Chapter 37

Stephanie

He smirks but doesn’t respond to my comment. Instead, he picks up the basket of bread and practically shoves it at me. “Eat some bread, Woman.”

I laugh louder, but I do take out a roll and butter it. I hold it up to my mouth but don’t take a bite. “I don’t know if I should eat in the presence of such royalty.”

He nudges my foot under the table. “You’re the only one that doesn’t care a lick about what I do, and ironically you’re the only person that I care knowing about what I do.”

My mouth drops open. “I know what you do, and I care about it.”

“When was the last time you came to a game?” he challenges.

“I’ve gone to a few games,” I remind him.

He lifts an eyebrow. ”Only because you had to.”

I’m speechless as I stare at him. “You care that I go to your games?” I shake my head. “That sounded dumb even coming out of my mouth. Hockey’s what you love, what you’re passionate about...of course, you care.” I meet his eyes. “I’m sorry, Sebastian. I’ll make it to more.”

He mumbles something under his breath. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad.”

“No, you were just trying to guilt me into coming,” I retort.

His lips tighten before he finally smirks. “Okay, yeah. Is it a shame to want my girl to come to my games?”

“Oh, I’m your girl now?” I push back; I can’t help it. I love going at it with him.

“You’ve been my girl a lot longer than you’ve been willing to admit,” he responds.

Randy arrives back at our table. “Did you decide what you want to eat?”

I quickly open the menu I haven’t even glanced at. Sebastian nudges me under the table again but places his order of honey garlic chicken with asparagus and seasonal veggies, and I order the wood-grilled salmon with mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies. I try not to grin the entire time because Randy has a hard time focusing on anything but Sebastian. When he walks away, I laugh into my napkin; and Sebastian just shakes his head.

“I’m not going to be able to take you anywhere, Trouble.”

“Did you just call me Trouble?” I ask.

“Sure did,” he says with a grin. I cross my arms across my chest and give him a mock glare. “So, will you come to my next game?” he asks.

I act like I’m thinking about it. “Sure,” I finally concede. “When is it?”

“Tomorrow night. My family will all be there; I’ll make sure Chloe gets a ticket for you.”

“I can get a ticket,” I argue.

“You’re not paying to come to my games,” he says dismissively. “I have another favor to ask of you.”

“Go for it.”

“I have an event I have to attend Saturday night, and I need a date. Will you go with me?”

“Sure,” I answer before I even have the details.

He looks surprised. “Don’t you even want to know what it is?”

I shrug. “I’ve been to enough events over the years with my family. I know how to dress nice, and I won’t embarrass you.”

Sebastian frowns fiercely. “That was never a thought in my mind. I’ll be the envy of all the guys there with you on my arm.” I scoff at his words, and he cocks his head to the side. “You don’t believe me.”

I roll my eyes. “What time do I need to be ready?”

“First of all, we’re not done with this conversation. Second, thank you for being willing to be my date for the night. And third, I’ll pick you up at six. It’s formal.”

I nod. “Okay. I’ll find something.”

“Do you want to go dress shopping?” he asks. I wrinkle my nose, and he laughs. “Got it. No dress shopping.”

“I’ve done enough of that to last a lifetime.”

His gaze softens. “You had to go to a lot of events growing up?”

“All the time...for all the holidays, and I always had to look perfect.”

Our food comes out, thankfully saving me from further talk about my past. I take a bite of my salmon. “Mmmm, that’s really good. How”s yours?”

“This chicken is amazing; try it.” He holds out a bite to me, and I stare at it. “Come on; I don’t have a disease or anything.” I stare at it a moment longer before I take a bite. He grins at me. “I take it you didn’t share food a lot at your house when you were growing up.”

“Is that something people do?” I ask, unable to decide if I’m horrified by that thought or intrigued.

He laughs. “Your face.” He shakes his head. “Growing up in a family of five, nothing was sacred, especially as the youngest. I never had anything to myself.”

“You all just eat off each other’s plates?” I ask incredulously.

He shrugs. “Yeah, if we wanted to taste something. I always made sure I ordered something different from everybody else, so I could taste everything.”

I smile. “Oh, I can see that; you love to eat.”

“I do,” he says with a grin.

“So what is Saturday’s event?” I ask.

He pauses to think. “It’s either the children’s hospital or the foundation for troubled teens.” He frowns. “I don’t remember which. One is this weekend; the other is two weeks later. All I know is that you’ll be there; so it will be the best event to date.” He takes my hand in his and gives it a light squeeze before releasing it, so we can both eat.

All too soon, we’re back in the car and on the road again. “You free this Sunday?” he asks suddenly. “For Sunday brunch at my parents? I finally get to be there for one; it’s been a while. I’d love for you to come with me.”

“Saturday night and Sunday brunch? You’re going to get sick of me,” I tease.

“Not possible,” he says, with a straight face.

We spend the rest of the drive making conversation. It feels easy and light, and my spirit feels so much better after saying what I did to my parents. It’s in their court now. Sebastian reluctantly drops me off at my house and heads in for practice, and I try to get my life back on track.

The next day passes in a blur, and all too soon, it’s time for me to head into the city for the game. I glance down at myself one last time before I rush out the door. I’m wearing Sebastian’s jersey and a pair of jeans with sneakers. Hopefully, that’s acceptable.

