The Kissing Booth: Unavoidable

Chapter 6 - The Wedding

Elle's POV

Lexi and Darren's wedding was on a beautiful late October day. The ceremony was perfect and afterwards I went to the reception with Allie and Brynn, a couple of friends from work I had met through Lexi. It seemed funny to me that this woman I met at Noah's suggestion had become such an awesome friend to me.   As much as I wanted to ask Lexi about Noah, we never talked about him again after that first day we met at work. Lexi did a wonderful job planning the wedding and reception and it's fun to see all the details she has been telling me about for weeks come to life. After getting our drinks at the bar, Allie and I were heading to our table and stopped to congratulate Lexi and Darren. After I gave Lexi a hug and congratulated her, Allie tapped me on the shoulder. "Look at that hot guy walking in right now!" Allie and Brynn have been scoping out all the guys at the reception, I'm starting to get worried they are going to try to set up with someone tonight.

I look in the direction Allie indicated and do a double take. Noah Flynn is walking directly towards me. Suddenly the room is quiet and it's like everyone else disappeared. I watch him walk towards me as if I'm in a dream for a split second before I remember that he is friends with Darren and Lexi and is here for the wedding, he isn't here to see me. I'm surprised Lexi didn't mention that he was coming. I turn quickly, so my back is to him just as I hear Darren say, "It's about time you showed up!" There are quite a few people standing around us trying to congratulate the bride and groom. I'm trying to find a way out of this mob of people, so Noah won't see me yet. I need to prepare myself before I face him.

"I'm so sorry I missed the ceremony, my flight was delayed. It's so good to see you! Congratulations!" I hear Noah talking behind me. I turn one way, then another, finally I see a space between Lexi and Darren and I try to slip through without being seen. But at that exact moment, Noah moves from Darren toward Lexi and I run right into his chest. By reflex, he reaches down to steady me and looks into my eyes. I'm staring stupidly back at him, not sure what to do.

"Shelly." Noah whispers in shock to me at the same time Lexi is saying "Oh, Elle! You two know each other from high school, right?" Lexi's voice got quieter as she realized Noah had called me Shelly. She and Darren look at each other, then again at me and Noah. I can't stop staring at Noah, but finally pull my focus away to face Lexi, who has a really confused look on her face. Crap, I really should have told her about me and Noah. As soon as I pull my eyes away from him, Noah also seems to remember where he is. He finally let go of my arms that he had been holding onto since I ran into him. He leans down to give Lexi a hug and tell her how happy he was for the two of them.

Lexi turns her attention back to me. "You're Noah's ex-girlfriend Shelly?" I need to give Lexi an explanation.

"Elle is short for Rochelle, but Shelly was my nickname as a kid. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole story about me and Noah, I didn't want to talk about all the break-up stuff when we first met. I know I should have told you."

"That's fine, I understand. Although, you are definitely going to be telling me all about it when we have lunch at work after the honeymoon!" Lexi smiles at me. "I put Noah at your table, since you knew him from high school. I know he probably knows some of the Harvard guys here too, but I didn't know he was coming until a couple weeks ago and this was the easiest way to make the seating chart work. I hope this won't be a problem for you guys." Lexi looks a little worried as she explains this to me.

"Don't worry about it, we'll be fine. Now, go enjoy your day. Congratulations!" I'm not going to let her know how much his appearance is shaking me to my core.

I turn from Lexi and look into Noah's brown eyes. He has been staring at me the whole time I was talking to Lexi. He smiles at me and I can feel the butterflies in my stomach. How can he still make me feel like I'm a teenager with a crush? He is wearing an expensive looking blue suit and looks amazing. I'm not used to seeing him dressed up like this. I imagine his leather jacket and boots are a thing of the past now that he's has his high-powered job, he probably wears suits like this all the time. Although, I always loved his t-shirts and ripped jeans, Noah looks very sexy in a suit. Oh boy, I need to get these thoughts out of my head, I down the drink in my hand and smile back at him. "I think I need another one, can I get you anything?"