Here For You (30 page)

She simply gave me a big smile. I looked at the mirror in front of me. I was wearing khaki pants with a black button up shirt, paired with my black boots. I had run some gel through my hair to give it that wet look.

“You look very handsome, James.” She walked into the room and stood behind me. I turned to face her, leaning against the dresser. “I’m happy for you, honey. Happy for the both of you.”

I knew my mother loved Becca, and I knew she was happy we were together. She knew in her heart that we would end up together, even when I would yell and say that would never happen. But here we were. It was Becca’s graduation and I knew it was a huge deal even if Becca didn’t think so. Just because she only went to school for two years didn’t mean it wasn’t important. It was just as important as anybody else’s graduation.

Also, I knew that today was important to her because her father was able to be there, supporting her, cheering her on. I was just scared he was going to die very soon and then what? I was trying my best to not think about it, but it was always there, and for some reason it was in my head more this day than any other day.

Shaking my head clear of the craziness, I reached for my phone. The last text I had gotten from Becca said that Emma was doing her hair and stuff. Women and getting ready, they had to look perfect. Becca looked great the way she was. She didn’t need the added effort.

“Which car are we taking, honey?” my mother asked.

I had forgotten she was still in the room. I’d text Becca asking if we were all riding together but she’d never replied. I knew that Larry and my mother were coming with me in my mom’s Toyota Camry but I wasn’t sure about Becca.

I grabbed my wallet from the dresser. “I don’t know if Becca is driving with us. I tried texting her but nothing. I know Larry is, so we’ll have to put his wheelchair in the trunk. It can fit, right?”

She nodded her head.

“Okay, well I’m going to stop by Becca’s and see what she’s going to do.”

She points to my phone in my hands. “Can’t you call her?” She was smiling. I knew that look. It was the puppy love look.

“No, last time she text me she said that Emma was doing her hair. Who knows how long that could be? I’ll just ask her and stop by to check on Larry as well. I’ll probably roll him over here, okay?” I kissed her cheek and walked toward the door.

It took me a few minutes to reach her house. As I reached for the door someone twisted the knob and swung the door open. It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me.

The beauty before me was memorizing.

Becca was standing there, looking like a fucking queen. Through all our years of friendship I had never seen her look like this. Her brown hair was in spirals, rolling down her shoulder and stopping at her breasts, which were covered up by a sexy yellow dress. Whatever bra she had on made her already large breasts look voluptuous and all I could think about was motor-boating the shit out of them. I would have never pegged her for a yellow dress type of woman but with the black outlines of flowers it totally fitted her style. The dress was a little too short for me. I just wanted to take her upstairs and keep her from everyone. That body was all mine. Looking down at her sexy ass legs I saw she was wearing these black shoes with killer heels. How the hell could she walk in those? I wondered if she would wear those in the bedroom…

Someone cleared their voice. Looking up from her legs, I landed on her eyes. They were covered in makeup. It wasn’t a lot, but whatever she had on her eyes made the exotic blue pop. I swore her eyes fucking twinkled. There was a small rose color to her cheeks and her lips. Oh my fucking…Fuck. Me. Her lips were shiny and so plump. I just wanted to bite on her lower lip. I wondered what flavor she was wearing.

She stretched her arms open. “How do I look?”

Did I hear her correctly? No words were coming out of my mouth. I was sure that if I said something it would be totally inappropriate.

“That bad, huh?” She dropped her head.

I took a step closer to her and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to me. Her hands landed on my chest. “There are no words to describe how you look. If I say something it would be so inappropriate,” I told her, all the while looking at her lips.

She bit her lower lip and that sent me over the edge. Leaning in, I grabbed her lips and stole a kiss from them. I nibbled and sucked on them.

Peach.

Pulling away, I stood by her ear and whispered so only she could hear me, “Can we go upstairs? I swear, I only need five minutes.”

She lightly shoved me. But I could see the look in her eyes. If we had time I would’ve thrown her over my shoulder and upstairs we’d have been. But then again, Emma would fuck me over if I messed up Becca’s look. It was okay, I’d get her ass later.

Looking behind her, I saw Emma there, staring at the two of us, smiling like a dork. She looked very pretty, with a light pink dress that came to her knees. The top had a low V showing off her breasts. She had a little too much makeup on her face but if her man loved her like that then all the power to him.

Back to the reason why I came over.

“Are you going to ride with me or Emma?” I asked her.

Still in my arms she looked behind her. Emma just shrugged. “I have to pick up Richard at my parents. You could come with us.”

She looked back at me. “I might just go with Emma. So my dad can have room in the car. Does that sound good?”

“Is Larry inside?”

“I’m right here,” he said appearing behind Emma. She moved out of the way so he could wheel himself to the door.

“Looking good, Larry.” He had on a dark blue suit with his white tie. His hair was comb to the side and he was clean shaven.

Breaking away from my hold, Becca walked to her dad, bending down to be at his level. I stood right behind her. If her dress was any shorter her ass would have been showing. I needed to tell her not to bend down today, unless it was for my benefit.

“You look handsome, old man.” She touched her dad’s hands.

He held onto her as he replied, “You look absolutely beautiful, sweetheart. Congratulations on today, baby girl.”

Emma put her hand on Becca’s shoulder. “Hey, no crying or you will mess up your makeup.”

Seriously, Emma? She broke up the sentimental moment because of Becca’s makeup?

“We have to go,” Emma continued. “We need to be there by twelve and I still need to get Richard.” She had her hands on her hips.

Standing up, Becca kissed her dad on the cheek. “I’ll see you after I graduate.” Turning around, she faced me. I couldn’t help but pull her to me again. “And I’ll see you soon too.”

