Page 47 of The Kissing Booth
He sighed again, leaning his forehead against mine. ‘You tell me.’
I groaned in frustration. ‘You’re not making this any easier, Noah! We argue and you’re such a jerk, not to mention you’re Lee’s big brother, but—’
‘But...?’
Humiliating as it was, I blurted, ‘But I felt something when we kissed. I don’t know what the hell to do – but I’m not going to make out with you if we’re just hooking up.’
‘You want the truth then, Elle?’ Noah was starting to sound really frustrated now, and his eyes were level with mine. ‘You’re the one girl who is herself around me, and I like that. But the fact that you don’t want me back is sending me crazy. You’re the only girl who didn’t fall at my feet and it is driving meinsane. I haven’t so much as looked at anyone else because of you – did you know that? You’re all I can think about.’
Whoa.
Okay.
So it wasn’t like he’d just confessed he loved me and had done for years... Buthell! Who would have guessed that I, Rochelle Evans, the girl with no experience whatsoever in the boy department, would be the one to drive Noah Flynn crazy?
I was stunned. ‘And how long have you felt like this? Just out of curiosity.’
He shrugged. ‘A couple of months.’
I nodded, trying desperately to appear steady and collected. ‘I thought you said you saw me as a little sister.’
‘That was until you grew up,’ he said simply. Then, ‘I made you blush.’
‘If that’s true, why did you tell me I was like a sister to you?’
He averted his eyes. ‘You didn’t want me back. I’m not the kind of guy to tell someone what I’m actually feeling. You know that. You know this whole conversation is torture to me?’
I smirked slightly, then blurted, ‘I wanted you, believe me.’
He looked like he’d just won a million dollars or something. He tilted his head so his lips brushed against mine. ‘Just... I don’t... I don’t want you to think that I’m only interested in one thing here, okay? I’m not. That’s one of the things I like about you. You’re sweet, and innocent. Different. It’s cute.’
‘You think I’m cute now too?’ I raised an eyebrow and he smirked against my lips. ‘And here I was thinking I was just your kid brother’s annoying best friend.’
‘Well, that too.’
I giggled and traced a finger across his chest.
Then he said again, ‘I’m not just interested in you forthat, okay?’
‘If you were, I’d seriously question your judgment,’ I mumbled, making him chuckle. But I suddenly felt warm inside.
He placed a finger under my chin, tilting my face up. The look on his face, the crease in his forehead... he looked cautious more than anything else.
I wouldn’t think of him as Lee’s brother, or as that jerk who could be too protective of me. I refused to let all the horrible repercussions of this situation enter my mind – plenty of time for those later.
Right now, he was just Noah. And I leaned up to kiss him.
And, naturally, with me being so inexperienced, I clashed teeth with him. I never thought people actually did that. Go figure I would manage it. ‘Sorry,’ I muttered, biting the inside of my cheek.
His lips tweaked up against mine. I felt his chest reverberating with suppressed chuckles under my hand. ‘Practise makes perfect.’ And that time, we didn’t knock teeth.
We stayed on his bed making out for ages. We talked a little about school, about where he was applying to college (he was thinking of going to San Diego, since it was closest), and had a minor argument about how All Time Low were so much better than Linkin Park. (Noah was a big fan of Linkin Park’s newer music, while I hated them.) I found I was actually enjoying being with Noah even when we weren’t making out. I actually liked his company – even when we argued over music.
But we didn’t talk for more than a few minutes at a time before he started kissing me again. And when that happened, I forgot what we’d just been talking about; forgot that I really should’ve left by now. I just got caught up in the way his kisses made my stomach fill with wild butterflies.
It was just that he was a good kisser, I told myself. I mean, it’s not like we had a ‘connection’ or anything. We were far too different for that. There was no guarantee that he’d still want to be with me in a week or so, when he’d never been in a long-term relationship.
‘So what exactly,’ he said after a while, propping his elbows behind his head and looking me in the eye, ‘are we doing here?’
