Page 85 of The Kissing Booth
‘Rochelle,’ Lee said, his voice taut. ‘Tell me this isn’t what it looks like.’ His eyes bored into mine hopefully. I knew he didn’t believe in that shred of hope for a single second, though, not really. He walked toward me, his footfalls heavy, and slow, but stopped a few feet away, like something was holding him back. The next word to leave his mouth was a desperate plea, one that broke my heart to hear.
‘Please.’
And I had only one reply, one which I was sure would hurt him even more.
‘I’m sorry, Lee, I’m so sorry...’ I tried to hold his hand, tell him with my eyes how I’d never meant for any of this to happen. But he reeled backward, moving away like he was physically repulsed by me. Tears welled up in my eyes and a lump rose in my throat. I wouldn’t let myself cry, though; Lee might just think I was pathetic.
‘Please, Lee, it’s not like – like I was...’
‘Not like you were what?’ he snapped, but no matter how angry he tried to sound, I heard the pain of betrayal underneath it all. ‘Lying to me so you could go screw my brother?’
‘Lee!’
‘When were you planning on telling me this, exactly? Or did you think you could hide it from me forever? You think I hadn’t notice the so-calledcurling iron burns’ – he used the phrase mockingly – ‘and how jittery you were when you got a text? You think I hadn’t noticed that something was going on?’
‘I – I didn’t...’ I draw in a deep breath, trying to collect my thoughts. ‘If you knew, why didn’t you say anything?’
‘I was waiting for you to tell me, Elle!’ he yelled. ‘We’ve been best friends our entire lives, and there you were, keeping a secret from me! We’ve always told each other everything. I figured that whatever it was, you must’ve had a good reason for not telling me, but you would do eventually.’
Before I could find any sort of a reply, he let out a bark of bitter laughter. ‘And this is what you were keeping from me. This is what you lied to me about all this time. And you let me find out like this.’
‘You were never meant to find out like this!’ I burst out, desperate. He had to listen, he had to understand – he had to forgive me.
‘Then you should’ve told me in the first place,’ he shouted back.
I couldn’t remember the last time Lee and I had had a proper fight. We’d argued now and again; that wasn’t unusual in any type of relationship. But never like this. We’d never yelled at each other.
‘Oh, c’mon, Lee. It’s not like it’s all Elle’s fault,’ Noah pitched in, his tone flippant and cool, when neither Lee nor I said anything more for a few seconds. ‘Lay off her already. You—’
‘You,’ Lee said, so angry his voice was more like a growl. ‘Don’t you dare even get me started on you. How hypocritical can you get, huh? Telling guys to keep away from Elle, not to hurt her – and there you are, treating her like some slut you picked up in a club!’
The muscle in Noah’s jaw began to jump, and I saw his fingers flexing into fists. ‘You have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Are you trying to tell me you two haven’t slept together?’ Lee’s eyebrows went up and he looked between us accusingly. When neither of us replied, it was answer enough. He scoffed, and tugged at his hair. ‘I knew it. So you really were just screwing my brother. Lying to me. Choosing him – some guy – over me, your best friend. If you were stood here trying to tell me how madly in love the two of you are, I might’ve thought differently, but—’
‘No, Lee, it wasn’t like that, I swear. It was just the one time.’
He was silent for a second, before asking, ‘When?’ He’d spoken so quietly that, for a moment, I thought I heard him wrong. Surely when it happened wasn’t the most important issue here?
‘Sorry?’
‘When did it happen?’ he repeated, looking right into my eyes – but I couldn’t look at him. I was too ashamed. ‘Rochelle.’
‘About two months ago,’ I mumbled, still looking at the floor. ‘After Warren’s party.’
‘What, like... like straight after you guys left early?’
I nod.
‘When she was drunk?’ Lee yelled, turning on his brother. ‘You slept with her when she was drunk? After all the shit you’ve sprouted about—’
‘I wasn’t drunk,’ I snapped. ‘I’m not that stupid.’
‘Oh, really?’ Lee retorted. ‘Right now, I’d beg to differ.’
At that point, whatever was keeping Noah back finally gave way, and he strode forward, grabbing the collar of Lee’s polo shirt in his fist and slamming him back into the wall. ‘You really think I’d treat her like that? You think I don’t have any respect for her?’
‘You had her lying to me formonths.’
