Page 91 of The Kissing Booth
I was smiling now. ‘I know.’
They say if you love something, you set it free. Well, there was no chance in hell I would’ve let my best friend free without putting up a fight.
Then we hung up. Within seconds, I was asleep.
The next morning, I stood in front of the mirror layering concealer over the bags under my eyes. I didn’t want anybody to suspect that anything was wrong; I couldn’t let it get out about Noah and me – and it wouldn’t exactly make Lee feel any better.
The giveaway noise of two short bursts of a car horn outside made me spring back from the mirror. My huge grin spread from ear to ear. I snatched up my satchel and barreled down the stairs.
‘See you later!’ I called.
‘Is Lee there?’ my dad asked.
‘Yeah. Bye!’
I slid into the passenger seat of the Mustang and threw my arms around Lee. The handbrake stuck into my stomach and I hit my elbow on the steering wheel, but I didn’t care. I still had Lee. That’s what mattered.
He chuckled, hugging me back tight. ‘Nice to see you too.’
‘I’m going to do anything to make this up to you, I swear. Honestly, I really am sorry.’
‘I know you are,’ he said. ‘And I’ll hold you to that.’
‘Anything within reason,’ I added. ‘So no lifetime supplies of milkshakes. I do have to save up for college, you know.’
He paused, hand hovering over the gear stick, and looked me in the eye. ‘Fair enough. Then how ’bout a kiss?’
I blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You heard.’ There was a twinkle in his eye, but I still wasn’t entirely sure if he was joking or not.
‘Is this the part where my best friend tells me he’s madly in love with me?’ I tried to joke, laughing nervously.
Lee looked away shiftily, clearing his throat and putting the car in gear. I think my heart actually stopped.
‘Well...’ He cleared his throat again and shifted around in his seat, tugging at the seatbelt.
My jaw dropped for a split second before he chuckled. I gave a weak smile, laughing too now. I swatted his arm with the back of my hand and he waved me off.
‘I’m kidding,’ he laughed. ‘No way. I just couldn’t resist. Did you actually think I was serious? C’mon, Shelly, that’d just be way too weird.’
I smiled. ‘Yeah, you got that right.’
He pulled away from the sidewalk, and we sat in silence for a few seconds before I asked tentatively, ‘Have you, um... Have you spoken to your brother since last night?’
Lee’s hands gripped the steering wheel tighter; his knuckles turned white. ‘No,’ he told me through clenched teeth. ‘And you know what I say? Good riddance to him. If he can’t deal with the mess he’s made, then he really is just a coward. I know you’re not innocent in all of this, but he shouldn’t have treated you like that. You deserve better.’
I shook my head. I couldn’t agree with that.
‘He’s never going to change, Elle. He’s always going to be a self-centered player.’
‘You can’t honestly believe that.’ Neither of us had ever been entirely sure the whole ‘player’ thing was a hundred percent true, but here Lee was, buying into it.
Lee shrugged. ‘It’s Noah.’ As though that were answer enough to everything.
Shame it didn’t seem to feel like the right answer; the answer I wanted to solve all this.
I’d woken up unusually early that morning and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep. I was too preoccupied thinking about Noah and our relationship – whatever kind of relationship it was. I was happy with Noah, sure – but Lee was still the most important person in my life, and I couldn’t risk losing him again. And if that meant I had to sacrifice being with Noah, then I’d do it in a heartbeat.
