Perfect Match

by Monica Miller

  “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear… Na na na, Happy birthday to you!”

  The light turned on, and Matt slowly let me on the floor. I looked at my drunk brother who stumbled on the floor, completely wasted.

  “Em!” he yelled with a big grin on his face. “Dude… Does anyone else… feel the sexual tension around here?” he asked and burst out laughing. I didn’t even dare to look at Matt. “Or maybe it is because… I just had sex?” he stumbled in his way towards the kitchen and nearly fell on the floor.

  “Richard!” I complained, helping him walk.

  “You’re… so boring!” he yelled even louder. “You sound like freakin’ mom! Hey, guy who wants to nail my sister. I don’t like you very much…” he coughed, and it was getting harder to keep him on his feet.

  “Let’s get you to bed,” Matt sighed, taking him and walking with him towards the guest room. I sighed and sat on the closest chair, thinking what would’ve happened if Rick didn’t show up now.

  This was so wrong! I knew that. But a part of me didn’t care. I should care about Morgan, and that is wrong to act like your dating your best friend. Then I reminded Monica’s words and I felt little proud about it. After everything that happened tonight, yes, I think we would be kind of great together. But I still have Morgan.

  It’s not like you’re married to him. You don’t love him, I thought. And it was true. He was great and everyone knew it, he always acted sweet, and cared about me, but it wasn’t the kind of relationship that lasted more than a few months. It was… boring, actually.

  “Right now I’d really love to know what you’re thinking about,” Matt said as he sat next to me.

  “Stuff,” I replied shortly. “How’s Rick?”

  “Sleeping. What’s the matter with him? He wasn’t always like that, right?”

  “Nope… Anyway, Merry Christmas to you too,” I said sarcastically.

  “Just don’t think about him, okay?” Matt said as he put his arm around me. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow, I promise. He’ll be a good boy again,” he added and laughed. I nodded, and wanted to believe that.

  *

  There was a lot of noise somewhere… I refused to open my eyes and I wish it would just go away. I shifted in my bed and I felt someone’s arms around me. It felt comfortable.

  What? Wait a minute… I suddenly opened my eyes and saw Matt next to me. Oh, of course. He stayed here last night again. It started to become so usual for him to stay here… And for me to wake up in his arms. It felt great. I smiled to myself thinking about how nice our night has been, until Rick arrived drunk. I heard the noise again. It was coming from the kitchen. I moved carefully not to wake him up, and went to the kitchen, a place which my brother was ready to destroy.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m… Hey, Em,” Rick said, turning around and grinning at me. “Looking for coffee, actually. I have this huge headache!”

  He ran his hand through his hair, and I noticed he was only wearing a pair of jeans. He was right, he definitely looked fitter than last time I saw him. I laughed, and pushed the button of the coffee maker, and went to the bathroom without saying anything to Rick. I wanted to kill him, but I couldn’t do that. Mom would kill me later.

  After taking a shower I came back in the kitchen and Rick was there, sipping on his coffee. I smiled and him, and ruffled his hair, like I used to.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered so slowly I barely heard. “I suck. I got so fucking drunk last night and… I shouldn’t have done that. Just… you know how it’s living with our folks, right? I can’t go anywhere. And when I can sneak out, it’s not as fun as should be. So here I was allowed to do that…”

  “You’re not allowed, Richard,” I told him, and he laughed. “And having fun doesn’t mean you can drink all the alcohol in the world, and do something stupid.”

  “That’s what Matt said earlier,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  “Oh. Matt. Sure,” I said and a smile curled my lips.

  “Yeah, he got a phone call, something about work? Is he working?”

  “Not yet…” I told him confused. “So, what do you want for breakfast?” I asked looking in the fridge.

  “Pancakes,” Rick and Matt said at the same time. I turned and look at Matt, who looked as good as always, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt either. What’s the matter with them? It’s like they’re on a six pack contest. I rolled my eyes, and agreed to that, but I didn’t actually cook.

