The end of his speech was met with thunderous applause. As the staff slowly rose and began to mingle, Chelsea found herself hurrying over to Sebastian.
“I know you’re leaving for the airport in a couple of hours, and I wanted to make sure I got a chance to say good-bye,” she said.
“I’m glad you did,” Sebastian replied. He held out his arms and wrapped her in a huge, friendly hug. “I’m glad I met you.”
“Me, too,” Chelsea said. “Are you coming back next summer?”
“If your dad will have me,” Sebastian joked, releasing Chelsea and planting a kiss on her cheek. “You take care of yourself while I’m gone, okay? No more broken bones.”
“None, I promise,” Chelsea laughed. She took off in search of Mel and Sienna, but Todd waylaid her. He was wearing his wetsuit.
“How about one last run before the season is over?” He leaned over to give her a kiss, and Chelsea’s head swam with joy. Todd was kissing her in public! He was willing to let the world know that they were together!
“You know I could never say no.” Chelsea grinned.
Ten minutes later she was zipping along behind the boat, the sun on her face and the cool Lake Tahoe breeze whipping through her hair. She could feel the energy of all the summer staffers on the shore: people she finally felt comfortable with, who finally seemed like her friends. She felt freer and happier than she had all summer. She was where she wanted to be, but she was also who she wanted to be: a strong, kick-ass girl who was, nevertheless, a girl, and who was comfortable enough with herself to land the guy of her dreams.
She maneuvered far out of the wake and began to edge in again, gathering the speed and momentum she would need to hurl her body into the air. As she did, she glanced toward the boat. Todd looked back at her in the rearview mirror and sensed exactly what she was doing. He quickly brought the boat around in a double-up, causing the wake to swell to twice its normal size before Chelsea launched herself in the air on her board, the wind whipping around her face and the sunlight glaring off the lake. She was going to do it! Chelsea turned around again and again and again, her feet hitting the middle of the wake in a strong, perfectly timed whirlybird 720.
She thought all the noise she was hearing must have just been exhilaration and blood rushing in her ears, but when she turned to look at the shore, she saw everyone watching her, clapping and cheering. Her face flushed with happiness and triumph. She had finally done it! It might have taken her all summer, but she had mastered one of the most difficult tricks in the book. It could only get better from there.
“How was that?” Chelsea asked Todd as she climbed back into the boat.
Todd cut the motor so he could turn and devote all his attention to her. He put his arms around her waist and looked at her, smiling. “Well, I don’t know…. I think your rotation timing was a little off. You may want to try counting it out in your he—”
“Would you just shut up?” Chelsea said, grinning at him as she grabbed him around the waist and pulled him toward her for a long, passionate kiss.
And for once, Chelsea didn’t care if the whole resort could see everything she was doing. All she knew was that she was happier than she had ever been before. In the warm summer sunlight, Todd kissed Chelsea back, feeling awake, happy, and alive. The summer season might have been over, but Chelsea knew that her life had just begun.
About the Author
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Books by Hailey Abbott:
GETTING LOST WITH BOYS
THE SECRETS OF BOYS
THE PERFECT BOY
WAKING UP TO BOYS
SUMMER BOYS
NEXT SUMMER: A SUMMER BOYS NOVEL
AFTER SUMMER: A SUMMER BOYS NOVEL
LAST SUMMER: A SUMMER BOYS NOVEL
Copyright
WAKING UP TO BOYS. Copyright © 2007 by Alloy Entertainment. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition JANUARY 2009 ISBN: 9780061971655
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