Page 1 of The Flirty Forward

Prologue

Sebastian

“All right, Maxy-Mo. This is your stop.”

“Uncle Sebastian,” a voice grumbles from the back seat.

I turn and grin at my nine-year-old nephew. He hates nicknames. Because of that, I try to come up with as many of them as possible. “Have a good day, Max-a-roo. I’ll be here to pick you up after school.” Max grabs his backpack and slides out the back door without a backward glance. “I love you!” I shout through the front passenger window that I rolled down just for this occasion. I grin when he doesn’t turn back to acknowledge me. He is so much like his dad, my older brother Keith.

“He hates when you do that, you know,” Kayla, my always-practical eleven-year-old niece says from the passenger seat.

“I know; that’s why I do it,” I say with a wink as we pull away. “Now where do we go for you again? Is it right here at this door?”

“Uncle Sebastian, I’m not at this school anymore. I'm in middle school now, remember?” she says, sounding much older than the sixth grader she is.

“Oh right, I forgot.” I really didn’t, but I like to tease her. We drive the few minutes down the road to the middle school. I notice she’s squeezing her hands tightly together, and I reach over and put my hand over her much smaller ones. “Hey, no stressing. Everything will be fine. I’ll talk to your teacher, yeah?”

“I don’t think it’s going to go well.” She’s been saying the same thing since last night when she got to my house and realized she didn’t have what she needed to do some assignment for history class. If her mom was around, she would have been able to fix it. But she’s not. She’s currently on her anniversarytrip with my brother. Kristin would never let something like a missed assignment happen, but I’m not Kristin. And I didn’t know about said assignment until late last night. “It will be fine; I promise.” I pat her hand one last time before parking. “Let’s go.” I climb out of the car and wait for her to grab her backpack. I stop her before we go any further. “You have your medic bag?” She nods. “And your device? And it’s charged?”

“I’ve got it, Uncle Sebastian. Don’t worry.”

It’s impossible not to worry about her. At eleven, she’s been dealt a pretty cruddy hand in life. She’s a Type 1 Diabetic. She was diagnosed at age five. Not a day goes by that I don’t remember that panicked call from my brother when he called from the back of an ambulance saying Kayla had passed out on him and wouldn’t wake up. She’d been rushed inside and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I hate it for her, but she’s a trooper. Because of that, she’s my hero; but I’m also a little overprotective of her.

She’s somber as we walk towards the school building, and I reach over and tug on her braid. “Hey, smile.” She doesn’t smile, but I let it go. It will be fine. I’ll talk to her teacher and explain what went down. She'll be fine.

It takes a while for us to get through the front door, and it takes a few tries before I’m allowed entrance to the school. They finally let me through. “Which way, Kiddo?” I ask.

“This way,” she says softly.

We turn the corner and nearly run into one of my favorite people. “Elle!” I call out cheerfully.

She shakes her head. She hates that nickname; which is precisely why I use it. Brielle is the fiancé of my best friend and teammate Aiden. They got engaged last Christmas. She's made him a more pleasant person to be around, and for that, she will always be one of my favorite people.

“Sebastian, what are you doing here?” she asks with a big smile. She’s a sweetheart.

“Isn’t itbring your favorite uncle to school day?” I ask Kayla with an exaggerated, confused look. She smiles shyly and shakes her head. “Elle, have you met my niece Kayla?”

“I have not,” Brielle says with wide eyes and a big smile.

“You two have something in common,” I say to both of them.

Kayla looks up at me curiously. “We do?”

Understanding dawns on Brielle’s face. “Is this your niece with Type 1 diabetes?”

Kayla nods and looks back up at me with a question in her gaze, but Brielle explains before I can. “My sugars got low at a Christmas gala I was attending with your uncle’s team. He brought me orange juice and explained that he had a niece with Type 1.” She smiles widely and puts out her fist. “Type 1 warriors.” Kayla grins and gives her a fist bump. “If you ever need anything, come find me. I know how hard it can be to manage.” Kayla nods shyly. “Where are you off to?” Brielle asks.

“We’re off to meet with her history teacher,” I tell her. “Kayla spent the night at my house because my brother and sister-in-law are away, but she didn’t have the book she needed for some assignment. So I’m going to explain to the teacher.” As I'm talking, Brielle’s eyes get wider and wider. She glances down at Kayla and grimaces, but before I can ask what that’s about, she steps back.

“I’ve got to get going. Have a great day, Guys.”

“Okay, Kiddo, let’s get you to class before you’re late.” She leads me to her classroom, and I peek inside. Thankfully, we’re early, so there are no students here yet. I see her teacher sitting at her desk, but her head is hidden behind her computer. I knock on the doorframe, and a head pops up. I turn to Kayla. “I’ve got this; Kiddo. Nothing to worry about.” I turn back and nearly swallow my tongue. I watch, entranced, as a beautifulwoman walks across the classroom. She’s everything that is my kryptonite. She’s tall with dark, wavy hair. She's wearing a pantsuit that screams professional, and she’s wearing glasses—my favorite. She’s totally rocking the sexy librarian look, and I’m loving it. I grin. “Hi, I’m Sebastian.” I stick out my hand when she gets close. She looks down at my hand a moment, and I wonder if she’s going to leave me hanging. She places her soft hand in mine, and it takes everything in me not to squeeze her hand lightly. She pulls it back quickly before turning her gaze on my niece.

“Good morning, Kayla.”

“Morning, Miss Winston,” Kayla responds softly.

I am fully aware of the fact that I am staring, but do I care?Absolutely not.I can’t keep the grin off my face when she turns back to me, totally straight-faced.

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