Page 12 of The Beach House
“Well, whatever they said, it’s obviously made an impression. The old Noah would’ve punched that guyandhis friends. And I totally would’ve yelled at you for it, for the record.”
“Oh, I know.”
We’d made it back to our spot on the beach by then. Lee was still nowhere to be seen. I settled back down on my towel.
“Hey, Elle?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m trying. To be a better guy. To not be so impulsive. I…I want you to know that.”
“I know. I just—I hope you’re not doing it for me. You know? Or notjustfor me.”
“I’m not. Although you are a big factor.” His tone had turned teasing now, and I raised my eyebrows. “Couldn’t have you being mad at me, Elle.”
“Make sure you remember that if there’s a next time.”
“I’m going swimming; you coming?”
“No,” I said lazily. “I’m gonna stay here. Finish listening to my podcast.”
Noah nodded, bending to give me a kiss before he strode down to the sea. I watched him go, thinking again how he’d avoided a fight at the bar. I guessed he really was changing.
Chapter 5
On Monday morning, I woke up at what felt like the crack of dawn after a bad night’s sleep.
I groaned, tossing about and tumbling off the bed.
“Sorry,” Lee whispered loudly. “Did I wake you up?”
“A rampaging bull in a china shop is quieter than you, Lee.” I rubbed my eyes and yawned. “What’re you even doing up already?”
“Rachel’s coming today, and…” He trailed off, since that was explanation enough. Part of me thought it was adorable that Lee trying to tidy things so the room wouldn’t be a complete wreck when his girlfriend arrived, but I still narrowed my sleepy eyes at him.
“What time is it?”
“Seven.”
That was when I threw my pillow at him.
He laughed and caught it, tossing it back onto my bed. I shot him another glare for waking me up so early, grabbed my bikini and a pair of shorts, and went into the bathroom. I wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep now, but maybe a shower would wake me up properly.
I checked that both doors to the bathroom were shut; the only lock was on Noah’s door, and it had never worked properly. We had a very simple system—if the doors were shut, the bathroom was occupied.
The bathroom wasn’t big anyway, but with Lee’s hair products scattered everywhere and my toiletries laid out neatly, plus Noah’s few things thrown down anywhere, it seemed very small and very cluttered. I shoved Lee’s stuff to the edge of a shelf to put my clothes down.
I had just lathered up my hair when I heard a door open. I sighed sharply through my nose and stuck my head round the shower curtain, shampoo trickling down the sides of my face. “Lee, I don’t care what time Rachel’s coming. Your hair gel can wait till I’m not in the—”
Noah took one look at me and started laughing.
“I so need to take a photo of that,” he chuckled, indicating my annoyed face and lathered-up hair.
“Oh, shut up.”
“What’s the matter, grumpy-pants? You don’t want me to join you?” He smirked, making a show of starting to take off his T-shirt.
“Noah! Stop it.”
