Chapter 9
Stephanie
“Thanks,” I say uncertainly.
She nods at the bag. “Open it.” I open the bag tentatively and sigh when I see the dark green. I pull it out.
“Number eighty-five.”
She nods. “Yep.” She eyes me. “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.”
“Oh, no. It’s...that’s...” I pull it over my head, trying not to think about what it’s going to look like over my sweater. “Thank you,” I say stiffly once I’m wearing it.
Tina turns to me and laughs. “I’m sorry; it’s not you. I just think it’s hilarious.”
“What is?” I ask her.
“The fact that you want nothing to do with my brother.”
“Oh, no. He’s...he’s...” I bite my tongue from what I want to say. “I’m sorry. I’m sure he’s a great guy,” I say lamely.
She laughs harder. “I can’t wait to tease him about this. He’s so used to girls falling all over him.” She shakes her head. “This will be good for him.”
I shift uncomfortably in my chair. Without knowing it, she’s hit on exactly why I can’t stand the guy and why I would never be interested in him. Thankfully, I’m spared from having to say anything when the lights dim and things get going. The opening montage for the Green Thunder begins, and I settle back in my seat. Somebody slides into the empty seat next to mine, but it’s not until things settle down that I finally turn to see who it is. “Hey, Kayla,” I say in surprise. For the first time tonight, a genuine smile crosses my lips.
“Hi, Miss Winston.”
“I didn’t know you were going to be my seat buddy for the night,” I tell her over the noise of the crowd. She grins at me, and I lean towards her. “I don’t know a whole lot about the game, so you can tell me what’s happening.”
She grins again. “Sounds good, Miss Winston.”
I relax a little, some of my nerves dissipating. It takes a few minutes before the game gets going. Once it finally does, I settle in for the first period. I watch the Green Thunder completely dominate. Kayla keeps a running commentary of the game, surprising me with how much she knows about the game. It’s actually interesting and intense. She keeps me aware of what’s going on, so much more than I usually pick up on. I usually just note which team shoots the puck into the net. I”m impressed with how much Sebastian’s family gets into the game. Even Sebastian’s mom yells practically the entire time. At one point, when she’s yelling at a call the referee made, Kayla leans towards me. “My grandma gets a little worked up sometimes. It’s Grandpa’s job to keep her calm.” I look down to the end of the row where the tiny woman is shaking her head, obviously fed up with something that happened on the ice. Sebastian gets his height from his dad, I note, not his mom.
We head into the second period with a two-zero lead. The game gets going again, and I settle in to watch the game. At one of the breaks, Kayla nudges me and points up. I tense when I see that we’re on camera, but I force a smile. I probably look possessed, but oh well. Thankfully, the camera doesn’t stay on us for long.
At the very end of the second period, the other team scores. I stand to my feet as the time winds down, and we prepare to head into the third period. “Whew!” Tina says as she stands and stretches. She turns to somebody on her other side and bends down before turning back to me. “We’re going to brave the crowd for a bathroom trip. Do you need anything?”
I shake my head. “I’m good. Thanks.”
She leaves, taking two kids with her. The guy that had been sitting next to Tina waves at me. “I’m Andrew, Tina’s husband.”
I lean forward and shake his hand. “Stephanie. Nice to meet you.”
“You as well.”
“What do you think of the game?” he asks, nodding at the ice.
“It’s a great game,” I say quickly.
“You into hockey?”
I grimace. “Not really.”
He laughs. “That’s okay. I wasn’t either before I married into the family.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I don’t respond. Thankfully, Kayla comes back. “Hey Miss Winston, what do you think of the game?”
“It’s great. Are you having a good time?”
She nods, her eyes excited. “Yes! I love hockey!”
“Do you play?” I ask.
“No. Just watch. My brother plays,” she offers.
”Is he good?”
She glances behind her. “Not like Uncle Sebastian.”
I smile. “Well, I think he’s got time before he has to be at your uncle’s level.”
“Ooo, they’re starting,” she says excitedly.
I turn my focus back to the game. Tina comes back with a little one in her arms, and we settle in for the last period. The last period is more intense, especially when the other team scores early on. I can’t help but hold my breath when Sebastian gets slammed hard against the boards. On the next play, Aiden slams the other team’s guy into the boards—the one that got Sebastian. I shake my head. I will never understand why full-grown men want to play this sport. The game intensifies, and the action is non-stop. There are a few times that we get close, but we don’t score. Aiden has a chance near the end of the game, but it doesn’t make it. Then with under a minute left in the game, Aiden gets the puck and shoots it to Sebastian in the middle of the ice. Sebastian powers down the stretch on a breakaway. One, two, three, four strides, and he shoots. Score! The crowd around us goes crazy, and I’m stunned. It all happened so quickly! I watch the replay on the big screen as Sebastian’s family loses their minds all around me. I’m busy staring at the screen, so I see the exact moment Sebastian lifts his hand and points to his ring finger. It happens so fast, I almost miss it. My mouth opens in surprise, and I stare as they replay his goal again. It’s hard to see what he’s doing because he’s wearing gloves, but I know.
The clock winds down, and the game ends. The fans all around us scream over the win, and Kayla hugs me. “Wasn’t that a great game, Miss Winston?”
I can’t help my smile. “It really was.” I sit back in my chair a moment, trying to catch my breath. That was insane.
Tina collapses next to me. “That never gets old.”
“Winning or watching Sebastian score?” I ask.
“Both,” she says with a smile. Her husband hands her their little boy, and she works on putting a coat on him. “Will you be coming on Sunday?” I must give her a blank look because she continues. “To Sunday brunch?”
