Page 50 of The Flirty Forward

I follow him into the room. Coach Seers sees me and walks over. “Stephanie, right?” He must see my look of surprise. “Chloe filled me in.”Because of course she did. “The medical staff will give you all the information you need. Thank you.” He leaves the room, leaving me with the medical staff.

“Where did you park?” one of the guys asks.

“I’m in the player parking lot.”

“Okay. We’ll help you get him out.”

A back door opens up, and Sebastian walks out. He’s frowning, but at least he’s standing. I can tell from here that he has a doozy of a headache. He doesn’t see me because he’s listening to one of the medical staff explain a few things to him. After that, they take him out to the car. He walks on his own, so that’s another good sign. I follow behind them. Finally, we get to the car; and he gets settled. The medical team talks to me and tells me what to worry about and when to take him to the hospital.

“We’ll check in with him first thing in the morning. Tonight, he just needs to sleep.”

I nod and climb into the car. When I glance over at him, his eyes are closed, and he’s leaning against the window. I don’t say anything as we make the drive to my house. When we get there, I look over at him, wondering how to do this next part. “Sebastian,” I call out quietly. He opens his eyes and squints over at me. “Hey, we’re at my house. We’re going to get you inside where you can sleep, okay?” He doesn’t say anything, but hedoes nod. I climb out and walk over to his side of the car, but he’s already climbing out. We walk to the front door in silence, and I unlock the door and lead him in. “I’ll show you where you can sleep.”

He follows me to my spare room. I walk in and take the decorative pillows off the bed and pull down the covers. Then I close the blinds on the two windows. “Okay, that should be a little better.” When I turn back, I come to a halt and stare as he takes off his shirt and drops it on the floor. When he starts on his pants, my brain finally kicks into gear and I spin around. When I hear the rustle of the sheets, I turn back around. He didn’t even bother to pull the covers up. I stand there, paralyzed for a moment before I remember he’s in pain.Don’t make this a thing.I walk over and pull the covers over his body, thinking as I do that the bed is way too small for him. Before I can move away, he grabs ahold of my hand, and I freeze.

“Thanks, Doll,” he says in a soft voice. His breathing evens out, and his hold on my hand loosens. Without thinking, I pick up his shirt and pants and fold them and place them on the end table next to the bed. I stop at the door. After a moment’s hesitation, I decide to leave the door open, just in case he needs something.

I head out into the living room and grab my laptop before settling on the couch and work on finishing my outline for my next book. I stop after a few hours and eat dinner and then head to bed for the night. I check on Sebastian again before I go to bed, just as I have every hour since we got here. Just like every other time, he responds enough that I know he’s okay. I let him go back to sleep and make my way to my bed. I set an alarm for every hour. I’m not looking forward to waking up once an hour, but I’d never forgive myself if something happened to him while I slept. The medical team didn’t tell me I needed to wake him up once an hour, but I won’t be able to sleep otherwise.

The night passes slowly. I’m exhausted the next morning, but I get up early. It’s pointless to sleep in when I have to wake up every hour anyway. I make my way out to the kitchen and make a cup of coffee. Once school is in session, I call the office and ask to speak with Principal Goodman. In the craziness of yesterday, I never called.

“Hello, Miss Winston.”

“Good Morning, Sir,” I say, swallowing my sip of coffee. “I just wanted to check in. Things have been fine on my end, and I would like to return to class tomorrow. Sebastian Hart has assured me that there’s nothing to worry about. He said he would hire private security as well, if we thought we needed it.”

He’s quiet a moment, and I hold my breath. “Okay. Things have been calm here finally. Let’s see how it goes when you come back. If we end up needing the security, we will let Mr. Hart hire security.”

Relief flows through me. “Thank you. I’ll be in first thing tomorrow morning.”

I hang up and blow out a breath. I can get back to normal life. A thud startles me, and I jump up and run to Sebastian’s room. I hear a grunt right as I enter his room. He’s sitting on the side of the bed, holding his head. “Sebastian?” I make my way over to him, trying to ignore the fact that he’s barely wearing anything. “Are you in pain?” I’m already grabbing the bottle of pain relievers from the end table. I open the cap and put two in my hand. “Here.” I hand him the pills and a water bottle.

“Thanks.” His voice is quiet and hoarse. He swallows the pills.

“Let me help you lay back down.” I keep my voice low, so it doesn’t make his head worse. He lays down, and I pull the covers over him once again.

“Thank you,” he whispers. I put my hand on his shoulder and rub gently. When he doesn’t say anything, I move my hand upto the back of his head. I know what it's like to have an awful headache. Sebastian groans, and I freeze. “Don’t stop; that feels good,” he says softly.

I continue to massage the back of his head with my fingers. I’m not sure how long I do it, but when I step back, he’s sleeping soundly again. I walk out of his room, keeping his door open once again.

Chapter 18

Stephanie

As frustrating as it was to take time off from school, the extra time to write has been great. I’m pleased with the three chapters I’ve written today after finishing my outline. I stand and stretch. I can hear Sebastian talking to the medical team as they call to check in with him. David, a member of the medical team for the Green Thunder was over here earlier today to check on him. Other than waking to eat a piece of toast and some eggs, he’s slept pretty much nonstop.

I make grilled chicken and salad for dinner. After waking Sebastian and coaxing him to eat, he goes back to sleep; and I get ready for bed. I'm hoping to get some good sleep tonight, so I’m ready to get back to teaching tomorrow morning. David said I didn’t need to wake Sebastian during the night tonight, so I’m hoping for a good night’s sleep. I check on Sebastian one more time before I go to bed. “Hey, I’m going to bed for the night,” I say softly. “Do you need anything?” I don’t think he’s going to say anything, but he surprises me.

“Will you rub the back of my head again?” His voice is quiet and so reserved compared to what I’m used to from him. I step close and run my hands over the back of his head. He groans softly, and I stop.

“Does that hurt?”

“No. Keep going please.”

I start on the back of his head again. I’m not sure how long I massage his head before I hear him breathing heavily and know he’s asleep again. I head back into my room and get ready forbed. It's weird having him here in my house. It makes my house feel...not quite so empty and lonely. I put those thoughts to rest and go to bed.

The next morning, I’m up early so I can get ready for school. After showering, I dress in a black pant suit with a teal blouse, black wedge shoes, and silver dangly earrings. I feel ready to get back to school, back to my students...I think. I have to admit, it’s been nice to have a few days off. I head to the kitchen and start my single-serve coffee machine. I hear a noise and turn around just as Sebastian comes into the kitchen. He stops right at the entry and frowns at me. I swallow.Hard. I saw him the other day without his shirt on, but the room was darker. At least that’s what I’m blaming my staring on. Sometimes I forget that the guy makes a living as a professional athlete. I’m not forgetting that fact right now. He coughs, and my eyes shoot to his face, mortified. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have noticed that I was totally checking out his six pack...eight pack...ten pack? Then I notice his face. “Are you okay?” I walk over to him, suddenly more worried about his head than about how many abs he has. “Do you need pain meds?” I almost reach out and touch him because he looks like he’s in pain, but I pull my hand back at the last minute.

He frowns at me. “We’re at your house, right?”

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