Perfect Match (12 page)

And there he was; a couple of inches apart. My heart sunk at that thought. This is going to be quite a night!

I slowly moved as far as I could, trying not to make any noise. The fact is that I didn’t trust myself with him. And I don’t know why I felt that, since he was supposed to be my
friend
.

All those thoughts came in my mind in a matter of seconds, and I sighed. Matt didn’t seem to care about it too much. He was under the cover with a hand under his head, and his eyes closed, and his chest moved rhythmically.

I closed my eyes and hoped I’ll get some sleep tonight.

*

There was an annoying sound somewhere… It was too early for that! Or was it? I felt sunshine on my back, and sighed. I forgot to pull the curtains again! I hated them!

I moved for an inch, then I noticed someone’s arms wrapped around me. And my pillow was rather hard. Then I remembered.
Matt
.

Opening my eyes I noticed I was in my bed, Monica’s bed, with Matt wrapped around me. My head was on his shirtless chest, and his six pack abs looked pretty incredible from here and… What? He’s your friend! Morgan would kill me. No! Morgan
is
gonna kill me! Matt’s hands were around me, and he seemed so peaceful in his sleep. I smiled to myself as I slowly caressed his cheek. I was dangerously close to him, and I heard the annoying sound again. This time harder.

Matt’s eyes opened. He looked pretty confused for seeing me this close. I shifted uncomfortable, and he stretched his arms, yawning. The sound didn’t stop.

“Could you, please, open that damn door?” Matt asked me, pulling my pillow on his head. “I need more sleep.”

The… door? Oh my god! Rick!

I jumped out of bed, stumbling over Matt’s shirt, and almost falling on the floor. I heard Matt’s laugh from the bed but I didn’t stop to say something and I run to the door, running a hand through my hair.

“Finally you decided to show up!” my mother’s voice is heard as soon as I open the door. “And you open the door that way?” she complained as she stepped in.

I look at myself and realized I was only wearing my oversized t-shirt and my hair was a mess. Rick came in with a bag which looked rather empty and pulled me into a bear hug, ruffling my already ruffled hair.

“Hey, big sis,” he said, with his elegant British accent. He always used it, to seem cool. “Nice,” he said, checking me out. I rolled my eyes.

I heard a noise from my bedroom. Oh, crap! I hope Matt wouldn’t decide to go out. Shirtless. From my bedroom.
God, no!

“I can’t stay, because we’ve waited outside for a half an hour for you, young lady, to wake up,” mother scolded me. “Your father decided to wait for me in the car, but I needed to see you.”

“I missed you too, mother,” I told her with a smile, and Rick giggled.

“What did you say?” mom asked. “It does not matter. You take care of him! And Emma, how long it has been since you last ate? You look so skinny, young lady! No partying for you two! And Monica isn’t here?” her voice was actually sweet when she asked about Monica. It reminded me of Mrs. Wesley. I laughed at the thought.

Rick lifted his head and looked suddenly interested. I shook my head and heard him sigh.

“She is in Canada with her boyfriend. She left yesterday.”

“Then it will be just the two of you,” mom assumed. I nodded, without saying something about Matt.
Please, don’t come out!
“Take care of him, Emma. You know how rebel he has become lately…”

“Of course, mother,” I said, hugging her. “Have a good trip, and give dad a hug.”

“Sure I will, darling. Richard, be good, will you? Don’t cause any trouble to your big sister. Have a Merry Christmas, darling,” she said, hugging me again. She hugged Rick again as he rolled his eyes. Then she left.

I left out a sigh, and sat in the couch, running a hand through my hair. Rick sat next to me and put his feet on the coffee table as he opened the TV.

“Dude…” I started complaining when I heard my bedroom’s door. Just on the edge!

Rick and I turned at the same time to see Matt standing in the middle of the living room only with his jeans on, with ruffled hair which looked so hot on him and a tired look on his face. Didn’t he get any sleep last night?

“Okay…” Rick started, taking his feet off the coffee table and climbing out the sofa. “And you are?” he asked roughly.

“Um, Rick, he’s my best friend, Matt. Matt, he’s my little brother, Richard.”

