Flirting with Boys (10 page)

“Crap,” Nick said, looking behind him and trying to switch lanes. “I have a confession. I have no idea where we are. Or how to use the GPS thing.” He peered at the
endless streets around them, with colorful signs in Spanish and bodegas and cell-phone shops lining the sidewalks. Suddenly, Celeste pointed ahead.

“Hey,” she said. “Is that a park?” At the end of the street, they could see an expanse of grass and, just beyond it, a glimmer of blue water.

“It definitely is. And it looks like there's a little lake or something.” Nick glanced over at Celeste. “How about a break?”

Celeste resisted the urge to look at her watch. She was technically due back at the resort
right
after the band audition, according to her father, but the water ahead looked so tempting. And didn't she deserve a little break during her summer of hard slogging? She glanced over at Nick. “Sure,” she said. “Let's do it.” Every one of her brain cells knew this was a bad idea. But none of them stopped her from jumping out of the car.

T
hey'd pulled up on a little strip of asphalt near the park. The noise and traffic of the city blared behind them, but if Celeste faced forward, all she could see was smooth green grass and gravel paths. The lake Nick had pointed out lapped at the grassy bank about fifty feet way. A sign near them read
RATHBONE MEMORIAL PARK
. The place was almost totally deserted. Just a few figures were scattered across the green, strolling with dogs, or sitting on blankets. Celeste inhaled as the breeze lifted her ponytail.

The car door slammed next to her, and suddenly Nick grabbed her hand. “Come on!” he said, and raced her toward the lake.

Celeste paused at the edge of the small lake. The
gray-blue water glimmered in the sun. Peering forward, she could just make out a sandy bottom under the ripples. She kicked off her flip-flops and waded in, letting the cool water splash around her ankles. Behind her, Nick was laboriously unlacing his sneakers. “Come on!” she shouted. “This is why you have to wear flip-flops!”

“Just wait until I get over there,” Nick shouted back. “You'll be sorry you ever met me.”

“I already am!” Celeste called. Turning, she waded a little deeper, holding the skirt of her sundress up around her thighs, careful not flash Nick. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grabbed her around the waist from behind and Nick lifted her high into the air. Celeste screamed and Nick flung her over one shoulder and started striding deeper into the water. “I'm going to kill you!” Celeste yelled, beating on his back with her fists. She thought of her white sundress and (gulp) white underwear—
and
no bra—and said a brief, fervent prayer that he wouldn't drop her in the water. Luckily, Nick spun her around a few times and then set her on her feet in the knee-deep water.

“Oh, you're going to get it now,” Celeste said, advancing slowly toward him. She kicked at the water.

“Hey!” he protested, looking down at his wet shirt. “How can you expect me to not get you back for that?”

Celeste laughed and turned, running away as best she could in the water, lifting both her skirt and her knees
high. Nick splashed after her, and she tried to run faster. She felt his fingers graze her back and then suddenly, there was an even bigger splash and she felt a wave of water hit her back. She looked behind her but there was no Nick.

“Nick?” she called, looking around. Nothing. “Nick?” she called again. Still nothing. Suddenly, with a heave, he emerged from the water, dripping and totally soaked. His shorts hung off him, running with water, and his shirt was transparent.

Celeste choked a little and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. He looked so forlorn, standing there with his hair plastered to his head. A few chortles escaped her and finally, she gave in, laughing so hard she had to double over and hold her stomach for a minute.

Nick just stood there while she laughed, his hands hanging at his sides and a woebegone expression on his face. When her giggles finally petered out, he looked at her through the wet strands of hair over his eyes. “Don't you know it's not nice to laugh at those less fortunate than you?”

Celeste swallowed another set of giggles and held out her hand. “I'm sorry—you just look really funny.” Privately, she was thankful that it was Nick who was standing there soaked in water and not her. At least his pants weren't see-through.

Nick took her hand and together, they sloshed
through the water back to the bank. Nick dropped to the grass. “Let's hang out for a minute and I'll let my clothes dry.” He stripped off his shirt and wrung it out, spreading it in the sun next to him.

“Um…” Celeste looked at her watch, trying not to stare at his lean chest and ropy, corded arms. “I should probably be getting back.”

Nick patted the ground next to him. “Ten minutes. I can't get back into the Alfa Romeo this wet—if I drip on that leather, my dad will disown me.” He tried to squeeze some water out of his shorts.

Celeste sank down and carefully stretched her wet legs out in front of her. The grass prickled against the backs of her calves. She lay back and stared at the endless blue sky vaulting overhead. It
did
feel good to just veg out here, with only the sound of the breeze in her ears, and no one asking her for a clean towel or a glass of water with only limes and no lemons. Nick lay down next to her and tucked his hands under his head. For a long moment, they were just quiet.

