Flirting with Boys Read Free Page B

slumped back in his chair. “Instead, Travis will spend the summer working at the resort to pay off the damage. Three months of labor should take care of the cost.”
    Celeste couldn’t stop her eyes from widening in excitement.
    What? Travis at the resort? All summer? Celeste resisted the urge to leap onto the table and thank her dad all over again. Her father thought this was a punishment ?
    Travis made a strangled little noise and opened his mouth as if to protest. Celeste waved her hands at him frantically. Shut up! Shut up! she mouthed. He must have gotten the message, because he closed his mouth and aimed a feeble smile in the direction of her parents.
    â€œOkay!” Collins stood up and tapped his papers into a neat rectangle. “Well, then, that’s settled.” He looked at Travis severely. “Mr. Helding, I never want to see you back here again.”
    â€œYes, officer,” Travis croaked as everyone stood up with a loud scraping of chairs. Dr. Weaver and Mr. Ransick nodded at Celeste’s parents and quickly started down the hallway, leaving Celeste trailing behind with Travis.
    He leaned close to her and she caught a whiff of hisAcqua di Parma aftershave. Even here, even with him wearing those ridiculous orange scrubs, knowing there was a purple thong underneath, she still wanted to throw herself at him.
    â€œThis sucks!” Travis whispered fiercely.
    â€œI know,” Celeste said automatically. Then she realized what he’d said. “Wait a minute—what do you mean, this sucks? You’re going to be at the resort this summer. I won’t have to drive up to the beach every weekend. We can be together!”
    Up ahead, Celeste saw her father turn around. She dropped Travis’s hand as if it were on fire and switched on her innocent, daughterly smile. Her father turned back forward and she grabbed Travis’s hand again.
    â€œYeah,” Travis muttered. “Working for free.”
    Celeste stopped walking. “Are you serious? You’re not the tiniest bit happy you’re going to see me all summer?” Her voice rose slightly and she saw her father hesitate. “I mean, that was a really rotten trick you pulled, Travis. How could you just destroy my family’s property like that?” she said loudly. Her father started walking again.
    Travis looked confused for a second and then draped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side as they walked. “Look, I just have to get used to the idea, babe,” he soothed her. “That’s all.” They had reached the glass doors to the outside. Celeste could see her parents getting into their old Volvo.
    Celeste felt exhausted all of a sudden. She leaned her head against Travis’s shoulder and looked up at his face.
    â€œYou’re feeling bad about this summer, aren’t you?” she said. She tried not to sound like she was accusing him of something.
    â€œNooo…” Travis said. He gazed at an auto body shop across the street. “I’m just figuring out how I’m going to tell Steve at the surf school that I’m basically under house arrest all summer.”
    â€œIt’s all right. Just tell him you got arrested for stealing a golf cart and doing a conga dance in a little purple thong. He’ll totally understand,” Celeste teased, lifting her head.
    Travis snorted. “Thanks, babe. See, this is why I love you. You’re so sweet.”
    He leaned in and pulled her toward him, his hand on the back of her neck. His stubble rasped against her face when he kissed her.
    She and Travis together at the resort all summer …That prank might have been stupid, but it might also turn out to be just about the best thing to happen to their relationship.

Chapter Three
    A fter spending graduation day party-hopping, Travis drove his purring BMW up to the darkened entrance of Pinyon to drop off Celeste and Devon. Two spotlights illuminated