“I love you,” I told her. I just wanted to say it, just so she knew how I felt about her at this moment and every moment before and after this.

“I love you too.” She grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss full of passion and love.

“Becca, come on. You’ll see lover boy later.” If I could have taped Emma’s mouth shut right then and threw her ass into a closet I would totally have done it.

Pulling away, Becca started to walk to Emma, but I rushed to her and grabbed her wrist. “Wait,” I said, leaning into her ear. “Don’t bend down unless I’m behind you. That’s my ass, nobody else gets to see it.” I kissed her on the cheek, turned around and went to Larry.

“You ready, Larry?” I walked behind him and grabbed the handles to push him toward my mom’s house.

Becca was already in the car, driving away. Damn, I wished I could’ve taken her upstairs. She looked so fucking beautiful. I know everybody was going to be looking at her.

“You really love her, huh?” I heard Larry say.

I stopped walking for a second. “Huh?” Then I continued to push him.

“Becca. You love her.”

I’d never had this conversation with Larry before and it was a little weird. “Yes, with all my heart. Always have, actually.”

He sat quietly for a few seconds. “Take care of her.”

I stopped walking and made my way round to face him. “Always.”

I felt like this was the moment where he would tell me about dying and being there for Becca. “Good. I know you will. You always took care of her when I couldn’t, or when she didn’t want me in the mix.” He chuckled nervously. “It’s just…she’s my baby girl, and I’m going to miss her so much.”

Fuck, Becca said her father didn’t speak about it. He always seemed like he was okay and he wasn’t going to die. But right here, I could see the fear eating away at him. Maybe not at himself, but for Becca. He was scared for her. I crouched down beside him and placed my hand on his knee. “Larry, I’ll always be here for Becca. I will never leave her side. I’ll be with her through everything. Don’t you worry, everything will be alright.”

He placed his hand on top of mine. “Thank you, James. You’re a good guy, and I know she loves you too. Thank you.”

Giving him a final squeeze, I went back behind his wheelchair to push him. My mother was waiting outside the house with the doors and trunk of her car open. She was the fucking best. She waved toward us with a smile on her face. God, I couldn’t imagine losing her. I’d go fucking ballistic.

“I promise you,” I reaffirm, leaning down and whispering into Larry’s ear as I looked at my mother. I knew that Becca would be by my side through everything if that ever happened to my mother.

*

The graduation was starting to close up. Damn, Becca looked beautiful as she walked up onto stage, and the smile she gave us when she faced the audience was just breathtaking. I think I took about fifty pictures of her with my phone. But now we were waiting for the dean to finish talking. Leaning over to say something to my mom, I felt my phone vibrate a couple of times.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone.

Juliana: We NEED to talk! (2:55pm)

Asshole: Hey son, just checking to see how things are going? Hoping to hear from you soon. Love you (2:56pm)

Fuck. I was supposed to send him a text. If Becca asked me if I’d texted him and I told her no then she would have flipped out. So I quickly sent a text to him.

Me: Hey, I’ll write u soon. We can meet up. Just wait for my text, ok? (2:58pm)

I have no idea why Juliana kept texting me. I’d already told her I wanted nothing to do with her. I didn’t think she was going to be one of those chicks that still tried to get with you after the breakup. I didn’t want anything to do with Juliana. I just wished she understood that and stopped with this bullshit already. Ignoring her text message, I put my phone back in my pocket. I felt it vibrate again and I knew that it would be my dad.

As I leaned toward my mom again everybody started to clap. We all stood up and starting applauding the graduates. Oh well, it wasn’t important anyway. The graduates started to leave their seats, making their way to find their family members. I hoped Becca had her gown on because I didn’t need to break anybody’s jaw. Looking through the sea of people crying and hugging each other, I finally spotted my babes. When she saw me she picked up her pace then slammed right into me.

“Damn, Becca! He’s hot,” one of the girls behind her said.

She didn’t bother to talk to her. She just pulled me into a deep kiss. Public affection, I like it. I felt like she marked me in front of all these women. I pulled her even closer. As I was going to split her lips with my tongue I heard someone cough behind us. Oh shit, I forgot about our parents. Breaking apart, her cheeks turned red. I kissed both sides and turned around. Larry and my mother had huge smiles on their faces.

Moving away from my embrace, Becca walked up to my mother and gave her a huge hug. They stood like that for a few minutes, probably whispering in each other’s ears. When they broke apart they both had watery eyes. If they blinked the water works would have begun. I walked to the both of them and wrapped them in my arms.

“Stay just like that,” Larry spoke out. We looked toward him. He had a small camera in his hands. We posed and he took a quick picture, not warning us about the flash. That shit was bright as hell, blinding each of us. Then, out of nowhere, Emma came running toward us and crashed into Becca, giving her a huge hug.

“We did it, bitch!” she said. “No more crying, I swear, my eyes probably look like red swollen puff balls and my makeup is a mess.”

She touched her eyes while someone hugged her from behind. “You look beautiful, baby.” It was Richard. “Hey, James.”

“Hey, man. Oh hey, all three of you get together so Larry can take a picture.” I told them. They soon got together.

“Wait,” Becca said. She waved her hand at me to join in the photo. Shrugging my shoulders, I joined in, wrapping my arms around her waist. As soon as Larry pressed the button I planted a kiss on her cheek, making her laugh.

“James, my mouth is probably open in the photo now.” She lightly smacked my arm. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay, love, I’ll text you later. Bye everyone.” Emma waved to all of us and walked away with Richard wrapped around her like a pretzel.

Becca walked up to her dad, bending down with her knees on the floor. “Congratulations, baby girl. You did it,” he said with a prideful smile on his face. You could see the love pouring out of him. He looked a little different today, paler. Maybe it was me but there was something off.