Chapter 11

Stephanie

I try to keep a pleasant expression on my face as I reach out and tug the back of Sebastian’s shirt. “Hey,” I say, a little more urgently than I wanted to. He turns to me. “Hey, can we just get that picture and then I’ll be on my—” The words die in my throat when I remember that I didn’t drive. I don’t have a car so that I can leave whenever I want to. Panic threatens to overwhelm me, and I don’t know what to do with myself.

Sebastian is suddenly in front of me. “Hey, you okay?”

I look up at him. It’s a weird time to notice, but I realize again just how tall and broad he is. “Can we just take that picture and then I’ll get a ride and go back home.”

His eyebrows knit together in concern. “If this is too much, we can leave.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” There is no we leaving. It’s his family; he needs to be here. His family starts gathering around the table, and I feel an urgency to get out. I don’t belong here; I don’t belong with these people. A bad feeling fills me. No. I am not going to cry. I rarely cry. I’m usually pretty tough; there are only a few things that push me over the edge. I blink furiously, refusing to let a single tear drop. “Who’s going to take the picture?” I look around the room blindly. “Kayla!” I say it a little too brightly, too loudly. “Kayla, can you take a picture of us?” While she comes towards us, I quickly send off a text to Bri asking if she’s available and willing to come pick me up. She responds almost immediately that she can. Relief flows through me as I send her my location.

“Stephanie—”

“Where do you want to stand?” I ask him, cutting off whatever he was going to say. I can feel his gaze on my face, but I don’t look at him.

“Who’s hungry?” Sebastian’s mom asks, coming into the living room, carrying a platter of pancakes. “Stephanie, I didn’t even hear you come in.” She hands the tray to her husband and walks towards us. I find myself taking a step backward, even though I don’t mean to. When I hit something immovable, I know without looking that it’s Sebastian. Kelly, oblivious to my blunder, advances on me. She wraps me up in a warm hug, and I freeze. I squeeze my eyes shut, refusing to let emotion overcome me.

It’s just a hug, I tell myself repeatedly. Still, it’s such a nice hug. The moment’s over far too soon, and she steps back. “How are you doing, Dear?”

I swallow. Hard. “I’m good,” I manage to tell her, but my voice sounds off. “I can’t stay,” I blurt out. “I need to keep moving; I just wanted to...drop in real quick,” I manage to say. I whirl around, trying to find Kayla. I barely glance at Sebastian. “Ready for that picture?”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t say anything else, and I stand next to him, unsure of what to do with myself. “Mom, why don’t you stand on the other side of Stephanie,” he says, taking charge. “Tina, can you come take a picture with us?” He wraps an arm around my waist and settles me against his side. It probably looks completely relaxed for him; he’s probably done this a thousand times. But I’m stiff as a board.

“Really? I didn’t even do my hair this morning?” Tina complains but stands next to Sebastian.

“It doesn’t look any different from how it usually looks,” Sebastian says. He grunts a moment later, leading me to believe she elbowed him for that comment.

“How come Keith’s not in the picture?” Kelly asks, from next to me.

“We don’t want his grumpy mugshot in the photo with us,” Sebastian says.

“I heard that,” I hear from behind us, and I’m assuming that’s Keith.

“What about your favorite brother-in-law?” Andrew asks.

“Nope. You either.” That’s from Sebastian again.

“What about your dad?” Kelly asks. She’s already turning. “Honey—”

“Can we just take the picture already?” Sebastian asks.

“Wait, hold on,” Kelly says. She messes with her hair a moment. “Okay.”

Somebody starts crying, and Tina walks away. “Just a second.” She’s back a moment later, carrying her little boy on her hip. “Sammy’s going to be in the picture with us.”

“Okay, Kayla,” Sebastian says.

“Wait!” Kelly turns away and walks away.

“Mom, where are you going?” Sebastian asks in exasperation.

“I need to check the oven; my potatoes are going to burn.”

“And this is why we never have any family photos,” Sebastian murmurs.

“Want me to stand in?” Andrew asks again.

“No,” Tina and Sebastian both say at the same time.

“Okay, I’m back.” Kelly comes back and stands next to me.

“Kayla, hurry and take the picture before somebody else disappears.” Sebastian tightens his arm around me right after he says this, and I hold myself stiffly and try to smile.

“Smile,” Kayla says. “I’m going to take one more.”

She finishes and hands the phone to Sebastian. “Thanks, Kay.”

“Is it good?” Tina asks, swaying with Sammy on her hip.

I’m already walking to the front door; I need to escape. “Are you sure you can’t stay?” Kelly asks, following me to the door.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Thank you though.” I make the mistake of looking up. Sebastian’s eyes meet mine from across the room. I turn around quickly and walk out the front door before he can say anything or come after me. I walk down the front steps just as Bri pulls up in front of the house. I jog towards the car; I’m almost there.

“Stephanie.” Sebastian’s voice stops me.

I turn around, willing him to keep his distance. “I’ll see you around. Thanks for letting me drive your car. Oh.” I reach into my pocket and pull out his keys and toss them to him. “See ya.” I open the door and climb into the backseat because Amber, Bri’s sister, is already in the front seat. “Go,” I say as soon as I’m inside.

