Page 13 of The Beach House (The Kissing Booth)

My first kiss had been with Noah, at the kissing booth. He’d tasted of spearmint and cotton candy, and I’d been totally lost because I’d never kissed a guy before. And, sure, I’d gotten in a lot of practice since then, but Noah was still the only guy I’d ever kissed.

Lee would taste like beer and marshmallows. I could smell it on his breath, he was that close. My eyes were shut tight and I could feel my mouth twisted into a thin line.

I’d been so sure he was going to kiss me…but he didn’t. I peeled my eyes back open and he was still right in front of me, his face scrunched up just like mine. “Nope. Too weird.”

Everyone around us shouted again. Go on, just one kiss! Do it!

“Your face looks strange this close.”

“So does yours. You have a booger, by the way,” I told him.

“You have a pimple under your nose.”

Far from kissing me, he reached up as if to squeeze the pimple for me—I knew he was joking around, but I still shrieked and twisted away—accidentally head-butting him in the process.

“Ow!” he exclaimed, pulling away. “Shelly!”

“That was so your fault!”

He tackled me, pinning me down in the sand. He sat on my legs and pinned my arms over my head.

“Get off! You’re getting sand in my hair!” I thrashed around, trying to break free. “You’re too heavy!”

“Payback!”

“Lee!”

“Elle!” he mimicked in a falsetto voice that sounded nothing like me. I frowned but stopped wriggling, since I was getting nowhere, and Lee bent down so his mouth was right beside my ear.

“Was it just me or would that have been totally weird?”

I let out a breath of laughter. “Definitely not just you,” I whispered back, smiling.

He chuckled a little, sounding as relieved as I felt.

And never mind it being totally bizarre, it would have been totally screwed up of me to kiss my boyfriend’s brother.

“Lee.”

“What?”

“You’re kind of crushing me.”

“So long as you’re not suddenly crushing on me, Elle, it’s all good.” He winked, jumping up and giving me a hand. “You wanna head off?”

I was glad he’d suggested it, and nodded. The party had been good, but the fun was definitely over now. I was done with truth or dare.

“We’re gonna shoot off,” Lee announced. “I mean, you know, after that hot and heavy make-out session, we just can’t keep our hands off each other. Gotta go find a room, you know?”

I snorted, and a few people got up to hug us goodbye, telling us to come again next time. Lee and I waved to the others and made our way back down the beach. I looped my arm through his, resting my head on his shoulder.

Thinking Lee had been about to kiss me had been weird beyond belief, but in a way, I was glad we’d been given the stupid dare.

It was as though now I knew for certain that there could never ever be anything romantic between us.

And I liked that; I really, honestly did.

I wanted things to always be the same with us, however many ups and downs and arguments we had.

We’d made it through the hardest seventeen years of our lives, and anyone who said we’d stop being friends later in life or would always wonder what if? didn’t know anything about us.

The next evening was our last, so our final dinner was made up of leftovers—meaning mostly salad and ice cream. The three of us put the house back in order, cleaning up before going to pack our things.

I’d always had trouble packing for the beach house.

Always.

And I had to admit, I hated the repacking the night before we left the beach house just as much.

It was always kind of a downer, but this year felt worse than ever.

Aside from the usual melancholy sight of our bedroom without all the clutter and clothes, and the simple fact that it was our last night here this year, it just felt so lonely, especially with Noah and his dad already gone.

Lee and I had said we’d come here every summer of our lives. But now it hit me—and it hit me hard—that the others might not be coming back with us.

And I really, really didn’t like that.

It was a stupid thing to cry over, I guess. It was just a house. But was it really so terrible of me to want this one thing to stay the same forever?

And this place was so much more than a house.

It was where we’d spent every summer since we were kids.

It was the one place that, no matter how far apart Lee and Noah had drifted, they would (for the most part) get along.

It was the one place where we could act like five-year-olds and not give a damn.

“I hate this,” Lee said quietly. He had his back to me and was cramming shoes into nonexistent spaces in his suitcase. But he said it like he knew I was almost about to cry. “The leaving, I mean. I hate the leaving.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll be back in a year. It’s stupid to miss it.”

“I know, but it won’t be the same, will it? Especially if Noah doesn’t come. And we’ll be, like, off to colleges….”

“Hey, what happened to our pact? We pinky-promised when we were ten years old to come here every year, and now you want to break that promise? Shelly, you of all people should know how tightly the pinky promise binds you.”

I giggled, but it stuck in my throat. “You know what I mean.”

“Kinda.” Then he sighed. “It sucks, huh?”

“Definitely.”

After a few minutes passed, Lee’s arms curled round me and he hugged me from behind. His chin was on my shoulder. After a couple of seconds, I turned and wrapped my arms round him, burying my face in his shoulder. We stood there like that, totally silent and holding each other.

I think Lee was just as upset as me, really, but he wasn’t going to show it. I knew him too well, though. I didn’t need him to tell me that Noah’s comment about growing up and maybe not coming back had stuck with him too.

Right then, we both needed the hug.

And afterward, it was like the world felt a little brighter and a little warmer. I didn’t feel quite so sad about the fact that this year could be the last we were all here for summer at the beach house together.

Because yeah, things changed.

And yeah, we still had a lot of growing up to do.

But right then, everything I was worried about—from what would happen with me and Noah to the stuff deeper down, like college, like the future—just didn’t really matter anymore.

I’d have to deal with those things at some point, but not right now. Not while we still had the beach house.

“Where are we going?” Lee asked as I started tugging him wordlessly out of the bedroom.

I didn’t answer him.

“Shelly?” Lee asked again.

“Just wait,” I said, a grin spreading so wide over my face, I probably looked like I was doing an impression of the Cheshire cat. I kicked off my flip-flops and Lee followed my lead. He was in old sweatpants and a T-shirt, and I was in some thin shorts and a tank top.

“Ready?” I asked.

He’d caught on by now, and all of a sudden the two of us were clattering through the house hand in hand, bumping into each other and into walls until we were outside, heading straight for the pool.

Lee was beaming almost as widely as I was, and his eyes were lit up like Christmas trees.

We drew to a stop at the edge of the pool, Lee holding me back as I teetered at the edge.

“Ready.” He winked and grabbed my hand. I linked my fingers tightly through his.

“Three…two…”

Then, at the same time, laughing and smiling because we really didn’t have a care in the world, we both yelled at the top of our lungs, “Cannonball!” and with a huge splash, jumped in at the deep end.