Page 60 of The Flirty Forward

I know her words are meant to be kind, but it only reinforces my decision to stand firm against any kind of feelings for Sebastian. He’s a player, and he always will be. He’s into size 2 models with long blond hair and big chests. I am none of that. His words ring through my ears from that fateful day.Hey, Doll, I’m not interested. You’re not my type but thank you.Shame burns through me when I remember. That’s why I hate it every time he calls meDoll.

Brielle pats my leg, bringing me back to the present. “I don’t think it looked fake,” she offers quietly. “I’d better get back to my seat. I wish I would have known you and Sebastian were coming; I would have tried to work out the details to sit with you guys.”

“I didn’t know until the last minute.”

“No worries.” She gives me a hug. “I love you, Best Friend.”

Her words bring a smile to my face. “Love you too.” Then she’s gone. The crowd around Sebastian looks like it finally died down. He slides into the seat next to me. I keep my focus on the game, pretending to be engrossed. He watches the game too, even though I can feel his gaze on my face during timeouts and breaks.

The third period is upon us before I’m ready. I watch, but it’s hard to focus like I did before. It’s also weird because the guy Iwould actually want to watch play is sitting next to me instead of being out there on the ice...not that I will ever admit it.

When the game is nearly done, and it’s obvious we’re going to win, Sebastian leans towards me. “I have to make my way to the back for the press conference.”

“That’s fine. I can catch a ride,” I tell him. I can feel his gaze on my face. I finally turn towards him.

“Will you wait for me, so I can drive you home?”

His intensity throws me off, but I’m tired and not in the mood to fight. I also don’t know if I’ll be able to meet up with Brielle and have no desire to get left here. So I find myself nodding. He looks relieved. “Will you come with me to the press conference?”

Chapter 22

Stephanie

I should have known it would be a mistake to go with him to the press conference. He keeps a tight hold on my hand as we make our way through the crowd. He stays at the back and turns to me. “I’ve got to go up front. Will you be okay back here?” He scans the room, looking for a seat, but there are none. He walks over to a guy in the back row, on the end. “Hey, Stan, my girl needs a seat. Would you mind letting her take your chair?”

Sebastian doesn’t even get the words out of his mouth before the guy stands up. “Of course, Man.” Sebastian waves me over. I don’t want to, but at this point, I think it will cause more of a scene.

“Thank you; sorry,” I tell the guy as he walks past me to the back.

“Of course. Anything for Sebastian Hart,” he says with a grin.

Sebastian grins at me, and I just shake my head. “Anything for the great Sebastian Hart,” I mutter so only he can hear me. Of course, that makes him smile even more. I do notice that it’s not as bright as it usually is, though. Right before he turns to go, I catch his arm. “Hey, is your headache returning?”

He meets my eyes. “Yeah, but I’m fine.”

“Wait.” I open my purse and find my bottle of ibuprofen. I quickly pull out two and hand them to him as well as the water bottle we had from the game.

He swallows them down. “Thank you.” He hands me the water bottle and squeezes my hand a moment. He gives me a look I can’t quite interpret yet and heads up to the front. I slipinto the empty seat, nodding at the guy next to me. The person moderating is already talking, so I settle in and hope this isn’t going to take long. It only takes a few minutes before they put Sebastian in the hot seat. It’s so weird, sitting here and watching it live. The questions start, and he answers them one at a time with an easy smile on his face. Nobody would probably be able to tell, but I can see the tightness around his eyes—his tell that he has a headache.

I pretty much ignore most of the questions and spend time scrolling on my phone. That is until they bring up our relationship. “And how is your relationship with the history teacher going?”

I tense and listen to Sebastian’s response. He issosilent as he levels a look around the room. Even I feel the chill in the air from his look; it throws me off. When his eyes meet mine, they linger for just a minute. “Most of you know me by now. You know I’m a pretty chill guy. I like to have fun, as my teammates can testify. But hear me when I say this: don’t mess with my people. Don’t mess with my family, and don’t mess with my girl. That beautiful woman in the back row, right there,” he pauses, and I swear every single person in the room turns to face me. “That’s Stephanie. And yes, she’s a history teacher.” He smiles. “She’s the one who’s taken care of me these past few days. She’s such a good person, and she doesn’t deserve the nastiness that’s been directed her way. So, I’m telling you right now. Don’t mess with her; leave her alone. She's with me now. And I know I have my full team behind me when I say, you mess with her, you mess with our team.”

“Yep!”

“That’s the truth!”

I turn to look around the room and see Aiden in the corner in the back, standing next to Gunner. He gives me a nod, and Gunner does the same. Rico’s on the other side of the room, andhe and Zac, I think, were the ones that called out something. There’s a few more players standing off to the side. I look back up at Sebastian. He stands. “That’s it; thank you.” He makes his way down the center of the room.

“We need you back, Hart!” one of the guys calls out, and Sebastian just smiles. He stops right beside me and puts out a hand. I don’t let myself think about it; I take his hand. He pulls me up and doesn’t let go as he walks to the back of the room to where Aiden and Gunner are.

“How are you feeling?” Aiden asks in a low voice.

“I’ve been cleared to return,” Sebastian tells him.

“And you feel a hundred percent?” Gunner asks.

“He’s not.” I shock even myself.

---