Chapter 4

Stephanie

He grins. “That’s because my jersey is the most popular. There’s never any extra.” I roll my eyes at him. He”s so full of himself.

“Or maybe it’s that you need to clean up your image before PR hands out your jersey to people. All right. Back to Brielle and Aiden,” I say pointedly. “So that’s like what, ten to fifteen people? That’s not bad at all. We can make any of those places work.”

“Honestly, we’re thinking Hawaii,” Brielle says with a glance at Aiden. He smiles at her. “We kind of thought that would be perfect.”

“Then let’s do it,” I say, already writing things down in my planner.

“I love Hawaii,” Sebastian says.

“Have you been there?” Brielle asks.

“Nope,” he responds. “I just have always wanted to go.”

I roll my eyes. “I think it’s going to be great. What else do we need to talk through?”

“I would like to just take a moment to acknowledge this very important moment in history,” Sebastian says.

“And what would that be?” I ask.

“That Aiden acknowledged that I’m his best friend. I can’t wait to tell all the guys.”

“Don’t,” Aiden says.

Sebastian grins. “We’re totally BFFs now. Can I call you Bestie?”

“No.”

“Best friend?”

“No.”

Sebastian opens his mouth, but before he says anything, Aiden gives him a hard look. “No. Whatever it is you’re going to say, the answer is no.”

Brielle hides her smile. I turn to Sebastian. “What?” he asks with a grin.

“You’re like an overgrown toddler.”

“Thank you.”

I shake my head. “That wasn’t a compliment.”

“When are you coming to a game?” he asks, completely throwing me off.

“What?”

“When are you coming to a game?”

I stare at him a moment before I start packing up my stuff. “I’m not.”

“Don’t you come to the games with Brielle?” he asks in confusion.

“Nope.” I stand up and pick up my plate to take into the kitchen. “That was really good, Brielle. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to pick up,” Brielle says, waving me off. But I do anyway. I put my dishes in the sink and then start the hot water. “Don’t worry about dishes, Stephanie.” I ignore her and rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. When I’m finished, I head back out to the living room and slide my bag onto my shoulder. “Thank you guys for dinner; it was great. I’ve got papers to grade, so I’m going to get going. See you tomorrow, Brielle. Bye Aiden.”

“Bye, Stephanie. Thanks for coming over,” Brielle calls out.

I let myself out the front door, but before it can close all the way, a hand stops it. “Hey, what about me?” Sebastian asks, stepping outside. “Were you just going to ignore me?”

“That was the plan,” I tell him as I walk down the front steps.

“Wow, you certainly don’t like me.”

I don’t say anything as I walk to my car. I put my bag in the back seat and slide into the front seat. Before I can close the door, he stops it. “Listen, I’m sorry about the thing with my niece. I wasn’t trying to get her out of her work...okay. That was exactly what I was trying to do, but I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Thank you?” he questions.

I’m not going to keep going round after round with him. “Yes. Thanks. Have a good night.” This time, when I pull on my door, he releases it. I pull out, leaving the tall hockey player in the driveway and breathe a sigh of relief when I can’t see him anymore. The drive home only takes a few minutes. I crash at the table and finish the papers I was grading before I make my way to bed for the night. Spending the night with Aiden and Brielle and him who should not be named made for an interesting night. Sitting next to him all night was enough to make me crazy. I sigh as I stare up at the ceiling and remember his apology. I shake my head and roll over. I wonder if that means I need to be nice to him now. Then I think back to how he treated me when he didn’t know who I was, months ago. My face flushes, and I resolve once again to keep my distance from him.

_____________

The next few days fly by, and I don’t get a chance to connect with Brielle until Thursday afternoon. “Oh good, you’re here,” Brielle says, coming into my classroom as soon as school finishes for the day.

I look up from my computer. “Uh, yeah, Bri, this is where I usually am on a school day.” I can’t help but tease her. She doesn’t smile. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she waves off my concern. “So, I don’t know how exactly to tell you this.”

“Well, that’s never good,” I tell her.

“There was a press conference after the game last night,” she begins.

“For Aiden’s game?” I ask, figuring that’s what she’s talking about.

“Yeah, only...”

She doesn’t get a chance to say anything more before the door opens, and Principal Goodman steps into my classroom. Rob, one of the single teachers, walks in with him as well. I watch as Brielle’s lips tighten, and I wonder what in the world is going on. “Miss Winston, we’re here to see about getting you out to your car safely.”

Now, I’m worried. “What are you talking about?” I ask as I stand to my feet.

“There are reporters and every crazy person imaginable out there waiting for you,” Principal Goodman says.

I must have heard him wrong; that’s the only thing I can figure out. “Why are there reporters waiting for me?” I ask.

“That’s what I was coming to tell you. Sebastian might have...at the press conference last night, he might have mentioned something about you.” Brielle finishes with a grimace.

