Page 6 of The Beach House
“Fine. But I won’t be held responsible for which board you end up with.”
Before I could say anything, he’d taken off, spraying sand behind him. I sighed and shook my head, settling down on my towel and wriggling around a little to get comfortable.
Something poked my leg, and a voice said, “Hey, lazy.”
“Can’t I have, like, two seconds of peace?” I joked, sitting up and pulling off my glasses to give Noah a mock glare so he would know I was joking. He just chuckled, throwing his towel in a heap next to me.
I put my glasses back on and couldn’t help it when my gaze accidentally went to Noah’s abs. It occurred to me how weird it was that in all the years we’d been coming here, I’d never used it as an excuse to check him out. I mean, I guess I’d been having too much fun or joking around to really pay attention to him. And then, when I did have a crush on him, when I was, like, twelve, I’d gone through a stage of barely being able to talk around him, let alone bring myself to see if he had abs.
I shook myself and glanced up to see if he’d caught me ogling him. I just knew he’d have that sexy smirk on his face that made me blush for no real reason—and I did blush, but not because he was smirking; he was checkingmeout.
I pushed my glasses up again, and his eyes snapped back to my face. This time, it was my turn to smirk.
He said innocently, “What, I can’t appreciate how gorgeous my girlfriend is?”
I laughed. “If only I could appreciate how cheesy my boyfriend is.”
“Aw, come on. You love the cheesy stuff.”
My smile turned sheepish. “Kinda.”
He chuckled again and offered me his hand. I took it, letting him help me to my feet. Noah pulled me into his arms and planted a kiss on my forehead. I started to lift my head so I could kiss him properly when—
“Ew, cooties.”
“Lee…,” I complained, turning slightly in Noah’s arms. I rolled my eyes at him, but my best friend just gave an impish grin and swung round the bodyboards he was holding.
He tossed a black one with a white logo to Noah, kept a blue bodyboard in his own hand, and then tossed me a bright pink one. I fumbled to catch it before it hit me in the face, and then I saw the big Barbie logo on it, and all the pink flowers and hearts.
“Lee!”
“What? I told you I wouldn’t be held responsible for—”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, but I was smiling. “Come on, then. Let’s get this party started.”
Lee sighed and clapped a hand on my shoulder, and Noah’s laugh turned into a cough.
“Shelly…please, promise me one thing,” Lee said.
“What?”
“Never say that again.”
Chapter 3
I stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing my outfit of shorts and a tank top. Lee was chattering away at me, but I found myself not really listening. Lee noticed and paused, tilting his head. “What’s up?”
I just bit my lip, suddenly nervous. I could feel my heart thudding hard against my rib cage, and I gulped.
I knew things couldn’t be completely the same this year, sure. I knew that things might even be a little weird now that Noah and I were a couple and not just hanging out anymore. But it had only just hit me: the realization that this felt like dinner with Matthew and June asNoah’s girlfriend,not as Lee’s best friend.
“Shelly.”
“It’s nothing,” I answered. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
But really?
Yeah, I was kind of freaking out inside. What if things werereallyweird? What if things were awkward now? Should I be trying to make a better impression? As Noah’s girlfriend, should I be dressing up a little? What if—what if—what if—
