Page 43 of Besties
“Thank you, honey.”
She disconnected, and I turned to Richie. “I have to go. Mom said Walter had a heart attack.”
He got up and started gathering his clothes. “I’ll get us a cab to the airport.”
“Us?”
He gave me one of those “are you stupid?” looks. “You don’t think I’m letting you go alone, do you? We’re in this together. Now shut up and get dressed.”
I stood gobsmacked for several beats, then launched myself at him, pulling him down for a kiss. When I stepped back, he reached out and rubbed the back of my neck.
“You’re not alone, Max. Not anymore. Never again.”
And I knew he meant it.
Chapter11
The flightfrom Boston to Florida was a blur. I sat back, numbed, while Richie handled the details. Mom had sounded so devastated. From the time we spent together, I could see how much Walter meant to her, and if she were to lose him—
A hand brushed over my knee. I turned and found Richie gazing at me.
“He’s going to be okay. You’ve got to be strong for your mom.”
How the hell did he expect me to be strong for her, when I could never be for myself? Mom and Richie had always shouldered my burdens. When Jesse came into my life, I thought he’d be strong enough for both of us. Yeah, showed how stupid I was. He heaped shit on my shoulders, forcing me down to my lowest point ever. Only Richie’s arrival had brought me back up.
“Not sure I can.”
He squeezed my leg. “You’re so much stronger than you think. Remember when you got into that fight with Bob Jenkins? He was a good ten inches taller than you, and outweighed you by sixty pounds. You didn’t back down, did you?”
No, but I’d gotten bloodied and bruised, and needed that first hug from Richie to put me to right. Since then, there’d been a lot of hugs, because I couldn’t handle shit on my own. I never understood why Richie wanted to be friends with a pathetic loser.
“Wanna know the day I realized I was in love with you? It was the day you fought Bob. Do you remember why you jumped him?”
“I know he said something stupid, but beyond that—”
“He called me a fat fucking fag freak. Alliteration for the win, huh?” Richie sighed. “Then he slapped my stomach and called out for everyone to ‘watch the flubber fly.’ I was mortified and wanted to die right there in the hall. Then you came flying around the corner, screaming like a banshee, and threw yourself at him, taking you both down to the floor. He punched you in the face, but then you knocked him back, got on top, and whaled on him until he was crying—which I shouldn’t have taken pleasure in but I did. You sat on his chest, glaring down at him. Your face was red, your breath was ragged, but you grabbed him by the hair and told him if you ever heard him say something against me again, you’d make sure it was the last fucking thing he ever said.
“I stood there, scared out of my wits. Mr. DeLane came around the corner and dragged you and Bob off to the principal’s office. When you came back out, you rushed over, put a hand on my arm, and asked if I was okay. You were furious, but your first concern was me. I started to understand the feelings that I had for you then. I always knew it was more than friendship, I never realized until that moment it was love.”
I leaned over and put my head on his shoulder. “When did everything go so wrong?”
“The day you stopped thinking you were worthy of being cared for. After that, you spiraled into a dark place, and each time you tried to pull yourself up, you got smacked back down. The thing was, I wasn’t about to let it happen. I watched as you left school that day and could see the anger in your eyes. I worried you might do something stupid, so I called you. When you answered, the only thing I could think of was that I needed to hug you.”
“It worked. When you put your arms around me, it calmed me.” I grinned at the memory. “And your nerdy scent helped too.”
He pushed me back and pinned me with a stare. “Excuse me? My what?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “You smelled of nerd. Books and those oils I gave you, and your deodorant.”
“My…. Dude, what the hell?”
“Those things were what I held on to. When I needed something to calm me, that was it. During a test where I was certain I’d fail, the memories relaxed me and helped me to think. Even when you weren’t next to me, you were always there.”
His smile was transcendent. “That’s how it was for me too.”
Reaching around, he put an arm over my shoulder and began to rub. It felt so damn good.
“Close your eyes, Max.”
