Presently Perfect (Perfect #3) (6 page)

I watched as the lump she swallowed slowly slid down her throat and I waited for her to say something. It seemed as if she was staring at my mouth as her eyes glazed over. If my Tweet-dar was working like it used to, my guess would be that she was thinking about what it would be like to kiss me. “Earth to Tweet,” I said, snapping my fingers.

“Sorry. Um… don’t worry about it. You’ll do fine.”

I leaned forward closer to her, rested my elbows on my knees, and pushed harder. “You know what would help me?”

“What?” she asked.

“If I could practice.” I held her gaze for several seconds giving my words time to register with her.

“With me?”

“Yeah.”

Shaking her head, she said, “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s a great idea. We’ll practice on each other, so we won’t embarrass ourselves in front of anybody.”

“I don’t have anyone who wants to kiss me in the near future.” A flush crept over her cheeks right before her chin dipped down to her chest.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Her gaze rose and my grin widened.

One more little push.

Slipping out of the chair, I got down on one knee and begged, “Think of it as preparing for your future.”

I could tell she wasn’t buying it.

God, she was stubborn.

“Please Tweet.
I need
you.” My head tilted to the side, eyes wide, eyebrows up, and bottom lip poking out slightly.

We stayed in this position for what seemed like a lifetime. Her gaze swung back and forth from mine to the floor. I could see her struggling with her thoughts as they flashed in her eyes.

Finally, she looked up and said, “Okay.”

“Seriously?” I asked, shock evident in my voice.

“Yes.”

I lunged forward tackling her on the bed. My fingers flew to her sides, tickling the sensitive spot just below her ribs. As the sound of her laughter filled my room so did the warmth through my body.

“Tweet, you’re the bestest best friend a guy could have. You’re awesome, incredible, fantastic…”

The more she laughed, the more I tickled until she was gasping for air. “Stop tickling me! I told you I’d help. I won’t let you look like a fool.”

I didn’t stop. “Promise?”

Laughing with tears seeping out of her closed eyes, she choked out, “Yes.”

“Say it!”

I eased up on the tickling. Placing my hands on either side of her head, I hovered over, looking at her. Tears rolled down the side of her face, her lips curled up into a huge smile, and her dark hair fanned out around her head. A jolt of electricity shot through me. My chest started pumping so fast I thought I was going to hyperventilate. Our legs were tangled together. Tweet opened her eyes and they locked with mine. The air in the room shifted in intensity. Something happened in that moment while looking into her beautiful teal eyes. A sensation I hadn’t felt before. It was more than my body reacting to being pressed against hers. It was more than physical. It was more than wanting to kiss her or hold her. I wanted to make her happy and keep her safe.

“Promise,” she whispered.

“This is becoming a habit.”

Her eyebrows scrunched together, confused. “What is?”

“You and me on top of each other.” I smirked.

Her lips parted slightly as a soft sigh passed over them. It would have been so easy to kiss her right then. Tweet deserved her first kiss to be special. My lips moved down toward her neck. I tilted my head to the side, the tip of my nose grazing just below her ear. Shivers ran through my body.

“Wow. You smell really good,” I whispered. She shuddered beneath me.

“I had a sour apple Blow Pop before I came over.”

I grinned.

Moving away from her neck, I said in a low voice, “Thanks for helping me, Tweet.”

“You’re welcome.” Her voice was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear her.

“You know what they say, don’t you?” She shook her head. “Practice makes perfect. We may need to practice a lot. I’m kind of a slow learner.” I waggled my eyebrows and chuckled,
causing my chest to vibrate.

She took in a huge gulp of air. “Do you want to start now?”

Yes but you deserve something special.

I dipped down closer to her before pushing away and vaulting off the bed. “Can’t right now. I got a dentist appointment. Mom’s getting off work early to pick me up.”

Propping herself up on her elbows, she said in a daze, “Oh… okay.”

I held my hands out, pulled her off the bed, and into my chest, gently pinning her arms behind her back.

Looking down, I smiled, and said in a commanding tone, “Tonight. Seven o’clock. Our spot.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” she said, breathlessly.

Taking a couple of steps back, I took off my Red Sox cap and ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times before putting it back on. We never took our eyes off of each other.

I swallowed hard and said, “Thanks again, Tweet, for helping me out. I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Okay… yeah… tonight… see you then.”

My gaze roamed up and down her body one more time before I turned and walked out of my room. I needed to leave before my instincts took over, or I would’ve grabbed her, and started practicing right there on the spot. As I walked into the family room I looked out the window and saw Mom pulling into the driveway.

“Tweet, my mom’s here. Lock up when you leave. Okay?” I yelled.

“Okay.”
The sound of her shaky voice drifting down the hall made me smile as I made my way out the door and to the car.

“You look awfully happy. Did you have a good day?” Mom asked, backing up into the street.

My smile stretched wider. “Yes ma’am and it keeps getting better.”

My eyes scanned the picnic table at our spot as I mentally checked off all the items I needed for the night. Red and white plastic tablecloth—check. Paper plates and napkins—check. Diet Pepsi for Tweet and Mountain Dew for me—check. Candle—check. Flowers—check. IPod—check. The only thing missing was the guest of honor. I had to admit, I felt pretty proud of myself. Convincing Tweet to meet me tonight in order to help me practice kissing was pretty quick thinking and ingenious. Seeing the way she reacted to the news that Brittani wanted to hang out with me showed that Tweet was jealous at the thought of me with another girl. Where there’s jealousy, there’s hope that she wanted more than friendship with me. If she wanted more, then that meant I wasn’t a total pervert for thinking of my best friend in a very friendly way.

