Prologue

Sebastian

“All right, Maxy-Mo. This is your stop.”

“Uncle Sebastian,” a voice grumbles from the back seat.

I turn and grin at my nine-year-old nephew. He hates nicknames. Because of that, I try to come up with as many of them as possible. “Have a good day, Max-a-roo. I’ll be here to pick you up after school.” Max grabs his backpack and slides out the back door without a backward glance. “I love you!” I shout through the front passenger window that I rolled down just for this occasion. I grin when he doesn’t turn back to acknowledge me. He is so much like his dad, my older brother Keith.

“He hates when you do that, you know,” Kayla, my always-practical eleven-year-old niece says from the passenger seat.

“I know; that’s why I do it,” I say with a wink as we pull away. “Now where do we go for you again? Is it right here at this door?”

“Uncle Sebastian, I’m not at this school anymore. I”m in middle school now, remember?” she says, sounding much older than the sixth grader she is.

“Oh right, I forgot.” I really didn’t, but I like to tease her. We drive the few minutes down the road to the middle school. I notice she’s squeezing her hands tightly together, and I reach over and put my hand over her much smaller ones. “Hey, no stressing. Everything will be fine. I’ll talk to your teacher, yeah?”

“I don’t think it’s going to go well.” She’s been saying the same thing since last night when she got to my house and realized she didn’t have what she needed to do some assignment for history class. If her mom was around, she would have been able to fix it. But she’s not. She’s currently on her anniversary trip with my brother. Kristin would never let something like a missed assignment happen, but I’m not Kristin. And I didn’t know about said assignment until late last night. “It will be fine; I promise.” I pat her hand one last time before parking. “Let’s go.” I climb out of the car and wait for her to grab her backpack. I stop her before we go any further. “You have your medic bag?” She nods. “And your device? And it’s charged?”

“I’ve got it, Uncle Sebastian. Don’t worry.”

It’s impossible not to worry about her. At eleven, she’s been dealt a pretty cruddy hand in life. She’s a Type 1 Diabetic. She was diagnosed at age five. Not a day goes by that I don’t remember that panicked call from my brother when he called from the back of an ambulance saying Kayla had passed out on him and wouldn’t wake up. She’d been rushed inside and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I hate it for her, but she’s a trooper. Because of that, she’s my hero; but I’m also a little overprotective of her.

She’s somber as we walk towards the school building, and I reach over and tug on her braid. “Hey, smile.” She doesn’t smile, but I let it go. It will be fine. I’ll talk to her teacher and explain what went down. She”ll be fine.

It takes a while for us to get through the front door, and it takes a few tries before I’m allowed entrance to the school. They finally let me through. “Which way, Kiddo?” I ask.

“This way,” she says softly.

We turn the corner and nearly run into one of my favorite people. “Elle!” I call out cheerfully.

She shakes her head. She hates that nickname; which is precisely why I use it. Brielle is the fiancé of my best friend and teammate Aiden. They got engaged last Christmas. She”s made him a more pleasant person to be around, and for that, she will always be one of my favorite people.

“Sebastian, what are you doing here?” she asks with a big smile. She’s a sweetheart.

“Isn’t it bring your favorite uncle to school day?” I ask Kayla with an exaggerated, confused look. She smiles shyly and shakes her head. “Elle, have you met my niece Kayla?”

“I have not,” Brielle says with wide eyes and a big smile.

“You two have something in common,” I say to both of them.

Kayla looks up at me curiously. “We do?”

Understanding dawns on Brielle’s face. “Is this your niece with Type 1 diabetes?”

Kayla nods and looks back up at me with a question in her gaze, but Brielle explains before I can. “My sugars got low at a Christmas gala I was attending with your uncle’s team. He brought me orange juice and explained that he had a niece with Type 1.” She smiles widely and puts out her fist. “Type 1 warriors.” Kayla grins and gives her a fist bump. “If you ever need anything, come find me. I know how hard it can be to manage.” Kayla nods shyly. “Where are you off to?” Brielle asks.

“We’re off to meet with her history teacher,” I tell her. “Kayla spent the night at my house because my brother and sister-in-law are away, but she didn’t have the book she needed for some assignment. So I’m going to explain to the teacher.” As I”m talking, Brielle’s eyes get wider and wider. She glances down at Kayla and grimaces, but before I can ask what that’s about, she steps back.

“I’ve got to get going. Have a great day, Guys.”

“Okay, Kiddo, let’s get you to class before you’re late.” She leads me to her classroom, and I peek inside. Thankfully, we’re early, so there are no students here yet. I see her teacher sitting at her desk, but her head is hidden behind her computer. I knock on the doorframe, and a head pops up. I turn to Kayla. “I’ve got this; Kiddo. Nothing to worry about.” I turn back and nearly swallow my tongue. I watch, entranced, as a beautiful woman walks across the classroom. She’s everything that is my kryptonite. She’s tall with dark, wavy hair. She”s wearing a pantsuit that screams professional, and she’s wearing glasses—my favorite. She’s totally rocking the sexy librarian look, and I’m loving it. I grin. “Hi, I’m Sebastian.” I stick out my hand when she gets close. She looks down at my hand a moment, and I wonder if she’s going to leave me hanging. She places her soft hand in mine, and it takes everything in me not to squeeze her hand lightly. She pulls it back quickly before turning her gaze on my niece.

