Presently Perfect (Perfect #3) (22 page)

And just like that, we were Noah and Tweet again, best friends.

She grabbed the fork and plunged it into the side of the cake that had the most frosting. I always left that part for Tweet since it was her favorite. She handed the fork back and then lifted herself up onto the counter next to me. We continued to pass the fork between us until the cake disappeared. Twisting, I placed the empty plate behind me and then turned back around.

I dragged my hands up my face and through my hair, blew out a breath, and asked, “What are we going to do, Tweet?”

“I need you in my life.”

“I need you in mine, too.”

“Be my friend,” she said.

“Always.”

She cleared her throat, hesitating before speaking. “Noah, next to my dad, you are the finest man I know. I can’t bear the thought of you not being in my life.”

“Tweet…”

I started to turn to her, but she stopped me. I shifted back in place against the counter, looking down, and sighed.

“You deserve better than me. If we were together, eventually I would screw it up. Then I wouldn’t have any part of you. I’m scared to death of losing you. Those four months that we were apart was the loneliest time of my life.” Her voice cracked on the last few words.

The tension was coming back into my body listening to her. I wanted to shake her and make her understand all this crap was in her head and not real. My arms folded across my chest to keep them from reaching out and grabbing her.

“I’m surprised I haven’t screwed up our friendship already. Although, I might be doing that now. I just want the best for you and I’m not the best. I wish I were. You have no idea how I wish I could let you pull me across that line, but there’s something that’s got such a hold on me and I don’t know how to let it go. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the way I am. I’ve tried to think better of myself, I really have. Please stay my friend. Things are safer if we keep our relationship as friends. You’re the only one I have and the only one I need. We have to move past this.”

My voice was shaky and deep in my throat. “I don’t know how or where you ever got it in your head that you’re not good enough. You’re beautiful, smart, funny, and kind. You’re perfect for me and always have been. I wish you believed it.”

“Me too,” she whispered.

I tried to make my voice steady and strong before I asked, “What does Brad mean to you?”

“Nothing.” Her answer came quick. “He asked me to the party and we had fun, until you punched him in the stomach, of course.”

Both of us chuckled, breaking the tension a little.

I couldn’t stand there any longer and not look at her. I turned to Tweet. “He’s not close to being good enough for you.”

I raised one hand to her face and cupped her jaw, running my thumb across her cheek. “If he does anything to hurt you, I swear to god, I’ll kill him.”

“Thank you for caring about me,” she said quietly.

I leaned slightly forward, resting my forehead against hers.

“I don’t just care about you, Tweet.”

A sob escaped her as the tears trickled down her face. She wrapped her arms around my neck as mine hugged her waist. I wanted so badly to push her into being with me, but I knew I couldn’t. I had to be patient. She needed to come to the realization on her own that we were meant to be together. In the meantime, I needed to ease off. I had just gotten her back in my life. I wasn’t willing to give her up again. If I couldn’t have all of Tweet right now, a part of her would have to do.

Several months had passed since Tweet and I talked in my kitchen. I struggled but managed as best I could to stay within the boundaries of the friend zone. I didn’t really have much of a choice. I had already tried putting distance between us but all it did was turn me into a robotic shell. Our senior year was coming to an end. Tweet and I would have the summer together and then she’d be moving away to the University of South Carolina in Columbia to earn her journalism degree. I was staying in town, attending the College of Charleston and then the Medical University of South Carolina, working toward my degree in orthopedic surgery. Life was going to get busy and force us to be apart soon enough. I wanted to spend the summer with
my girl
and if that meant following her rules then that’s what I was going to do.

The first rule of
friend zone
was to spend time with other people.

Tweet continued to hang out with Brad.

I fucking hated rule one.

I asked her a few times if they were dating, which was code for “Is he putting his slimy hands on you?” She always denied it, saying they were just friends and since they shared three of four classes, they studied together a lot. I had a gnawing feeling Brad had ulterior motives where Tweet was concerned, so I maintained surveillance on his Smurffucker ass as much as possible.

I didn’t set out to really
follow
rule one, it was more like I woke one day and found I’d tripped into it.

Shortly after the zone boundaries were reestablished, Brooke appeared in my life. Mike McCarthy, one of my teammates, introduced us after practice one day. She attended a school across town and, apparently, had come to a few of our games, then started showing up at practice. I never thought much about it at the time. She was Mike’s cousin, so for her to be at games made sense. As far as her showing up at practice, I figured she really liked baseball.

After some of the home games
I’d go hang out and grab a bite to eat with a group that consisted of teammates, their girlfriends, and various unattached people. On rare occasions, I was able to talk Tweet into going with me, but because of the fucking zone, most of the time she felt it was better if I went alone. I noticed that Brooke had become a regular member of the group. The only reason this got my attention was because we were usually the last two left after the couples headed off and everyone else had paired up. We talked about people we knew in common, graduation, plans for the summer. She asked me to the movies, to dinner, and kept showing up at practice. By process of elimination and my general cluelessness about any other girl besides Tweet, I had found myself in a relationship with Brooke for the past two months.

