Presently Perfect
Copyright © 2014 Alison G. Bailey
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Robin Harper, Wicked By Design
Interior book design by Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
Photographer: Lorie Rebecca, Lorie Rebecca Photography
Present Perfect graphics: Mary Rose Bermundo
Presently Perfect image: Cynthia Ares
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9914744-4-8
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
EPILOGUE
THANK YOU!!!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Perfection is an illusion fueled by the perception of others.
“Noah, you’re just a perfect little angel.”
“Straight A’s again. Noah, your mom and I are so proud. You never disappoint us.”
“Damn dude, all you have to do is walk by and every pair of panties drops to the floor.”
“Stewart, you impressed me out on the field today.”
“I can’t lose you, Noah. You’re perfect and deserve better than me.”
Being an only child I was never starved for attention. In fact, just the opposite. My parents beamed with pride, my teachers praised me, and my teammates looked up to me. I worked hard to fulfill everyone’s expectations. At times my efforts left me feeling suffocated and fragmented—Noah the good son, Noah the honor roll student, Stewart the team captain. Everyone had a separate piece of me, except her. She had all of me. And no matter what she said or did, deep in my soul, I knew I always had all of her.
The way others viewed me was all based on performance and achievement. Expectations were high. If I fell short their look would change, but never hers. She loved and accepted me for who I was, not what I did. Even when she looked through tears, I felt and saw the love she had for me. No matter how much she denied it or how often she pushed me away, her not being in my life was unimaginable and not a possibility.
Tweet was my heart, my soul, and my purpose. She was my everything.
Neither of us were perfect. We both made mistakes. Looking back, that was okay, because every choice brought us to where we needed to be at the time we needed to be there. The one constant… our love and friendship.
There are two sides to every story and I wouldn’t trade our sides for anything in the world.
My skin sizzled under the blazing sun. It was only noon but the temperature had already skyrocketed to heights unbearable to most living things. Stripping off my T-shirt, I tossed it onto one of the chairs as I walked to our pool. Without stopping, I took a deep breath and dove headfirst into the cool water, putting out the fire radiating off my body while drowning out the rest of the world. Completely submerged, I stayed under as long as my breath held before breaking through the surface above and swimming to one end of the pool. My hands raked up my face, wiping the water as well as the dark brown hair away from my forehead. I extended my arms out along the edge of the pool, closed my eyes, and tilted my head back.
After several seconds a tremor ran through my body. I lifted my head, squinted my eyes open, and attempted to focus. I blinked several times in disbelief at what I saw. My best friend, the girl I had known my entire life, was standing across from me looking hot. The tiny red string bikini she wore barely covered her firm round boobs that were the perfect size for my hands. The thin strings connected to a scrap of red material, ran along the crease at the top of her thighs, and ended in loosely tied bows at each hip. Streaks of golden brown mixed through her usually dark hair, fell over her smooth shoulders, and disappeared behind her back. This was a far cry from the girl who stood at the bottom of the Dean’s driveway, Halloween 1996, shedding feathers from her homemade Tweety Bird costume when we were six years old. Amanda Marie Kelly, my Tweet, had grown up, out, and all around.
A basketball sized lump slid down my throat with such force that the thud caused my head to snap back. Seeing Tweet’s naked thighs, hips, and stomach, not to mention front as well as side boobage, caused all the oxygen and blood to congregate in one specific part of my body. Thankfully, this part was hidden under the water.
She slowly walked down the steps into the pool. With her chin tucked halfway to her chest, the hint of a sexy smile playing across her lips, and one cocked up eyebrow, her gaze locked on me. A heavy weight pushed down on my chest. The longer I stared at her the harder things got— like breathing, forming a coherent thought, speaking, and of course my dick.
Tweet’s shapely legs disappeared little by little into the water. With each movement the top of her boobs jiggled slightly. In an instant, my dick grew ten sizes bigger and shot up, ready to crash through the dark depths of the family pool like the friggin’ Loch Ness Monster.
She stopped at the last step, the water surrounded her mid-thigh and gently lapped against her skin.
I’d like to be lapping against her skin at mid-thigh.
Bending over, she brought her cupped hands together and scooped up some water. She lifted her face to the sun, raised her hands, and allowed the coolness to pour down, wetting her hair and skin. I followed one large droplet as it slid down her neck, over her collarbone, and between her boobs before vanishing into her bikini. My gaze flung up to meet hers. Raising one hand, she crooked her finger in my direction, inviting me to come closer. At first I didn’t think I’d be able to move. I had had boners before but this was the granddaddy of all boners.
