Page 48 of Mr. Picture Perfect
“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t pass out on the curb,” I explain. “It can be dangerous. There’s a probability you could have fallen and hit your head on something if left out here alone.”
He appears to be thinking it over. “I’m sorry for lying, Noah. I guess I …dotend to keep the truth close to my chest sometimes. I don’t like everyone to know the really personal stuff.” He gazes up at me. “But you’re not just anyone. Of course you noticed why I really left. I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re always so … observant.”
“Doesn’t take a detective,” I mumble.
His lips curl as he continues to stare at me. “So what you’rereallytrying to communicate to me, Noah … is that you care.”
I stare back. “What?”
“You came just to make sure I wasn’t lying out here like a log on the curb. You knew the real reason I excused myself. You cared enough to get up from the table, crawl out of that corner Nadine trapped you in, and check on me. You didn’t have to, but you did.” A smile finds his lips. “Honestly, I’m touched.”
I go quiet.
Cole always seems to know more than I realize.
He even noticed how I was confined to that corner spot.
“Not to mention the photo shoot earlier,” Cole continues. As he seems to think about it, he smiles even deeper. “Despite how bad Anthony got, you kept your cool and took the shots. You are such a focused and driven person, Noah. And you also think about others.” He meets my eyes again. “I like that about you.”
It’s amazing, what just a few words of praise can do. I find all of my anxieties obliterated. His kind words come like a gift to me, a gift of confidence and appreciation, a gift of acknowledgement.
I think I might be smiling.
A genuine, uninhibited smile.
The very next instant, I think about the kiss. Cole’s face upon mine. My body arrested with too many sensations to process. My bones locked in place. My nerves prickling with elation. My heart thumping unremittingly against my ribcage.
The touch of Cole’s supple lips on mine.
The instant conclusion I came to: that I would never feel this happy ever again.
How did a mere kiss do all of that to me?
How did one touch from Cole’s lips destroy my sense of self?
“Did I say something wrong?” asks Cole, lifting his eyebrows with concern. “Are you okay? Did you malfunction?”
I snap out of it. “Our dinners are getting cold. We …” Flashes of our kiss keep invading my thoughts, cutting my sentences into pieces, like a steak. “We should go back inside. They’re …” I wish he would kiss me again. I want it so badly, I can barely breathe. “They’re likely talking about something else by now, so I’m sure it’s safe for you to come back, too.” We’re alone. We’re out here and we’re alone. It would be so easy. The probability of anything being witnessed is nearly zero. “They have been changing topics roughly every three and a half minutes, which is a bit fast for my taste, but …” I suddenly realize I’m rambling in an effort to stop the constant onslaught of happy kissing visions in my mind. So I shut up, give up, and finally turn to head back inside.
“I meant it when I said I liked you, Noah.”
His words stop me at the door.
My fingers are literally curled upon the handle.
“I was nervous about our interview … about what you might ask.” He speaks to my back. “The truth is, there’s a lot about my personal life I don’t want everyone to know. Such as … what my family’s like. Or why I’m still single. Or … who I like.” He lets out a sigh, scuffs the pavement with his shoe. “Until this past Christmas and the whole Malcolm thing, most people didn’t even know I existed. I live a relatively quiet life with my family, Porridge, and my cousins out in the farmlands. Then the festival happened,wehappened, Nadine and her crazy ideas happened … and now I’m in the middle of this whirlwind I can’t control.” He lets out a nervous chuckle. “A whirlwind that’ll find me in a pair of Speedos on a big stage doing God-knows for a talent show.”
My grip on the door handle tightens further.
Suddenly, I find myself thinking about my mom—and how I try to hide her. Her saccharine shows of affection that have always embarrassed me since I was a child. The Jiggle-Wiggles I couldn’t bear to admit came from her. How I’ve been hiding myself from the world since I can even remember.
I know he has misgivings about doing this pageant. Of course he hasn’t been forthcoming. It makes perfect sense that he treated our interview like a conversation among pals.
It was the only way he could cope with it all.
Not to mentionotherfeelings he apparently has.
“I apologize,” I blurt out.
