Page 60 of Mr. Picture Perfect
That leaves me to just stand here like a coatrack in the center of my immaculate room.
“Looks clean enough,” he says, then starts to circle the room. “Much, much neater than mine.” He stops by the shelf above my desk, which he seems to find interesting. “Wow. Are these mini figurines? You collect these?”
“Um … yeah, sort of, not really.”
He squints back at me. “So … is that a yes, or a …?”
“I used to play D&D. Well, sort of D&D, kind of. Back when I had friends to play with. If you can even call them friends. Back in school. Sort of.”
“Oh, wow. I don’t know the first thing about D&D, but these look amazing.” Cole walks up to the shelf to get a closer look. He glances back at me with a playful smirk. “Can I be … your knight in shining armor …? You like fantasy stuff, Noah?”
“What are we doing?”
He pauses. “Hanging out. About to eat cookies.”
“What are we really doing?”
He puts his hands in his pockets and leans back against my desk. “Did you … not want me to stay over, Noah?”
“I … I didn’t say that.”
Cole meets my eyes. “So youdowant me to stay over?”
My eyes dart to the bed.
The sheets, despite our efforts to smooth them out before my mom came in, still have wrinkles.
Those sheets are like my life right now. No matter how much I try to smooth it out, I see wrinkles and messes everywhere I look.
Of course I want him to stay.
But isn’t it normal for me to also be a bit freaked out?
Cole pushes away from the desk, slowly crosses the room, and stops in front of me. “Noah … I totally understand if you don’t feel comfortable with me staying here. You’ve had a really long day. You’re exhausted. You probably just want time to yourself and—”
“No.”
He freezes. “No …?”
“I’m …”
I close my eyes and picture the alternative. Me, in my room, alone with my thoughts. All of my thoughts being Cole and our series of interrupted kisses. While lying on a bed. That we just made a mess out of. That bed and my thoughts and my rampant, recently-acquired appetites.
My tone changes completely. “I’m glad … that you’re here.”
“You are?”
“Yes.”
When I open my eyes, I find Cole gazing at me. Smiling.
He still doesn’t know the power in his smile.
Or maybe he does. Maybe he is very aware of the power in his smile, and that’s exactly why he uses it. It is a weapon that he has learned over the course of his life can get him anything he wants, a weapon that happens to be conveniently attached to his face.
And with just a few muscles, his weapon is unsheathed, then casts its magic.
I stare at him with unwavering focus.