“Oh, um, I don’t think so.”
“Are you going back with us to see Uncle Sebastian?” Kayla asks from my other side.
“I don’t think so; I’m going to get going. We have school tomorrow,” I remind her with a smile.
“Hey, I think she’s trying to get your attention,” Tina says, nodding down the row. I turn and see Chloe, waving for me to come forward.
I quickly turn away. “Do you think I can get away with saying I didn’t see her and make a run for it?”
Tina laughs and gives me a sympathetic smile. “I think that’s a negative.” She finishes putting on her boy’s coat. “It’s been so nice to meet you, Stephanie. I hope we get to see more of you.”
“Mmm.” I say and then feel stupid.
She laughs again and shakes her head before turning to her husband. I face Chloe who is waving more emphatically this time. “I think you’d better go, Miss Winston,” Kayla says seriously.
I sigh. “I’m going.”
I wait for our row to move forward and then make my way to Chloe. “Let’s go,” she says impatiently. Before I can even ask her where we’re going, she starts down the steps towards the ice.
“It was so nice to meet you, Stephanie,” Sebastian’s mom says.
“You too,” I tell her with a smile. “I’ve gotta go...do something,” I say pointing over my shoulder.
“We won’t hold you up. Tell our boy we love him and are proud of him.”
“Oh, I’m not—” I stop. “Okay. It was nice to meet you all.” I give a general wave to the entire family and make my way down the steps towards the ice. My heart starts racing as I try to catch up to Chloe. “Chloe,” I hiss as we walk past several photographers. “Chloe,” I try again. I finally catch up to her. “What are we doing?”
She turns to me. “Getting you that picture you need,” she says under her breath. “Remember? The one you need to get your life back on track?” Her words are barely loud enough for me to hear.
I look out at the rink. It’s empty. “How are we going to—” I follow her through a door and then down a long hallway. When she opens it, I see several members of the press lingering. I know that’s who they are because they’re all wearing lanyards with badges, and several of them are sporting those huge, long cameras. “Chloe, what are we doing?”
Before she can say anything, Sebastian shows up. His eyes land on me and light up, and then he walks straight for me. I take an unconscious step backwards. “Hey, Doll,” he says when he gets close. He’s still wearing his uniform and his skates. In them, he towers over me. He’s already tall, so the skates make him ridiculously tall. He bends towards me, and I lean backwards. He keeps coming, and I keep trying to lean backwards. His heavy hand lands on my shoulder. “For the cameras,” he whispers, just before he wraps his other arm around me and leans towards me. He kisses me on the cheek, but I have no doubt it looks like he’s kissing me on the lips to the people behind him. Sebastian”s broad shoulders give us the illusion of privacy. I pull back and stare up at him, unsure what to say or how to respond. If I make a big deal, people are going to take notice. I”ll probably have a bunch more nasty memes and nicknames by tomorrow. So I stay still.
“Did you see my sign?” he asks in a quiet voice.
I did, but I’m not going to own up to it. “What sign?” I ask innocently.
He just grins down at me. His eyes scan me from head to toe. “I like you in my jersey,” he says, his voice still quiet.
I scowl. “I didn’t have a choice apparently. Um, how long do we have to stand here?”
“Just give them another minute.” His voice is still hushed.
Without anywhere to go and stuck with the guy, I finally meet his eyes. “Good goal at the end.”
A slow smile forms on his face. “So, you did watch the game?”
I scowl. “Of course I watched the game. I sat with your family.”
“And they loved you. What? Tina texted me a bunch of times during the game, and so did Andrew and Kristin.”
I frown. “You look at your phone during your games?”
He reaches out and tweaks my nose gently, causing me to frown. “No, Teach. I don’t check my phone during a game. I just saw them when I got done.”
“Oh.” It’s quiet between the two of us for a moment. “They were really nice, though,” I begrudgingly say. His eyebrows lift, and he cocks his head. “What?” I ask.
He grins. “I was waiting for one of your insults, like ‘am I sure I belong in this family’?”
“You know, come to think of it,” I start.
He puts his hand over my mouth. “Nope, too late. You missed your chance.” I’m not really sure why, but I lick his hand to get it off my mouth.
He jerks his hand away from me. “Did you seriously just lick my hand?”
“Well, if you’re going to put it over my mouth...” I shrug.
He stares at his hand a moment and then leans close to my ear. “You can lick me any time you want, anywhere you want, Doll.”
“Sebastian,” I say as I slug him in his bicep. He just laughs, and I take a step backwards. “That’s long enough. If they didn’t get a photo by now, then they’re just dumb.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
I look down at his feet, which are still encased in skates. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work.”
He glances behind him. “I’ll go change real quick and then walk you out.”
I’m already walking away. “I’m a big girl, Sebastian. I’ve got it.” I look over his shoulder at the people still gathered.
“I’ll make sure nobody follows you out,” he says quietly.
“Thanks.” I walk towards the exit sign.
“Ten-thirty,” he calls out from behind me.
I turn around but keep walking backwards. “What?”
“I’ll be at your house at 10:30 Sunday morning to pick you up.”
“Why?” I ask.
“For brunch. At my parents.”
I shake my head. “No thanks.”
“Why not?” he calls out. There’s a good distance separating us now. “Are you scared?”
I huff. “Of course not.”
“Good. Then I’ll see you then.” He turns and strides away in the opposite direction. “Wear my jersey,” he calls out.
“Wait. No.” He’s already gone. Now, I would just be chasing after him. I shake my head. “Sebastian—one. Stephanie—zero.”