  “I’ll help you,” Matt said, reading my mind. He bumped his fist with my brother’s and it actually was weird. Rick said he didn’t like Matt just the night before.

  I sighed, and gave up. I should enjoy the moment, right?

  *

  The rest of the day was actually great. We ate together, and decided to watch some movies and I discovered Matt and Rick were so alike, saying the same stupid things at every good scene and I had to listen to their talking during the movie. Okay, it was pretty okay with only one of them, not two! They were practically brothers. And it was weird to watch that.

  “Hey, when does Monica come back?” Rick asked during an interesting moment of The Chronicles of Narnia.

  “Dude, seriously, shut up,” I told him.

  “No, tell me. I mean, I really wanted to see her.”

  “Why would you want to see Monica?”

  “Because she’s fucking hot,” Rick replied casually, shrugging his shoulders.

  “She’s dating someone. Matt’s best friend, actually.”

  “Who cares? I bet he’s not as great as I am.”

  “He is, actually,” Matt and I both said. Matt frowned at me and I shrugged. “He’s kinda hot, you know,” I added.

  “Ben is hot?” Matt asked. “He’s… you know, good looking I guess.”

  “No, he’s hot,” I said feeling suddenly a little uncomfortable. “Anyway, stop with that ‘Monica is hot’ crap. She’s so not for you.”

  “Do you mean I’m not hot enough for her? Smart enough? Because I could be, you know.”

  “Dude, shut up. She’s sophisticated, okay?” Matt cut him.

  “What does that mean? I could totally date her.”

  “No. You couldn’t. Stop it,” Matt argued him.

  Wait, why were they talking about Monica? And I was surprised to notice I was a little jealous when I heard Matt talking about her. She was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, and Matt was also, so… Just stop it. He was saying that because she was dating his best friend. Right?

  I sighed and ignored the two of them, trying to pay attention to Ben Barnes. He usually got my attention without trying, but now it was difficult.

  Monica. Yes, I guess it was normal that my brother was attracted to her, but I couldn’t stop but thinking about the time she said she’d marry someone like Matt. That annoyed the hell out of me.

  It was pretty obvious my Christmas was ruined.

  I was sure of that before Matt placed his arm around my shoulder and they stopped talking about her. And I felt relaxing under his arm and I left my head on his shoulder and sighed. I had nothing to worry about.

  Chapter 12

  I’ll always chose him

  ~Matt Nicholls ~

  After spending almost a week sleeping at Emma’s place it was weird to come back to an empty room, an empty apartment. Ben was still away, having fun with his freakin’ hot girlfriend.

  I’m not jealous of him. I know I could get a girlfriend as hot as Monica. I could have any Monica I want. And of course, I wouldn’t try anything with my best friend’s girl. Like ever. That are rules between bros. Bros don’t fight over a girl.

  What was weird is that I missed Emma. I knew something like this would happen. That I’m gonna start wishing things and… I was confused. Emma sent me that e-mail, and I still know every word of it. I’ve read it so much I knew it by heart. It was annoying. Because I wished she didn’t send th
at. We were freaking great together!

  She was so beautiful when she smiled at me. Her hand felt in mine, so small and soft, felt right. Also the way she kissed me back under the mistletoe. I know, that was kinda lame, but I knew that was once in a lifetime opportunity to kiss her. Although it was weird for her. I knew that.

  And our Christmas date was perfect. Better than the others. I couldn’t even remember how my dates went before her. She laughed at my jokes, and we held hands on the beach… If she wasn’t into me, she wouldn’t hold my hand, and look at me that way, right? But she had muscle man. Of course she had to. But the way her heart beat faster when we were in her kitchen, I knew that was the perfect way to end our perfect date. But then her drunk brother just popped in. I liked Rick, but couldn’t he just wait a few more minutes?

  We spent New Year’s Eve together, as well. We went to this party in her campus, because Rick wanted so badly to go and I decided we could go there too, just so we could supervise him. He was a really good boy, but he didn’t get along really well with alcohol… So we had to be there.

