Page 107 of The Kissing Booth
‘That’s why I was there,’ he said, those blue eyes piercing into mine. ‘Trying to make it up to her.’
‘Lee, he had a corsage and everything,’ I put in.
‘I don’t care,’ he exclaimed, turning to face me. ‘Elle, he was a jerk to you. Left you in the lurch when I found out, and couldn’t have been less supportive.’
‘It’s not like that,’ Noah put in, scowling. ‘And you know it. I tried calling, and—’
‘It makes no difference, Noah,’ Lee spat. ‘The fact is, you weren’t there when she really needed you. You didn’t try and talk things through properly. You left her to deal with everything while you bailed and went off on that damn motorbike of yours. You had her lying to me, lying to her dad, and for what? A bit of fun? Some action?’
‘Lee...’
‘Why don’t we ask her, huh? Why don’t we see,’ Noah said, the muscle in his jaw jumping, ‘what Elle wants?’
They looked at me. They waited.
I looked at Noah. All I had to do was look at him, and Lee sighed in defeat.
‘Elle, seriously, do you really think that’s the best thing to—’
‘Noah,’ I interrupted, ‘do you think you could give us a minute?’
He shrugged. ‘Sure.’ He walked a couple of yards away from us, and leaned against the wall.
I turned to Lee again, dropping my voice to a whisper. ‘I know you think it’s stupid and reckless, but... I want to be with him. Itfeelslike the right thing to do.’
Lee’s mouth twisted sideways thoughtfully. I could see the cogs turning in his mind. ‘If you guys are just hooking up... I mean, you always seemed so be the kind of girl for commitment rather than a fling. I worry about you, Shelly.’
I smiled calmly, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. ‘I know you do. And we’re doing it right this time,’ I echoed Noah’s words from earlier.
‘As in...?’
‘She means we’re dating,’ Noah said, and his voice carried so that we could hear him. I blushed, looking at my toes before turning back to Lee, whose eyebrows were raised as high as they could possibly go.
‘With your approval,’ I added. ‘Only if you’re okay with it.’
‘Wait, this is for real? Seriously?’
I nodded. Noah, who had wandered back toward us, said, ‘Yeah. Why? You got a problem with that, little bro?’
Lee wasn’t looking at him; his eyes were trained on me, and they creased at the corners with the hint of a smile. ‘If any girl was gonna change him...’ His voice sounded slightly strained. He wasn’t happy with this. But he was accepting it.
‘I’m going to head back in before things start looking suspicious. See you later, Elle.’ Noah nodded at me before going back inside. I took a deep breath, unsure of what Lee might say now that Noah wasn’t within earshot.
‘And you said he was never going to change,’ I said jokingly, pushing his arm lightly.
He didn’t laugh. Instead, he sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose for a second before speaking. He always did that when he was upset – like at his granddad’s funeral, and when his dog, Patches, died when we were ten.
‘Are you really happy, though, Shelly? I know what Noah’s like. Are you sure he didn’t just sweet-talk you into this? You know what he’s like too. You’rereallyhappy with him?’
‘I am,’ I told him. ‘I know you’ll call me silly and cheesy and corny for saying this, but he makes me feel good inside. It’s like – it doesn’t matter what’s going on in my life, because when I am with him, I can forget about all that. I can just enjoy being there with him, and I’m happy. I’m happy, Lee. And I know it’s stupid, because we’ll probably just end it when he goes to college, but...’
I trailed off, not knowing what else to say. I couldn’t find the words to explain how I felt about Noah; I just hoped that Lee would at least try to understand.
Well, the heart wants what the heart wants.
Except this wasn’t a matter of the heart. Because I didn’t love him. Of course I didn’t.Thatwould just be ridiculous. No. I definitely didn’t love him.
‘So... what, are you trying to tell me you’re in love with him?’
