Page 21 of The Beach House
He looked even more handsome with that smile in his eyes lighting up his face. He didn’t answer me, instead stepping closer, his lips crashing down on mine and his hands cupping my face. I didn’t need him to say anything, I realized. Noah might not be as easy to read as Lee, but right now, I knew everything I needed to.
Chapter 8
“Rachel’s gone, then, huh?”
“Yep,” Lee answered. “Back to just the three of us now. At least for a couple more days.”
The last few days with Rachel had been nice, but it had still felt weird. I hadn’t been able to shake the feeling things weren’t quite right. And I knew it wasn’t fair to not want her around when I was a huge part of why things were different. I knew I’d spent less time with Lee and more with Noah—and that, really, it was a good thing Rachel had been here, to help distract from that fact.
Still, I wasn’t too sorry she’d left, giving me a little while longer at the beach house with the Flynn boys.
“Just like old times.” I grinned.
“I guess I won’t be coming back here for the next few years,” Noah said suddenly. “This might be my last summer here.”
I didn’t think I’d ever heard Noah sound so sad. He tried to hide it, though, and coughed abruptly—like that’d cover up the emotion his voice betrayed. “And next year will probably be your last year too, and Lee’s.”
“Why?” Lee demanded. “We’re coming back every year. Just like we always do.”
Noah scoffed. “Don’t count on it. You guys can try, but it’s probably not gonna happen that way. Pessimist, I know, I know,” he said, cutting across me as I started to tell him he was being stupid and cynical. “But what about summer internships? Jobs? You’ve got it pretty cushy now, but that’s gonna change at some point. Not everything has a happily-ever-after.”
What about us? What about our happily-ever-after?
I bit my lip and decided not to say anything. I knew that wasn’t what he’d meant. We were going to give it our best shot. I couldn’t ask for more than that.
“Look at him.” Lee nudged my arm and pointed to Noah. “Thinking he’s all wise now that he’s old enough to go to college; thinking he’s got it all figured out. Noah, if you think we’re not dragging your ass back to this place every summer, you are sadly mistaken. Summer isallabout coming here.”
“You know, Lee, one day, you’re gonna grow up too.”
“Never. Remember in fifth grade when I played Peter Pan in the school play? There’s a reason they picked me.”
Noah sighed, but I cut him a look that saidDon’t push it.The last thing I wanted right then was for the two of them to start arguing—because much as that might feel like old times, I really preferred not to be in the middle of it. Hoping to distract them, and not wanting Lee to sulk about the prospect of a summer without the beach house, I grabbed the football we’d brought with us.
“Come on, then, Lee. You said you’ve been practicing.” I threw the ball at him. “Show us what you’ve got.”
“Jeez, Lee, could you make any more of a mess? I think I liked it better when Rachel was my roommate.” I wrinkled my nose at some underwear near my bed, kicking it over to Lee’s side of the room. He’d moved back in now that Rachel had gone.
“You don’t think it’s weird we still share a room, right?” I asked him, remembering Rachel’s reaction that first night. “You don’t think we’re too old for this?”
“Shelly, I carry tampons in my school backpack for you. We passed weird, like, five years ago.” He scooped up some of his laundry and paused to look at me. “You don’t think it’s weird, do you?”
“Of course I don’t. It was just—I don’t know. Rachel seemed to think it was.”
“Nah. She knows we’re not like that.”
I pulled a face while I still had my back to him, not convinced. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about I were in Rachel’s shoes, but—well, it wasLee.This was just how we were.
“Hey, you guys set for tomorrow?” Noah asked, leaning through the bedroom doorway.
It would be our last day together—Noah was leaving the next day. So despite not being a morning person, I’d set alarms to make sure I was up early. I was going to make the most of these final few hours, whatever it took.
“We will be,” Lee said. “Though Elle’s going to need a while to get her face on and fix that bedhead.”
I patted my hair. I knew it would need taming tomorrow, but scrabbled about on the dresser for a hair tie to pull it back into a ponytail now.
“Don’t listen to him, Elle. You look great.”
I blew Noah a kiss. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
