Perfect Match (26 page)

“Oh, okay,” Matt replied letting go of my hand. “My mom would totally love this, though.”

“I know. That’s why I don’t want to…”

“You don’t like my mom?” Matt turned to face me and he was closer than I thought, his face only inches apart and my heart started beating faster.

“No, no! No, no, no. I-I… No, no, I like her!”

“Oh, god, you’re so cute, love!” Matt exclaimed as he cupped my face with his hands and planted a kiss on my lips. “You’re stuttering like Peter Parker in
The Amazing Spider-Man
. Remember when they were on the balcony and he started with his ‘Ok, ok, ok, ok, I gotta tell you this one thing’ speech, remember?”

“Yes, but he was so cute!” I said and he laughed.

“And so are you. You’re actually cuter than Andrew Garfield, considering you’re… Emma and he’s a guy and I’m definitely not into guys. But I can totally say I’m into you,” he whispered before kissing me again.

*

Everyone knew that in February used to rain a lot here. I knew that when I lived here and it was one of my favorite things. Of course, it’s not as awesome to be rained while going to a party. That happened to me and Matt when we decided to go back to Connecticut, after that trip in New York.

The weather has been really great lately, it was sunny and it felt like home, but we weren’t as used to rain as we used to be when we lived here.

So when we were walking around the streets we both knew so well, it started pouring.

“Hey,” he said placing his arms around me and looking deep into my eyes.

I just wanted to hurry and avoid being totally soaked when I got to Hilary’s house, but then Matt caught my arm and pulled me into him. And I can say that was the best moment. The way the rain was pouring down on us and Matt’s eyes being locked on mine. How his soft lips felt on mine and his soaked body being pressed on mine. Yeah, we’re gonna catch a cold after this. But it’s totally worth it.

“Matt,” I whispered between kisses hating that this was so freaking romantic since it was Valentine’s Day and we were caught in the rain kissing and although it was so cold I could feel nothing but the warmth of his arms around me and be aware only of him. “It’s raining,” I complained and he laughed.

“I think I do know that,” he whispered with a shrug and pressed his lips against mine.

How was I supposed to refuse kissing Matt? Even though we’re gonna be late for Hilary’s Valentine’s Day part. I was freezing and trembling because of the cold, but still couldn’t move one inch away from him.

The last few days were truly amazing. I spent a lot of time with Matt, especially since my mom wanted to invite him and his family at dinner daily. I hate that I couldn’t actually tell them that something was going on between us… I wasn’t sure what this was, but we were going to a party as a couple and now we were kissing in the chilly, pouring rain. What more could I ask for?

“Matt, let’s go!” I told him taking his hand in mine and he laughed and shook his hand.

“Hey, why am I the only romantic here? It’s Valentine’s Day, love. It’s raining. It’s awesome,” he said as he kissed me again.

“If you’re gonna catch a cold I’m telling you, I’m not taking care of you!” I said and he nodded and I kissed him again.

“Don’t worry, I’m nice enough and I’ll take care of you if you catch a cold,” he whispered and I laughed.

The street was empty and we were the only crazy people kissing in the middle of the sidewalk when we were supposed to be at a party. I felt my clothes so tight on me because of the rain, but I didn’t care anymore. His kisses were addictive and even thought this was going on for almost a week now, I couldn’t get used to it.

It was magical the fact that I could kiss him when he was telling me boring stuff and I didn’t have to hear them out and I could just hold his hand whenever I want and stare at him all day long.

“Okay, you just can’t get enough, can’t you?” Matt laughed as he cupped my face with his hands. “Let’s go, Ems.”

I nodded as we started walking slowly in the rain, Matt stopping ever five feet to kiss me again, but I didn’t complain. We made to Hilary’s house around 8 PM although we should’ve been there at 7.

“Emma! God you’re so… wet!” Hilary yelled when she saw us on her porch. “And you brought… Matt. Obviously,” she continued checking Matt out and I elbowed her ribs and pushed her inside, and Matt followed.

“So how come you’re throwing a Valentine’s Day party?” I asked Hil when we entered the bathroom and she put a towel around me.

