I leaned over the bar and hugged Mom, then waved him goodbye and headed back through the people to grab Seb and drag him out before my dad went any further.
First, he’d want season tickets.
Then, he’d want a wedding.
It was just how his weird little brain worked.
“Okay?” Seb questioned as we stepped out into the freezing tundra that was White Peak’s Main Street.
“Fine. My dad is asking about season tickets again.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and buried my chin in my scarf.
He laughed, his elbow bumping mine as we walked. “I can probably get him season tickets if he really wants. Or he can come to the home games as my guest sometimes. It’s fine.”
“No,” I said quickly. “Don’t tempt him. He’ll never leave you alone if you open that avenue.”
“I don’t mind. I like your dad.”
I peered over in time to catch his smile. I shook my head. “You’re insane.”
“Maybe a little bit.”
“That’s not something you should agree with.” I paused. “Although you did turn down that hot girl who tried to buy you a drink.”
“You think she was hot?”
“We’ve had a whole discussion about this tonight. Right after the whole making out thing, we literally talked about how girls tend to notice how hot other girls are but guys aren’t really bothered by that stuff.”
“Point well made.” He nodded his head slowly.
“Why did you turn her down? She didn’t seem like one of those weird groupies who chases baseball players around.”
His breath puffed out in a cloud of steam in front of him, and he looked at the streetlights that lined our path. “I wasn’t interested in her. She’s not my type.”
“A tall redhead with an ass better than my boobs isn’t your type?”
“There’s nothing wrong with your boobs.”
“How do you know that?”
“We shared a bed. You wore a tank top. It was hardly intentional.”
My cheeks flamed red. Shit. I really hadn’t thought that through the first night. “Okay, well, this is awkward.”
Seb laughed and bumped me with his elbow—deliberately this time. “Nah, it’s all right. It’s not like I saw nipple or anything.”
“Oh, my God. Please stop.” I shook my head and looked down at the fresh snow in front of us. “I guess I don’t understand how she’s not your type.”
“She just isn’t,” he replied, his voice quietening toward the end. “I know exactly what kind of woman she is, and while it’s fine, she’s not for me.”
“What kind of woman is she?”
“She’s the kind who recognizes me, but probably isn’t entirely sure where from. She knows I’m semi-famous but can’t place me because she’s only ever seen me if I’ve been spotted with someone she knows or my face has flashed on the screen if her ex or her dad have been watching a game,” he started. “She wants to place me to see if I’m worth her time. She’s not a chaser, not really, but she’s definitely not going to settle for the bakery owner or the guy who changes her oil for free because he’s got a crush on her.”
His tone was getting drier the longer he speaks.
“And that’s fine. I don’t begrudge anyone their choices, and if those are the ones she wants to make, then good for her. But I won’t be one of them. Besides, she’s clearly overly confident which is why she was furious when I turned her down, and I don’t have the patience for that kind of drama.”
“Have you met your friends? We’re the most dramatic group of people outside of Hollywood.”
He looked at me, lips curving again. “Yeah, but I like this drama. It’s harmless. It’s fun. It’s overreactions at stupid shit like you being a good little student and studying while your best friends were getting drunk, high, and making out over spin the bottle.”
“I’m still mad nobody ever told me about that.”
“I don’t think they’d ever told anybody, to be honest with you.”
“I know, but I’m still mad. I mean, Saylor tells me every detail about her periods. You’d think she’d mention that she played tonsil tennis with Tori.”
“The kissing thing was fun, but can we avoid the periods? I don’t care to know about Saylor’s.”
“Neither do I, but I don’t have a choice,” I mumbled. “Is that why she turned down Colton?”
“Who?”
“The redhead.”
“Oh.” Seb put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “A little, yeah. But I think mostly because Tori was glaring at her and she and Colton clearly have some issues.”
“No shit. We’re all just kind of