Then Nick asked, “So, what's the story with you two anyway?” Celeste's eyes sprang open. She raised her head.

“What?”

“What's the deal with you two?”

“Who?”

“You and Travis.”

She lowered her head warily and affected nonchalance. “What do you mean, what's the deal? He's my boyfriend.” She could hear a little tension entering her voice.
A couple of days of getting along and now he's going to bring up Travis. Great.

Nick's eyes were shut tight against the sun and his face was expressionless. “I just wouldn't put the two of you together, you know, if you asked me.” His voice was soft and calm, but something about it irritated Celeste. She sat up.

“What are you talking about? Travis is a really nice guy, for your information. We've been together almost a year now.” Her voice rose at the end.

“Okay, that's cool.” Nick still didn't move or open his eyes. “I'm just kind of surprised you're into him. He doesn't seem that bright.”

“What?” Now Celeste's voice rose into a screech. “Who are you to be talking about bright? As far as I can tell, all you ever do is lie around, flirt with girls, and play with your daddy's money.”

Nick flinched as if she'd hit him. He didn't say anything. Celeste got to her feet and dusted off the rear of her dress. The sun felt like it was baking her face, and the wind had picked up. It whistled hotly past her face like the air in an oven.

“I want to go back,” Celeste said tightly.

“Fine.” He got up, not looking at her.

The asphalt burned under her feet as Celeste tramped back across the grass to the car. She stood by the locked door of the car, waiting for Nick and fuming. How dare he insult Travis like that? Here she'd been thinking that they were working really well together planning the party, and then the minute she'd let her guard down, he'd swooped right in and started trying to make trouble between her and Travis again.

The car beeped and she looked across the parking lot. Nick had unlocked it with his remote. She slid into the baking interior and sat there with the door open. Nick climbed in and started the engine. Silently, he tossed two wet objects into her lap. Celeste looked down at them, confused, before she recognized her discarded flip-flops.

“I had my personal valet pick these up for you,” Nick said, looking behind him to back out of the parking lot. “It's what all of us lazy rich boys do.”

Silently, Celeste slipped them onto her feet. She folded her hands in her lap and gazed out the window at the highway slipping by.

The silence lay thickly over the car. They passed a sign for Highway 95 and Nick turned onto it. In twenty minutes, they were pulling through the main gates of the guesthouse. Neither of them had spoken a single word since leaving the park. Nick pulled up in front of the main building and Celeste put her hand on the door handle, ready to jump out as soon as he stopped the car.

He braked and she swung open the door. “Wait,” he said suddenly, putting his hand on her bare knee. Celeste hesitated. She just wanted to get out of there, but Nick's face looked so plaintive that she reluctantly swung her leg back into the car and faced him again.

“What?” she said.

He took his hand off her knee. “Look,” he said. “I'm sorry—I was an idiot back there. I just talk out of my ass sometimes.”

“Yeah, I'll say,” Celeste snapped. But Nick didn't flare up. He just stared at his lap until Celeste felt a little bad for her ungracious response.

“Whatever's going on with you and Travis is none of my business, okay? I'll just keep my rich-boy self away from him.”

Celeste winced. “I'm sorry about that. It just came out. But I don't want you stirring up trouble with me and Travis.” She paused. He looked over at her, almost pinning her against the car door with his hot blue gaze. Suddenly, the air in the car felt unbearably close. Celeste fumbled for the door handle. “I have to get out of here, okay?”

Nick nodded without looking at her. She could see the muscles of his clenched jaw standing out under his skin. He gripped the steering wheel and stared. “So, planning meeting tomorrow night?” he asked.

Celeste nodded and swung her legs back out of the
car. “Yeah. See you in the dining room at nine.” She shut the door and stood watching as the Alfa Romeo purred away toward the Saunders guesthouse. Celeste stood in the middle of the path, her hands hanging forlornly by her sides. Earlier, she'd thought she'd been too hard on Nick, but once again, he'd proved himself the arrogant jerk he'd always been. She started walking slowly back to the bungalow. But if Nick really was just trying to stir her up, why was she letting him get to her? She and Travis belonged together, so Nick's opinion shouldn't even faze her. Unfortunately, telling herself that didn't make her any less fazed.

G
od, it's hot,” Celeste said, on her hands and knees in the soft dirt. She troweled up another hole and carefully set the flower plant in it. The sun was beating down on her back, right through her white polo shirt. She'd managed to find a way to work with Travis for a day, to make up for spending so much time with Nick—not that Travis knew that was the reason. Unfortunately, that meant planting petunias in the blazing heat all morning by the new guesthouses that were being built on the other side of the golf course.

