Present Perfect(76)

“Does he treat you right, Tweet?” I didn’t look up at him. I just nodded. “If he does anything to hurt you, I’ll break every f*cking bone in his body.”

I knew Noah meant what he said. He would hurt Matt or anybody severely if they did anything to me. I couldn’t help the small smile that crossed my face. I felt safe now that my hero was back in my life.





At 2 am, the door slowly creaked open and Lisa stuck her head in cautiously.

“You can come in,” I told her.

She staggered in, still feeling the effects of the alcohol, but more subdued. She walked straight over to her bed, her eyes half closed, never once glancing in our direction, and plopped down. “Lisa?” I said.

“Mmmhmm?”

“This is Noah.”

Her eyes shot open, she sat straight up, and turned toward us. “The Noah?” She smiled.

Noah glanced over at me looking curious to know what I had told her.

“Yes.”

Noah slid to the edge of the bed and held his hand out to her. “Hey, it’s great to meet you, Lisa.”

She reached and grabbed his hand. “Well, hellooo The Noah. It’s really great to see you…here…with Amanda.” She looked back and forth between us, grinning like a cat that had just caught the canary.

“I guess I should be going.” Noah stood and started collecting the trash from our snack.

Lisa stood and met him. “I’ll take that for you, so you can say toodles to each other.”

She walked to the other side of the room pretending to give us some privacy.

“I’m not sure what time I’m heading back tomorrow. I want to see you before I go, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to. You know?” A look of disappointment crossed his face.

“I know,” I said.

“I’ll definitely talk to you tomorrow.”

“And I’ll be home for Thanksgiving in a few days,” I said.

I guess we had stared at each for an abnormal amount of time because Lisa felt it necessary to clear her throat, loudly. Noah leaned down giving me a kiss on my forehead. I couldn’t help closing my eyes and savoring the feel of his lips on me again.

“Goodnight, Tweet,” he whispered.

“Goodnight, Noah.”

He turned to Lisa. “Goodnight, Lisa.”

“Goodnight, The Noah.”

He smiled as he glanced over at me. He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

Lisa watched Noah until the door closed behind him and then plopped back down on her bed. “Well, well, well…The Noah is licktastic,” she said, cocking one eyebrow up.

“We’re going to try and do the friend thing.”

“That’s good. Start off slow.”

“What you mean start off slow? We’re friends. That’s it. Nothing else is going to happen between us. Noah’s with Brooke and I’m with Matt.”

She made sure I saw her eye roll at the mention of Matt. “Sweetheart, there was so much eye f*cking going on between the two of you, it was like an ophthalmologist’s wet dream. And I saw how you reacted when he kissed you.”

“How?”

“You didn’t just breathe him in. You inhaled him deeply. You didn’t soak him in. You ab-sorb-ed him in.” She laid back down.

“You’re still severely drunk.”

“Mmmhmm. INHALED DEEPLY!”





The next morning I woke up to the sound of my phone chiming with a text.

Noah: Mornin Tweet. How’s your ankle?

Me: A little better. Thx.

Noah: Not able to stop by. Sorry.

Me: That’s ok. Have a safe trip home.

Noah: Last night was amazing. See you in a few days. Look out your door.

Me: Ok. Just a sec.

I got up as quietly as possible so I wouldn’t wake Lisa up. It took me a few minutes to get to the door. My ankle was stiff and still hurt. I cracked the door open slightly. The hallway was empty. I opened the door the rest of the way, looked in both directions down the hall, but still didn’t see anything. My phone chimed.

Noah: Look down.

I looked down. Sitting on the floor was a bag with my coat in it. He remembered to go get it from the frat house. The butterflies in my stomach woke up. I hadn’t felt them in months. Then I saw it. My cheeks started hurting because I was unable to wipe the ridiculous smile off my face. Sitting in front of the bag looking up at me was a windup yellow bird Koosh toy. I picked it up and texted him immediately.

Me: Thx for getting my coat back and for my tweet. I love it. ?

Noah: ;)

I picked up the bag and headed back into my room. I shut the door and leaned back on it. I looked over at Lisa who was wide awake, sitting up in bed. “Noah brought my coat back.”

“That was nice of him. What else you got there?”

“It’s a little windup Koosh bird.” Her eyebrows scrunched together not understanding. “His nickname for me is Tweet. It’s a little tweet.”

“Well, dammit all to hell. If that isn’t the sweetest f*cking thing I’ve ever heard of. I think I just had a little orgasm.”

“You’re crazy.” I put the bag on my bed, tweet on my dresser, and headed to the bathroom to take my shower.