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"And so, my parents moved me back to the States... That's my story."
Stephanie eyed the young man, rapt as she intently listened to his story He was so interesting, and definitely nice too look at as well, which added even more to his appeal.
"Well, I'm glad that happened," she said.
Chris Irvine turned his clear blue eyes her way. He noted the tiny smile gracing the brunette's lips and didn't question her, as he knew she was going to continue.
"If your parents hadn't decided to move back, I never would have met you."
The young blond man let out a tiny chuckle.
"True."
Stephanie gazed into his face with more intensity. She knew it was pretty fast, only a week and a half at most, but she knew... She was falling for Chris. But it felt damn good... And she honestly didn't think of it as a rebound. After all, her relationship with Paul had been steadily heading downhill for the last few months of it. No... This was no rebound, this was real.
Chris was nowhere near oblivious to the way she was looking at him. It was a nice feeling to have her eyeing him in that manner.
"True," he reiterated. "And thank goodness for their decision."
A full-fledged grin shaped on his face, and Stephanie did something that surprised herself. She didn't just go all out and kiss him, not yet... But she reached across the bench on which they were sitting and grabbed hold of his hand.
Chris smiled softly as he gazed down at their hands, and he gently interlaced his fingers into hers. Yes, this was a really nice feeling, one he could get very used to.
They didn't notice the pair of dark eyes belonging to a young man nearby... Said man was a witness to the sweet moment.
*
Paul looked up from arranging his locker as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Without even turning around, he knew it was Shane.
"Hey, man," he murmured.
"Hey." The dark-haired man was silent for a beat as he chewed over how best to broach the subject on his mind.
Levesque fully turned, catching the pensive expression on his best friend's face.
"What?"
Shane shrugged, shaking his head. Then, quick as a flash, he decided that hiding it wasn't the answer... Besides, it was Stephanie's fault that Stacy had rejeced him. After all, she had gone and blabbed about the bet to Amy, who had then in turn revealed it to the blonde. Taking all that into consideration, why should he protect his sister?
"There's something you should know," he said. "About Stephanie."
Paul gave him a strange look, but his interest was piqued for the simple fact that whatever Shane was talking about, it had to do with his ex-girlfriend.
"Oh, yeah?" he asked. "What about her?"
Shane pursed his lips together for a beat, then appeared smug as he spoke again.
"Apparently, she's already moved on from you."
The burly quarterback's nostrils flared in anger. On one hand, he knew he shouldn't care after the way Stephanie had treated him, humiliated him. On the other, it was horribly bruising to his ego to think that she was over him already and had moved onto some other guy. She should have been crying and pining over him, damn it!
"What are you talking about, Shane?" he demanded.
The dark-haired young man lowered his voice to a whisper.
"I just saw my dear little sister... She was with Chris Irvine, holding hands with him."
Paul was struck speechless. He positively saw red right at that moment. And as far as he was concerned, this was yet another thing he could blame that blasted redhead Amy for... If she hadn't come here to transfer to Cannon's Worth, he wouldn't be in any of the shit he was now in!
"That bitch!" he spat through clenched teeth. He was actually talking about Amy Dumas, but Shane thought he meant Stephanie.
Shane smirked despite this fact. He eyed his seething best friend calmly, patting him on the shoulder.
"I knew you'd react this way." He gave his friend one last nudge and said, "Well, I gotta get to my locker before Coach comes in and chews me out for not being ready. See you outside, man."
"Yeah, Shane," Levesque muttered. His right hand was in a tight fist, yet he didn't even realize it.