Page 122 of The Kissing Booth
Noah got off the bike first, and then pulled my helmet off gently. I just glared at him, and he chuckled.
‘It wasn’t that bad – come on, admit it,’ he said, smoothing down my flyaway hair.
‘I think I might throw up.’ I wasn’t even exaggerating – much.
He laughed again, steadying me as I climbed off the damn thing. My legs felt like Jell-O and almost gave way beneath me. Linking his fingers through mine, Noah opened up the seat of the bike, taking out a big blanket, the kind you’d have for a picnic. He tossed it over his shoulder and spoke before I could ask what the blanket was for.
Surely – surely, I thought, we weren’t on the verge of a breakup. It didn’t make sense.
‘Come on. We don’t want to be late.’
‘Where are we going?’ I asked.
He was already walking up the hill, towing me along too.
‘Noah! Where are we going?’
‘Now who’s the impatient one?’ he laughed, squeezing my hand.
It didn’t take us long to reach the top. And when we did, he let go of my hand and spread the blanket out on the grass underneath a big oak tree that leaned over at an angle, its branches hanging down low enough that the leaves grazed the top of my head.
He sat on the blanket, patting the space next to him. ‘Come on, then.’
Frowning a little in confusion, I slowly sat down next to him.
Then I saw what we’d come for.
This place overlooked half the city, and you could see the beaches and the ocean. The view of the city alone was pretty astounding, with its twinkling lights. But with the sunset, the sky was stained red, and the thin bands of cloud were pink and silver. It was beautiful. The sunset reflected in the sea too, turning the dark blue water red and yellow and pink. It was breathtaking: the sun looked so big, dipping down behind the skyline of the city. It was quiet, too – there was no noise from the city, or from the surf on the beach. Just the breeze rustling the leaves over our heads.
‘Wow,’ I breathed. There really wasn’t any other word for it – justwow.
‘I know. Told you you’d like it.’ Noah bumped my shoulder, and when I tore my eyes away from the landscape to look at him, he was smiling at me, one of his real smiles that showed his dimple and made his eyes light up even more.
‘It’s amazing,’ I said quietly.
‘Yeah, you are,’ Noah murmured.
I was silent for a second before I laughed. ‘You’re so cheesy.’
‘You love it really,’ he teased, bumping my shoulder again.
‘I can’t believe you actually brought me here to watch the sunset. It’s so... so romantic.’
‘I told you, Elle, I’m going to do things right this time. And I knew you’d like it. You’re just that kind of girl. And it’s not even over yet. Give it fifteen, twenty minutes,’ he said after checking his watch.
‘What happens then?’
He chuckled, avoiding answering, and with his free hand tilted my face to kiss me. It started out as another soft kiss that made my heart melt, but soon enough I had my fingers knotted in his hair, and his hands were on my back, holding me tight.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but at some point he lay me down and was half on top of me, still kissing me. There were sparks dancing through me like crazy and my head felt ready to explode. I was kissing him like a drowning person, like he was my air; and he was kissing me back in just the same way. It was like this should be a thing of fairy tales, but it wasn’t. This was real, and it was all happening to me.
Hell, even the fireworks between us when we kissed seemed real. Like they were exploding right over my head—
I broke the kiss, and Noah sat up slightly, both of us looking out at the view. The sky was darker now – not pitch black or even inky blue, but it was still dark enough. The glittering rainbows of fireworks were just disappearing, fading away.
Another few went up, exploding and whistling, then bursting out into a pattern of green and gold, and blue and pink.
‘Oh my gosh,’ I breathed.
