The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles Read Free Book Online

never been kissed, never had a boyfriend, never been on a date. It was just so, so inconsiderate of Noah. How dare he interfere in my life like that? Sure, it was nice of him to look out for me – but he didn’t have to stop guys dating me altogether!
    When I asked Lee exactly what Noah had done to scare guys away, he said, ‘He told the guys that if they ever did anything to hurt you, they’d have him to deal with.’
    I sighed to myself. It seemed clear that Noah just saw me as a vulnerable, too-trusting little sister, but I couldn’t help wishing he’d had different reasons for doing it.

Chapter 6
    BRAD WASN’T THE most difficult ten-year-old boy to babysit. He mostly just played on video games and yelled at the TV. All I had to do was give him his dinner. Then, at half nine, I had to almost drag him up the stairs until he shouted, ‘Fine! I’ll go to bed!’
    I sighed, relishing the quiet once his bedroom door slammed shut.
    I threw myself down in front of the TV and finally settled on some gory movie with Romans or gladiators or whatever.
    Just as I was dropping off, my phone rang. I jumped, almost falling off the sofa.
    ‘Hello?’ I mumbled into the phone without checking the caller ID. I sounded kind of mad, but I didn’t really care. Whoever was on the other end just had to deal with it.
    ‘Um, Elle?’
    ‘Yes?’ I snapped irritably.
    ‘It’s, uh, it’s Adam. Listen, don’t hang up, I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I didn’t really think it through, I guess, what I was saying. So . . . yeah. Sorry.’
    I blinked a few times, trying to clear my mind. Adam? Calling to
apologize
?
    I couldn’t believe it. Although maybe that was because he sounded like he was trying not to laugh.
    ‘Um . . . Elle? You still there?’
    ‘Y-yeah,’ I stammered quickly. ‘Sorry, I’m just – just using the stove a sec.’ What the hell? Who gets distracted on a phone call because they’re using the
stove
? At
ten p.m.?
    ‘You’re calling pretty late, you know,’ I said hastily. ‘Maybe a little too late for apologies?’
    ‘I know, but I just wanted to say sorry.’
    ‘Well, thanks,’ I said curtly. ‘I’ve got to go now, Adam so I’ll–’
    ‘Hold on a sec.’
    ‘I don’t want to hear it, whatever it is.’
    ‘You don’t want to have dinner with me, then?’ I could just imagine the smug look on his face from his cocky tone. It made me grind my teeth. ‘Give me a chance to really apologize?’
    ‘No. Bye.’
    I hung up and threw my phone on the couch before he could utter another syllable. What an ass.
    And Lee said I was too nice . . . Ha!
    I snorted quietly at that thought, feeling quite satisfied with myself for being so blunt with Adam – though that wasn’t what I was thinking about when I went upstairs.
    There was only one thing running through my mind. Predictably enough – it was Noah.
    For some reason, all I could think about was Sunday morning when we’d fallen off the bed: the look in his eyes – the look I remembered perfectly but couldn’t fathom, with his bright eyes shadowed and holding mine.
    Because you don’t look like that at your substitute little sister, right?
    Of course I was being ridiculous; it was just my sleepy thoughts wandering into dreamland. But it made me think maybe there was a different reason he got involved in that fight that morning.
    I scoffed at myself, my eyes already drooping shut.
    ‘You’re an idiot, Elle,’ I muttered. ‘A total fool . . .’
    School the next day wasn’t so bad. There were a couple of joking wolf-whistles and teasing loud comments, but I didn’t pay them any attention. And I only heard them when Noah was nowhere near.
    Lee was muttering about them and I said, ‘Well, it’s kind of my fault. I mean, I did try stripping off to skinny-dip . . .’
    He gave me a look, making me trail off. ‘What did I say yesterday?
Too nice
.’
    ‘How was that
too nice
?’ I demanded.
    ‘It’s not like you