Then she’s gone.
No, notgone. She’s just doubled over, clutching her stomach and laughing loudly.
“See? I told you it was funny,” I say to Noah, who shoots daggers at Izzy.
“It’s not funny,” he tells her, but it’s useless. She’s laughing too hard to hear him.
And Izzy’s laughter makesmelaugh, too, making Noah angrier.
His lips pinch together. Wrinkles bracket each narrowed eye. And I swear the few gray hairs at his temples double in numbers.
“If you don’t stop laughing, I’m telling Mom it wasyouwho scratched her Volvo andnota cart in the grocery store lot.”
That sobers Izzy up instantly.
I remember that summer. Noah was here during a hockey break, and he brought Chelsea with him. She was driving Izzy bonkers with her nitpicking of everything Noah did, so Lydia let us take the Volvo to the market for some ice cream to get us out of the house. When we got home, there was a giant scratch down the side of the vehicle, and we swore up and down that it was like that when we came out of the store, a cart not too far away.
Not that I would ever tell anyone this, because best friends don’t rat on each other, but it wasn’t a cart.
Izzy tried squeezing into a parking spot she couldn’t fit into, but she ran the car right alongside one of those yellow concrete poles, scraping the passenger door.
I guess Noah knew the truth all along.
She points at her brother. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me,” he counters, puffing his chest out.
It’s all so ridiculous, and I feel like I’m in high school all over again, especially the part where I just let myself get swept up in a fantasy about Noah Stevens kissing me.
I must have been imagining it. I had to have. No way was that going to happen.
“Okay, okay.” I step between them, holding my hands up. “You’re both done. You’re too old to run and tattle to your mother. Now let’s figure out how we’ll cover Noah’s face, since he clearly doesn’t want anyone asking questions, and his sunglasses broke.”
“Fine,” Izzy says, casting one last menacing look Noah’s way. “I have some sunglasses in my purse you can borrow. Come on.”
Noah follows Izzy out of the room, and I exhale heavily once they’re gone.
Not just because I no longer have to keep them from killing each other, but because I’m glad to be rid of Noah.
I can’t believe I actually thought he was going to kiss me. I can’t believe I would have let him.
And I can’t believe Izzy nearly caught us.
How terrible would that have been, especially when she made it clear she doesn’t want me dating her brother?
I mean, not that kissing him would mean dating him, but still.
I shake the thoughts away, grab the pitcher of Bellinis, and head back out onto the patio.
“Oh, Odette! We were just talking about you,” my mother says as I walk outside.
“You were?” I refill her glass, then Lydia’s. I leave mine untouched as I set the pitcher on the table and settle back into my chair. “Anything good?”
“That’s what we’re wondering. Are you bringing a date to Izzy’s wedding? If not, I think I have the perfect guy to set you up with. He’s a nurse at the hospital in Belleflower.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Lydia has tried to set me up with someone from our neighboring town’s hospital. And it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve turned her down.
“Thanks, Lydia. I appreciate the thought, but I don’t have time to date, what with planning the weddingandmy maid of honor duties.”And avoiding the Chambers curse,though I don’t say that part out loud.
