Page 26 of The Kissing Booth
‘Cody Kennedy. Concert pianist. Takes some AP classes.’
I blinked. Okay, so maybe he did know him.
‘Yeah,’ Noah said, kind of smugly. ‘I know who I’m talking about. And you know something else? He just wants in your pants, like any other guy.’
‘So you’re telling me that there’s not one respectable boy in school who doesn’t just want a girl for sex? Or maybe you’re trying to say that’s all I’d be good for? Do I really have no personality, Noah?’
‘I didn’t say that. But they’re all the same.’
‘How would you know? You’re the reason I haven’t had a date in my entire life! Why would you even do that?’
‘You trust people way too easily,’ he snapped, interrupting me. ‘A guy would just have to tell you he loved you and he wouldn’t be waiting on you much longer.’
I glared. ‘Do you really think I’m that easy?’
Noah glared right back at me before he punched the kitchen door. It slammed shut and bounced back off the doorframe.
‘Damn it, can’t you just listen to me for once in your life? I’m trying to look out for you here!’
‘I don’tneedlooking out for!’ I shouted back at him. ‘Can’t you just stay out of my life? I think I can handle going on one date, Noah!’
‘How would you know? Guys are always checking you out and saying how hot you are – have you never noticed? If one idiot thinks he can date you and then hurt you, he’s got another think coming.’
I screamed in frustration. ‘Just stay out of my life!’
‘You’ll end up getting hurt.’
‘I won’t. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a big girl now. Icantake care of myself.’
‘Which is why you were stripping off in front of everybody on Saturday?’
‘I was drunk!’
‘And who got stuck looking after you?’ he retorted.
‘I didn’t ask you to! I didn’t ask you to tell boys to stay away from me either!’ I went to barge past him again, intending to shut myself away in Lee’s room.
Noah grabbed my arm, saying, ‘Hey! We’re not finished here, Rochelle!’
I spun around and pushed at his chest as hard as I could, though it didn’t budge him.
‘Whoa!’ yelled a new voice – Lee. We both looked and saw him standing in the doorway. ‘Why are you guys killing each other? What did I miss?’
Neither Noah nor I responded; we were still glaring at each other.
‘Nothing,’ I said eventually. ‘I’ll see you upstairs, Lee.’
I heard them both talking quietly in the kitchen. I sighed. Noah was just so... so infuriating! Sure, he was incredibly attractive. But hell, why did he have to interfere? How could he just automatically assume a boy couldn’t possibly want a date with me because he genuinely liked me?
I threw myself down on Lee’s bed and screamed into the pillow, letting all my anger out.
By the time Lee came up to work on the music for the booth, I had calmed down and was already surfing his iTunes library for music.
He didn’t ask me any questions except for, ‘Found anything yet?’
That is why I loved Lee so much.
He waited until we were digging into a Chinese takeaway in the lounge to ask me.
