Page 16 of The Beach House
Even after we’d sat down, though, it was different. Noah’s leg was pressed against mine under the table, and every so often he’d reach across to do something like brush a strand of hair off my face or trace patterns on the back of my hand. He didn’t usually do stuff like that around his family. Neither of us did. Even when the food came, and conversation lulled, there were moments when I’d look up because I felt him watching me—and he’d have this warm, intense look in his bright blue eyes. I had to gaze back down at my plate, poking my food around with a fork, trying not to blush.
Tonight was different, but I tried to tell myself that didn’t have to be a bad thing. We were all having a good time. Everything was fine.
And everythingwasgoing fine, until we’d ordered dessert.
“Oh, hey!” Rachel said all of a sudden. “I never said congrats on getting into Harvard, Flynn. That’s so fantastic!”
Noah shifted ever so slightly. I only knew because I felt his knee bump against mine, but it was almost an imperceptible motion. “Thanks. We’re checking out the campus in a couple of days.”
“Didn’t your cousin work at Harvard?” Lee said.
Rachel nodded. “Yeah! He loved it there. He was just working in one of the dorms for a while, but he said everyone was really great, and the campus was really nice.”
Noah nodded. It was the indifferent, uninterested nod that was so typically Flynn—the badass persona Noah put out to everyone at school. I poked him with my foot below the table.
His dad seemed to notice that Noah had gone quiet and said, “It’s an amazing opportunity.”
“Exactly,” I added hastily, hoping my voice sounded reassuring. “You’d have to be crazy to pass it up.”
Noah just looked at me.
Despite June talking to me about Noah going to Harvard at the end of the summer, I deliberately hadn’t brought it up with him yet. We’d been having such fun, and it wasn’t exactly like we’d had much time alone to talk about it.
I got the feeling from the look he gave me then that we really, really did need to talk about it.
I stole a glance at Lee, tearing my eyes from Noah’s impenetrable gaze. My best friend shot me a sympathetic smile. I wished again that Noah were as easy to read as his brother.
“Lemon sorbet?” the waiter said, suddenly appearing with armfuls of carefully balanced plates.
“That’s me.” Rachel put up her hand a little.
I looked at Noah again as desserts were handed out. I felt like I had to saysomethingto break the tension between us.
In the end, I settled for “How’s the food? It looks good. I should’ve ordered something.”
“Here.” A fork was suddenly pushed right in front of my face, a lump of cheesecake and gooey, delicious raspberry sauce on the end of it. “See for yourself.”
I raised my eyebrows slightly at Noah, who was giving me a tiny smirk, one that tugged at the corners of his mouth, acting normal and ignoring the awkward atmosphere left by the college talk. I felt my cheeks warm up but leaned in to take the bite.
I made an appreciative noise—the kind you make when food is melt-in-your-mouth, oh-my-gosh delicious, which made Noah grin at me. I swallowed and bit back a laugh. My eyes crinkled with a suppressed smile.
Then Lee said, “Ew, cooties,” and I burst out laughing, the others chuckling along with me. Forgetting the twist in my gut at the prospect of Noah and I breaking up in just a matter of weeks when he left, and the awkwardness that had been thick in the air before, I just enjoyed myself. Noah held my gaze with that intense look, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes and a mischievous quality to his smile. Even if I did have only a few more weeks with him, I knew I was lucky to have that much.
I tidied up a few of my things, like dirty laundry and tossed-aside sandals, as Rachel was unpacking the rest of her stuff on the other side of the bedroom. She was telling me how excited she was about the next few days, and about spending some quality time with Lee and his family.
“I wouldn’t bank on quality time with Lee,” I warned her with a laugh. “That’s pretty hard to come by here, with everyone around.”
“Guessing you’re speaking from experience, there.”
“Yup. I don’t think Noah and I have had more than, like, five minutes alone yet.”
A knock on the bathroom door cut our conversation short.
“You ladies decent?” Lee’s hushed voice was muffled by the door; it was kind of hard to hear him. I rolled to the other side of my bed and leaned over to open the door.
“Now you’re all polite because your girlfriend’s here.”
Lee just grinned. “But you know you don’t really count as a girl, Shelly.”
