Kissing Booth: Another Take

Chapter 10

Noah's POV

I woke up with a smile on my face knowing exactly where I was and whom I was with. Last night was difficult. The truth was, I couldn't go another night without sleeping with Elle and I couldn't go another night without telling her the truth about who I was during the breakup. If I was going to make things right with her and build a solid foundation for us to make things work, I needed to be completely honest with her.

I hated seeing what it did to her. For a moment, I was sure I had lost her and it was what I felt I deserved. I thought that maybe she would take back wanting to work on things and instead come to her senses and realize I was too fucked up to be worth her time.

Yet, here I was. I looked at her sleeping next to me and resisted the urge to continue what we had going last night, I didn't want to wake her -- it was early.

Strangely enough, I felt energized and wide awake. I even felt like maybe going for a run, a habit that I had long abandoned after Elle and I broke up. I tried to quietly slip out of bed without waking her to no avail.

"Mm, where you going babe?" she asked lazily, her eyes still closed. The familiar term of endearment made me smile.

"Go back to sleep, I'm going on a run," I said, kissing her forehead briefly. "Mphk," was the sound she made before rolling over falling back asleep. I tiptoed out of her room, closing the door gently behind me and turned to see Marco standing there with his mouth agape at me.

I fixed my face into a scowl. What was he doing going into Elle's room?

"What's up?" I asked flatly.

He frowned, "What's up with you?" he asked his head motioning to Elle's door.

"She's still sleeping," I said with a shrug. "I was going to see if she wanted to go for a run with me." I promised Elle we'd be discreet. I wasn't sure how she'd feel about me just parading around telling people I slept in the same bed as her the night before.

Marco looked me up and down. I was shirtless, in a pair of boxers and gym shorts, and barefoot. "That's how you go running?" he asked -- obviously not buying what I was saying.

"I was waiting to see what terrain she wanted to run in to determine the proper footwear," I said walking to my bedroom door. "Would you like to join me? Maybe measure my strides and criticize those too?" I added trying to distract. Whoever said I wasn't smart enough to go to Harvard? I was so quick on my feet with avoidance.

"Okay," he said quickly.

"What?" I stopped in my tracks.

"Okay," he repeated, a look of challenge on his face, "Let's go run. That's why I was coming to get Elle too but if she's still sleeping she must need the rest. So let's go."

And that's how I ended up running with Marco at 6am in the morning. I admit, it was pretty motivating because I sure as hell wasn't going to let him set the pace, or pass me. At first it seemed like we were both battling who was in front of who and I don't know who was the first to give up the 'whose dick is bigger' race but I'm pretty sure I won.

Now we just ran in silence, two shirtless idiots getting way too much attention for our already large egos. The old ladies who were out walking the hills before it got too hot out would stop and clutch at their chest in their track suits whispering about us as we passed. Marco would throw them all quick grin and I'm pretty sure one of them almost fainted. This guy was unbelievable; he loved the attention.

I saw him look at his smart watch. I didn't have time to throw mine on since I was too busy fumbling for excuses so I had to ask, "Where we at?"

He looked at me surprised I was talking to him, "Just under 7 miles. We can head back if you're tired," He jeered. I clenched my jaw.