Page 9 of Cross My Heart

“Oh, please.” Scarlett rolls her eyes playfully. “We both know you don’t want this ice cream.”

“Youcouldget my coconut one.”

I snort. “Who even likes coconut?”

“Me, you asshole,” he mutters. “And you don’t look cute anymore. I take it back.”

I place a hand over my heart and mock gasp. “That’s hurtful.”

“Good.” Noah grins. “Now what the hell have y’all been up to without me?”

He looks right at Scarlett as he says it, and she raises one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. Oh, yeah. She started getting those done now too. But there’s something off between them right now, as if the question has some sort of double meaning. And I can’t figure out what it is.

“We played Mario Kart,” I blurt out. I don’t even know why I’m letting her off the hook. She could have answered the question. “And of course, she won.”

Noah groans. “We have to beat her, Tyler.”

“Don’tTylerme.”

“That is your name.” Noah grins. “Is it not?”

I roll my eyes. “Ty is fine.”

Noah runs a hand down his face as he smiles, and my stomach flutters. When his hand finds my thigh, I gasp. I realize how flushed his cheeks are and the way his eyes shine as he looks at me. It makes me feel like I’m on top of the world. For just a brief moment, it’s just Noah and Me.

Me and Noah.

Us.

He licks his lips, and my eyes trace the movement. When my gaze meets his once more, he raises a brow at me.

I shake my head.

But then Scarlett interrupts the moment, as she always does, and this time I’m grateful for it.

Because what the hell was that?

Chapter 5

NOAH

15 YEARS OLD

It’s one hundred degrees outside, and my feet are burning on the concrete as I run toward the pool. We’re at a water park today. Tyler, Scarlett, and me. Our parents too, but they’re busy tanning. On the other hand, Tyler is busy making googly eyes at Scar—which just pisses me off.

Does he have a crush on her?

As if she knows exactly what I’m thinking, she turns toward me with wide eyes and shakes her head. But I don’t believe her.

She runs away from Tyler, swimming toward the deep side of the pool, and he stays behind with me, a frown on his face. He’s beautiful even when he is making faces. And that pisses me off. I don’t want to like him anymore.

“What’s going on, Ty?” I ask him, my hands balling into fists under the water.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Do you like Scarlett?”

“Of course I like her.” He looks at me with wide eyes, a blush on his cheeks. “She’s my best friend.”

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