  Emma wore this beautiful red dress that made her look so hot, her hair was straightened, and it looked so good on her. Of course she was wearing high heels, and I knew how much she hated them, but it made her taller, and her legs looked longer and sexier.

  Rick stood pretty close to us, and he eyed suspiciously every time I tried to whisper something in her ear or just danced too close to her. Okay, Rick was kind of weird because I thought he liked me. We went to a bar a few days before, and we discovered we had a lot in common, especially our favorite European football team, Real Madrid. But he liked Ronaldo and I couldn’t stand the guy and I liked Benzema’s style. So I guess he was just trying to protect his sister. Older… sister. Anyway, Rick seemed really mature for 17 years. I know I wasn’t like him when I was his age.

  I stood next to Emma all night and that didn’t bother me, or her. I knew I wanted to be there with her, and I think she wanted me there, too.

  At midnight, when all the fireworks started, and everyone was so happy, I just grabbed Emma’s waist and pulled her to me, crashing my lips onto hers, and she wrapped her hands around my neck and kissed me back almost immediately.

  *

  It was a pretty dark day, and I was spending it with Emma at her place since Monica and Ben were still traveling around America. Yeah, they actually decided that after they came back from Canada, that they should visit Miami, and other places in America. I think Ben won’t be able to pay his part of rent this month. Or this year.

  Thanks God now I have a job, right?

  I knew Emma’s classes were scheduled to start next Monday, and I wanted to take advantage of what I had left with her. It’s not like I’m not gonna spend time with her when her classes will start, but I won’t have a whole day to hang around with her, like now. Plus I’ll be at work most of the day. Me, having a job. Even the thought of it sounds pretty funny.

  We made breakfast while making fun at each other. I’ll admit, I do that more than she does it, but she is actually cute when she blushes so I can’t stop, While eating we turned the TV on and argued about what we should see, she wanted to see a rerun of “The X-Factor”, because she was this crazy Britney fan, but since I had the TV remote we ended up watching “Friends”. Way better than her stupid reality show.

  “It’s not stupid, you know,” she said, glaring at me. “I’d love to sing like they do.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” I said, laughing again. “Friends is just way better, okay? And I have the remote, Miss West, what are you gonna do about it? And by the way, don’t you think Joey Tribbiani and I are so alike?”

  “Rick says that all the time. The “How you doin’?” line is actually his pick up line, too,” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I actually can’t believe that one’s working with him.”

  “How ya doin’?” I asked and smirked at her and she blushed. Man, she was the cutest. “Still, we’re watching Friends. What are you gonna do about it?”

  She eyes me suspiciously, and left her plate on the coffee table, running her hand through her silky brown her in a flirty way. I seriously hopped my jaw won’t drop on the floor. I actually loved when she did that. She was even cuter, because she usually ends up blushing like a tomato.

  Emma was still dangerously close to me and looked back at her with interest. Oh, so you want war, Miss West? Then that’s exactly what you’re gonna get. I smirked at her, and she suddenly blushed, unable to sustain my eyes. Emma looked around the room as she moved a little closer to me on the couch. She was actually kinda good at this.

  “I think I know exactly what I’m going to do about it,” she said in a casual voice, my heart stopping for a second.

  Yes, I definitely liked playful Emma.

  She got even closer to me, raising her hand to grab the remote from my hand, and I suddenly moved it in the other hand, while she was shocked at my gesture. I grinned. I started laughing again raising one eyebrow to see what she can do about it. She stretched her hand after the remote and in a matter of seconds I threw it in the other part of the room, placing my hand on her back as she landed on top of me.

  I looked into her big, brown, beautiful eyes slowly tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear while her puppy eyes never left mine. As I placed my hand on her back, she slowly leaned into me, and the doorbell rang.

  Oh, fuck, that’s not good. At all.

  We stood there, petrified, for another couple of seconds until the bell rang again.

