Page 108 of The Kissing Booth
‘No! No – no way,’ I insisted. I should’ve known he’d jump to that conclusion. If I was in love with Noah, then it would be a reasonable explanation for getting back with him, but I wasn’t. Most definitely not.
‘Oh.’ There was a kind of pitying look in his face that I didn’t quite understand. Like he knew something I didn’t.
‘Lee, what—’
‘Look, I don’t agree with this, Shelly. He hurt you really badly, and I don’t think this is going to end well. It’s just not the right thing for you. But if it’s what you really want... I’ll be there to pick up the pieces after, okay?’
I smiled. It wasn’t a big smile, but it was a genuine one, mirroring Lee’s perfectly. ‘Seriously? You’re not mad at me?’
‘No, Shelly...’ He grinned, ‘If it’s what you want, I’ll be here for you at the end of it. I’ll always be here for you.’
I hugged my best friend tight and whispered, ‘Thanks, Lee.’
He squeezed me back. ‘I told you you’d started making me talk like a chick.’
I laughed and said quietly, ‘I love you.’
‘Yeah, I love you too.’ He stepped back and gave me another smile. ‘Come on. We don’t want to miss desert. I want my cheesecake – if I’m not there, I know Dixon will steal it.’
Laughing, I followed him as he marched back toward our table.
‘Everything alright with you guys?’ Cam was looking at me with concern.
‘You sure you’re okay, Elle?’ Dixon asked.
I caught Rachel mouthing to Lee, ‘Your brother?’ and he nodded in response, offering her a helpless sort of look. Understanding dawned on her face and she smiled encouragingly at me.
I turned around and looked over to Noah’s table. He was laughing at something one of the guys had said, but he was looking over at me. He caught my eye and winked before turning back.
‘Yeah,’ I said with a smile. ‘Everything’s great.’
And at that moment, it really, truly was.
Chapter 24
‘UH, CAN Ihave your attention please, everyone?’
Silence fell instantly on the mix of dancing bodies. I’d been dancing with the girls for the past twenty minutes, but no matter how many times I tried excusing myself, I couldn’t seem to get free. They just kept wanting to dance some more, or started up an interesting conversation. The one time I got out to ‘grab a drink’, I hadn’t seen Noah anywhere.
And now he was up on the platform, in front of the microphone in the place of the lead singer.
And everybody was silent. All eyes on him.
‘Uh, can I have your attention please, everyone?’
I couldn’t explain why, but my heart started racing and I could hardly breathe. I didn’t have a clue what Noah was doing up there in front of everyone, but my body reacted with anxiety, like it knew what was about to happen before I did.
He pulled his mask up off his face, so that there was no doubt about who it was.
I gulped. What the hell was he doing?
‘Now, the only reason I’m up here tonight is because I’m trying to show someone that I’m sorry. See, there’s this girl. I can’t get her out of my mind. And I did some pretty crappy things to her and I’m making up for it. So... Elle? Where are you?’
Everybody just turned, almost as one, to look at me. Even with my mask on, they all knew where to find me. I fiddled with the folds in the material of my dress, shooting Noah a glare through my mask.
‘Can we get a spotlight over here?’ he called out, pointing, and I heard the teasing tone in his voice.
Somehow, somebody found a spotlight to blind me with. I squinted, holding a hand up over my eyes.
