaching. I faced my brother and nodded for him to join us. “Can you get her home?”
To ask made me sick, but if this is what she wanted—I’d do it. I’d give Maybelle anything she wanted. Even if what she wanted was less of me.
Bear nodded without hesitation or questions asked. He slung a burly arm over Maybelle’s shoulders, leading her off and away from me.
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned to look at Williams. “You got a little something right there,” he said as he raised a hand to his own lips. He placed his forefinger there, tapping, then to his cheek as he wiped his thumb across his jawline.
I followed his lead and swiped the back of my hand across my lips to find cherry red lipstick staining my knuckles. “Oh fuc—did Maybelle see?”
He didn’t need to answer me. I knew, but it still gutted me when he nodded before giving one last sorry pat on the back.
Williams also ditched me for a ride with Bear, leaving me alone in my Jeep. I sat staring at the steering wheel, baffled by the last half hour of a hailstorm I was just thrown through.
Right now, all I knew was I needed to get to her. I needed to talk to her, to plead my case.
I put my car in drive and sped my way home.
When I entered the apartment, there was a quiet,hollow feeling. The guys were all in their post-game lounge wear. Larson and Williams were at the kitchen counter. Bear was lying out on his beanbag.
I stalked in and dropped my bags on the kitchen floor. “Where is she?”
I turned for the hall, but Williams was up from his stool and there with a hand on my arm. “She needs some time alone. Give her a minute. Sit down and tell us what happened.”