Adrenaline pumped through me, causing my entire body to vibrate from the inside out. As inconspicuously as possible, I lowered my hand into the water to adjust my rock hard business. Slowly I swam toward her, dunking my face in the water in hopes that it would calm me down before I lost complete control and attacked her. I emerged from the water hotter and more turned on because of her closeness. Our chests were only an inch apart, almost touching due to our heavy breathing. My eyes connected with hers and I got disoriented for a minute, with no awareness of anything except the beautiful girl in front of me. I stood there, getting lost in her, a fluttering sensation taking over my stomach and heart.
I caught the sight of Tweet’s fingers making their way toward the skinny string draped over her shoulder, the only obstacle between me and paradise. One slight tug and my fantasy would be complete. She cocked her head to the side away from me, pushing her hair off her neck to reveal the bow that held up the scrawny
triangles. The edges of her pale pink lips curled up as her fingers came together, the string resting between them. My gaze darted back and forth between her eyes and her hand a few times before the hand won out.
She pulled down on the string, letting it slowly untwist. I had to touch her now. The tingling sensation in my fingers was becoming more painful. My breath was coming out in quick short spurts. Every part of my body throbbed. I leaned in toward her neck. My mouth slightly opened, the tip of my tongue sneaking out between my lips ready to taste her. Finally the string broke and fell away.
A gust of oxygen rushed out of me, as waves of tremors invaded my body at the sight of her wet tits. I couldn’t wait any longer to feel her nipples rub against my chest. I stepped in closer. The heat from her body radiated across my lips. She ran her fingernails down my chest and stomach, applying just the right amount of pressure to scratch the surface of my skin. Tweet’s hand slipped under the waistband of my swim trunks and continued to travel down. My heart was pounding so loudly I could hear the echo all around me. The breath got stuck in my lungs as her fingers curled around my…
“Noah!” Pound. Pound. Pound. “Noah!”
My eyes shot open. I was disoriented. The sound of the doorknob clicking back and forth clued me in to where I was.
“Noah, it’s time to get up. I have breakfast ready.” Mom’s muffled voice came from behind the door.
My chest caved in disappointment. The first attempt at an answer was an epic fail. My mouth went through the motions, but no sound came out. It felt like my throat was closing up. Swallowing several times, I slapped my hands over my face and rubbed, trying to come out of my daze.
Clearing my throat, I made an effort to sound unaffected. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Are you okay? You sound funny,” she said while shaking the knob again, this time pushing against the door.
Bolting upright in bed, I snapped, “I’m fine! I just woke up!”
“Well, don’t be much longer. Your dad wants you to cut the grass this morning.”
As Mom’s footsteps faded down the hall my gaze moved around the room, ending up on my bed. Half of the comforter was hanging off the edge of the bed, my sheets and pillowcase were soaked in sweat, and my dick was reaching for the sky.
It was just a fucking dream.
I’d been having these dreams a lot lately. All of them starring my best friend who had been in my life since day one. The girl who had been like a sister to me until recently. We shared everything—our first steps, our first words, even our birthdays. Hell, we used to take baths together as little kids. Thinking about taking a bath with Tweet now, her wet body covered in suds, was causing Mr. Johnson to do the dance of the horny bastard. How fucked up was I? I shouldn’t be thinking of Tweet that way.
I dragged myself out of bed, heading straight to the bathroom and a very cold shower.
You would think the sound of my mom’s voice would be enough to knock the image of a naked Tweet out of my head but that wasn’t the case. And because of this I’d be missing Mom’s great Saturday morning breakfast of eggs, bacon, and grits. Since she worked during the week Mom always made it a point to fix a big breakfast on the weekends. It’s just as well. I couldn’t look at either of my parents right now, not with images of tiny string bikinis swirling around in my head.
Once I showered and relieved my situation I headed outside to the backyard. I rolled the lawnmower out and was filling the tank with gas when a high-pitched squeak flew over the fence from behind me. I wasn’t in the best mood this morning. Keeping my head down, I tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away. No such luck.
“Heeeeeey Noaaaaah,” Beth said. She was leaning against the gate of the chain-link fence that separated the backyards.
Her family had moved here a few months ago. Tweet introduced me to her after my final baseball game with the Tigers, when we won the league championship. Beth was fourteen like Tweet and me. She had black hair and big green eyes, was tall and skinny. Her bones stuck out all over the place and looked as if they’d cut you up pretty bad if you hugged her. I thought it was strange that she was so skinny because she ate like a horse.
Tweet, on the other hand, had curves. Lots of them, strategically placed, and they were awesome. She got them a month or so ago. That was the day I discovered curves and how much I loved them. Tweet was also soft. Not squishy gross soft. But warm and smooth soft. I really liked hugging her. I’d been noticing girls for a while— at least I noticed certain parts of them that were changing and growing. I never paid much attention to their complete package. Tweet’s package was the only one that held my interest. The clearing of a throat got my attention. Jerking my head, I looked over my shoulder to find Beth standing a couple of feet away from me, smiling.
