Page 85 of When the Stars Rise

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Hayley

I don’t knowwhy I didn’t say it back. I love Noah. I amin lovewith him.

Madly. Hopelessly. Irrevocably in love.

Noah has always been so brave with his feelings. He was the first one to say I love you.

I was sixteen. It was Christmas Eve morning, and I drove to his house to give him his gift. I showed up at his front door in a short, pleated kilt with a cropped red cashmere sweater, Doc Martens, and thigh-highs.

I wore that outfit for Noah. He had a thing for little plaid skirts on me.

“I love your naughty schoolgirl look.”

When I arrived, I could tell he couldn’t wait to get me upstairs to his bedroom. I think Jude knew that because he said, “Just in time. I’m making blueberry pancakes. Come sit with the family.” He smirked as he ushered us to the dining room and seated us as far apart as the table allowed.

After we’d eaten our pancakes in record time, Noah finally got me up to his bedroom, slammed the door, and backed me against it.

I was expecting him to slide his hand up my skirt and kiss me hard on the lips, but he was just staring at my face like he’d never seen it before.

His hands were on my hips, and I gave him a flirty smile, trying to lighten the mood. “You’ve got me alone now. What are you going to do about it?”

He cradled my face in both of his hands, his expression so solemn it made all the warning bells go off in my head. “There’s something I need you to know.”

My body tensed, and my overactive imagination went into overdrive.

Oh my god, he’s going to break up with me.

That was my first thought, followed closely by,He kissed someone else. Maybe he didmorethan just kiss.

I glared at him. “Seriously? Who is it? Oh my god, it’s Sydney—”

“Whoa. What are you talking about?”

“You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?”

He laughed. “Why would I break up with the girl I love?”

It took me a few seconds to catch up. “What?”

“I am in love with you. I love you. I love you more than anyone ever will, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.” He gave me a soft kiss on the lips. The sweetest kiss ever. “Is that okay with you?”

He smiled, and it was so beautiful that it made my chest ache.

Noah loved me. He wasin lovewith me. And even though I’d thought that maybe he was, there’s something so emotional about hearing the words for the first time.

Then, seeing this beautiful boy standing before me with his messy, longish, dirty-blond hair and hazel green eyes filled with so much love felt bigger than the whole sky.

Too big for my body to contain.

I nodded mutely and pressed my face into his hoodie that smelled like him and the fabric softener his mom used.

I wanted to crawl inside his pocket and go wherever he did.

“That’s okay with me,” I said, my voice muffled by the thick cotton.

I wanted to say the words back. They were on the tip of my tongue, at the forefront of my mind, but I got too tongue-tied when he lifted me off my feet and kissed me on the lips.