“He might have mentioned something about me?” I am aware that I just keep repeating everything everybody is saying, but nobody is making any sense.

“Bri, what is going on?” I ask my friend.

”Miss Winston, we need to get you out so everybody else can go home,” Principal Goodman butts in. “Do you have your belongings?”

His words snap me out of my confusion. I quickly pack up my laptop bag. My eyes meet Brielle’s as we leave my classroom behind. “I’ll explain everything soon. For now, let’s just get out of here.” Her ominous words stay with me. When we get to the front door, I look out and see some people gathered around the front door. There’s only a group of about fifteen or twenty people or so.

“This isn’t that bad; you guys made it out to sound like there was a mob out here waiting for me,” I say as we get close to the door.

“I tried to get ahold of Aiden, but he’s still in practice. Let’s just get to the car,” Brielle says, sticking her hand in my arm.

“Ready?” our principal asks.

Rob steps on my other side, and we follow Principal Goodman out the door. As soon as we do, it turns crazy. Everybody turns towards us. Cameras flash in my face, and several people try to shove a microphone in my face. There seems to be more people than I originally thought. Principal Goodman does a pretty good job of making his way through the group, and we walk right to my car.

“I’ll call you,” Brielle says right before I slide into my front seat.

“Just keep on driving; you’ll be fine,” Principal Goodman says with a reassurance I’m not sure I feel. In a daze, I turn on my car and make my way towards the exit. Thankfully, nobody tries to do anything crazy. A glance in my rearview shows that Brielle is right behind me. I take a steadying breath and make the drive to my house, taking a few extra turns, just in case. I park and grab my bag and march over to Bri’s car. As soon as she opens her door, I’m all over her.

“What in the world was that? What happened? What in blue blazes did Sebastian do?”

Brielle climbs out of her car. “Come on; let’s go inside.” I reluctantly follow her and unlock the front door. “It’s not what he did; it’s what he said,” she says as she walks past me into my house.

“What did he say?”

Brielle walks over to the tv and grabs the controls. “It’s all over the news, so you might as well just watch it.” She finds what she’s looking for and throws me a look. “You ready for this?”

“No,” I tell her honestly. I stand next to her because I’m too keyed up to sit. She pushes play, and we watch the replay of last night’s press conference. Sebastian’s at the table, behind the mic. He’s relaxed and at ease as he answers questions about the game. He’s almost done when somebody throws him a question that has nothing to do with hockey.

“You were spotted with Angie Greyhardt at a recent event. Is there anything brewing between you and the actress?”

I know just who they’re talking about. She’s a beautiful actress with a gorgeous body and perfect long auburn hair. I bite my lip at the question, still unsure what this has to do with me.

Sebastian smiles. “Nah, we just had mutual friends introduce us.”

“So, you’re not dating her?” the reporter asks again.

“No. I’m not dating Angie.”

“Is there anybody on the radar for the great Sebastian Hart?” somebody else asks.

Sebastian smirks. “There is somebody I would like to have on my radar, but she can’t stand me.” You can hear people laughing around the room. I stiffen and wonder where this is going.

“Who is she?” somebody shouts from the back.

Sebastian grins. “I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that she’s a middle school history teacher and I don’t think she’s ever been to one of my games. But I’d like to change that soon. I’d like to get her out of her classroom and to the rink.” Cheering follows his statement, and he gives that signature smirk again. “That’s all I have time for. You guys have been great; thank you.”

Brielle turns off the tv, and I stare at the blank screen. I have no idea what to make of any of it. Scratch that; yes I do. “This is crazy.”

“It really is. I’m sorry it escalated so quickly. I’m sure Sebastian had no idea things would go like this.”

I laugh, but it’s without humor. “Yes, he did. He knows exactly what he’s doing.” I shake my head.

“Why are you so hard on him?” Bri asks, sitting down on my couch.

“Because he’s a player. This is just a game to him, just like all the other models, actresses, and beautiful women he’s been with. I’m probably the one person in his life who’s turned him down. So he sees it like a challenge—something he has to conquer.” I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t want to be part of that; I don’t want to be a trophy.” I plop onto the couch next to Brielle, feeling the long week catch up to me.

“I don’t think that’s how it is,” Bri says, as she turns towards me and tucks a foot under her.

“You’re in love, so you see everything through rose-colored glasses. Believe me; I know what I’m talking about.”

Bri watches me carefully for a minute, and I do my best not to fidget under her stare. “What happened?” she asks suddenly.

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“What happened between you and Sebastian that you are so hard on him?”

I scoff. “Nothing happened; he’s just a big flirt.”

“Is this because of the whole homework thing with Kayla?” she questions.

“No, it has nothing to do with that. I didn’t like him before that happened. Now I really don’t like the guy.”

“See? You didn’t like him before you had that run-in with him.” She studies my face. “Tell me what happened.”