“Best friend?” Rick laughed as he shook Matt’s hand. “With benefits or something? Because you know, I never thought I’ll see this day. My perfect big sister having…”

“Matt and I aren’t friends with benefits, Richard!” I complained. Matt just laughed and entered the bathroom.

“Sure as hell. Why isn’t Monica here?” he asked me, sitting again on the couch.

“Because she is on vacation with her boyfriend, Richard. You will stay here,” I told him, showing him the room.

“And the boy toy?” Rick asked as he entered the room.

“Boy toy?” Matt asked laughing. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but never a boy toy, Rick. I think I like you.”

“I’m not sure I like you,” Rick replied turning his back on him. “The room is okay, Em. I like it.”

I smiled when he called me “Em”. I went and hugged him. There was no one in the world that understood me better than Rick. We had a really special relationship, although he usually ended up making fun of me. Although he was my little brother, there wasn’t a big difference, since he was one year and a half younger. He protected me at school every time, and always seemed more mature than he was. And people always thought he was the eldest.

“I’ve missed you, Em,” he said lifting me up his shoulder, and ignoring my screaming. “Mom was right, you’re incredibly skinny,” he walked with me until we reached the living room.

“Have you been working out?” I asked him when he finally left me on the couch.

“Of course, baby, these muscles don’t just grow themselves,” he said showing me his arm. “What do you think?” he asked proudly. “Hot or not?”

“Do you actually think I’ll say that you are hot?” I asked him laughing. “You’re my little brother.”

“I’m anything but little, sis,” he scolded me with a smirk. Yeah, he got the all the confidence.

“Ems, I have to go now,” Matt said, coming back from the bedroom with his shirt on, and his hair looking as perfect as ever. “I think you’ll be safe now, right?” he asked, biting his lip before he started laughing again. “I’m sorry. I’m mean.”

“What’s he talking about?” Rick asked. “Um… Matt? Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Matt went at the same high school as we did. He was my Prom date, actually.”

“Oh.”

What?
Oh
? What does that mean? I felt the tension in the air, or maybe it was just me. Matt just shrugged, decided not to let my brother ruin his good mood. God, he looked good in the morning.
Where is that coming from, Emma West?

“I’ll call you later, okay, Ems? And you’re safe now, you’re running out of Supernatural episodes,” he joked as he kissed my forehead, and headed out the door before I said something.

“What?” I asked Rick when I noticed his insistent look. “There is nothing between me and Matt. He just came because I was afraid last night and…”

“And you had no other friend to call, right?” he asked almost laughing. “You’re crazy about him, Em. And he’s pretty much into you, too. More than that. He didn’t let me annoy him. If he did, he would’ve left sooner. He’s hard to intimidate, that one. And he’s not bad looking at all. He really works out…”

“There is
nothing
between me and Matt,” I repeated, cutting him off.

“Dude, I remember how much you’ve cried after Prom. It was because of him! What did he do to you? Because I can kill him now.”

“Stop it, Hulk,” I laughed. “He didn’t do anything. My Prom was actually perfect thanks to him.”

“But you do think he’s hot, don’t you?” I punched him in the shoulder, and laughed. “If you don’t, you’ll need some analysis. You can’t just… sleep next to that one and not feel something. Just saying. Technically impossible. It’s pure chemistry!”

“Just shut up,” I scolded him.

“So you do like him?” he insisted.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I started telling him everything that had happened between Matt and me. I haven’t told anyone about Matt and what happened between us, but I knew Rick would never judge me. He understood me.

And he was dying to know this. He was the most curious person in the world. And I really needed to share this with someone. I’ve been thinking to tell Gabrielle, but never knew how to start. “You know Prom, when your awesome boyfriend dumped you for your best friend? Yeah, I’ve had sex with my Prom date, Matt Nicholls. Then I decided I made something really stupid and he definitely doesn’t want something serious and I can’t allow myself to get hurt.” Although I had.

“So… My perfect big sister had a friend with benefits!” Rick said, pretty excited about this. I gave him an angry look, and he laughed. “I was just teasing, sorry. Why would you not try with him? I mean, he’s here now, Emma. Don’t be stupid. And you can’t tell me you two are just friends.”

“I do have a boyfriend.”

“Really?” Rick sounded really surprised.

“Why the tone of surprise? Couldn’t I get a boyfriend or what, Mr. Perfect?”

