Page 47 of One Last Time

“Turns out she’s gonna be in town for a while. She gets here day after tomorrow. Her folks are here. Some business deal her mom’s working on. I told her she could crash here for a couple of days. Is that cool?”

“Sure, Noah. I guess we’ve got the space, with Lee’s and my old room.”

“You sure?”

I shrugged into the sand and offered him a reassuring smile. As jealous as I got of Amanda, I did at least feel confident that she wasn’t a threat to Noah’s and my relationship. “Why wouldn’t I be? Did you know she was coming or was this her idea of a surprise?”

He smirked. “Her idea of a surprise.”

“Hey, if she’s around, you should invite her to the water park with us! Levi’s gonna come, too. Lee and I figured we could make it a whole group thing; it’ll be so much cooler that way. Lee was gonna ask Rachel, and Jon wanted to get involved, too, since his brother helped us organize the whole thing, so…”

“Oh, right. Cool. Uh, sure. I’ll…give her a heads-up.”

I realized then that we’d never actuallyformallyasked Noah to get involved with it and laughed, swatting a hand lightly across his arm. “Obviouslywe want you to be part of it, too, you big doofus. Lee’s got your costume planned and everything.”

His eyebrows knitted together and one side of his mouth quirked. “No thanks, Elle. I’m sure you guys will have a blast, but…nah. Not my thing.”

“Oh, come on! Please? The only reason we’re even allowed to do it is because we’re filming it and raising money for charity as some, like, PR promo for the water park. Please? It’s for a good cause.”

He laughed. “Why does this feel like that time you asked me to be a kisser at your kissing booth?”

“So?”

“I don’t think so, Shelly.”

I pouted, spinning onto my side and wriggling closer, so my face was nearer his. “What did you say last time?” I racked my brain, trying to remember the house party when I’d asked him to do the kissing booth for us, at the request of all the girls. “Ithinkyou said something like, would I go down on my knees and beg?”

Noah groaned, pulling his hands over his face and laughing. “Don’t give me that look, Elle. You know I never meant it like that.”

“Please?”I wheedled, my fingertip tracing patterns over his bare chest.

“I just don’t think it’s my thing.” He sighed. “I’ll come along to…support you or whatever, but there is no way I’m putting some stupid costume on.”

I could see there’d be no convincing him tonight, so I gave up. Maybe Lee could give it a shot—heck, even Amanda might be able to convince him. Sometimes I forgot that where Lee and I could get carried away with the crazy, Noah was a lot more down-to-earth. Sighing, I settled for just resting my head on his shoulder, tucking into his side as he moved his arm around me and kissed me between the eyebrows.

“So what’re your plans tomorrow?”

“Hmm…” I pulled up my mental calendar. “Breakfast shift, then I’m taking Brad to the dentist, running a couple of errands for my dad and back here all evening.”

“No bucket-list stuff?”

“Nope.” Then I added, “Lee’s going to a movie with Ashton.”

“Huh. And you’re…” He trailed off, but I heard the words he didn’t say:You’re okay with that?

I shrugged, burrowing my face into his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m okay with it. Why wouldn’t I be? I…I have to be,” I mumbled. “Lee’s allowed to have other friends. Same as me. He didn’t get mad when I started hanging out with Levi.”

“You don’tsoundso okay.”

“Shut up. I’mfine.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“And if Lee ever asks, I’m fine with it.”

“I think it’s cute you’re jealous.”

Before I could stop myself, I said, “Did you think it was cute when I got jealous of Amanda?”