Presently Perfect (Perfect #3)

by Alison G. Bailey

  “You didn’t ramble. You were perfect.” She sounded as if she were in a trance.

  “So, any more questions?”

  “No. I’m good. Thanks for doing this.”

  “No problem. I wouldn’t miss spending time alone with my girl.” I hadn’t called her that in a long time but it still felt natural.

  Whatever the spell was that had surrounded us for the past several minutes broke. She looked down and fidgeted with her notebook for a second before her pen took off tapping at lightning speed.

  “What’s wrong, Tweet?”

  When her eyes met mine again they were starting to fill with tears. This was becoming the norm and I couldn’t figure out why. She took in a deep breath and looked back down at her notebook. The vise around my stomach kept getting tighter with each second of silence.

  Blowing out a heavy breath, she finally asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to the dance with Beth?”

  Fuck me!

  I had completely forgotten about Beth and the dance. She’d asked me a month or so ago when we were at lunch. Tweet had to drop off one of her articles in the journalism classroom, so she left early. Beth was babbling away as usual while my gaze followed Tweet across the cafeteria. Just before walking out the door she was stopped by a large hand touching her upper arm. A tall, no-neck, dark-haired, muscle-headed Smurffucker was talking to her. The burning sensation in my chest spread like wildfire. He shifted back and forth on his feet, smiling and talking. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but I knew what he was doing. He was asking her out. My teeth were clenched so tight that my jaw hurt. I saw Tweet’s head shake just before the smile dropped from his face. After one more touch of her arm, the muscle-headed Smurffucker walked away.

  Nodding my head slightly in satisfaction, my jaw loosened with a smile. Beth asked me to the dance at about the same time. Apparently, she had taken my reaction to Tweet turning down the Smurffucker as a yes to her question. She bounced in her chair a couple of times, squealing and clapping her hands. After Tweet disappeared behind the doors, I realized what I had gotten myself into. I was going to tell Beth she misunderstood me, but she had already gotten up and hopped away. I caught up with her later that day. She was still extremely excited. I felt bad, so I didn’t say anything. Besides, Tweet sure as hell wasn’t going to ask me to the stupid dance.

  Letting out a deep sigh, I rested my elbows on my knees. I lowered my head, removed my baseball cap, and ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times. I needed to stall as long as possible while I figured out how to explain this without sounding like a complete asshole.

  “You know what, forget I asked,” Tweet blurted out.

  She quickly packed up her stuff, shoving everything into her backpack, and stood. As she took a step in front of me, trying to get away, my hand shot out, grabbing hold of her wrist.

  “Don’t run away from me. Sit back down.” I kept my voice steady and low.

  After hesitating for a few seconds, she took a deep breath and then slowly lowered herself down onto the bleachers beside me. I turned my head and noticed she was staring at my hand that was still wrapped around her wrist. This was the first time in months that I’d touched her. Reluctantly, I uncurled my fingers, sat up, and focused on the baseball field.

  “I felt guilty. I know I’m getting ready to sound like a pussy but I was disappointed that you didn’t ask me.”

  “I didn’t know you wanted to go,” she said.

  “I don’t give a shit about going to a dance. I wanted to go with you and I was hoping you would want to go with me, but you never said anything. When Beth asked I said yes for some reason. I wished I hadn’t after it came out of my mouth. She seemed so excited and happy. I couldn’t tell her I changed my mind.”

  “Why’d you feel guilty?”

  “I don’t know. It felt—like I was… cheating on you,” I stammered.

  I couldn’t believe those words slipped out of my mouth. I was surprised but not sorry. I’d had enough of the mixed signals, raging hormones, pushing away, seeing Tweet in every other girl, rubbing up against Brittani, and watching some no-neck Smurffucker touch my girl.

  Turning toward her, I said, “Tweet, I’ve been having certain thoughts and feelings about you.”

  She was completely frozen. Nothing moved except her blinking eyes that showed a different reaction each time they opened.