“No, look…” he looked actually pretty serious. Rick was never serious. “I’ve been here a couple of hours, and seen your boy toy walking shirtless in your apartment… Boy toy left… And the only think you’ve talked about was him. So… You do not love your boyfriend. Doesn’t matter if you lie to yourself, Emma.”

“No, Morgan and I are actually…”

“Sis, I know you better than you know yourself, remember? Just finish with this Morgue guy.”

“His name is Morgan!” I corrected him, crossing my arms and trying to look mad, but a smile gave me away. “Matt called him the same,” I whispered and Rick started laughing.

Chapter 11

A very Matt Christmas

~*~
E
mma
W
est
~*~

The next two days went by really quick, mostly because I was busy with the preparations for Christmas. And I was going crazy, because I had no idea what should I get Matt for Christmas. Of course, it was really easy to get Rick the latest FIFA video game. He was into football and all kind of stuff. But Matt? I had no idea what I could give him. A t-shirt or something would be too impersonal, but then again if I chose something different, it would be too personal.

Rick practically didn’t give a crap about Christmas, and he was always out. I’d introduced him to the rest of my friends, so he started hanging out with Curtis and Marshall, and he was never home.

I was about to get my phone and call Rick to tell him to move his pathetic ass home and help me, when I heard the doorbell. I was surrounded by glass ornaments and other tree decorations, and it got me a few minutes to escape. Running a hand through my messy, ruffled hair, I opened the door and saw Matt standing there, as perfect as always, wearing a blue suit. Suit?

“Seeing something you like?” he smirked, and I moved aside to let him in, rolling my eyes.

“Definitely,” I replied sarcastically. “You’re here to help me decorate the Christmas tree, aren’t you?” I asked using the puppy eyes. I knew that always worked, especially with Matt.

He opened his mouth to say something, and then he looked at all the decorations in the middle of the living room, and the empty Christmas tree was standing in a corner. He looked at me and sighed, running a hand through his perfect hair.

“Sure,” he said a few seconds afterwards. “So, I’ve met this guy, and he said I should come to an interview for a company… And we had lunch today to talk about it. And it seems great. Do I look like an idiot wearing this?” he asked sitting on the couch.

“That’s great, Matt!” I said sitting next to him. “And yes, you kinda do,” I laughed, knowing he won’t believe a single word. He was too confident.

“You don’t mean that,” Matt said tucking a strand of hair behind my eyes and smirked.

“Maybe I do,” I told him sticking my tongue at him. “Would you help me or what? Rick isn’t even home. I haven’t seen him today, as a matter of fact. He’s MIA,” I sighed.

Matt laughed and took off his jacket, and we started decorating the Christmas tree. I did most part of the work, because he was just joking around and fooling himself as he always did.

He helped me with the garlands as he climbed on the couch to stick them to the wall, I think Monica would go a little crazy if she saw this, but then again she wasn’t here. While doing that, he kept saying that he would fall and break his neck and it will be my fault.
Yes, sure.

We finished about two hours later, because Matt couldn’t be serious more than 5 minutes, and then he would start laughing about some tree decorations. But I was a good friend and I didn’t say anything. He came next to me, watching proudly everything we’ve done. It was actually perfect. Even Monica with her perfect decorating skills would be impressed. He put his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him, and I rest my head on his shoulder.

“Um… Emma? Isn’t that mistletoe above us?” he asked more like a whisper. My heart just stopped when I realized his words. Was he for real? I turned my head to face him and he still had his hand on my back and now he was even closer than I planned. “It’s a tradition, you know,” he whispered so softly I felt my entire body melting. I couldn’t see nor hear anything else other than him.

He couldn’t be serious about this. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I couldn’t feel my legs as he slowly caressed my burning cheeks. I refused to look into his blue eyes, knowing I’d just lose myself in them. Why was Matt doing this?! He leaned into me, his breath on my cheek gave me goose bumps. The moment his lips touched mine, I felt nothing else mattered; it was like this was the only thing that mattered, like I would disappear once he stopped kissing me. He pulled me closer, his right hand still on my back while the other one cupped my check as he deepened the kiss, passionate and slow at the same time. I wrapped my hands around his neck, maybe more because I couldn’t even stand on my feet.