Page 39 of The Flirty Forward

Aiden shakes his head and meets my gaze. “Don’t mess this up.”

I’m already headed to the shower. “I won’t.” My chest already feels lighter than it has in two days. At least I have an address now. I’m going there. Tonight. I need to see that she’s okay. I need to apologize. Beg for forgiveness. Grovel. Whatever it is that will let me into her life. I have a need to be in her life. I want to be the one to make her smile, to make her day, to have her cheering for me in the stands, to wear my number. I swallow hard, feeling oddly choked up. I don’t know what it is about this girl; but I want, no I needto make her mine. I want to spoil her and love on her and let her know what it feels like to be wanted. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling she doesn’t get any of that. I’m curious to see how it goes with her parents. It will be good to meet them; maybe they’ll be in my corner. Probably not if she had to go there to escape me and this mess for a few days. I grimace. But as I finish showering, I make a commitment to not stopping until she knows. I can’t make her like me; I can’t make her give me a chance. But I can make sure she knows that I care about her, that I want her to be mine. I turn off the shower and reach for my towel. When my hand reaches nothing, I peel back the curtain.Nothing.

“Very funny. Bring back my towel.” I hear nothing but snickering. I shake my head. “What are we? In junior high?” I slide back the curtain all the way. “Fine. You asked for it.” I walk back into the locker room to the sound of snickering and applause. Aiden and Gunner just shake their heads, but I notice they do nothing to help me. “Just remember what goes around comes around,” I say as I shove my legs into my pants. When I’m dressed, I grab my keys and wallet. “Wish me luck, Guys. I’ve got to go get my woman.” Catcalls and whistles follow my statement.

“Go get her, Sebastian!” Rico calls out from behind me.

Aiden walks out with me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Brielle was adamant.” He runs a hand through his hair. “She’s not going to be happy with me tonight.”

“Tell her I threatened you,” I tell him. ”She’ll believe you.”

He laughs. “Yeah.” When we get to the lot, he stops. “You good?”

“Yeah. I’m going there tonight.”

He nods, unsurprised. “Just...” he runs his hand through his hair again. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this—”

“You should,” I interrupt. “If it’s about Stephanie, I want to know.”

“I don’t know a lot, but Brielle can’t stand her parents.”

My eyes widen in surprise. “Brielle loves everybody.”

He scowls. “I know.”

I ponder this new tidbit of information for a moment. “Thanks for telling me.”

He nods and walks away without another word...typical Aiden style. I climb into my Corvette, ready to make the three-hour trip. I’m not going to bed tonight until I see my girl and make sure she’s okay. But when I look at the dashboard and realize it’s after eleven, I grimace. I can only imagine how well it will go over meeting her parents for the first time at two in the morning. On second thought...I’ll get some sleep and drive to her first thing in the morning.

Chapter 14

Stephanie

I wait anxiously in the living room, pacing back and forth. My parents landed two hours ago; they should have been here by now. I check my watch again. It’s almost midnight now. I sit back down on the couch and stare blankly at the tv. I would watch something, but I’ve already binge-watched everything I ever thought about watching on every streaming device. I look around my parents’ living room, checking again to make sure it’s spotless.

I’ve been here since yesterday afternoon. I called them after I got those awful flowers and the card and asked if I could escape to their house for a few days. They agreed, telling me they’d be home late Tuesday night. And no, they didn’t come home just for me; that was when they were scheduled to fly home. Between yesterday and today, I’ve driven myself crazy. I don’t know why in the world I thought coming to my parents’ house was a good idea. I call it a moment of mental weakness after Principal Goodman suggested, rather assertively, that I should take a few sick days. I hear a sound, and the lock on the door turns.

“Stephanie,” my father says, coming inside. “What are you still doing up?”

My mother follows him. “Stephanie, why aren’t you sleeping? It’s so late.”

“I wanted to see you guys.” They close the door, and I stand there a moment longer before sitting back on the couch. I’m not sure why I was expecting a hug. We're not a demonstrativefamily, never have been. I’ve always been fine with that; I don’t know why it’s bothering me now.I’ve obviously been spending too much time with Brielle.She’s definitely a hugger.

They take off their coats and hang them up before coming into the living room. “You look tired,” my mother says, assessing my face.

“Well, it is almost midnight,” my father points out.

As if on cue, my mother yawns. “Yeah, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

“You guys should get some rest,” I tell them.

“Is everything good with you?” my mother asks. “You still have your job and everything?”

I nod. “Yeah. I just...needed a few days off. There have been a few things going on—”

“At the school?” my father asks, frowning.

“Yes.” I wonder how much I should tell them.

---