  Blink.

  Shock.

  Blink.

  Hurt.

  Blink.

  Sadness.

  Reaching out, I placed my hand on top of hers, causing her to snap back to the present and look at me.

  “I think about you all the time, Tweet.” I said, lacing our fingers together.

  “It’s nice to be thought about.”

  It was a stupid response, but she hadn’t expected me to tell her this stuff today. Hell, I hadn’t expected me to tell her this stuff today. I had taken her completely off guard and it made her uneasy.

  “When you’re around I want to touch you, hold your hand, or put my arms around you. I want to kiss you again.”

  I continued to hold her gaze, searching for more than the scared shitless expression she had.

  “Um… Noah, I have to go.”

  What the fuck?

  My grip tightened around her hand and I huffed in disbelief. “You’re leaving?!”

  “I need to go check and make sure Tony got enough pictures and… um… look, I’m sorry. I’ll see you later. Thanks again for the interview.”

  In one swift continuous move, she abruptly got up and walked off, breaking away from me. After I got over the initial shock of her completely blowing me off, again, I thought about going after her. I stopped myself, though. This wasn’t over but I needed to corner Tweet where she’d have no option to escape me.

  Standing outside of Tweet’s closed bedroom door, I attempted to take several deep breaths before knocking. My lungs filled halfway with oxygen and then stopped functioning. I was nervous but determined.

  I wanted and needed to finish the conversation we had started at the baseball field. Correction. The conversation I started and Tweet ran from. When I got home, Mom had left a message telling me we’d be having dinner over at the Kelly’s tonight. This was the perfect chance for me to get answers. Even if I had to barricade the door, there was no way Tweet was getting away from me this time.

  I could hear rapid tapping coming from the other side of the door. She was working on her computer. Raising my hand, I knocked lightly. The tapping stopped and only dead silence was left. I started to knock again when she finally answered.

  “Yeah?”

  I cracked the door open slightly and stuck my head inside the room. She was sitting at her desk wearing a short gray and white striped sleeveless dress and no shoes. Her hair was damp, wavy, and draped over one shoulder. The strap of her white bra had slipped a little from under her dress and was creeping down over her shoulder. I felt a prickling sensation cover my skin and my stomach was flip-flopping all over the place.

  “Your mom wanted me to tell you dinner is in twenty,” I said. My voice was stuck in my throat and came out husky.

  “Thanks.” She glanced up, a slight smirk flashed across her lips.

  Sensing it was safe to enter, I stepped inside the room, closing the door behind me. A little awkwardness stood between us, but no tension. I walked over to her. One eyebrow cocked up and an involuntary smile spread over my lips at the sight of her bare arms popping with goose bumps as I got closer.

  Placing my hands on the back of her chair, I looked over her shoulder and asked, “What are you working on?”

  “Your article,” she answered, tilting her head straight back.

  “Make me look good,” I said, peering down into teal beauties.

  “There’s no other way for you to look.”

  From the shocked expression that flashed across her face it was obvious she didn’t mean to say those words. My eyes shifted and I discovered, from
this vantage point, that I had an excellent view down the front of her dress, revealing a white lace bra. A shiver ran through me causing my own goose bumps to surface. I gripped the back of the chair. My eyes followed the light pink blush that speckled her chest, went up her neck, and over her cheeks. Tweet’s gaze quickly darted back down to the computer screen.

  Needing some distance between us, I walked over to her bed and sat.

  Trying to focus and not think about her boobs covered in white lace, I leaned back on my hands and asked, “Tweet, what was the deal today?”

  She swung the chair around so that we were facing each other. “What deal are you referring to?”

  I couldn’t believe she was going to play the clueless card.

  “Don’t do that. Now’s not the time to play dumb,” I said, keeping eye contact.

  “You seem to be under the impression that I play dumb.”

  “Why’d you run away from me today?”

  “I really had to leave.”

