Noah was on his way back outside, and stopped in the kitchen doorway.

“Thanks for the help with my suitcase.”

“What, that’s it? I don’t get a tip?”

I laughed as if to tell him No chance. He caught my wrist and stepped in front of me in the doorframe to pin me there.

“Hey, I’m an awesome bellboy and you know it,” he said, his voice as serious as his expression.

I bit back a laugh, but a grin spread over my face. “You tell yourself that.” I went up on my toes to give him a peck on the lips. Instead of letting me pull away, though, Noah drew me in for a soft, sweet kiss, more intimate than the one we’d just shared outside. His fingers dropped from round my wrist to link themselves with mine.

A throat cleared—we both jumped.

I turned my head, ready to stare meaningfully at Lee, make a comment about how I’d interrupt him every time he kissed Rachel once she got here, but the opportunity never came and the words stuck in my throat.

“Can I get through?” Matthew said. Noah stepped back and tugged me round the doorframe to let his dad through. I was so mortified that for a moment all I could do was bite my tongue and make a mental note to never, ever kiss in a doorway again.

I was jerked out of my thoughts by a gentle tug on my ponytail. Noah chuckled. “Shelly, anyone would think you’re not used to being seen with your boyfriend.”

“Anyone would think we dated in secret for months,” I deadpanned, rolling my eyes, still embarrassed. “Are you sure your parents don’t mind me coming this year?”

I sounded like Lee, asking yet again if it was cool that Rachel was coming for a few days. I searched Noah’s face for a hint that maybe his parents had said something to him they wouldn’t say to me, that maybe they’d had some debate about whether I should come along this year, after all the drama I’d caused.

Noah squeezed my hand, which had suddenly turned clammy, and his touch seemed to undo all the knots in my stomach. “Totally sure. Hey, why don’t you go unpack? I told my dad I’d clean up outside.”

I let him kiss me again, feeling a little better as we parted, and I went into my room, where Lee was already stuffing clothes into his drawer of the dresser. He smiled at me and I relaxed further. Of course Matthew and June wanted me here. If they didn’t, Lee would have told me. He wouldn’t be able to hide something like that.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have brought so much stuff,” I panted, after hauling my bag from the floor onto the bed to sort through it.