Was this what happened when we didn’t hang out face to face for a couple of weeks? (The Slurpee contest didn’t count, not really.)
Was this what was going to happen to me and Lee, after time apart at college?
Or was this because Noah was back home and it had shifted the whole dynamic between us?
“Right,” Levi said, nodding.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much,” I said. “Not…not just for Becca, but…I know we text, like, every day, and we talk on the phone, but we haven’t hung out properly, and that’s…that’s on me.”
Levi shrugged. His smile was soft even if his eyes were a little sad, and he laid a light hand on my arm. “It’s okay. I know you’re busy.”
As if on cue, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I slipped it out to check it.
A text from Dad. Don’t forget to pick Brad up from soccer practice later!
I groaned. “Shit. Shit.”
“What’s up?”
I kneaded my knuckles between my eyes, scowling at my phone. “I hounded May to give me a double shift today, but I’m supposed to pick Brad up from soccer. Shoot. How…” I sighed. “I’m gonna have to ask May to—”
“Well, we can pick him up,” Levi offered. “What time does he finish?”
“Six-thirty.”
“That’s perfect; we’ll be heading right by there. We can pick him up, take him back to your place.”
“No, Levi, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t,” he told me with a grin. “Seriously, Elle, it’s no problem. I’ve got your dad’s number; I can let him know. Spare key’s under the flowerpot by the gate, right?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, giving him a quick, grateful hug. “Thanks. You’re a real lifesaver. He literally just needs a ride home. My dad had a late meeting and his office is on the other side of town, so…thanks, Levi.”
A late meeting I had a sneaking suspicion was with Linda, but hey…
“Like I said, I know you’re busy.”
My shoulders sagged. At least the weirdness between us had evaporated—for now. As Levi turned to go back to his mom and sister, I grabbed his arm. “Hey, look, we’re planning a day at the water park in a couple of days. Jon Fletcher’s brother works there and he managed to pull some strings for us. It’s gonna be kind of crazy. Could do with an extra few recruits.”
Levi’s lips stretched into a smirk. “Does this have anything to do with the bucket list?”
“You know it.”
“Text me the details. I’ll be there.”
I smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe it’d be in a group setting, but it’d be good to hang out with Levi again. Seeing him today made me realize just how much I’d missed him.
Levi went back to his table and I glanced over again—just in time to see him looking away, scowling at something his mom was saying and looking embarrassed.
Well, whatever that conversation was about, I was glad I wasn’t a part of it.
Chapter Sixteen
When I got home, I found the beach house empty. Lee and Rachel were out on date night, I remembered, but there was no sign of Noah. The light was on in the kitchen and lounge, but the doors to the backyard were ajar, so I went outside to look for him.
It was only as I got farther down the path from the house to the sand that I heard his voice drifting toward me. He hung up the call just as I got near, looking up at the sound of my footsteps.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, smiling.
My cheeks grew warm. “Gorgeous” was the last thing I was right now; sweat was making my hair feel greasy, I had various stains down my shirt, and my arm was still sticky where I’d spilled soda on it. But even so, I’d never get tired of hearing Noah compliment me like that and mean it.
I flopped down on the sand beside him, lying flat on my back, not caring about the sand that got in my hair and clothes. “Long day?”
“Long day. I saw Levi, though.”
“Oh yeah?”
“His mom took him and Becca to the beach. They came by Dunes for dinner on their way home. I had to get him to pick up Brad from soccer because I forgot when I asked May for the double shift, so I’m expecting a call from my dad any minute now to tell me how disappointed he is in me.”
Noah lay down beside me. I turned to face him, the sand scratching at the side of my cheek. He didn’t have a shirt on and my eyes drifted over his broad shoulders, his toned abs. “So Levi picked him up?”
“Well, him and his mom and sister. I really owe him one.”
“You could’ve called me. I could’ve picked Brad up.”
“Well…”
That was a good point.
“Well, I didn’t think about that,” I told him. “And Levi was there. He offered.”
Noah gave a quiet grunt. I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed, but I didn’t mention it. Levi had ended up being a source of contention when we’d broken up around Thanksgiving, especially after I’d gone to the Sadie Hawkins dance with him and Noah had seen us kiss.
It wasn’t like Levi was the only problem we’d had, and I’d thought the air was all clear now, but even so, I decided not to push it.
“Who were you talking to anyway?”
I saw Noah bite the inside of his cheek for a second before he twisted to face me. “Amanda.”
Ah, Amanda. Another source of contention in our relationship last fall. Again, she wasn’t the only source, but…Well, it hadn’t helped that I’d found out Noah was keeping a secret from me that she knew all about. I’d thought he wanted to be with her (a theory backed up first by a photo online of her kissing his cheek and then by Noah bringing her home for Thanksgiving), but it turned out he’d just been struggling with his classes, and she was helping him out—something Noah had been too embarrassed to tell me.
Despite what I’d initially thought about Amanda, I liked her. She was British, with a permanently bubbly attitude as far as I could tell, which made her impossible to hate. The fact that she looked like a catalog model for “classic preppy college girl” had made me pretty jealous at first. Still did sometimes. I’d seen her when I visited Noah over spring break, and she’d been nothing but welcoming and friendly.
They had the kind of easy, platonic relationship that Lee and I had. It was still weird, though, for me to get my head around Noah having someone like that in his life.