Page 52 of The Kissing Booth
‘Okay, I’ll see how long he’s going to be. Thanks, June.’
‘Bye, Elle!’ she said cheerfully before leaving. I sighed and texted Lee to find out where he was.
Over Rachel’s. Sorry! :-( I didn’t know you were coming over.
He’d clearly forgotten that we’d arranged to hang out. That was so unlike him.
No problem, I’ll head on home. I added a smiley face to let him know I wasn’t mad at him – even though Iwasa little annoyed. Lee never blew me off for other girls without at least giving me advance notice.
He must really like Rachel, I thought.
I was heading for the door when I heard movement at the top of the stairs and looked up.
‘Oh, hey,’ said Noah. ‘Lee’s not here.’
‘Yeah, your mom just said. She’s gone to the store, by the way.’
‘Oh, right.’
I rocked back and forth on my heels while he just looked at me as he came down the stairs. I didn’t know whether to leave or not... I didn’t want to now I knew Noah was here.
All week, whenever I saw him in the corridors or on the field at lunch, I remembered the feeling of his lips on mine, and I ached to kiss him again.
He was just wearing a pair of threadbare sweatpants with old oil stains on, and a white T-shirt. Nothing special. So why did he manage to look like a freaking male model? He was so out of my league.
I’d been starting to convince myself that whatever had happened with Noah on the weekend was just a closed chapter in my life, and that he’d forgotten all about it. That I just had to get over it and move on.
Then he kissed me. Taken by surprise at finding him there, I let him back me up two steps to the wall, and then I put everything I had into kissing him back.
Apparently, my worries and doubts had been entirely irrational.
When we finally broke apart for air, he stayed so close that when one of us spoke, our lips moved against each other.
He said quietly, ‘I’ve been waiting to do that all week.’
I felt a thrill of excitement run through me. I willed my cheeks not to color and tried to keep my cool, so he didn’t see how relieved and happy I was.
Not that I should be getting too attached to him, I told myself; I had to be careful. For Lee’s sake.
Attempting to be the flirty, confident girl I really wasn’t, I replied, ‘Sorry to have kept you waiting.’
He shrugged. ‘It was worth it.’
Now,thatI couldn’t help but blush over.
‘How long do you reckon we’ve got?’ he asked me.
‘Hmm... half an hour, at least,’ I mused, and there was a laugh in my voice.
Noah’s blue eyes looked even brighter than usual, if that was possible. He gave me another quick kiss, and then took my hand, leading me upstairs.
‘Are you going to Warren’s party next week?’ he asked me suddenly.
‘Yeah,’ I answered. ‘Are you?’
He nodded. ‘Just don’t go wearing anything too revealing, all right?’
‘Why not?’ I asked curiously. He’d never said anything about that for previous parties.