“You know, I’ve been talking to people from our high school and I said a get together would be good. And I’m
so
happy you could make it! And… Matt? Really? I could’ve sworn that you and Matt would end up together. I told you at Prom, but you were so blind to see! So you’re dating now?”

“Um… It’s… Definitely something,” I answered with a shy smile, considering I haven’t actually talked to Hilary in years.

I can’t tell her everything about my life now since we’re just former classmates. I don’t know what happened to her since she graduated college, I don’t even know about her college life. Gabrielle and Monica were my best friends now and I thought Hilary wouldn’t like to hear something about Gabrielle.

“So how’s Gabrielle?” she suddenly asked. “I’ve seen your pictures together on Facebook. She’s still a bitch, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, a bitch who casually dated Shia LaBeouf and it’s about to date Jensen Ackles,” I replied with a shrug. “You don’t know her, okay?”

“So you’re really bff’s right?”

“Yes, we’re
bff’s
, Hilary,” I answered. “I’ll go find Matt, okay?” I told her and she nodded as I handed her the towel.

I walked out of the bathroom trying to not kill her for saying that my friend is a bitch. She wasn’t. Okay, Gabrielle had her moments, but everyone around here had to get over it! It had been over five years since we graduated high school, and we were different people now. I don’t know about anyone else, I just know Gabrielle’s different. She’s mature and an amazing friend who is about to date one of my favorite actors. Because even though she’s technically still dating Shia, we know that is gonna happen, right?

Hilary’s house was crowded, and I was surprised I didn’t remember anyone. Actually, I barely remembered anything from high school. Yeah, I remember my Senior year and the moment I met Matt, but well, how could I forget about the first time when I saw Matt? I remember I was attracted to him, but how could I not be since he was so good looking and charming? I didn’t feel like he was
the
One
, though. I still don’t know about that one, but ever since Prom night I’ve had this unspoken crush on him. I just tried to stop it, considering we could never be a good thing. Because we were friends. But now I’m starting to think I did a huge mistake by avoiding my feelings towards him.

I looked for Matt for about 5 minutes and then I found him in a corner talking to… Curtis? I stared at the blonde haired muscled guy who was caught in a rather interesting discussion with soon-to-be my boyfriend.

What? Matt’s not your boyfriend, stupid,
my conscience announced.

I walked towards them without thinking and Matt’s lips turned into a smile when he saw me.

“Curt, this is my girlfriend, Emma,” Matt said as he wrapped his arm around me and I turned to look at him. “But I do believe you two met, right?”

“Oh… You’re my Gabrielle’s friend, right? So how’s she? Still a bitch?”

“Gabrielle it’s not like that, you selfish jerk,” I replied and Matt’s arm tightened around me.

“Really, Matt? She’s your girlfriend?” he asked with a grin. “You two went to Prom together, right? I think you could’ve chosen better,” Curtis said with a grin and Matt’s fist clenched and I placed my hand on his chest and realized his clothes were still wet.

“Um… Let’s go,” I whispered to Matt and pulled him away from Curtis. “He’s not worth it, okay? Remember what he did to Gaby, right, Matt?”

“Yeah… That’s one of the reasons I wanna wipe away that stupid grin on his face,” he said between his clenched teeth, and I could feel he was angry.

“You should change your clothes or something,” I told him and he shook his hands.

“It’s okay. Let’s dance,” he said and took my arm and pulled me in the center of the room where another couples were slow dancing.

“You’re wet, Nicholls, you seriously should-“

“And you’re hot, Miss West, but I know you can’t do anything about that,” he commented and pulled me into him. “Don’t ruin this, okay? I’ll be fine,” he said and I placed my hands on his shoulders and nodded.

“If anything happens to you, Matt, I will…”

“Say ‘I told you so’? Okay, you can do that,” he said before leaning into me and pressed his lips against mine.

I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him closer to me feeling the warmth of his body on mine as his hands moved slowly on my back and all I could think is the fact that Matt introduced me as his “girlfriend”.

And then I couldn’t focus on anyone else but Matt Nicholls. And the fact that this was the best Valentine’s Day anyone could get.

*

“Hey…” I said as I entered his room and saw him standing underneath a few blankets.

