Presently Perfect (Perfect #3) (13 page)

After a couple of hours I decided to head back over to Tweet’s. If I had to, I’d stay there all night pounding on the door until she let me in. I was about to walk out of my house when my cellphone rang.

Shit!

Beth’s number popped up on the screen. My thoughts had been so preoccupied with this weird feeling I couldn’t shake, that I had forgotten she was coming over. Since my parents were gone for the weekend, Beth and I had decided that tonight would be the night we would have sex. I was seriously messed up. What guy in his right mind forgets he’s going to have sex for the first time?

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound excited.

“She knows.”

With those two words my heart plummeted deep into my gut.

“What do you mean,
she knows
?
I told you I would be the one to tell her if there was anything to tell,” I growled.

“She didn’t find out from me,” Beth snapped.

“Then how the fuck did she find out?!”

“Don’t yell at me.” Her voice was shaky as if she were trying to hold back tears. “She said Stacy and Kim told her.”

I breathed in several times and kept my tone steady, trying not to sound as pissed off as I was. “I thought we agreed not to say anything to anyone for a while. How the fuck did those two find out?”

“I haven’t told anyone. Apparently, they saw me trying to hold your hand at the movie the other day.”

Christ, the one time we go out on an actual date and I get caught.

I paced back and forth in the family room several times, running my hand through my hair. Stopping in front of the window, I noticed that a light was on over at Tweet’s. I was in a trance as I stared across the yard, hoping to get a glance at her.

“Noah? Are you still there?” I heard Beth’s voice faintly through the phone.

“Yeah.”

“I guess
you
should to talk to her. She didn’t want to listen to me.”

“Alright. I will,” I answered robotically.

“You should have told her a long time ago.”

“I know.”

I was getting more irritated with Beth for pointing out the obvious and at myself for letting this happen. A shiver of electricity ran through my body. I turned my head and saw Tweet standing in the middle of the room. I was so focused on that damn window I hadn’t even seen or heard her come in. We exchanged quick smiles. Beth was telling me something but all I heard coming through the phone was
blah, blah, blah.

“I need to go.” Beth’s voice trailed off as I lowered the phone, pressed the end button, and slipped it into my pocket.

“Hey Tweet.” I tried to sound cheerful.

“Hey, hey, hey,” she countered, attempting to sound carefree and happy. She was a terrible actress.

“Everything okay?”

“Yep,” she answered nonchalantly.

She walked behind the sofa and leaned back on it. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. It was like watching one of those nature shows where the female panther slinks around all stealth-like, looking beautiful, and sexy. Then
bam!
Out of nowhere, she gouges your eyes out, rips your chest open, and eats your heart.

“Whatcha wanna do tonight? Since both our parents are gone for the weekend, the world is our oyster. We can hang out the whole time.” She threw a slight smirk in my direction.

The tightening in my chest made it hard to breathe. This was it. I had to tell her. The only thing worse than hearing Tweet was hurt was being an eyewitness to it.

“Pepperoni with extra cheese good for you?” She was looking directly at me.

The sound of her voice broke through my haze and I noticed the cellphone in her palm. “What?”

“On our pizza. Pepperoni and extra cheese?”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

She tapped out the number then raised the phone to her ear. A tingling sensation crept down my arms and legs. I closed my eyes and inhaled a calming breath. It didn’t help. My heart felt as if it were going to burst from my chest at any second. Rubbing the back of my neck, I knew this
happy-go-lucky best friends hanging out
charade was over.

“Um… Tweet… I kind of have plans tonight,” I choked out. The inside of my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

“What kind of plans?” she asked innocently, putting her phone in her pocket.

Time stopped, all the air was sucked from the room, and we stared at each other. We held this position for what felt like an eternity. At some point, I unknowingly moved toward her because we were only a couple of feet apart. With my arms crossed over my chest, I tore my gaze away from hers and nailed it to a spot on the floor.

I couldn’t look at her when I said, “I sort of have a date.” The words barely made it out, wanting to stay lodged in my throat.

“A date? With who?” I could hear the quiver in her voice.

A slight smirk crossed my face as my eyebrows shot up. She was going to make me sweat this out.

Glancing up, I said, “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Play dumb. I’ve told you before, you’re no good at it. Besides, I just got off the phone with Beth.”

“Did ya now? Are you referring to your
girlfriend
Beth?” Thick sarcasm dripped from each word.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it,” I said, sheepishly.

“So talk.”

I tilted my chin toward the sofa. I thought we needed to be sitting for this conversation but Tweet had other ideas. She shook her head and stayed planted firmly in her spot.

“I don’t know where to start,” I admitted.

“How about where you lied to me.”

“I’ve never lied to you,” I shot back.

“Lie of omission! That’s just as bad.”

I shook my head, keeping my tone even, and said, “Look, I know you’re upset.”

“Genius!” she yelled, throwing her arms up in the air.

“Would you please shut your mouth and listen for five seconds. It’s not a big deal,” I told her through clenched teeth.

Her entire face scrunched up in confusion. “What’s not a big deal?”

“This thing with Beth. It’s…,” my hands ran up and down my face as a frustrated growl rumbled in the back of my throat. “No matter what I say, I’m going to sound like the biggest dick in the world. I already know that, so keep your smartass comments to yourself.” I paused, taking in a deep breath. “This thing with Beth is just convenient.”

Her head tilted to the side, brows shot up, mouth dropped open, and eyes doubled in size. “Convenient?”

“Yeah. We’ve known each other for a long time. I knew she wanted something to happen between us.”

“Why was I kept in the dark about this?”