Traffic is a bear. I finally arrive at the stadium and make it through security, grab my ticket from the box office, and make my way to my seat. Sebastian’s family is already there, ready and waiting for the game to start. I head to the end of the row and tap Sebastian’s dad on the shoulder. He turns and smiles at me before stepping out of the way. “Stephanie,” his mom says in delight, hugging me tightly. “I’m so glad you made it.” She leans forward. “Stephanie’s here. Slide down, everybody.”

“Oh, you don’t have to move. I can just—”

“Nonsense. They got to sit by you last time. You can sit by me this time.”

I feel bad as everybody moves down a seat, but nobody seems to mind. I settle in the chair between Sebastian’s mom and Tina. “Hey,” Tina says, giving me a side hug. “It’s been a while. How’s your head? Sebastian told us you had a concussion.” I have to lean close to hear her over the noise.

“I’m fine now,” I say loudly. She looks like she’s going to say more, but the lights dim, signaling it’s about to get crazy. I sit back in my seat to enjoy the next part. The arena vibrates with the bass of the music, and the video montage of the Green Thunder starts up. I could watch this over and over again. I get lost in the excitement, the thrill of being here. Then they announce our guys and each of them skate out one at a time with the arena still dark and the special effect lighting flashing around the ice rink. When it’s Sebastian’s face on the screen, I catch my breath. I forget how handsome he is and how incredibly athletic he is; I guess because he’s so down-to-earth with me. Soon, the guys gather on either end for the national anthem; and then it’s time for face-off.

Sebastian’s mom grabs my hand and squeezes. I smile over at her. “Does it ever get old?” I ask, genuinely curious.

She beams at me. “Never.”

I nod, and we both watch the faceoff. Aiden gets the puck and sends it down the ice to Zac. And with that, we’re off. The first period passes in the blink of an eye. It’s a tougher team we’re playing. At the end of the period, it’s zero-zero. I stand and stretch during the intermission. “Have we played this team yet this season?” I ask Tina, once she’s finished talking to her daughter.

“We played them away and lost.”

“Oh.” I look back at the ice.

“But we’ll get them this time. This time our boys are in their own arena; they won’t lose,” she says confidently. She leans closer. “This is not a team we want to lose to.”

I face her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. The Legends are nasty. You probably noticed from the first period—they’re just plain mean.”

I had noticed, but I thought it was just because I wasn’t used to the violence. It seemed our guys were responding to it. Aiden seemed more aggressive than usual. I even saw Sebastian slam somebody against the boards, which I’ve never seen him do. Of course, I haven’t watched all that many games, either.

I settle back in my seat and wait for the second period to start, more nervous now than I was before. I check my phone and see a text from Brielle.

Brielle- are you watching the game tonight?

Stephanie- I”m at the game

Brielle- really? Me too! I hate the Legends!

Stephanie- yeah, Sebastian’s sister was just telling me that they’re a rough team

Brielle- this is that team that has the guy that I had a run-in with last season

Brielle- remember when that guy came to my shop and took a picture with me and it sparked all sorts of comments and problems because people thought I was cheating on Aiden...even though we weren’t even dating for real...anyway, this guy is on that team

Brielle- Blake Grossan

I’m still reading it when she texts again.

Brielle- Blake came at me at an event and Aiden beat the living daylights out of him

Stephanie- he”s the guy that knocked your glucose monitor out of your arm???

Brielle- yep

Stephanie- oh man! That explains why Aiden’s out for blood tonight

Brielle- yeah

Brielle- I tried to tell him not to let him get to him tonight, but I don’t think it’s working

The second period starts, I’m even more anxious. Aiden almost scores, but they keep it out of the net. It’s back and forth, without either team scoring. The violence ratchets up another notch, though. I didn’t get a chance to ask Brielle what number this Blake guy is, but I don’t need to. Number twenty-seven has been all over Aiden all night, and he’s been excessively aggressive with his hits. Every hit that he gets on one of our guys, Aiden goes after him and returns it. So far, it hasn’t come to blows. But I feel like it’s going to be soon.

Number twenty-seven finally gets a penalty, and it’s a power play for us. I’m on my feet with the rest of the arena as Gunner, Aiden, and Sebastian all converge on their net. It’s a fight, but Gunner gets it in. Score! They gather in a circle and celebrate the win, but I can’t help but watch number twenty-seven. They keep showing him on the big screen; he does not look happy. The game starts up again, and number twenty-seven gets out of the penalty box. I glance up at the clock. There’s only two minutes left in this period.

The two minutes seem to go on forever, but number twenty-seven scores with only a few seconds left in the period. I groan with the rest of the Green Thunder fans. The clock runs out, and we move into intermission. I let out a deep breath. “This one’s a doozy,” Sebastian’s mom says as she stands and stretches. I can only shake my head in agreement. She glances over at me and pats my hand. “I know that look all too well.”

“I’m trying not to worry,” I tell her.

She laughs. “Oh honey, I’ve been trying that since Sebastian started playing hockey almost twenty years ago.”

“I take it, it doesn’t work.”

She laughs. “No, not at all.”