Page 10 of The Beach House
“My bed,” Lee told me. “I’m camping out on the floor in Noah’s room for a couple of nights.”
“Oh, right. Okay then.”
“You don’t mind, do you? Sharing a room with Rachel, I mean? You’re okay with it?”
I looked at him over the top of my mug and smiled. Even if I’d hated Rachel’s guts (which was totally impossible, as she was really nice), I’d have put up with her for Lee. “Of course I don’t mind, Lee. Seriously. It’s going to be fine.”
Wasn’t it?
Chapter 4
The next couple of days passed before I could blink. We’d get up late, go to the beach and bodyboard or swim, maybe play some Frisbee, have some lunch, and then either head back to the beach or stay around our little pool for the afternoon.
And Noah and I managed to steal a few moments alone together. Although, the one time we thought we finally had the house to ourselves, his parents had come home early. We’d barely managed to grab our clothes from around the pool before they came through the house to say hi.
By Sunday, Lee was acting like an excited puppy. Rachel was arriving the next day, and he was all over the place. He told us he was going to get ice creams but came back with a pair of flippers.
I didn’t even ask.
Lee was texting Rachel so much, I got totally exasperated with his phone bleeping every four seconds and eventually snapped, “For God’s sake, Lee, just call her! Jeez!”
Noah chuckled, but Lee chirpily said, “Okay!” and was already pressing her number as he walked off.
“He is so in love, it’s almost stopped being funny,” Noah told me gravely. “How long do you think it’ll be until I have to put on a penguin suit for the wedding?”
I laughed. “Hmm…I’d say two years.”
“That long? Really?”
“Oh, come on. You know Lee. He’ll want to make sure the flowers and the food and the cake are just perfect. And he’ll want the perfect bachelor party too.”
“Which, of course, I’ll be in charge of planning.”
“You think you’ll be his best man?”
“Who else? I’m his big brother. I’ve got plenty of embarrassing stories about him. I’m the obvious choice.”
“I think you’ll find the position of bestwoman is already taken.”
Noah laughed. “Of course it is. I’m really thirsty,” he said suddenly. “Do you want to grab a Coke from the bar?”
A bit farther down the shore was a little beach shop, a surf shack and a bar. I loved the bar on the beach; there was something about it that made me think of the Caribbean. It had a thick straw roof shaped like a giant parasol, and the drinks were always served with little paper umbrellas in them.
“Sure,” I answered.
He dug underneath his towel for his wallet and took out a few dollar bills. “Let’s go.”
It didn’t take long to get there, but the queue looked like it would take a while for us to be served. I was glancing around and caught sight of a few guys talking. They were looking at Noah. He had his back to them, so he didn’t see, but I got the sinking feeling they were talking about him.
“Do you know those guys? Over there?” I blurted out. Knowing me, I could’ve been overreacting and just imagining that they were looking at him.
Noah looked round, right at the guys who were staring at him. I guessed they were maybe around our age—soon-to-be seniors, or freshmen at college.
I was about to grab Noah’s arm, thinking that it was stupid for him to look at them so obviously, but then I realized that he most likely didn’t give a damn whether he annoyed them or not. He turned back, not looking fazed at all, and before I could say another word the barman got to us.
“What can I get you guys?”
“Two Cokes,” Noah said, pushing the money across the counter. He looked over at the guys again, scowling at them this time.
