Page 105 of Going the Distance
Chapter 25
Noah kissed my nose for the billionth time. Mmm, he smelled so good. “I’ll be back after my exams for Christmas. Not even a month away. It’ll fly by.”
“It better.” I kissed him again. We were making up for weeks and weeks of missing out. Last night, he’d come inside and we’d talked for a while longer about everything. We talked until we fell asleep on the couch, with me drifting off first, Noah’s fingers running through my hair and his arms tucked tight around me.
I couldfeelhow much he loved me. How could I have ever doubted him or thought there was anybody else?
My dad had woken us up around eight, not looking overly surprised to find Noah in the house when he’d come downstairs to make breakfast, and just said, “What do you kids want for breakfast? You’d better head back home soon, Noah. You’ll have to leave for the airport in a while.”
Once Noah had left, I’d explained everything to my dad, who’d sighed and said, “Don’t get me wrong, I like Noah—he’s a good, smart kid, and I know you’re in love with him—but I did like Levi.”
Now we stood on the Flynns’ driveway, but this didn’t feel as bad as it had in the summer when he’d left for college. His fingers ran absently up and down my arm, and I tried to memorize every freckle on his face. He’d shaved this morning, his cheek smooth under my hand.
God, I’d missed him so much.
Amanda came out of the house then and grinned at us. “You see, Noah? Itoldyou that you’d work things out.” To me, she said, “And I’m so glad that you did. He wasmiserablewithout you. He wasalwaysmoping around. It was making the rest of us feel shitty, too. I’m not even joking.”
I laughed, breaking away from Noah for a moment to face Amanda. “I’m really sorry if I was horrible to you when you got here.”
She waved a hand, a silver ring on her middle finger catching the light, and beamed at me. “Don’t mention it. I’d have done the same in your place. But you weren’t horrible. Or rude, or anything.”
Then, before I could reply, she threw her arms around me and said, “Ooh, it wassogreat to meet you!”
“You too,” I said, surprised to find I really meant it as I hugged her back.
Then she went back to the house, where we could hear her thanking June again for having her to stay and making her feel so welcome, and Noah kissed the side of my head, pulling me back into his side.
“I’ll call you later, when I’m back at the dorms.”
“Okay.”
“And I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”
“Maybe I can come out to Boston, to see you, after Christmas?”
“Maybe you could look at some colleges out there,” he said, and even though his tone was playful, his eyes were serious, hopeful. I kissed him by way of reply, rising up on my tiptoes and clutching at the front of his jacket.
“All right, lovebirds, break it up. That planewillleave without you,” Matthew announced, clapping his hands and shutting the trunk of the car. Amanda came out of the house with her oversized purse and said a last thank you to June, and Noah gave me one more kiss.
Lee stood next to me as we waved them off, and it felt weirdly like it had in the summer, when we’d watched Noah’s plane take off. But it felt better than that; more peaceful, more comfortable. This time we knew exactly what we were in for with the long-distance thing. And we were determined to make it work.
Lee sighed, slinging an arm around my shoulders. “I still can’t believe you made out with Levi.”
“I’ll tell everyone I know what a snotty mess you were overMarley and Meif you breathe a word to anyone. And don’t forget about the bra story, either. I’ll tell your buddies on the football team, too.”
Lee nudged me in the shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, I’m not telling. That doesn’t mean I don’t still find it hilarious.”
“It’s not funny. God.”
“It really kind of is.”
• • •
When I caught up with Levi in the parking lot on Monday morning, he didn’t bring up our kiss at all—he just grinned at me knowingly and said, “I see you’ve changed your relationship status again.”
“I have.”
“Tell all.”
