Page 20 of The Flirty Forward

“Stephanie the Slayer,” I read out loud. “Are you kidding me?”

“Catchy, isn’t it?” Sebastian asks from right next to me.

I whirl around. “This has got to stop.”

“That’s why we’re here, obviously,” Chloe says crisply. “For some reason, the public has gotten fixated on you.”

“For some reason? It's because of him,” I say, jabbing my thumb in Sebastian’s direction.

“It doesn’t matter who did what; what matters now is taking care of the situation,” Chloe says smoothly. I stare at her, fuming. She looks down at her phone, and I want to grab the thing from her and toss it out the window. Thankfully, I don’t. “Here’s what I’m going to suggest. I think we can fix this easily. We just need to get their fixation off of you.” I nod; I like where this is going. “We get the attention off of you and onto both of you.” I stop nodding.

“What?” I ask. Surely, I didn’t hear her right.

She looks down at her phone again. “We have you come to a few games, snap a few shots of the two of you together. Get a few shots of you with his family during the game. Maybe go on a date or two, and it’s sold.”

I stare at her. “What?” I am aware that my voice is higher than usual, but I can’t bring myself to care. “What’s sold?”

She looks up from her phone. “That you’re together.” She must see my face because she continues. “Once they see you together, they’ll give up on bothering you and trying to convince you to give our Sebastian here a chance. They’ll stop calling you a—” she pauses and glances down the hallway. When she sees students, she whispers, “TheBword. Your image will changeovernight. They’ll see that you’re a nice person.” She pauses. “Well, we can give that image anyway.”

My eyebrows nearly hit my forehead. Before I can say anything, Sebastian steps up next to me. “Sounds like you need me, Doll. Don’t worry,” he says seriously. “We can turn around that bad image for you in no time. You stick close to me, and we’ll turn your image around.”

Chapter 7

Stephanie

I look for something to throw at him and come up empty. From the look on his face, he knows it. His grin widens. “This is all your fault,” I grind out.

He cocks his head to the side. “Is it, though? Or is it your fault for not being nice to me to begin with and not giving me a chance?” I am literally incapable of words. I glare at him, because that’s all I can manage at the moment. “What do you think? Want to come to a game?”

“I’d rather jab a fork in my eye,” I return.

He grimaces. “Ew. That’s...yeah...Anyway, I told my family about you. They know to expect you. Your seat will be with them.” I literally can’t form a word. He takes a step back. “I gotta run, or I’m going to be late. But it was good seeing you, Teach. As always. You look gorgeous today.” He takes a few more steps backwards. Right before he turns the corner, he stops. “Oh, and they think I’m going to marry you,” he adds.

I’m absolutely thunderstruck. “Who?”

“My family,” he says nonchalantly, like it’s no big deal.

“What? How can...Why?” I finally settle on.

He shrugs. “Because that’s what I told them.” He winks at me and disappears around the corner. I close my eyes and try to take a deep breath. “Oh, and one more thing.” I whirl around at the sound of his voice. “I think we should have a special sign between us when I do something amazing on the ice like score.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Maybe like I make anSfor Stephanie.” He does something with his fingers, and I just shake my head because I can’t even with him. “Or maybe like a sign or something.” I turn back to Chloe. “I’ve got it!” He startles me. “I’ll point to my ring finger.” He nods. “Yep. That’s what I’ll do.” He disappears for the second time; I’m hoping he stays gone this time.

“All right,” Chloe says in a voice that makes me want to grind my teeth. “So, let’s get you a ticket to the next—”

“No. No, no, no. Absolutely, freaking not,” I tell her, spinning around.

Her eyes widen. “Well, that wasn’t dramatic,” she says under her breath.

And with that, I’m done. “I saw what you did to Brielle and Aiden. I’m not going down that path.”

“You’re overreacting. Besides, it won’t be like that.”

I roll my eyes. “Sure, it won’t.”

“Look, you called and asked for my help. I’m trying to help, but you’re being difficult.”

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