“We can start after you get your trophy.” I give him a chaste kiss and he reluctantly lowers my feet to the ground. His gaze lingers on mine a little longer, before it lands behind me. Noah steps forward and squeezes his mum and dad the two of them bursting with happiness. When they finally release him, Noah embraces Dan in a giant bear hug, Dan thumping him on the back. Dan tilts his head to Sofia next to him when they step apart, and Noah smiles at her, giving her a peck on the cheek. She winks at him over her sunglasses. The amount of footage from this whole spectacle is going to break the internet.
He ducks back to give me another kiss and the crowd cheers again, before he heads towards the stage, the crowd laughing and cheering, many of them turning to look at me.
But I don’t care. My focus is solely on the handsome, kind-hearted, Pipe Pro winner who keeps looking back at me like I’m the real prize.
SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS EVERYWHERE
@emilygossip:I. AM. SCREAMING. Did ya’ll see that display at the Pipe Pro? The perfect ten score. The run through the crowd. THE KISS?! You couldn’t write this shit. I’m so happy. #Millah4life
@lozzapalooza:Even I was fanning myself.
@rosiethompson:And Sofia was there too?! Like, what the hell happened between all of them. Do you think they’re all together? I NEED details.
@taylordcosta:I don’t even watch surfing and I’ve watched that clip five million times. So gorgeous.
@finnkennedy:Knew he was a good bloke.
54
MILLIE
Can I call you Mr. Fisher?
The afternoon blurs into night,and Noah doesn’t let me leave his side.
He has countless interviews, people congratulating him and people to hug, but he always seeks my gaze or reaches for my hand. He stares at me like he can’t believe I’m in front of him and every time our bodies touch, my body sizzles with electricity.
Eventually Mack and Sofia pry us apart, for Noah to shower and do some champion paperwork things and for me to freshen up in anticipation for the awards dinner.
Sofia invites me and Gabby to her suite, where she’s organised dresses for us to wear and also does our makeup. The three of us spend the time getting ready, squealing about how the final went and giggling at the internet’s reaction to it.
“People don’t know what to make of it,” Gabby says, sipping a glass of champagne. She’s wearing a floor-length, pearl-coloured dress made of silk and looks more like she’s attending the Oscars than anything else. “Some people think you two and Noah are in some kind of throuple.”
I snort as Sofia dusts powder on my cheeks. “I like you, Sofia, but I’m not sharing him.”
She laughs in response. “If it makes you feel better, I’m not looking for a man right now. I have things I need to sort out with my career and social circles first.”
“Some people think you leaking the footage was a PR move,” Gabby says, reading from her phone.
Sofia smirks. “Well, it was.”
Yesterday, I was curled up in my house in Australia, crying over my broken heart and hiding from the world. If you had told me twenty-four hours later, I’d be sitting in the deluxe hotel suite of Noah’s ex-girlfriend, who recently kissed him, having my makeup done by her, joking and laughing with her and Noah’s sister, I would’ve thrown you out of my house for talking like a mad person.
“All done,” Sofia says, snapping her powder case shut. “Go get dressed. You girls need to hustle.”
“Noah keeps asking how long we’ll be,” Gabby adds. “He’s such a pest.”
“You sure you don’t want to come?” I ask Sofia.
She nods. “I’m certain. This night is for you guys. I’m going to turn off my phone, get into my pyjamas and watch reality TV for the first time in months. It’s going to be amazing.”
Gabby groans. “I like the sound of that.”
I smile. “Thank you, Sofia. None of this would’ve happened if it weren’t for you.”
She quirks an eyebrow. “You’re right. If I hadn’t kissed your boyfriend, things would be very different.”
I chuckle as she pushes me towards the bathroom, where I put on the most gorgeous scarlet gown I’ve ever seen in my life.
