Page 84 of One Little Kiss
Mainly because most of the people here are in on my plan.
Pretty much everyone but Noelle.
So the second I shout that everyone who wants to participate has to pair up into teams of two, they do it—and Noelle is stuck with me.
I don’t feel bad.
The girl has been avoiding me for two freakin’ weeks. She’s gone on a date with a drunk a-hole just to avoid how she feels about me, and it ends today.
“You ready, babe?” I turn to her with a grin. It grows when I see her brows knitted in confusion.
“What are we…” Her head whips left and right as she takes in the other teams who are already off and running. “What are we doing?”
“It’s a one-day scavenger sprint.” I hold up my phone but don’t let her close enough to see the list. “Whoever completes the entire list first gets bonus points.”
“Oh. Um…okay.” She tucks some hair behind her ear and I can’t help another grin, despite my nerves.
But honestly, my nerves calmed down the moment I saw her step out of Mara’s car looking all perfectly Noelle. No makeup, no tight dress or terrifying heels. This is the Noelle who sits cross-legged on the end of my bed and plays video games for hours. It’s the girl who cries laughing while watching epically awful movies.
This is my friend. And it’s the girl I love. The one I want to callmy girlfriend.
And now I just have to prove to her that she’s one and the same. I don’t need her to change. I don’t needusto change. I need to show her that I know her better than anyone and I love her exactly as she is.
“Come on,” I say. “We’ve got a lot to do.”
I turn and head to my car, not waiting because I know she’ll come. She’s too curious about what this is all about.
“What’s first on the list?” she asks as she buckles her seat belt. “And…wait. Are you allowed to compete?”
She’s catching on, obviously. But I didn’t really expect her not to.
“I’m making an exception for this event.” I wink at her. “We’re gonna start at the bottom of the list and work our way up.”
“Okay.” She draws the word out and it’s full of suspicion. She’s quiet for the two-second drive around the corner. “Madeline’s Bakery?”
Her favorite.
“First task,” I say as we stand in the short line. “We have to order one of everything on the daily specials menu and eat it.”
She chokes on a laugh. “Seriously?”
I shrug. “I don’t make the rules.”
She’s outright laughing now and I feel her gaze on the side of my face, burning into me as she searches my expression. I can all but sense the moment she caves and decides to go along with it.
A little while later we’re sitting across from each other in the crowded bakery. Some of our classmates are here as well as part of the scavenger hunt and I’m guessing the owners of this fine establishment are gonna give me free donuts for life after all the business I send their way today.
“Aren’t you gonna help me?” Noelle’s grinning as she licks icing from her thumb.
“I’m here as your official photographer,” I say as I reach for one of the pastries.
She arches a brow. “You’re documenting me being a pig?”
“Nope,” I say, pulling up the list. “I’m documenting you shouting the worst movie line ever at the top of your lungs.”
She freezes. When she licks her lips, it takes everything in me not to stare and groan.
“You heard me.” I laugh out loud as someone on the far side of the room shouts out a line from a Marvel movie.