I twisted the top to the gas can back on, stood, and walked over to the patio, placing it down. “Hey Beth.”
She was wearing a strapless blue and white checkered bikini, silver flip-flops, in full makeup, with big earrings dangling from her ears.
Why would she have earrings and makeup on with a bathing suit?
Tilting her head to the side and smiling, she asked, “What are you doing today?”
I glanced between her and the lawnmower. “I’m getting ready to cut the grass.” I tried to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.
As I walked toward the mower Beth took a step in my path, causing me to bump into her. Stumbling back, she slipped out of one of her shoes. My hands shot out, grabbing her upper arms before she fell flat on her ass.
“Whoa!” she yelped.
“Are you okay?” I asked, helping her straighten up.
Looking up at me, she answered breathlessly, “Yeah. I almost fell right into your arms.”
“Sorry about bumping into you.”
My hands fell away from her.
“That’s okay. Would you mind handing my shoe to me?”
I hesitated. It was a flip-flop. I didn’t understand why she couldn’t just slide right into it. When she didn’t make a move, I squatted down, grabbed the shoe, and held it up to her. Before I was able to stand, one of Beth’s hands landed on my shoulder while the other reached for the shoe. She leaned into me as she raised her leg, bringing it to my eye level. My gaze moved along her bare inner thigh until it met a small piece of blue and white material. I breathed in deeply and stood, causing her to sway a little off balance.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Maybe it’s just the heat. It’s really hot today,” she said.
I knew exactly where this was going. I didn’t necessarily dislike Beth. She just annoyed me. She talked really fast and a lot, she asked me stupid questions like, ‘what was I doing’ when it was obvious what I was about to do, and she tried to touch me a lot. She wanted me to ask her to hang out at my pool. I focused on the mower.
“I plan on laying out and getting some sun today,” she said. I started adjusting the mower settings. “I wish my parents would get us a pool. It’d be awesome to have a pool to lay out by.” Silence. “Do you like having a pool? I think it would be awesome to have a pool.” She paused before a nervous laugh escaped her. “I said that already.”
I looked up at her with raised eyebrows and smirked. “Yeah, I gotta get going on this before my dad gets mad.”
I turned my attention to priming the engine by pressing the pump on the side of the mower a few times, then opened the throttle to full speed as I pressed the handle bar switch.
The hopeful expression fell from her face, replaced with a pout. “Oh okay. Well, if you wanna hang out later just give me a call.”
Grabbing the string handle, I yanked it toward me with a steady fast pull two times before the motor came to life, filling the air with a loud rumble. I threw a quick smile at Beth and then pushed the mower in the opposite direction.
After I finished cutting the grass I ran into the house, wiping the sweat from my face with the bottom of my T-shirt. I grabbed a Gatorade from the fridge and
stood at the kitchen window as I downed it. Craning my head toward the window, I made sure the coast was clear of Beth. She must have gotten tired of waiting for me. I tossed the bottle in the trash before heading out the back door to Tweet’s house.
I ran toward her yard, placed my hands side-by-side on top of the fence, and vaulted over.
Taking a few steps, I heard the voice of one of the top three females in my life, Tweet’s mom, who was over by the clothesline hanging laundry.
“Mornin’, Noah. You’re up and out early for a Saturday,” she said, clasping a clothespin to the top of a pair of light green panties that would cover Tweet’s cute little ass perfectly.
Looking past her, my eyes froze on the panty rainbow hanging from the clothesline. Images of Tweet wearing each pair with a matching bra flashed through my head. Mrs. Kelly’s chuckle jerked me back to the present.
Red heat crawled up my neck and over my face. Swallowing hard I answered, “I had to cut grass this morning.”
“You feeling okay? You look a little flushed.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said, slowly coming out of my panty haze.
“She’s inside doing what she does every Saturday,” Mrs. Kelly offered and then turned her attention back to the laundry.
“Thanks.” Taking one last eyeful of laundry, I backed away before spinning around and headed inside.
I found Tweet exactly where I always found her on Saturday morning—sitting on the sofa, with a bowl in her lap, a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal on the coffee table, watching The Smurfs.
Wow, that’s a huge bowl of cereal she’s scarfing down.
She had on her favorite thing to sleep in—a huge oversized long gray T-shirt with a big panda face on the front of it and striped multicolored fuzzy knee-high socks pushed down around her ankles. Her hair was piled high, shooting up from the top of her head like a spout. She was so focused on the stupid blue people that she didn’t hear me come in. I decided to have some fun. Besides, after the panty parade outside and with her looking so damn cute I had to touch her.
Presently Perfect (Perfect #3) Page 1