Page 28 of Huge Games
"And what page is that?" Travis glances at Elias before refocusing on the road again. "The page where we don't make Celine feel worse than she does already. She's failing classes, and this thing with Eddie is affecting her way more than it should."
I don't have a chance to give my opinion because Celine is waiting outside her dorm, looking like a million dollars. I mean, she always looks good, but tonight she could rival any celebrity on a red carpet. When I glance at Elias, his tongue is practically hanging out of his mouth. Travis's eyes widened at the sight of her. He might not have been on Elias's page before, but he's halfway there now.
Celine tugs open the door and slides into the seat next to me.
"Hey, boys." Her voice is bright and upbeat, but there's something a little artificial behind it that I'm not used to hearing. A tremble of nerves, maybe.
"There's our girl." Elias puts his hand behind Travis's headrest to turn himself. He shakes his head and then folds his lips as though she looks good enough to taste. I can't disagree with him there.
"Has anyone been to this restaurant before?" she asks.
"Nope," we all say in unison.
"It's supposed to be good. And tonight is on me, by theway. Please don't make any kind of deal about that. I asked you all out. I'm flexing my dad's credit card tonight."
I can't be the only one who doesn't feel great about going on a date and letting the woman pay. I was raised to be a gentleman, and I don't even want to think about how my dad would view this whole setup.
Travis fiddles with the radio, putting on an old tune that my dad used to play in his car when I was growing up. "Are you seriously listening to this? This is old man music."
"Errr…" Celine puts her hand up. "Don't even think about criticizing, Dornan Walsh. Music from this era is the best. Nothing new comes close."
Travis chuckles. "She's got good taste. I'll give her that."
Their back-and-forth breaks the ice and we spend the rest of the car journey joking about how Travis listens to dad-music and how Celine is deluded not to appreciate newer bands. Even Elias joins in the jokes, shrugging off his usual surly attitude. I start to dread tonight a little less.
We find a parking spot near Eclet and gather around Celine like she's a celebrity client, and we're her security detail.
"Ready?" Travis holds out the crook of his arm, and Celine eyes it for a couple of seconds before sliding her hand through. We're greeted inside by an impeccably dressed server who escorts us to a table in the middle of the restaurant. I take a furtive look around for Eddie but don't see him. Travis drags Celine's chair out from under the table and helps her to take a seat. He's really pulling out all the stops tonight.
Elias and I take seats on either side of her, and Travisopposite. We each take the menu offered and begin to work our way down the long list of food with difficult-to-pronounce names. "What is this stuff?" Elias fixes me with a panicked look over the top of the menu he's clutching tightly with both hands. I'm glad I'm not the only one out of my depth.
"Mostly French food." Travis runs his finger down the menu and nods. "If you don't know what something is, I can try to work it out."
"Not just a pretty face," Elias says sarcastically.
Celine doesn't seem overwhelmed by the menu. She's already folded it neatly and is arranging a crisp white serviette in her lap.
"What are you getting?"
She smiles at me sweetly. "The duck."
"Duck?" Elias gasps.
"It's delicious. The lamb also looks good."
"There's lamb?" He looks down to search, then puts the menu down in frustration. "Travis, can you order me the lamb?"
"Sure."
"I'll take that too."
"All right. And drinks?"
"Beer." Elias blurts the word as though he's parched.
"We should have red wine."
"We should?"