Brooke was a cross between Beth and Brittani. She was sweet and wanted to make me happy, like Beth. Then there were times when she looked at me, ready to pounce, like Brittani. Outwardly, I was a lucky son of a bitch. I had an intelligent, tall blonde with big blue eyes and a supermodel shape who wanted to be my girl. The problem was, the position of
my girl
had already been filled a long time ago.

The way Brooke’s eyes lit up when I mentioned medical school told me she was looking for a serious boyfriend/potential husband. Brooke deserved a guy who saw only her in his eyes and I was incapable of being that guy. I tried to back off but she was persistent, and determined for us to be together. I went along because I was eighteen, she was pretty, and I liked how it felt to be wanted.

Brooke’s best quality was she seemed cool about mine and Tweet’s relationship. The two girls had been around each other a few times. Although she never said it, I could tell Tweet wasn’t a big Brooke fan. Part of me got a thrill at Tweet’s reaction, hoping it had more to do with jealousy than simply not liking Brooke.

On her end, Brooke didn’t act threatened or jealous. A few times she asked me to explain exactly what Tweet meant to me. It was always awkward because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I also didn’t feel I owed her an explanation. So I’d change the subject and Brooke would get the message.

My gaze was like the ball in a pinball machine, bouncing from the clock, to the TV, to Brooke’s hand. We were at her house watching some lame movie. Brooke was curled up next to me on the sofa, her head resting on my shoulder. For the past ten minutes her hand had been inching its way along my outstretched leg heading toward my crotch.

“Brooke, knock it off,” I said, shoving her hand away.

“Why? I can tell you really like it,” she whispered in my ear.

I smirked, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. “I also really
like my balls, which I won’t have if your giant of a father catches us.”

Make-out sessions with Brooke were fun and becoming hotter, but tonight I had other plans.

I hadn’t seen or talked to Tweet in a few days. She was hiding herself away for some reason, not even answering her phone or texts. My natural instinct was to immediately go to her when I didn’t hear back, but I was still playing by her rules, staying in the zone.

Brooke’s glossy lips trailed down my neck, causing a shiver to run through my body.

“Come on No-No, let’s have some fun.”

Of all the possible nicknames that could have been bestowed upon me, she comes up with the stupidest one I’d ever heard.

“Brooke, I have to leave,” I said, shifting away from her.

She flopped back against the back of the sofa in a huff, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Already? We haven’t finished the movie.” Her words came out as a high-pitched whine.

“Sorry, I have a big Biology exam I need to study for.” I stood.

“We could have studied together.”

I glanced at my phone, looking for any reply from Tweet, and noticed the time. I needed to check on her before it got too late.

Bending down, I kissed Brooke on the forehead. “I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on my Biology with
your
biology distracting me.”

She giggled and I was out the door.

Pulling into the neighborhood, I glanced over at the park and saw her sitting at our spot, staring out across the pond. My heart automatically pumped faster, my breathing became shallow, and a prickling sensation covered my skin.

I parked my truck on the street, got out, leaned against it, and took in the beautiful view. Her light blue T-shirt hugged the curves of her back, stopping just above her waistband. Her head was turned slightly to the left. Her dark hair was down and hung over one shoulder, exposing her profile.

I pushed off from my truck and headed toward Tweet.

When I was at the edge of the picnic area, I teased, “So you don’t answer calls or texts anymore?”

Her back straightened and I could see her lips curl up in a half smile.

“Bitch, bitch, bitch,” she said in a singsong voice.

I walked over and sat next to Tweet, where I belonged.

The crickets sang in the trees around us while we stared out at the pond. There was just enough of a glimmer shining on the pond from the lights around the park to be able to make out the occasional fish breaking through the surface, coming up for a bit to eat. We sat quietly for a while enjoying the sounds of the park and being with each other.

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off. Tweet seemed sad and distant.

“What are you doing out here this time of night?” I asked.

She cut her eyes over to me. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I was looking for you.”

A hint of a smile crossed her lips before her gaze swung back to the pond.

“Where have you been keeping yourself lately?” I continued.

“Around.”

“Have you
been
with
him
?”

Her head whipped around to face me. Her eyes had doubled to the size of saucers and her jaw had gone slack.

“What… are you talking about?” she stammered.

“Brad. Are you two hanging out a lot more? Are you getting serious about him?”

Her expression relaxed as she sighed. “No. I haven’t seen him in several days.”

“Good. Keep that up.”

A small giggle escaped her.

The glow from the streetlight reflected in her eyes that were glassy with tears.

Facing away from her, I gripped the edge of the picnic table to keep me from reaching out and grabbing her.

“You can tell me anything, you know.”

We simultaneously turned to each other.

With tears on the verge of spilling over, she whispered, “I know.”

My arms shook from the strain of keeping them planted. I wanted to pull her into my lap and wrap them around her so badly.