37. Chapter 36
Chapter 36
BECCA
“He looked at me and then nothing. He didn’t call. He didn’t text. Nothing!” I groaned, flopping on Lenna’s couch with a pillow covering my face.
“Do me a favor, Lenna, and just hold this pillow down over my face for a minute.” Within the next second, the pillow was ripped off of my face and my best friend hovering over me with a pissed the fuck off expression.
“Get your ass up. There will be no moping in my house. You think just showing up at a game is gonna magically restore your love with Shyloh? No! The answer is no, Becca,” Lenna demanded.
I sighed, sitting up and looking at her. “But what do I do? I mean, do I do a grand gesture or—”
She smiled. “Get up. We're going to the craft store.”
Shit.
***
“And what are we looking for?” I asked Lenna, who had Asher strapped to her.
“We are looking for a jean jacket, jewels, hot glue gun, and paint.”
I narrowed my eyes at her as she walked ahead, looking at some of the items she mentioned. “And what are we doing with these unmentionables?” I questioned.
She turned, slamming the pack of gems into my chest and knocking the air out of my lungs. “We’re making a grand gesture.”
After an hour of arguing through the store, we finally made it out and into the car. The drive home was silent, including Asher sleeping in his car seat. He was honestly probably exhausted from listening to us because I knew I was.
Sipping wine and bedazzling a jean jacket wasn’t what I had planned on doing this evening, but here we were. “This is actually kind of fun,” I grumbled, smiling a bit at Lenna.
Her expression gave duh, you idiot. “Weren’t you a varsity cheerleader in high school? You bedazzled everything.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you're right. I noticed the butterfly feeders on your porch. That’s really nice. ”
Smiling, she placed another gem on her jacket, pressing it on. “It’s always nice to see them flutter around. It’s like a little hello from Thomas sometimes.”
Thomas. He was always working his way into conversations. “You do know that Thomas would want you to be happy, right?” Lenna asked gently.
“I know, I just—”
The warmth of her hand encapsulated mine. “It’s okay to be sad sometimes. But it’s never okay to stop living your life. You have to live, Becks. And Shyloh Mendoza loves you. He is in love with you. You need to get out there and fight for him.”
I gave her a soft smile. “You’re right.”
Holding up her glass she said, “Cheers to going after our men!”
“Cheers.”
***
“I’m gonna throw up.”
“Oh please, get over yourself. You look hot.”
Sporting my black leather pants and gold tube top with a flashy bedazzled jean jacket that said, “Property of Mendoza,” I bit my lip nervously. “This isn’t lame? Like, we're in our thirties,” I hissed.
Lenna eyed me. “Who the fuck cares? We do what we want, and we do what makes us happy. Now go get in your seat and make me proud.”
A breath seized in my throat when I realized I’d have to sit in the reserved seat and wait for him to see me. We showed up to the game a little earlier for the warmups, hoping that it would be easier for them to spot our jackets.
I made it to my seat and the guy behind me whistled, “Whew. Coach Mendoza sure has a beautiful wife.” I blushed because number one, I was called beautiful, and number two he called me Shy’s wife. And I loved it.
We waited and waited for the team to come out to warm up, slowly players started to trickle out and then I spotted him. His black long sleeves were rolled up exposing his tattoos, and his joggers hugging him in all the right places. I hadn’t realized I was biting my lip.
“Mendozaaaaa!” The crowd behind me started to yell and I immediately froze. What the fuck? No, don't call for him, he’ll see me. Wait—that’s the whole point of this freaking jacket. The people behind me continued to yell for him and then the man that greeted me when I arrived was the one to get his attention.
“Mendoza! Ya girl is here!”
Watching in absolute fear, Shy’s eyes trailed to my seat, spotting me. The girl next to the man slapped my shoulder. “Turn around and show him the back!”
I giggled, feeling like I was in high school again. I could see Shyloh starting to walk towards me, and I turned so he could see the back of my jacket. When I turned my head over my shoulder, a smile was beaming across his face as he started to jog to me.
Oh my God. What was I going to say? Should I start with I’m sorry, I love you, I’m moving home ?
Walking down the few concrete steps to the railing, Shy climbed up onto the back of the bench to get eye to eye with me. We stared at each other for what felt like a million years before he said, “Hi.”
“Hi,” I beamed back at him.
He gestured to my jacket. “Can I see the back again?”
I nodded, turning for him to see it up close and personal. Turning back around, Shyloh asked, “Is it true?”
Tilting my head, I replied, “Is what true?”
Leaning closer to me, he growled, “That you’re mine. That’s what your jacket says. Property of Mendoza.”
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Only if you want me to be.”
He smiled, leaning across the railing before he gripped the back of my neck and pulled me into one of the sweetest kisses I’d ever had. It was a mixture of ‘I missed you,’ ‘I’m mad at you,’ and ‘I don’t ever want to let go.’ Lots of Oohs and aahs were being said around us, and I couldn’t help but smile into his lips.
“We still have a lot to talk about, but I’m so glad you’re here. I missed you.”
I smiled back at him, “I missed you too, Shy.”
He kissed me one last time before hopping down and jogging to the sidelines to finish their warmups. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I was a lot of things, but happy took the cake. I was so damn happy, with no regrets, and no question about whether this was the right thing because Shyloh Mendoza would always be the right person for me. It only took me forever to figure it out.