Presently Perfect (Perfect #3) by Alison G. Bailey Read Free Book Online

in my arms and hold her.
    Lightening the mood, I walked closer and nudged her arm with my elbow. “Stop standing there being such a girl,” I teased. “It’s just our regular old table. Sit down.”
    “Thank you, Noah. This is… it’s…” She was speechless.
    She had gotten her Sixteen Candles moment and I was her Jake.
    We sat at the table in silence, listening to music and staring at each other. Any nerves I had were gone. This wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable and natural.
    “Can I ask you something?” she said, breaking the silence.
    “You can ask me anything, Tweet.”
    “Do you think it’s weird for us to be best friends?”
    Of all the things I thought she would ask that wasn’t even in the ballpark of possibilities. I felt the lump in my throat grow. “What do you mean ‘weird’?”
    Shrugging her shoulders, she stated, “Beth thinks it’s weird.”
    I wondered if Beth had been filling Tweet’s head with stupid petty girl shit. After years of being compared to her older sister, Emily, it took only a few words from someone to cause her self-esteem to bottom out completely. I hated that she thought so little of herself, that she doubted herself, and was doubting us.
    Something inside of me clicked. In that moment all my confusion disappeared. It didn’t feel strange sitting across from Tweet on a date or giving her flowers. I didn’t feel like a pervert for liking the way she looked in her dress. I didn’t know if it was the way the light from the sunset lit up her face or the sweet shy smile she gave me, but something was different. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. My gaze intensified. I wanted her not only to see but feel how serious and confident I felt in what I was about to say.
    Reaching across the table, I placed her hand in mine, and laced our fingers together. “It doesn’t feel weird to me. When I’m with you everything feels perfect. I can’t picture anyone else being my best friend and I don’t want to.”
    Our eyes stayed focused on each other for a few seconds before hers dropped down to our joined hands. Her fingers began slipping away from mine. I tightened my grip, causing her head to pop up.
    “I feel the same way.” Her voice was soft and shaky.
    I looked into her beautiful teal eyes filling with water. My throat felt as if it were closing up, causing my chest to pump harder for air. I hated when Tweet cried. Maybe she believed we wereweird. Couldn’t she feel whatever this was between us or was I just being a big pussy?
    A deep sigh escaped her lips as a tear spilled over and down her cheek. Raising her hand that I had been holding for the past five minutes, I brought it to my lips and placed a soft kiss on the inside of her palm. My actions were pure instinct. I had no idea what I was doing.
    “Don’t cry, Tweet,” I whispered.
    The sound of a car horn cut through the thick air that surrounded us, breaking the moment. I needed to get this night back on track and lighten the mood.
    Raising my free hand, I pointed my index finger in the air, smirked, and said, “I believe our dinner has arrived.” Then I got up and walked to the waiting car parked at the entrance of the park.
    By the time I got back to the table with the pizza, Tweet’s smile had returned. We quickly fell back into us, laughing and talking about anything and everything. We ate pizza and then downed a handful of breath mints. Practice time had arrived.
    Adrenaline shot through my body as I pounded the table with the palm of my hands, like a drum. I was nervous, but not because I was about to kiss Tweet, my best friend. I was nervous because I was about to kiss my girl for the first time. I’d been calling her my girl for a few months, mostly teasing her with the name. I wasn’t teasing anymore. Tweet wasmy girl. I stopped drumming and looked at her. Her eyebrows rose up high, she smiled, waiting for me to get the show on the road.
    “I guess standing would be the best way to do this,” I