chapter 17

My feet started to throb in my too-small trainers as I ran along the cobbled stones of the high street. It was only six in the morning and there was little warmth in the sun, but the movement of my muscles was enough to keep the goosebumps off of my skin.

A small smile crossed my face as I passed the familiar peeling pink paint of Margaret's bookstore. I had managed to pop in and see her a couple of times since the first meeting; leaving each visit with a pile of books that I had been devouring nightly.

It was the morning after the disastrous beach bonfire, and I had woken early, my head filled with awful thoughts about Kate and Liam. Wanting to clear my head, I did what I always do when I'm stressed - I went for a run.

I turned off of the high street and made my way to the seaside promenade. As it was only six in the morning, the beach was almost completely deserted, save for a few committed surfers dotted about the clear blue waves. I took a seat on one of the stone benches lining the sandy path about eighty meters from the surf, wanting to soak up the view for a bit longer.

Staring out into the ocean, I couldn't help my thoughts turning to what had happened last night. Despite it not being me who initiated the kiss, I couldn't help feeling guilty; I had told him I found him attractive after all, as well as leading him to a secluded location. Had I accidentally sent him signals that I wanted him to kiss me?

All I wanted to do was to come clean to Kate. By not telling her I felt that I was making the situation even worse. But Liam's threat to turn it against me prevented me from doing that. There was absolutely no way she'd take my word over his; and I wasn't prepared to ruin the first friendship I had experienced in years.

As thoughts raced around in my mind, I found my eyes catching one surfer in particular. His floppy black hair seemed distinctly familiar, however it was only when he turned around to make his way back to shore that I realised it was Noah.

Not wanting him to see me and assume that I had been watching him, I promptly pushed myself up from the bench and made my way back home.

***

"So, what are you stressed about?" Julie asked as I walked into the pub kitchen to start my morning shift. Her hands were wrapped around a mug of coffee, which she was sipping.

"What?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"You went for a run." She said, as if that explained everything. "You only go for runs when you're stressed."

"How-"

"Your dad might have mentioned it." She explained, giving me a warm smile. "Plus, your mum used to do it too. So, anything I can help with?"

"No, just thinking about University, that's all." I said quickly. It wasn't that I didn't want to confide in Julie; the setting just didn't seem appropriate. The kitchen was quite busy with staff, and as Charleston was such a small town I could imagine that any gossip spread around like wildfire.

"Well, you know I'm always here to listen." Julie said, finishing her coffee and placing the mug down on the counter.

"Of course." I said, sending her a smile which she returned before walking out into the main restaurant.

I made my way over to the kettle at the corner of the kitchen. I had found out early on that while staff weren't supposed to make themselves coffee form the fancy machine behind the bar, an instant coffee made using the kettle in the kitchen was very much allowed. It had become my routine on my morning shifts to have a cup before starting work.

"Your coffee is over there." Came Noah's voice from the doorway. I turned around to see him leaning on the doorframe, motioning to the counter next to me.

I looked at him in disbelief.

"One sugar, no milk. That's how you take it, right?" He continued.

"Yeah, it is.. You made me a coffee?" I asked, still shocked. The fact that he had made it for me was a sweet gesture in itself, not to mention that he had remembered how I liked it.

Noah shrugged. "Thought you'd need the energy after spending the morning stalking me."

Of course he had to say something to ruin the moment.

I rolled my eyes. "I was out on a run."

"Yeah, you looked really active, sitting on that bench."

Before I could retort, Julie stuck her head back into the kitchen. "Let's get to work guys!"

The shift, as all morning shifts did, started very slow. After taking a couple of breakfast orders, I found myself back in the kitchen with very little else to do but wait for more customers to come in.

"He likes you, Lo," Lewis said, giving me a nudge and wiggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes.

"Who likes me, Lewis."

"Noah, of course!" He replied loudly.

"No he doesn't." I said, giving him a death glare, before scanning the room. Upon seeing that Noah wasn't with us in the kitchen I moved closer to Lewis. "Why would you think that."

