CHAPTER SIX
ELLIOT
Eighteen years old . . .
“Fifty quid says you puke on her instead of kissing her.”
I cut AJ a look before I returned my gaze to Noah. She sat across from me at the bonfire looking like a goddess under the orange glow of the flames. She wasn’t wearing anything special – blue jeans, a baggy black hoodie and a pair of roughed-up black runners. Her golden locks were pulled up into a ponytail, and wisps of golden-blonde hair hung down around her face as a gentle breeze flowed by.
“I’m shittin’ meself.” I rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans. “What if she laughs in me face?”
“Mate,” AJ sighed as he passed me a can of cider. “I know women, okay? Trust me. Noah likes you.”
I didn’t respond but I couldn’t stop my heart from leaping at his words. He’d known I was into Noah before I said the words out loud, and a huge part of me wanted to trust his intuition that Noah liked me too, but my stomach was a mess of nerves and I refused to allow myself to hope. I had been playing it cool around her since the moment I first met her, and if she knew what went on inside my head when I thought of her, she’d probably shove her foot up my arse.
“The suspense is killing me and I’m just a bystander,” AJ snickered as he took a swig of his drink. “Go over there and kiss her.”
My eyes slid to his as I scowled. “I can’t just kiss her, ye eejit.”
AJ hesitated a moment, then said, “Ask her permission first, then kiss her.”
“That’s a bit better,” I snorted, shaking my head. “Look, I’m just gonna go and speak to her and ease that I’m interested in her into the conversation. I’m thinkin’ practically. Kissin’ is like the fifth step or somethin’.”
AJ downed his cider and crushed his can in his fist.
“That’s your problem – you think too much.”
“Says the man who thinks too little.”
He punched my arm and I laughed. I felt eyes on me in that moment, and my gut told me they were the colour of emerald and jade. I turned my gaze towards Noah, and when our eyes locked I saw that she visibly flinched, but she didn’t look away from me. I realised that this was my moment to speak to her and tell her how I felt. I lifted my hand and crooked my finger at her. Her eyes widened ever so slightly and I felt my lips twitch, and I nodded when she pointed to her chest and mouthed the word “Me?”
“Good luck, bud,” AJ murmured as he got to his feet and jogged around to the seat on the log that Noah had vacated. He got stuck into chatting up some girls from our year and forgot all about me. I forgot about him too when my eyes moved back to Noah as she came over and sat in the spot AJ had just left.
“Heya, Elliot.”
She didn’t look at me as she spoke; she busied herself with adjusting her jumper and clasping her hands together and resting them on her knees, before changing her mind and folding her arms across her chest. I blinked when I realised that she was nervous. This knowledge calmed me immensely.
“Heya,” I replied with a chuckle. “Ye looked a little lost over there.”
She tucked tendrils of stray hair behind her ear. “I know. I’m friends with a lot of the girls, we just never hang out outside of school. I feel a little awkward being here.”
I had noticed that about her. At first, I thought she was being made an outcast by our classmates, but I quickly learned Noah was the one who decided to keep to herself. I only worked my way into her tiny circle because she was table-partnered with AJ in almost every class.
“I’m glad ye came,” I told her. “I’d have been sad if ye didn’t show up.”
The glow of the fire illuminated Noah’s cheeks as they flushed a soft red. I felt my pulse increase at the sight. Her blush-stained cheeks only elevated her beauty in my eyes. I wanted to kiss her so badly that it made my throat run dry.
“I’m sure you’ve said that to all the girls.”
She chuckled and still wouldn’t make eye contact with me, so before I could stop myself, I reached out and tipped her chin up with my fingers until her eyes snapped to mine.
“Why won’t ye look at me?”
She swallowed and parted her lips in a sensual little O.
“I am looking at you,” she blurted. “This is me looking at you.”
Her entire face was crimson now and it made me smile, which seemed to fluster Noah altogether. That was the moment I began to believe what AJ had been telling me all this time. Noah liked me . . . she liked me like I liked her.
“I have to tell ye somethin’, Noah.”
Her eyes widened, and before I could say anything else, she exclaimed, “This is for you!”
I dropped my hand to my thigh and blinked as she reached into her hoodie pocket, pulled out a small box and thrust it in my direction. I stared down at it for a moment before I cleared my throat and took the box.
“For me?”
“Of course,” Noah said, her voice a little breathless. “You are the birthday boy.”
“Thank you.” I looked up at her. “I love it.”
“You . . . you haven’t even opened the box, Elliot.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “I still love it.”
I looked down at the box again to give her a