Brielle pulls forward, and I look out the window and see Sebastian watching us go. I turn away quickly. “You okay, Stephanie?” Bri asks softly.

“Yeah.”

It’s quiet for a few minutes. “So, anybody want to tell me why we picked you up and drove away from the scene of the crime?” Amber asks from the front seat.

I smile in spite of myself. I love Amber like a sister. I met her the fall of my freshman year in college when she and Brielle’s mom came to visit Brielle. She’s a few years younger than Bri and I, but she’s become the little sister I never had, not that she’s little anymore. She’s going to be twenty this year. Crazy. “I wasn’t running away from the scene of a crime,” I say indignantly.

“No? Sure looked that way,” Amber says. “Or were you just running away from the tall, cool drink of water, otherwise known as Sebastian Hart, number eighty-five of the Green Thunder.”

I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t running away from him.” I watch Amber raise her eyebrows to Brielle. “I wasn’t,” I reiterate.

“We believe you,” Brielle says, always the tender-hearted one. “What happened?” she asks cautiously.

I stare out the window. “He invited me for Sunday brunch with the entire family,” I tell them quietly.

“Wow, that jerk. That’s cause to run away from him,” Amber says dryly.

“Would you stop, Brat,” I say with humor in my voice.

Amber turns around in her seat. “Seriously, did something happen? Because I can beat him up for you.”

I laugh, in spite of myself. “There’s a thought—you and Sebastian going at it.”

“I’d totally win,” she says with a grin.

“You wish.”

“No, if something really did happen, I’d send Aiden after him,” Brielle says, meeting my eyes in the mirror.

I give a mock shudder. “Now that would be terrifying.”

“What happened?” Bri asks again, meeting my eyes in the mirror.

“I don’t really know,” I say after a little bit. “It started out fine, good even. He let me drive his Corvette.”

Brielle’s eyes widen. “His Corvette?”

“It’s a C8,” I tell her.

“What’s a C8, and why do we care?” Amber asks.

“A C8 is only her favorite car in the entire world,” Brielle says.

Amber wrinkles her nose. “You’re into cars?” I nod, smiling at her look of distaste. “Weird,” she mumbles.

“You’re weird,” I retort. “It’s a cool car; I’ve always wanted to drive a C8.” I sigh. “It was as amazing as I thought it would be.”

“Who are you and what have you done with the Stephanie that loves fashion and girly stuff?” Amber asks, wrinkling her nose.

“My grandpa loved Corvettes,” I tell her. “He was restoring a 1970 Corvette Stingray before he died.”

“Did you get to help him?” Amber asks curiously.

“I did. I remember being a little girl and helping him in the garage. He would let me hand him the tools.” I smile to myself at the memory.

“How old were you when he passed away?” Bri asks softly.

“Eight.” I sigh. I miss him so much. My grandma passed away a few years before that, so I don’t remember her as much. But I remember my grandpa. Maybe because I spent more time with him than with my own parents. Because they were so busy, I spent a lot of time over at his house. After he died, I got my first babysitter. I remember babysitter after babysitter after school, on the weekends...always a babysitter until I was old enough to be by myself. I push those unpleasant memories away. “Anyway, his Corvette was really cool.”

“Why were you at his house this morning?” Brielle asks.

“Yeah, I want to know that too. Brielle said all the stuff of you two online after his game was just fake,” Amber adds.

“It was; it is,” I correct. “We went there this morning to get a photo of me at his house with his family. It’s supposed to make me look like not such a horrible person, thank you, Sebastian.”

“I’m sorry about all this,” Brielle says.

“Yeah. People are stupid. Nobody believes all that stuff they say about you. Who cares that you won’t go on a date with the amazing Sebastian Hart? It’s ridiculous,” Amber says.

“I know, right? It’s not like he doesn’t have his fair share of females everywhere who dote on him. Why does he need me to as well?” I say in exasperation. “I turn the guy down, probably for the first time in his life, and he makes a big deal about it and suddenly I’m the bad guy. Just because I don’t want to be just another notch in his belt, just another of the countless females he’s been in bed with. No thank you!”

“You go, Girl!” Amber says, turning around and high-fiving me. “You stay strong. Show him not to mess with you.”

“So did you get the picture?” Brielle asks.

“Yeah, finally. And then I hightailed it out of there. There were just so many people there,” I explain. “His family...there’s just so many of them. And they’re so loud and crazy...and overwhelming...and kind and welcoming...treating me like I’m just another member of the big family.”

“Wow, they sound awful,” Amber says dryly.

I smile despite myself. “They’re not. They’re just...”

“More family to you than your own family has ever been,” Bri says.

I look up, surprised, and meet her eyes in the rearview. “I—,” I blow out a breath. “Yeah.” I feel bad thinking these thoughts about my parents, but it’s true. My parents love me; I know they do. But I’ve never really felt their love; I’ve always felt like I was just something they had to deal with. I’ve always been a burden to them, keeping them from living the life they desired and doing what they wanted to. “Amber, what have you been up to?” I ask, desperate to change the conversation and get the focus off me.

“She’s dating a jerk of a guy,” Bri says.

Amber shakes her head. “He’s not a jerk.”

Bri pins her with a look, but Amber turns away and stares out the window. “What’s going on, Little Sis?” I ask.