Page 36 of The Flirty Forward

His words stop me in my tracks. “What?”

He finally looks up. “Somebody sent Stephanie black roses and a card.” By the look on his face, I know I don’t want to hear what the card said. “Tell me.”

“He’s better off without you.”

“Is that a threat? Are you kidding me?” Anger consumes me, hot and swift. “This is getting out of hand. What is wrong with people?” A thought hits me. “At school or at home?”

“At school.”

Only the tiniest bit of relief fills me. “What idiot delivered them to her room?”

Aiden shakes his head. “Don’t know.”

“Is she okay?”

“Brielle said she’s okay; she’s strong.”

I drop onto the bench, getting dressed quickly. “This is so out of control.” I’m angry, but I have no one to blame but myself. “What do I do?” I say the words more to myself than to Aiden, but he hears me anyway.

“Are you interested in her?” he asks. I pin him with a look. “I’m just asking. Have you asked her out yet?”

“I tried. She said no.” Defeat hits me again.

“And you gave up already?”

My head snaps up. “No. Since when have I ever given up on anything?”

“Exactly.”

I ignore him and finish getting dressed. “I’m going to head over to the school to see if she’s okay.”

Aiden’s already shaking his head. “She’s not there; the principal sent her home.”

“Why?”

“Brielle said he’s worried it’s going to become a problem. Between the hecklers at school and now the flowers, he wants Stephanie to take a few days off.”

I swear, low and swift. “She’s going to hate me.” I run a hand over my head. Aiden gives me a look of what I think is sympathy, but it’s hard to tell with him. “Can you ask Brielle for her cell number for me?” I feel like a high schooler asking a girl for another girl’s number, but it is what it is. Aiden doesn’t say anything, but a few minutes later he rattles off a number. I put it into my contacts; then I call her.

“Stephanie, it’s Sebastian.” I pace as I leave a voicemail. “I heard about what happened at school. I’m sorry. I—” I pause. “I’m going to fix this; I promise. I’ll hire private security for you if I need to. I just...can you call me back? I need to know that you’re okay.” I pause. “Call me.” I pace the locker room as I wait for her to listen to my message and then call me back. When five minutes turns into ten and then twenty, I drop onto the bench next to Aiden. “She’s not going to call me back, is she?” Aiden wisely doesn’t say anything. I stand up and grab my keys and phone.

“Where are you going?” Aiden asks warily.

“I’m going to drive over to her house and bang on the door until she talks to me.” I don’t look at him when I say it because I don’t want to know his opinion of my plan. “See ya,” I call out as I leave the locker room. I jog through the building and out to my car. I just need to see her in person and make sure she’s okay; then we’ll hash out a plan to fix all this.

Chapter 13

Sebastian

I follow my teammates into the locker room the next night after a loss to a team we should have beaten easily. I drop onto the bench and listen as our coach rips into us. He doesn’t say anything we don’t deserve. “And Hart, you played like a rookie out there!” I keep my face blank but feel the sting of his words. “Whatever your deal is, get it together before the next game or I’ll bench you.” My head whips up.

“Bench me?” I haven’t been benched since I started with the Green Thunder five seasons ago.

“You hard of hearing now too, Hart?”

I bite my tongue to keep from saying anything that could get me into more trouble. “No, Coach.”

He sends one last scathing look around the room. “Figure it out before our next game.” He storms out of the room, along with our assistant coaches and trainers. It’s quiet in the room for all of ten seconds.

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