“Good morning, Kayla.”

“Morning, Miss Winston,” Kayla responds softly.

I am fully aware of the fact that I am staring, but do I care? Absolutely not. I can’t keep the grin off my face when she turns back to me, totally straight-faced.

“Can I help you with something?”

I grin wider. “You could help me with a lot of things.” She doesn’t even blink. Kayla nudges my leg, and it prompts me back to the task at hand. “I told Kayla I would talk to you. She spent the night at my house last night because her parents are currently out of town. She didn’t realize she didn’t have her history book with her because it’s at her house still. And she has some assignment due or something, so I told her I would explain everything to you.” I finish with the smile that’s made me famous both on and off the ice.

Without batting an eye, she asks, “And you didn’t drive to her house and pick it up?”

“No. I didn’t get home until late last night,” I explain. “I had a hockey game.” That usually earns me a smile or at least an impressed look. Nope. Not with this teacher.

“And you didn’t go get it this morning?” she asks.

“I...uh. I didn’t think of that.” I give her a sheepish smile.

She turns to my niece. “So, you didn’t write your essay for today?” My niece shakes her head, looking like a deer in headlights.

“Hey.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Nothing to worry about.” She doesn’t look so certain.

“Why don’t you get your stuff for class, Kayla and maybe get started on that assignment. There’s an extra history book behind my desk,” her teacher suggests. Kayla nods and heads over to the shelf.

“A word?” Miss Teacher asks me, nodding towards the hallway.

I step out, and she follows me into the hallway, closing the door to her classroom behind her. “Kayla will fail this assignment today.”

I blink. “What?”

She sighs, like I’m one of her exasperating students. “Kayla will fail this assignment.” She says the words slower this time.

I frown. “But it’s not her fault.”

“Oh, I know exactly whose fault it is,” she says, pinning me with a look.

“Me?” I ask incredulously. “How is it my fault?”

“You should have been responsible to make sure she had what she needed. It’s also her fault,” she continues before I can defend myself. “She should have made sure she had what she needed.”

“She’s in sixth grade,” I return. “She forgot her book at home. I really don’t think it’s a big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal?” she repeats slowly.

Ooo. Based on the look she’s giving me now, that was not the thing to say. I go for what usually works. I grin at her. “I was at a hockey game last night, and I didn’t get home until late.”

“Were the kids home alone?” she interrupts me.

I blink. “Uh...no?”

“They were, weren’t they?” She gives me another exasperated look.

“Look, I don’t know if you know who I am,” I start by saying. And again, that’s exactly the wrong thing to say. But it’s as if my brain cells have been fried. “I play hockey for the Green Thunder.”

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” she asks with no expression on her face. No scratch that. She has irritation written all over her beautiful face; which only makes me smile. I’m a masochist; I know. But I can’t help it. She just makes me want to smile. “You’re so full of it, aren’t you?”

“Full of what?” I can’t help it; she just makes it too easy and fun for me.

Her beautiful lips twist into a scowl. “Good day, Mr. Hart.” She whirls around and strides back into her classroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. I stare at the closed door with a huge grin on my face. I begin to make my way back toward the exit. I feel bad that I didn’t fix things for Kayla, but it’s no big deal. Nothing that a little ice cream after school won’t fix.

I’m almost to the front door when it hits me. She called me Mr. Hart. I didn’t tell her my last name. She knows who I am. I can’t keep the grin off my face as I step outside. I pull out my phone and open the sibling text thread. My older brother, Keith, and his wife, Kristin, are both on the thread. My older sister, Tina, and her husband, Andrew, are also on the thread.

Sebastian: I just met the woman I’m going to marry

Andrew’s the first to text back. He’s a bit of a nerd, but I love him. He has a dry sense of humor and keeps my high-strung older sister balanced out.

Andrew- Congrats!!

Andrew- does she know that?

Sebastian- nope

Sebastian- not yet

Kristin- did the kids get to school okay?

Sebastian- they had school today?

Sebastian- jk

Sebastian- Kristin, I’m offended. Do you not think I’m capable?

Kristin- so did they?

Sebastian- does it bother you that you think so low of your favorite brother-in-law?

Keith- just answer the question

I grin.

Sebastian- aw is she not paying you enough attention?

Tina- stop goofing around, Sebastian and tell them you took the kids to school!

Sebastian- what if I didn’t?

Tina- then I’ll be by later to knock some sense into you

Sebastian- wow, sis, violent much?

Sebastian- Andrew, are you going to let your wife talk to me that way?

Andrew- yep

Sebastian- seriously? Wow, no support. Way to have my back

Andrew- sorry

Andrew- not sorry

Andrew- I”d rather have you mad at me than her mad at me

Sebastian- well, that’s hurtful

Andrew- nah

Andrew- I don’t have sex with you

Tina- ANDREW!

I laugh out loud all the way to my car. I glance back at the school one last time before I drive away. This won’t be the last time I have an interaction with the sexy teacher; not if I have anything to say about it.