  I stared at her, not responding to her smartass attempt to avoid my question. Her left leg subtly started to bounce, and sped up the longer I sat there waiting for her to give me a real answer. She swiveled back and forth in the chair a few times before hopping up and heading toward her dresser. I watched her fumbling reflection in the mirror as she searched for something. I was getting more and more annoyed with her stalling. Supper was going to be ready soon and I wanted an answer before we left this room.

  She grabbed her brush and raked it through her hair several times. Then taking her sweet-ass time, she piled her hair on top of her head and pinned it.

  Time’s up.

  “Why?” I asked, trying hard to keep my tone even.

  “Because we were having guests for dinner,” she answered with a smirk.

  I sat up straight, shook my head, and huffed in frustration, “Dammit Tweet! Would you stop being such a smartass for one minute?”

  She whipped around in my direction.

  “You do this every time there’s something serious to talk about,” I accused.

  “Do what?”

  “Make jokes and then run away.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  Running both hands over my face, I pleaded, “Please talk to me.”

  “I’m not sure what you want me to say.”

  It was time to go big or go home. After she ran from me today I knew she had feelings for me that went beyond friendship. I could tell in the way she looked at me, the jealousy, and how her body automatically reacted whenever we were near each other.

  “Then I’ll start.” I kept my voice steady and strong. I got up off the bed and slowly walked toward her. “You’re the first girl I’ve ever noticed and the last girl I’ll ever notice. My first kiss was the greatest first kiss in the history of first kisses because it was with you. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  As I got closer she took a step back, bumping into the dresser. My eyes zeroed in on gorgeous teal ones. Standing directly in front of her, I placed my hands on either side of her hips, securely planting them on the edge of the dresser.

  She wasn’t getting away from me this time.

  Heat radiated off both our bodies, causing the temperature in the room to rise to the point of suffocation. I leaned in closer until my lips barely touched her temple. She smelled awesome as usual. My fingers dug into the dresser as intense vibrations shot through me. A rush of air coming from my partially opened mouth caused tiny wisps of her hair to graze my lips as they moved down to her ear.

  Running the tip of my nose lightly across the shell of her ear, I whispered, “I want you to be more than my best friend. I want you to be my girlfriend. What do you want, Tweet?”

  Her warm breath floated over the side of my face. It took all the strength I had not to look down. If I did, I’d have another unobstructed view of her boobs, only this time they’d be moving up and down with heavy breaths. My dick was already so hard standing was becoming painful.

  Tweet whispered, “I want you.”

  When her words hit my ears I thought I was going to explode. My heart slammed against my chest as every part of my body pulsated. There’d been so many days and nights spent thinking about her, wanting to touch her, and kiss her. I’ve wanted to kiss her again for so long. Now I was a second away from finally living the dream.

  My gaze didn’t go any lower than her pink lips before rising up to meet her eyes. “God, you’re beautiful.” I sighed.

  As she tilted her head slightly, Tweet’s eyes fluttered closed. The room felt like it was spinning the closer I moved to her. Our lips touched for a millisecond before I applied pressure. Out of nowhere, a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot reverberated around the room.

  “Dinner!” The booming deep voice of Mr. Kelly barreled through the closed door.

  You have got to be fucking kidding me.

  I immediately jumped back, causing Tweet and the dresser to rock forward. Turning, I faced the wall, my back to the door. If Tweet’s dad caught me in this condition I’d lose my dick before I ever had a chance to use it. My breaths were coming so fast I was a second away from hyperventilating. I glanced over my shoulder at Tweet.

  “Don’t worry. He won’t come in,” she said, as her hands smoothed over her hair, tucking stray pieces back into place.

  Turning to the wall, I hung my head, rested my hands on my hips, and breathed deeply in an attempt to put the beast within back in his cage.

  The room was quiet for several minutes. My heartbeat and dick were finally calming down. Then with the clearing of her throat that sounded a little like a moan and a few innocent words, things changed.

  “Noah, are you coming?” Tweet sounded all breathy and sexy.

