It Was Always You

CHAPTER THREE: LEXI

I don't know why I thought that showing up to the movie theater to try and get Harrison to notice me was a good idea. I really must have left my brain at home today. I wanted to die as I stood there by him and his friends, pretending like I was supposed to be there. And I'd wanted to go completely invisible when his girlfriend, who I didn't even know existed up until that point, showed up. Guys who dated girls from other schools should have some sort of label on them, so girls like me, who crushed on said guys, wouldn't look stupid trying to make something happen.

I wished Juliette wasn't in Paris doing her semester abroad. If she'd been around, she would have talked some sense into me before I showed up at the movie theater today.

I literally could have kissed Noah when he came up to me with the sodas, looking all dashing with his shaggy auburn hair pushed just far enough away that I could see the golden flecks in his big brown eyes. I was pretty sure that if I looked up "knight in shining armor" on the Internet, his picture would have earned him the top spot after saving me today.

Well, until he started teasing me about cuddling, that is.

"Do you think you'll like this movie then?" Noah asked as he shrugged out of his letterman jacket and let it rest behind him in the seat.

I pulled my arms out of my coat as well, deciding to get comfortable. "I've never seen Justin in an alien movie before, so maybe this one will be fine."

Noah peeked over his shoulder briefly before leaning closer to my ear, speaking in a low voice, "Looks like your friends are right behind us. Wanna give them a good show?"

"A good show?" I asked, not understanding. We were all here to watch the same movie.

He leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially. "I figured you might want to cuddle up with me like we talked about earlier."

Why did he have to keep saying stuff like that? Didn't he know that I'd dreamed of doing that for so many years? Imagined his soft, pouty lips brushing against mine and telling me he liked me, too?

But if he didn't know it, I was certainly not going to give him a reason to start thinking it now, so I pretended the thought of cuddling with him didn't affect me at all. "Do you want me to regret going on a fake date with you? I thought you were here to help me out, not tease me all night."

The wicked smile was back on his lips. "Who says I can't do both?"

"Me. Just—" I gestured to the screen in front of us. "Just watch the movie. Let me worry about the people behind us."

Afterwards, Noah was a lot more tolerable. He did lean in closely a few times to whisper things in my ear. And I might have noticed that he smelled really good tonight. But he didn't attempt to put his arm around me or hold my hand, so I didn't get too anxious. About halfway through the movie, the storyline was so dumb that I could barely stand the idea of sitting through another forty-five minutes of aliens blowing up while Justin Banks' character miraculously managed to come out of the scene unscathed.

"This movie is ridiculous," I said under my breath.

Noah leaned close, his warm breath on my ear doing weird things to my stomach. "But I thought you loved Justin Banks."

"Not in this movie."

"Well, you could've always chosen the Zac Efron movie."

"Yeah, even that one would probably be better than this."

Shock formed on his face and he grabbed my arm. I tried not to notice how my skin warmed under his calloused hand. "Are you going mainstream on me, Lexi?"