Page 14 of Still Love You

"That man doesn't even know us," Carl says. "He's not going to give us a loan. He'd get almost no return on his investment."

"That's not true. We can make this work. I know we—"

"Shh." Carl's eyes dart to the hall.

"Ready?" I hear Willow behind me.

I turn and see she's changed into white shorts and a navy blue fitted t-shirt that shows off her round perky breasts. I need to keep my eyes off those tonight or I'll end up with the problem I had earlier.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I get up from the table.

"Do you two want some snacks to take with?" Candace asks. Her snacks are either wheat-free crackers that taste like cardboard or these sesame chips she buys that look like bird food. By now, Candace has to know that Willow doesn't like these foods and yet she keeps offering them to her. Maybe she's hoping her daughter will like them eventually.

"No, thanks," Willow says. "We won't be out long."

"There's no rush to get home." She gives her a quick hug. "Have fun tonight."

Willow and I go out to the truck and this time she's able to hoist herself into it. I caught a glimpse of her ass as she did it. Her shorts have always been a favorite of mine. She likes the short ones. For her it's a fashion thing, but for me it's the view they provide when she bends over.

I get in the driver's side. "What do you think? Chips or candy?"

"Let's splurge and have both." She pulls her seatbelt on. "I'm actually excited about this. I haven't been to an outdoor movie since...well, since you and I went. Cami kept inviting me to go senior year but I just never got around to it."

Cami was one of her friends from high school. I was gone during Willow's senior year but I heard through the grapevine a little about what she was up to that year. Trent was my main source of information. He's my age so he was in college when Willow was a senior but he had some friends in her class. I used to always ask him if she was dating anyone. He wouldn't give me names, but he did say she dated one of the football players and a guy from the basketball team. As a super hot cheerleader, Willow could've had her pick of any of the athletes in school. I'm sure she went out with more than two.

"I need to stop and grab some blankets," I say, pulling up to my house. It's just down the street from Willow's. I park and go around to her side to see if she needs help getting out. She hops out and stumbles, but then straightens up and holds her arms out like a gymnast does at the end of a routine.

"Nice landing," I say, laughing at her.

"Thank you." She smiles.

I hold the door open for her and hear my mom yell, "Willow! You're back!"

"Diane! I've missed you."

The two of them hug, then my mom whisks Willow off to the living room. My mom loves Willow like a daughter. Our families are good friends, especially our moms.

 While Willow and my mom are off talking, I go to the kitchen to find some snacks. I can't afford to buy any. I'm really short on cash and working for free all summer is going to make my financial situation even worse. But I'm not doing this to make money. I'm doing it to help Carl and Candace...and Willow.

I rummage through the bin of snacks I keep in the pantry. My mom is a health freak like Willow's mom, but Martin and I like our junk food so we keep stashes of it just for us.

"Going out tonight?" Martin opens the fridge behind me.

"Willow and I are going to the outdoor movie. I'm bringing some snacks."

He closes the fridge. "Toss me a candy bar. Diane made me eat tempeh tonight and I'm starving."

I toss him a Snickers. "I had steamed tofu. It was pretty bad."

Martin laughs. "Well, hopefully we'll live longer eating this way. Have fun tonight."

"See ya later."

Martin is my stepdad. Not officially, because he's not actually married to my mom. But he's been with her for twelve years so he's like a dad. I've never met my real dad. My mom had sex with him at a concert and never saw him again.

Martin is an English professor at UC-Berkeley. He's a quiet, laid-back guy who spends most of his time reading. He's ten years older than my mom and never been married. He's asked my mom to marry him at least three times but she keeps turning him down. She loves him, but sees no need to get married. She said a piece of paper wouldn't change anything so why bother? I see her point, but as for me? I want to get married someday, which is why I proposed to Willow two years ago. And even though she broke off our engagement, when I think about getting married, I can still only picture myself with Willow.

"I let her borrow my sweater," my mom says as she walks in the kitchen, her arm around Willow. "I didn't want her to get cold. It's supposed to cool off tonight."

---