Page 54 of The Kissing Booth
I smiled and kissed him back.
‘I don’t mean to be so controlling,’ he murmured, not quite meeting my eyes; he toyed with the ends of my hair, wrapping it around his fingertips. ‘I just... it gets me really mad hearing guys talk about you like that. I don’t want to see you get hurt. I – I care about you too much.’
I was certain he didn’t mean that he ‘cared for me too much’ in a romantic sense; we’d grown up together, so of course he cared about me. But it still made my heart skip a beat.
I smiled. ‘That’s nice to hear.’
‘Even if I’m a total jerk?’
I laughed. ‘Even if you’re a total jerk.’
‘Not to mention a hot jerk,’ he smirked.
‘Mm, debatable.’
He raised an eyebrow, and suddenly flipped me so I was pinned underneath him, my arms held above my head.
‘You want to try that again?’ he asked, his voice a low growl in my ear, his mouth brushing the skin under my jaw. I squirmed, because it tickled.
‘Okay,’ I giggled, ‘maybe you are a little hot...’
‘Try again, Shelly,’ he said quietly, threateningly; but I heard laughter in his voice. He moved to kiss my neck, right where he knew it tickled most, and I laughed, wriggling about.
‘Okay, okay,’ I said shakily, weakening. ‘You’re really, really hot.’
‘I know.’ He brought his lips down on mine and let go of my hands. My fingers tangled in his dark hair.
We were still making out, oblivious to everything else, when a car door slammed outside.
‘Damn it,’ Noah exclaimed quietly as I scrambled up. He jumped up to look out of the window.
‘Who is it?’
‘My mom – she’s back from the store already...’ He trailed off, seeing the time on his clock. She had been gone for a nearly an hour now. Why did time always fly when we were together?
‘I’ll go help her unload the groceries,’ he said. ‘You sneak out the back door.’
I nodded. ‘Okay.’
He paused by the doorway, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
‘What?’
‘This is kind of fun, sneaking around,’ he said. ‘Don’t you think?’
‘Noah? I’m back!’ June called up to him. ‘Can you give me a hand unloading the car?’
‘Sure, Mom, whatever,’ he called down, then smiled at me, showing his dimple. I grinned back. ‘Come on. You can make a run for it when she’s out at the car.’
I snuck to the top or the stairs, and waited until Noah followed his mom out of the front door. He jerked his head urgently, and I sprinted for the kitchen to escape out the back door. I waited until I heard bags rustling into the house before hurrying out through the side gate and down the street.
I found myself thinking that Noah was right. It was kind of exciting, sneaking around.
I just wondered how long we’d last together.
Chapter 12
I WAS STILLdebating over what to wear at seven o’clock. Lee would be arriving in forty-five minutes. I’d been getting ready for two hours, and I’d changed my outfit, like, fifty times already.