His lips turned into a sweet grin when he saw me and I laughed. I made my way towards his bed and sat next to him as I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, love, I…”

“Told you so,” he finished my sentence and I laughed and nodded.

I couldn’t say anything else because I started laughing and Matt raised an eyebrow at me and it was freaking hilarious. Although the situation wasn’t.

“God, you’re so hot!” I said as I touched his forehead and he smirked.

“Thank you for noticing, baby,” he whispered and I rolled my eyes.

“I
so
told you so, Matthew!” I complained as I placed my arms around him and he moved until he sat more comfortable and he wrapped his arm around me and I left my head on his chest. “I’m so sorry…”

“Why? It’s not your…” he took a pause and coughed. “Not your fault,” he continued and I sighed. “C’mon, baby, you warned me, okay?” he said with a smile. “And it doesn’t matter, still was the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had. I mean, I never really understood the importance of that day…”

“You’re perfect, Matthew,” I whispered and kissed him.

“Nope. I’m far from perfect,” he replied running his hand through my hair. “You’re the perfect one here, Emma, and don’t even try to argue about that one because I’m sick. It’s not human to argue with a sick person, love.”

“Yes, I do agree you can’t argue with delusional people,” I replied as a matter of fact, and he laughed. “So you took your medicine?” I asked and he nodded.

“They’re so awful. I hate them. I wanna go home. There’s so warm and nice…”

“It’s your fault! Normal people don’t just stop and kiss in the rain pretending they’re unbreakable…”

“I’ve seen the movie too! Yeah, kind of weird, but Bruce and I are unbreakable.”

“As I said, delusional,” I sighed and he laughed. “I hate you’re feeling sick,” I told him and kissed his cheek. “You really can’t do anything to feel better? You’ve been like this for the past four days.”

“I don’t know, I just…” he coughed again and my heart literally broke seeing him in pain.

I sat next to him for the past four days since he started feeling sick after Valentine’s Day. I hated that I wasn’t the one who caught a cold, because seeing Matt in pain was far worse than having fever or going through that. These days I had the time to really think about it and analyze the fact that I was now so in love with him I would’ve done absolutely everything for him.

“It’s not your fault, love,” he said again and nodded. “It is entirely my fault and now I’m paying the consequences, but guess what? I’m not sorry at all. I’d kiss you in the rain a thousand times more,” Matt said and I felt my heart stop.

Could this get any better? This was it? This is the best moment of my life and nothing could ever be this good?

Time is gonna pass and I’ll remain with the memory of a perfect moment when we stood in his room and he was sick and told me all the best things anyone could say?

I really can’t think of anything better than this. I didn’t need anything else I just wanted to lay there with him forever and never be taken away from him.

“You’re over analyzing things again,” he sighed and I shook my head. How does he do that?

“No, I was just thinking about this…”

“This meaning… Us?”

“Meaning everything,” I answered and he nodded, waiting for me to continue. “I seriously can’t think of anything better than this,” I managed to tell him and sighed.

“Oh, c’mon, this is just… the beginning, okay?” he said with a laugh. “Our life’s more interesting than me lying in a bed, deathly sick.”

“You’re not… deathly sick, Matthew.”

“Yeah, but I can be dramatic about it, okay? Look, Ems… I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the slightest doubt about this. About you and I. We’re perfect together. And I’ve been thinking about this since I met you. And this is our moment, you know? Although it’s selfish because I’m sick and you could get sick too and then I’ll hate myself for…”

“Oh, shut up,” I said and turned to kiss him.

“I love when you interrupt me like this. It makes me want to keep saying stupid things just to-“he continued before I kissed him against and he pulled me closer to him.

“Matt, I brought you your tea…” Matt’s mother’s voice heard from a few feet away and I jumped out of bed and Matt started laughing.

He still couldn’t understand why I didn’t want our parents to know about us. The truth is neither could I. I didn’t want them to get their hopes up, especially our moms since they wanted us together, and then something to happen, and then would get weird between our families because I know my mom and she would blame his all family. Yeah, I know, it’s just an excuse, but this is the only thing I have left before falling madly in love with him. Excuses.

“God, Emma is such a bliss you’re here now… I really have to go to work and so does Brad and we can’t stay with him. You know, I’m really worried he’s not feeling any better…”