Page 74 of The Kissing Booth
My stomach was twisting around and I felt ready to puke. Most likely from guilt, I decided. I hated having to lie to Lee. But I could hardly tell him the truth, especially now, when he was still angry at Noah, even if he was calming down.
So I was just hanging in your garage, flirting with Noah, making out with him a little before he went back to messing with his bike, and then I fell flat on my face. Oh, and by the way, I’ve been sneaking around with him for the past few weeks, so it’s no big deal. We do this kind of thing on a regular basis – just without me falling over all the time.
Yeah, that’d go downgreat.
It wasn’t the right time, I told myself. I couldn’t tell him.
Not that there was anything to tell – it’s not like I had any feelings for Noah in that way – and even if there had been, it wasn’t the right time.
‘Fine, so it wasn’t his fault,’ he grumbled. ‘But he—’
I didn’t let him finish; there was something I was desperate to ask him. But the truth was, I was scared of what he’d answer.
But now I blurted, ‘Did youreallythink he’d hit me?’
Lee looked at me for a long moment, then dropped his gaze. ‘I know, I know, he’s my brother. But just for a second I thought he’d seriously blown his top and you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or you guys had been arguing again... I hate to think he would, but—’
‘He wouldn’t hit me,’ I said quietly, fiddling with my T-shirt. There was a rip in it; it must’ve happened when I fell off the workbench. ‘Even Noah knows where to draw the line.’
‘I hope so,’ Lee muttered.
‘Iknowso.’
‘One minute you’re at each other’s throats, the next you’re defending him?’ It wasn’t an accusation, just a statement.
‘You flipped out pretty quickly yourself,’ I pointed out. ‘What’s up?’
He sighed, mussing his hair. ‘I’m just on edge. Failed my history test, remember? My parents said maybe I’m spending too much time with Rachel. I’m just stressed.’
I reached for his hand, linking my fingers through his. He squeezed my hand back tightly, and took a deep breath.
‘Anyway, don’t change the subject, missy. Since when were you two so buddy-buddy, anyway? You and Noah looked pretty close when I came in.’
My heart raced. I didn’t think he’d seen anything – Lee was never the kind to beat around the bush – he’d have already asked me straight out if he suspected anything was up.
Now isn’t the right time. Not right now. You can tell him some other time, but not now...
My stomach twisted around. I should just tell him. I mean... he was bound to find out at some point, so why not just tell him now, before he found out from someone else? I should justtell him.
I didn’t want to. He was going to hate me.
But he’d hate me less now than if he found out later.
‘Lee, please don’t hate—’
‘Elle?’ came a voice from the doorway.
I broke off with a sigh, flopping back onto Lee’s bed. Noah had the worst possible timing in the world. Not now, when I was just about to tell Lee. Not now.
‘What the hell do you want?’ Lee snapped at him, when I didn’t say anything.
Noah shot him a glare, but said, ‘Elle, can I talk to you a sec?’
‘Sure.’ I squeezed Lee’s hand once more before letting go and pushing myself up off the bed. I gave Lee what I hoped was a reassuring smile, and shut the bedroom door as I left.
Noah was scratching at the back of his neck, his jaw tight. It took me a while to read his expression: he was thinking about something pretty hard. He opened his mouth, closed it, then dragged me after him to his room again. This time, he shut the door properly.
‘I get it if – if, you know, you don’t... if you want to stop... you know, whatever we’ve been doing. If you don’t want to see me anymore.’
