Trey listened to him, knowing he needed to get this off his chest.
“When she gave birth she let me hold Sasha for a couple of hours. I asked her again to marry me, and she refused.”
“Is Luke your boy as well?”
“Yeah, I slept with her after she refused my proposal. I must have proposed to that woman over a hundred times, and she still says no. Fuck if I know why.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Trey asked.
“Because I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I’m twenty-four years old, and I’m tired of hearing my roommate fuck countless women. I’ve not touched another woman in over three years. Molly has been the woman for me for a long time. I was too fucking stupid to see it.”
“What about all those tales you used to tell of your women?”
“Lies. I told stories. I support Molly as much as I can. I make sure she has plenty to eat and the bills are paid for. She doesn’t want anything from me, but I don’t know how much longer I can go on watching my kids grow up without me.”
It was so much to take in. the pain on Dale’s face was heartbreaking to see.
“Why did you tell me and not Max?”
“He can’t keep his mouth shut. I love him like a brother, but he doesn’t know when to stop.”
Trey understood that. Out of the three of them, Max was the most social, the most exciting. Trey knew he was starting to grow tired of the party scene. There had to be more to life than fucking countless women.
Fuck, when had he become such a pussy?
“If we’re being open and honest about shit then I may as well tell you that for as long as I can remember I’ve been into June Armstrong.”
He let the words settle between them. Never once had he said them out loud, not even to himself.
“You’ve got a thing for June? The woman across the street? The girl you used to bully along with Dale and me?”
Throughout all the questions Dale asked, Trey nodded.
“Fuck, man, you’re in for some tough loving. There’s no way she’s going to fall for you. You’re like her biggest enemy.”
Trey told him everything that happened last night. “She told me if I was a doctor trying to save her life, she wouldn’t let me near her.”
“It seems we’ve both got problems,” Dale said. “At least you can try to fix yours and show June you’re a different guy than the ass you were to her.”
“Why can’t you fix your problem as well?” Trey asked.
“I’ve got to get past Molly’s defenses. She’s turned me down all this time. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get her to let me back on her team. You knew what you did wrong. I’ve not got a clue what I did wrong with Molly.”
Raising his cup of coffee to his lips, he took a sip.
“Then I guess we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“I feel sorry for you. I’ve never hurt Molly, but you’ve got a good five years of pain on June. She might never get past that.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ve got to do something.”
“I’m here for you, buddy.”
Trey smiled. He was under no illusions that this was going to be easy. In fact he knew it was going to be downright difficult to draw June out.
****
For most of the morning June sat with Sasha and Luke in between her baking commitments. Saturdays were always slow days, which she was thankful for. After this morning with Trey she wasn’t ready to handle a rush. Molly stopped by to talk with her. From the look on the other woman’s face, Molly was glad of the peace while someone else looked after her kids.
June fed the kids at lunchtime and then decided she needed to get some work done otherwise she’d feel like a lazy person. June stayed in the back and began to clean the machines. Unlike through the week where she’d be making more breads and cakes, on Saturday she did the initial bake off, and then when the food was gone, it was gone.
“June, there’s someone here to see you,” Molly said, collecting her from the back.
Wiping her hands on a towel she followed her out to the front of the shop. Trey stood with a bouquet of red roses. She stopped and stared at them.
“What’s going on?” she asked, looking at the roses and then back at him.
“I wanted to apologize for my behavior this morning and was wondering if I could make it up to you.”
Several people entered the bakery, saw the roses and smiled. Heat filled her cheeks, and she felt it, hating the feeling instantly. It reminded her of high school. Staring at Trey all she saw was the hands pushing her books out of her grip and heard from his lips the names he called her. No, she wasn’t accepting any roses from him.