Page 140 of The Kissing Booth
The bell tinkled again, and I glanced over my shoulder to see a woman walk in. ‘Hey, Mabel,’ she said to the shop owner. I turned back to the tray.
Noah reached over me and plucked out another square at random. He made a choking noise, and when I looked at him, his face was scrunched up in disgust, but he swallowed hard. ‘Coconut.’
I laughed. ‘Oh, right. Well, you should’ve read the label, idiot.’
‘I tried,’ he muttered in my ear.
I stifled a laugh, and hesitated, my fingers drumming the air as I tried to decide which one to try. White chocolate? Dark chocolate? One with sprinkles? A coffee one, a fruity one, a solid chocolate one?
The cursive scrawl ofHoneycombcaught my eye, and I picked that one out. I was half glad of the old lady’s writing being so hard to read. If I knew what all these flavors were, I’d want to try them all.
We picked out a couple more and went over to the cash register.
‘So how long have you kids been together?’ the woman, Mabel, asked.
‘Um...’
‘Couple of months,’ Noah answered. ‘But we’ve known each other practically our whole lives.’
‘Well, now, that’s just sweet as apple pie! Always see young couples coming in here, you know, and let me tell you, if I had a wall of fame with them all on, you two would be right there near the top.’
I laughed. ‘We’re that cute together, huh?’
I noticed Noah’s grimace at the word, but he didn’t say anything, instead taking out his wallet and handing over the cash. As we bundled our purchases into a bag, the woman handed us over a box of fudge.
‘You can have these ones on the house,’ she said, smiling.
‘Oh, no, it’s—’
‘It’s your birthday, right?’ I nodded. ‘Well, happy birthday then!’
I smiled. ‘Thank you.’
One of Noah’s arms snaked around my waist. I automatically leaned back, my head fitting into that spot between his neck and his shoulder. Again, the clichéd romantic in me wondered how we seemed to fit so perfectly, two pieces of a jigsaw, and have such different, clashing personalities. Noah planted a kiss on the side of my forehead, and right then, I didn’t care how bad we were for each other or that he’d be off to college soon; I just remembered that I was in love with him.
Chapter 32
THE DAYS FLEWby. I did some dog-walking for the neighbors – not for the cash, but more for something to occupy me. Sometimes Noah came with me.
Since Dad was in work, he bribed me to taxi Brad and his friends around in my new car – to the park; to the soccer pitch; to the movies; out for a milkshake.
I would’ve refused, but Dad had said, ‘Bud, do you want me to be that dad who gives you a curfew when you go on dates, or has strict rules about your boyfriend? Because I’ll do it.’
‘You’re going to ransom me Noah to take Brad places?’
He nodded. ‘I’m still not entirely happy about you two, Elle. I don’t think you know just how lenient I’m being here.’
So I let it drop.
Plus, I did tend to get back late – spending the day lounging around the Flynns’ pool, usually with the guys; watching a movie with Noah in the evening, Lee and Rachel on the other couch; and then, later, losing track of time, too taken up with Noah.
One day, the Monday before we were due to go to the beach house, we were lounging around by the pool. Some of the girls were there too – Lisa, who was still dating Cam, and Rachel, and May. Noah was out with some of the guys from the football team.
Lee’s dad was cooking a barbecue for us all while his mom sat on the decking reading a book. The smoky scent of summer at Lee’s house filled my nostrils.
‘Girls’ day out tomorrow,’ Lisa announced from her sun lounger. I was about to get in the pool, T-shirt halfway over my head, and I paused.
‘Cool,’ Rachel said.