  My chin sank deeper into my chest as I raised my index finger, hoping she understood I needed a few more minutes. She did because the next thing I heard was the clicking of the door as it closed.

  Supper was awesome. We had spaghetti with a side order of squirming Tweet. It gave me an enormous amount of pleasure watching her get all flustered whenever I whispered in her ear or touched her skin. She was so thrown off balance that she skipped her favorite dessert, chocolate cake, opting instead to go to her room and work on a paper. At least, that’s what she told the parental units. I gave her a little time to simmer down. Seeing as how I was the cause of her missing dessert, I figured the decent thing to do was to take her what I knew she was craving and the cake. Ever since we were little kids, Tweet and I solved most of life’s problems over a piece of chocolate cake with extra frosting. Whether it was getting hurt after falling off our bikes or not doing as well as we expected on a class project, chocolate cake seemed to make everything better. I was hoping it would work its magic and help me get my girl.

  Looking at her closed door I thought how quickly things change. Two hours ago I was standing in this exact spot breathing heavy because of nerves and now I’m breathing heavy because I’m about to kiss my girl, finally. I knocked on the door lightly.

  “Yeah?” Her voice sounded weird, raspy.

  I opened the door just enough to allow my hand holding the cake through. I let it float there for a few seconds so that Tweet could take in all the deliciousness headed her way.

  Poking my head in, I smiled and said, “I brought you some dessert.”

  I stepped in, tapping the door closed with my foot. She was sitting on her bed, legs crossed, cheeks still flushed a deep pink.

  Her intense gaze followed me while I walked toward her and placed the cake down on the nightstand. Neither of us said a word as I sat across from her on the bed. The corners of my mouth curled up slightly when I held up the fork already loaded with chocolate frosting. Our eyes never left each other’s.

  Taking the fork, she raised it up to her lips and slowly slid it between them.

  Holy shit, that’s hot.

  The tip of my tongue swept along my bottom lip as I watched Tweet suck the fork clean. Beads of sweat popped up all over my ski
n and my mouth watered. I swallowed hard a couple of times as the fork slowly slipped from her lips. Not being able to take the show any longer, I reached over and took the fork from her. As I went to place it back on the plate, my lips brushed her cheek. She smelled like chocolate and raspberries.

  Leaning back slightly, only half an inch away from her mouth, I whispered, “You have a little frosting in the corner of your mouth.”

  We sat there completely still and silent. I couldn’t concentrate on anything except Tweet’s mouth, the little blob of frosting in the corner, and how much I wanted to lick it away. I didn’t care that both our parents were just a few yards away at the other end of the house. I was finally going to be with Tweet and she was officially going to be mine.

  My vision became blurry and my breathing shallow as the temperature of my body burst off the charts. With each slight movement toward her I noticed she was leaning away until there was a huge gap between us.

  Pulling back, I stared at her. I didn’t understand what was going on. Earlier she said she wanted me. I hadn’t imagined that and just now, she let me get almost on top of her and lick her face.

  “We can’t do this. I can’t be your girlfriend,” she choked out. Tears were filling her eyes as she bit down on her bottom lip in an attempt to stop it from quivering.

  All the oxygen and blood rushed out of my body. It felt as if I had been punched in the gut. I couldn’t believe she was doing this. I knew Tweet. Things had been weird and unpredictable between us lately, but deep down I knew she wanted me to be her boyfriend. She wouldn’t fuck with my feelings like this.

  I turned away from her and rested my elbows on my knees. “Why?” I was barely able to say the one word.

  “I’m afraid if something happened to cause it to end, then it might fuck things up so badly you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me after that.”

  “That’s bullshit.”

  “No it’s not. You remember Tyler Evans? He and Emily were close friends. Not as close as we are, but very close. They decided to cross that line and date. It lasted six months and ended badly. They couldn’t even stay friends. Emily and I saw him at the mall over the summer and he was so ugly toward her. I can’t have that happen with us.”