Page 12 of The Flirty Forward

Brielle smiles. “Yeah, just in case that happens. And you guys know how busy July is. So my best thought is August before you guys get back to work in September.”

Sebastian sits back in his chair. “No rest for the amazing.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s no rest for the weary,” I tell him.

“Not when you play for the Green Thunder,” he returns.

“Anyway,” Brielle says, trying to draw our attention back to her. “What about the first weekend of August? Does that work for both of you?”

“Works for me,” Sebastian says without pulling out a calendar or checking his phone or doing anything like a normal, responsible adult.

“I’ll check,” I mutter as I pull out both my planner and my phone.

“What’s that?” Sebastian asks, looking over my shoulder.

I arch an eyebrow. “It’s a planner. You should try one sometime.”

“I know what a planner is,” he says with a chuckle. “I meant that sticker.”

I quickly open the planner, effectively hiding the sticker. “Nothing.” I turn to August of next year. “That should work. We won’t have started teacher in-service at that point.” Brielle nods, like she already thought about that. Which, knowing her, she probably did. “Where are you thinking?”

“We’ve got a few ideas, but we wanted to run them by you,” she says.

“But Brielle gets the final say,” Aiden says.

I nod, appreciating him. “That’s how it should be.”

“I don’t want to do anything too crazy, so here are our three choices. Costa Rica, Jamaica, or Hawaii. Those are the places the travel agency suggested. They also suggested Aruba, St. Lucia, and Dominican Republic; but those feel too...not what we’re looking for. What do you guys think?”

“Well, like Aiden said, it’s your decision, Brielle. I think they’re all great places. How many people are you thinking?” I ask.

“My mom and sister and both of you. We’ll invite my brother, but I doubt he’ll come. Aiden’s grandpop. And teammates?” She looks at Aiden when she asks. “Rico and Gunner?”

“They don’t have to come,” he says with a shrug.

“Aiden, they’re your friends.”

“Teammates,” he corrects.

“But I’m your friend, right?” Sebastian asks. “Never mind. Don’t answer that,” he says quickly.

“Yes, you’re Aiden’s friend,” Brielle says. “And so are Gunner and Rico.”

“Aiden doesn’t like Gunner because you wore his jersey,” Sebastian says with a grin.

“I didn’t have a choice, and I didn’t know it was his number. That’s what Chloe gave me!” she defends herself. Chloe is the team’s PR agent and a little bit of a menace.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” Sebastian says. I turn to Sebastian. He’s still grinning at Aiden and Brielle, oblivious to the scowl Aiden’s sending his way.

“I notice Chloe didn’t give her your jersey,” I say to him.

Chapter 4

Stephanie

He grins. “That’s because my jersey is the most popular. There’s never any extra.” I roll my eyes at him. He's so full of himself.

“Or maybe it’s that you need to clean up your image before PR hands out your jersey to people. All right. Back to Brielle and Aiden,” I say pointedly. “So that’s like what, ten to fifteen people? That’s not bad at all. We can make any of those places work.”

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