"He made you coffee!" Lewis said, looking at me triumphantly.

"That doesn't mean anything!" I hissed, trying to keep from being overheard by the other kitchen staff milling around. "It's just a friendly gesture."

"I'm his friend. He has never made me coffee." Lewis pointed out.

"Yeah, well, he saw I was upset last night. Maybe he just feels bad for me."

"Which means he cares about you, doesn't it!"

"Or that he doesn't want to work with a miserable coworker." I said, rolling my eyes. Lewis was clutching at straws. "I'm so fed up of people saying stuff like this. He doesn't like me."

"Well, do you like him?" Lewis questioned.

"No!" I said instantly. "He's really nice to me at times, but that doesn't take away from the fact that we're fundamentally different people."

"Alright, Lo. I'm just saying I see something there."

The bell went for me to collect the food for a table. I sent Lewis one last look before walking over to grab the plate. Taking the food out to the customers, the thought struck me that Lewis had said basically the same things as Beverly had last night. But of course people were going to think that we were close; we had been spending so much time together working at the pub.

"Two lots of pancakes and one omlette." I said, placing the plates down in front of a group of three middle aged women. "Can I get anything else for you?"

"I'd love another coffee, please." One of the women said, with a smile.

"Of course."

I headed over to the bar. Noah was standing behind the bar, drying a large mug with a tea towel.

"One coffee for table sixteen, please." I said, taking a quick seat at one of the deserted bar stools.

"Do you want me to teach you how to work the machine?" Noah offered, placing the dry mug down and flicking the tea towel over his shoulder.

"Why?" I said, eyebrows scrunching. Noah was the resident bartender, although he sometimes worked as a waiter too when needed. He was always the one who made the coffees.

He shrugged. "You might have to make one on your own someday- what if you work a shift without me."

"If you're not here, Neil is." I pointed out. Neil was our other bartender, who worked the shifts that Noah didn't.

"I just thought, seeing as it's quiet right now, I'd offer. Forget I asked." Niah grumbled, turning to start making the coffee.

"No, I want to learn!" I said, diving behind the bar. Noah looked up at me in surprise. "Please," I added.

"Alright, grab a mug." Noah commanded. I followed his instructions, grabbing a mug from the pile on the side.

I watched as Noah ran through the instructions, making a mental note of the buttons I needed to press. As we watched the dark liquid fill the cup, I turned to him.

"So, how long have you been surfing for?"

Noah shrugged. "My dad used to take me out when I was about ten or so. I go sometimes with Miles and Tyler, but I much prefer going on my own first thing in the morning." He turned to me. "Have you ever surfed?"

I shook my head. My mum had never been a huge surfer, preferring instead to just swim in the waves, so I had never been taught. The idea of surfing had always appealed to me, though. "No, but I'd love to learn."

"I could teach you sometime," Noah said. He took the cup of coffee, which had finished filling up, away from the machine. "This is done now."

"Really?" I asked, glancing at him with a smile.

He looked at me, confused. "Yeah, the coffee's done filling up."

"Not the coffee! Would you really teach me to surf?" I asked, a sense of excitement building in my stomach.

"Yeah, sure."

"Today?"

"No way." Noah said. He caught a glimpse of my pleading expression and sighed. "There's a storm coming tomorrow, the waves will be choppy today. Plus it will be so busy. I'll take you another day."

"Fine," I said, trying to hide my excitement at the prospect of Noah teaching me how to surf. "I need to take this to the table." I said, picking up the coffee we had just made.

Noah nodded. I had just started to walk away when he called out.

"Hey, Lo."

I turned around. He had a strange expression on his face as he continued. "The boys and I are going to the beach this afternoon. Not to surf, just to swim and enjoy the last nice day before the storm. You should come."

I gave him a quick smile. "I'd love to."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This chapter was so hard to write for some reason, but I hope it turned out okay anyways. Get excited for the next chapter, it's going to be a good one!

Lots of love,

Kirsty