  She jumped out of the couch running her hand through her hair and sighed. Yeah, I knew I was in trouble. She always is serious when she sighs. Oh, man.

  Emma turned around and looked at me before opening the door and I’ve seen in her brown eyes the “I-don’t-know-what-happened-to-me” look and I smiled.

  We survived almost a month before things got weird because of what happened on her Prom night. And now we have to do the talk. Because so much has happened between us, and it’s weird. I don’t even know what I want, but I’d like to know what she thinks about it. Although I’m pretty happy with the way things are now, us being friends. That’s the best thing between us, because we would screw everything up if we tried anything. Not that I don’t want to… screw her or something.

  When she opened the door, there was Morgan, her over-jealous, muscled and stupid boyfriend. Dude, I hated the man.

  “Hey, babe,” he said, leaning to kiss her lips.

  Babe? Is he being serious? That’s how the small-brain Morgan calls her? My heart gave a twist when he kissed her, and somehow, in an inexplicable way, I knew she was feeling uncomfortable.

  And I forgot small-brain was back. He was seriously annoying. Why was he even here? Why didn’t he get lost somewhere in… wherever he went?

  She invited him in, and he smirked, like her inviting him in was something really great or so. And then he saw me and I gave him an innocent smile and waved. Yeah, 1-0 for me, loser.

  “What’s he doin’ here?” he asked pointing at me.

  “Matt is…” she sighed and when she met my eyes immediately looked away. “What are you doing here?” she changed the subject.

  “You haven’t answered,” Morgan, the over-jealous boyfriend pointed out. “And I wanted to talk to you about something,” Small-brain, like I said.

  If a hot guy, like me, was on my girlfriend’s couch, I wouldn’t back out that soon. But, on the other hand, I was Emma’s best friend. Emphasizing “friend”.

  “About what?” she asked curious, smiling at him.

  “Um… about…Why does he have to be here? He’s not my girlfriend, so…”

  “Thanks God for that one!” I replied rolling my eyes, but Emma frowned at me.

  “He’s my friend, and he was already here, so I can’t just tell him to leave, Morgan.”

  “Actually, I can. Get out,” he said to me.

  “You can’t seriously come here and ask Matt to
leave, you know!” Emma complained, raising her voice. “And he is my best friend.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that one. I’d want you to be my “best friend” too, for sure, babe.”

  “You don’t need her as best friend, you’re dating her, douche bag,” I casually said.

  “So that means you want her to be more than your friend, right, Nicholls?”

  God it’s like high school all over again! I laughed and looked at Emma who muttered the word “sorry” to me. 2-0, muscle man!

  “Morgan!” she complained. “I told you already, Matt’s just my friend, okay?”

  Already? So they talked about me?

  “Well, you know I don’t like him!” he told her like I wasn’t there.

  “That’s not my problem,” she replied shortly.

  Is that 3-0 for me? It’s like playing in Real Madrid’s team! All wins, small-brain!

  “I think you should choose, Emma. Either you choose me, either you choose him.”

  Oh, buddy, you don’t wanna go there. I almost felt bad for him while I couldn’t hide my smirk.

  Emma, on the other hand, wasn’t expecting this. And for sure it didn’t seem funny to her. She stood there in shock, looking at Morgan and hoping he was joking. Yet, he wasn’t. Oh, bad move, buddy, bad move.

  “Are you being serious?” she whispered, completely in shock.

  “Yeah, babe.”

  Again with the “babe” nickname. Could you be more original? Insert Chandler’s voice here.

  “But you… I… You have no right to do that!”

  “I’m your boyfriend, of course I have! Seriously, Emma, is that hard to say it? There will be billions like him, but you and I…”

  “Have something special?” I helped him, raising an eyebrow. Yeah. I am pretty familiar with that line, Morgue.

  “No, Morgan, you’re right about something,” she said and I froze. “But even that one is wrong. There will be billions like you,” she added. “And you just can’t make me chose, because I will always choose him,” she whispered.