“I didn’t want you to know.” I made an attempt to pry my eyes away from hers, but the magnet force held them firm in place.

“Why?”

A chuckle escaped me as I shook my head. I was completely dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe she was asking me this. She was acting as if last year never happened, like I never told her how I felt.

“The same reason why I never want you to know when I go out with a girl. I feel like I’m cheating on you, which is fucking ridiculous because we’re not even together in the first place,”

“Why her?” Tears were building in her eyes.

“Because I didn’t have to work for it.” My chest caved in with shame when I heard the words come out of my mouth. Beth deserved better than what I was able to give her. She deserved the truth.

“She thinks she’s in love with you, you know.”

Closing my eyes, I tilted my head back toward the ceiling.

Why did things have to be so fucking complicated?

“I’ll handle things with Beth.” I lowered my head and peered into watery teal eyes. “I don’t love her. You know that, right?”

Please believe me.

“What are you going to say to her?” Blinking away tears, she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth trying to stop the quiver that had become more prominent.

“I guess I’ll let her know I don’t feel the same way about her. That I never meant to lead her on. I’m not looking for anything permanent. If she’s okay with that we can continue on.”

“What do you mean
continue on
?”

I braced one hand on the wall, the other hand resting on my hip, and said, “I have needs.”

“Needs? What kind of needs?”

“The kind a guy has.” I looked over at her, confusion plastered all over her face. “I need to get laid.

“You
need
to get laid?” Her tone was high-pitched and condescending.

“I do,” I bit out.

“You’re saying if she’s okay with your terms then you’ll fuck her?”

“Yes.” It came out as a soft whisper. I wasn’t sure she even heard me, but when I looked over at her, there was no mistaking the pain in her eyes.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” I asked.

“Don’t have sex with Beth. Don’t date Beth.”

We were standing face-to-face, frozen. Both terrified of what was on the other side of this moment. Standing in front of me was the one thing I wanted most in my life, but she might as well have been a world away, because I couldn’t reach her. I saw it in her eyes. Even with the threat of Beth and I being together, she had made up her mind. We weren’t worth fighting for. Heat flooded my body and my muscles tensed as this realization sunk in.

“I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation. What difference does it make to you? You made your choice. You and I are just friends.” My words were coated with venom.

Her expression was a mixture of shock and pain as if I had just slapped her in the face. “Just friends? Don’t say it like that,” she whispered.

“We don’t have to ask each other’s permission for who we can date,” I said coldly.

Tears pooled in her eyes, on the verge of spilling over while a large lump slid down her throat. The slightest tremor ran through her body as she tried not to fall apart completely in front of me.

“You’re planning on doing more than having a date night with her,” she said in a raspy voice.

I couldn’t take this anymore. I was done with trying to understand Tweet and her fucked-up way of thinking. She wanted me to go back to a time when I didn’t have these feelings. A time when I didn’t love her, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t go back to a time that never existed.

I turned away from her, raking my hands up my face and through my hair. All the confusion, frustration, and hurt burst out of me as I rammed my fist into the wall, shouting, “Goddammit!”

Whipping around, I was met with a tear-soaked face and a body convulsing with sobs.

My eyes pierced hers. A low deep voice broke through my gritted teeth. “Yes, I plan to fuck her, screw her, bang her, and be balls deep in…”

“Shut up!!” Sobs were gushing at a rapid pace. Her words and breaths barely able to come out. “Please don’t do it, Noah! Please!”

“Why not?!”

“Because you’re mine!” she screamed.

I ran up to her as her body caved in. Grabbing her upper arms, I pushed her back against the wall.

Placing my mouth right at her ear, I said, “Then why don’t you fucking take me and stop this bullshit you keep putting us through? You’re going to tell me that you’re okay with my hands running up and down
her
body, touching
her
ass and tits? You’re okay with my tongue licking every inch of
her
? You’re okay knowing that while you’re over in your bed, I’ll be over here sliding into her when we both know it should be you?”

The convulsions continued to jerk her body violently. I stepped back. As I watched her body give up and slide down the wall, her face beet red and coated with tears, I couldn’t figure out which one of us was responsible for this. Did Tweet bring it on herself or was this my way of getting back at her? The only thing I knew for sure was that we kept hurting each other and it had to stop.

I left Tweet a crumpled heap of sobs on the floor of my family room. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep me from running back in there, wrapping her in my arms, and reassuring her that we could work through this. At least I had to figure out a way to work through this. Tweet didn’t have a problem with controlling her feelings like I did. My options were limited. I had to have her in my life. I just needed to figure out a way to do that without it driving me completely insane.

An hour had passed before I was calm enough to head over to Tweet’s house. Standing at the back door, I held the paper plate with a big piece of chocolate cake in one hand, and twisted the doorknob, testing to see if it was locked. When the door opened a heavy sigh of relief flowed from my lungs. She didn’t hate me for the way I treated her earlier.

The house was dark except for one lamp that was on in the corner of the family room. A quiet stillness filled the air. Even though our friendship was becoming more complicated, our natural connection was still strong. I knew instinctively where to find her.

From the doorway of her bedroom, I stared at her body stretched out across the bed. Starting at her crossed ankles, my gaze slowly traveled up her toned legs, and over her flat stomach where her bright pink iPod rested. Her chest moved up and down at a steady pace with each soft breath that flowed over her slightly parted lips. Dark brown hair fanned out over her pillow. One of the earbuds had fallen from her ear and dangled just above her shoulder. No doubt she’d been listening to The D-Bags. Tweet always said Kellan Kyle’s voice was soothing. I swallowed hard, the knot in my stomach twisting tighter with each step, as I moved cautiously toward the bed.