During the dental appointment earlier today, I was pretty oblivious to all the scraping and jabbing going on inside my mouth. Instead my thoughts drifted to what my mouth would be doing later. I had hit the jackpot because I was going to be kissing my girl in a few hours. I didn’t know if Tweet had ever dreamed about having her first real kiss, but I was determined it would be a kiss she’d dream about for the rest of her life. I was clueless about romance, having no idea how I was going to make things extra special tonight. Then it dawned on me.

Last Saturday, we were hanging out as usual. It was pouring down rain so we decided to have a movie marathon, each picking our favorite. While I waited around to watch my pick,
Field of Dreams
, Tweet forced me to watch the 80’s chick flick,
Sixteen Candles
.

We were at her house in the family room, both stretched out at opposite ends of the sofa, our legs side-by-side with our heads propped against the armrests. I was lying on my back, totally disinterested in the movie. We’d seen it at least ten times in the past. Tweet was lying on her side turned toward the TV. We both wore our usual summer uniform, T-shirt and shorts.

“Would you toss that blanket to me?” she asked.

“It’s ninety degrees outside. Why do you need a blanket?”

I knew why she needed it. I had already noticed the goose bumps covering her bare legs. I was about to grab the blanket earlier to cover her up, but then realized, the angle I was at, gave me a bird’s eye view up her shorts that just covered her round little ass.

“Please, Noah,” she whined, tapping my hip with her toe. “My legs are freezing.”

I reluctantly got off the sofa and grabbed the blanket that was slung over the back of the recliner. As I turned toward Tweet, I wadded up the blanket and shot it over to her as if I were making a slam-dunk with a basketball.

“You do this every time we watch TV. Why don’t you just turn the ceiling fan off and wear a pair of sweatpants?” I asked, plopping back down on the sofa.

She tucked the blanket around her legs. “Because I like being cozy under a blanket. If the fan was off and I had sweatpants on, I wouldn’t get cold. If I didn’t get cold there’d be no need for a blanket to get cozy under. Why is that so hard to understand?”

She was so cute when she rambled and made no sense.

Shaking my head, I huffed out, “Girls.”

When the movie finally ended, Tweet rolled onto her back, hiking the blanket under her chin. “I love the end of that movie.”

“Me too,” I said sarcastically.

“Jake Ryan is so romantic.” Her voice was all breathy.

“Why, because he brought the girl a birthday cake on her birthday? Duh.”

“It’s not about the cake and the candles. It’s because he thought about what she would like and did it. He’s sweet and thoughtful.”

So there I was, standing in front of the picnic table waiting for Tweet. My heart pumping harder and faster in my chest as my stomach rode waves of nausea. My mind flipped back and forth constantly. Was this a good idea? Maybe not. What if I kissed her wrong? I did a quick search on the internet on how to kiss. I was pretty sure I got the gist of it, although some of the stuff that came up freaked me out. I was excited about her coming, then scared to death, then excited, then doubted she would even show up.
Tweet had been so unpredictable lately.

“You and Me” by Lifehouse drifted from my iPod that was set up on the table. A huge smile crossed my face when I heard the gravel surrounding the picnic table crunch behind me. After a couple of deep breaths trying to calm my excitement and nerves, I turned around. The breaths were pointless because the second I saw her they rushed out of me. The hum that started in the center of my chest quickly spread over my entire body. My eyes doubled in size and stayed glued to her. I felt my jaw go slack.
Wow
, played on a continuous loop in my head. I may have said it out loud, I wasn’t sure. Everything else was a blur except the girl in front of me.

I had changed into my black Nike basketball shorts, white T-shirt, and Nike Air Max sneakers with my favorite Red Sox baseball cap twisted backward on my head. Tweet had dressed up. She wore a light green dress that covered her legs, but left her arms completely bare. The front of the dress was just low enough that I could see the top of her boobs, especially with the deep breaths she was taking. Her hair was up with a few stray pieces falling down her cheeks.

I stepped to the side revealing the picnic table. The stunned expression on her face caused the air to return to my lungs, making my chest puff out with pride.

Nailed it!

I hated shopping, so when I asked my mom earlier if we could stop by Target after my dentist appointment she was more than a little confused. I told her Tweet was helping me with a school project and having a picnic was my way of thanking her. Mom simply tilted her head to one side, said, “Ah,” and pulled me into a tight hug right there in the parking lot. Thankfully, she never asked for more details. Mom was awesome.

Tweet was so focused on the table that she didn’t notice when I picked up the wildflowers and hid them behind my back. The flowers were Mom’s idea.

Walking toward Tweet, I cleared my throat, grabbing her attention. I brought my arm around and held the flowers in front of her. “These are for you.”

She blinked several times as her gaze went back and forth from my eyes to the flowers. She gently took them from me as if they were made of glass, raised them up to her nose, and inhaled. I heard and felt the pulsing of my heartbeat as it crawled up my neck and into my ears. The hair on my arms popped up one by one sending a prickling sensation down to the tips of my fingers. I wanted to grab her right then and start practicing, but she deserved better than my horny ass attacking her. Shoving my hands deep inside my side pockets, I rocked back and forth on my heels, trying to get a grip on my hormones.

“You look really pretty, Tweet.”

The pale pink on her cheeks darkened. “Thanks. What is all this?” she asked, raising her chin toward the table.

Following her gaze, I answered, “I wanted to thank you for helping me out. I know it’s a lot to ask.” I threw a slight smile her way.

The look in her eyes went from shock to sadness. No one else would have caught it, but I did. I noticed everything about Tweet, even the tiniest things. There was a slight quiver in her bottom lip. I had no idea what just happened to cause this sudden shift. All I knew was that I had this overwhelming urge to take her in my arms and hold her.