“Yeah,” Travis agreed. He lifted another flat of the flowers out of the wheelbarrow. “I'm almost out of water too.”

“We'll have to get some more from the main
building,” Celeste said. She sat up on her heels and wiped at her forehead with her arm, the only part of her that wasn't dusty. There wasn't anyone around—the guesthouses wouldn't be ready for another couple of weeks and the workmen were apparently taking the day off.

Suddenly, Travis lay down his trowel. “Hey, I've got an idea,” he said.

“What?” Celeste asked. Any idea would be better than this medieval labor. Why, why had she volunteered to do this, instead of her usual work, which would have been paperwork in the office? Boring, but at least it would have been cool.

“We've been planting for, like, two hours,” Travis said. “Let's go cool off in one of the guesthouses. The guys put air-conditioning in the other day. We need a break.”

Celeste blinked. “Um, well, we're not really supposed to be in the empty guesthouses.” Dad didn't want anyone dirtying up the carpet or anything before guests even stayed there.

Travis leaned closer. “Come on! It'll be nice and cool in there and…I promise a back massage to any girl who takes a break with me.” He rubbed her shoulders.

Celeste considered. The main building was a fifteen-minute walk away across the golf course, and no one would know they were taking a break in a guesthouse if
they were careful. She lay down her own trowel and cracked her back, gazing at her dirt-dusted, sweaty arms. “Okay, but I'm just warning you—if we get caught, I'm going to swear you dragged me in there kicking and screaming.” She tried to channel Nick's devilish grin.

Travis grabbed her hand. “Come on.” They got to their feet and made their way to one of the buildings. Celeste glanced around and then slid her card into the door slot and pushed it open. The place was hot and stuffy and smelled like new paint. The airy rooms were still unfurnished, but the carpet was laid in the main living room.

“Let's get the AC on,” Travis said, striding over to the thermostat. Almost immediately, a stream of icy air began flowing out of the vent near Celeste, curling deliciously around her ankles.

“Oh my God, that feels amazing.” She went over to the sink in the empty kitchen and started running cold water over her arms and face. She splashed some on the back of her neck and wished she could just take a shower. She looked at Travis, who was randomly opening the cabinet doors. They'd never get back to the main building at this rate. Travis turned his back to check the thermostat again, and Celeste cupped her hands, filling them with water. She took aim and flung the icy water at Travis, hitting him square on the back of the neck.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Oh, you are in trouble.” He
grabbed her around the waist and lifted her feet off the ground. Celeste giggled and he set her back on her feet.

“What's so funny?” he asked, slowly kissing the back of her neck. The sensation of his hot lips on her skin made Celeste shiver.

“Nothing,” she said, turning toward him. Her voice echoed against the flat, empty walls. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he kissed her as she ran her hands up and down his back. Suddenly, he stooped and swung her up into his arms. Celeste squealed and Travis carried her over to the vast living room. She closed her eyes as he put her down on the thick carpet and then lay down next to her, pressing himself up against her.

A little while later, Celeste took a deep breath. Travis, now minus his shirt, dropped back on the carpet and wriggled his shoulder blades against the scratchy rug. “So, the boys are talking about going out tonight. You want to go? We haven't been out together in forever.”

“Sure,” Celeste said automatically. Then she stopped.

“What?” Travis asked.

“Nothing—it's just that I forgot I have a planning meeting with, um, Nick, tonight.” She tried to swallow the word
Nick
in hopes that Travis would somehow miss it. No such luck.

He sat up on the rug, a flush darkening his cheeks. “Are you kidding? You spend all your time with him these days,” he said, his voice rising. “Now he gets nights too?”

Celeste sat up too.
That's what I get for mentioning Nick
. “Look, I've told you a million times—it's my job. What do you want me to do?”

Travis pouted. “I've been really patient the last few weeks—”

“You have!” Celeste reassured him.

“But I'm getting sick of this. Do you actually
like
hanging out with this guy or what?”

“No! I mean, I don't mind him when he's not being a jerk, but I'm just trying to make this an amazing party. I mean, maybe if I prove I can do this, Dad'll let me off the hook next summer. Besides”—she put her hand on Travis's—“I really want to drive up to Tempe with you next month, and he'll totally let me once he sees how great everything is.”

“Yeah,” Travis agreed reluctantly.

“I mean, maybe they'd even let me spend fall break with you!”

To her surprise, Travis didn't look quite as excited at this thought as she'd thought he would. He got to his feet. “Um, yeah, that would be great,” he said. He offered Celeste his hand and pulled her to her feet.

“Look, if you're that worried, why don't you just come with me to the meeting tonight? You can see all the stuff we're planning.”

“Fine,” Travis said, reaching for his polo shirt. “We should get back to work.”