Hooker had never died better.
As she went down choking and groaning, she made sure to fall at Mercedes’s feet, nearly pulling the other girl down in the process. Our hostess looked as if she might faint. When it was done—after Johnny Ringo (Hooker) had taken his last breath, and Doc Holliday (Me) delivered that last line about him being “no daisy”—there was a moment of silence. Hooker and I didn’t care. We took a bow, and half the room burst into applause, the other half still looking like “What the heck?” Tombstone was on TV all the time now, but most of them hadn’t seen it.
“Man, I love Tombstone.” Trent Zuckerman was one of the few who had. “It was like the best movie ever. You did great, Lillian.”
“Thanks,” Hooker said, pulling off her ‘stache.
“I mean really great,” Trent gushed then tried for a thick Southern accent. “‘I am your Huckleberry.’ Man, that’s awesome. You two are like legends.”
Hooker and I looked at each other. He’d sounded more like a Cali boy on crack, and he hadn’t even gotten the line right.
“I’ve got to go find Cicero,” Hooker laughed, turning to walk away. “Nice job, Doc.”
I smiled. Cicero was Hooker’s latest boy toy, a Greek transfer student. “You too, Ringo.”
Trent moved to follow, calling, “Hey, Lil, hold up!”
It looked like Zuckerman had a crush. I wondered if it was the facial hair or Hooker’s drawl that did it.
“What is it with that movie?” When I looked back, Becks was shaking his head, looking after Trent with a frown. “I don’t get it.”
I patted his shoulder. “That’s okay. I don’t hold that against you.”
“Sal, I know you’ve got a thing for that Kilmer guy, but that movie sucked. That’s why nobody’s seen it.”
“It did not,” I argued, snatching my hand back. “And people haven’t seen it because that’s the definition of a cult classic. Val was freaking awesome as Doc Holliday, and the lines in the movie were amazing.”
“But he’s old,” Becks complained.
“He’s a great actor.”
“Yeah, but he’s like three times your age.”
I shrugged. Val was Val.
“What is it with you and old guys?” He grinned. “First that Lucius guy, then Kilmer? I’m kind of seeing a pattern here, Sal.”
My cheeks filled with heat. I knew I should’ve never told him about my Lucius crush. “It’s not their age.”
“Then what?” he asked.
I threw off my embarrassment and lifted my chin. “Maybe I just have a thing for guys with accents. Nobody does a sexy Southern drawl like Val.”
“So it’s the voice, huh?” Becks raised his eyebrows then grinned. In a pitch perfect imitation of Doc himself, he said, “I’m your Huckleberry.”
I gaped at him.
“How was that?” When I didn’t say anything, he titled his head. “Sal, you okay? It wasn’t that bad was it?”
I was at a loss. He couldn’t have known. It was one of the few things I’d never told anyone, not even him. My voice had disappeared the moment he spoke the words. It was my favorite line of the entire movie, and he’d done it so well, too well. Even though it wasn’t used romantically in the movie, the sentiment had always sounded like a promise to my ears. I’m your Huckleberry. I’m the one you’re looking for. I. Am. For. You. I’d always dreamed of someone saying it to me. If I hadn’t been in love before, those words coming from his lips would’ve done me in.
“Sal?”
Forcing a laugh, heart in my throat, I said, “Perfect. That was…yeah, perfect.”
“Glad you approve.”
I was afraid if I stuck around he’d see just how much I approved. The glint in his eye said he already did. “I need a drink. You want one?”
I didn’t wait for an answer.
Making a beeline for the snack table, I grabbed a water bottle and drank. Becks had outshined every other guy I’d met, and now he’d even beaten Val at his own game. It was a sad truth, but Doc Holliday had nothing on him. Now whenever I watched the movie, it’d be Becks’s voice I heard, not Kilmer’s. I took another swig of water.
When Pisszilla snuck up behind me, I nearly choked.
“Did he tell you yet?” I whirled to face her, eyes tearing. “We need that story, Spitz. If we can get the dirt first, it’ll put our paper on the map.”
“What?”
She rolled her eyes. “Becks, where’s he going to college? You’re his girlfriend, so he must’ve told you, right?”