Bastian narrowed his eyes more, but this time at Erick. "She's your…?" he asked slowly.
"Mate."
Bastian was quiet for a while before he shouted. "What???" he exclaimed in disbelief, his jaw dropped open. He then studied her with narrowed eyes. "Wait... She's..."
Erick quickly kicked his legs to shut him up but Bastian was fast as he nimbly evaded the kick, while covering his mouth with both of his hands, his eyes still open wide. "Sorry, bro! I was too shocked," he apologized, waving Erick away.
Erick rolled his eyes.
Bastian then walked closer to Amber, studying her from top to bottom. "Interesting," he murmured, as if he was talking to himself. "A human mate."
Amber ignored him and turned to Erick. "Shall we go? The girls are still waiting for me at the parking lot," she said.
Erick nodded.
The two of them then ignored the light bulb and went out of the mini stadium.
Seeing how the couple ignored him once again, Bastian decided that he hadn't had enough time to tease Erick so he followed them from behind.
His other friends who were waiting for him at the parking lot looked confused when they saw him walking behind Erick and Amber. He then waved them, telling them in the mindlink that he will be going with them and that they should just leave without him. Apparently, his two friends were shifters too. They nodded and went to their car and drove away.
Jeayan was laughing with her other friends when she looked up and saw Erick and Amber approaching them. Erick looked as if he was texting someone in his phone, his thumbs non-stop pressing on the phone, whereas Amber waved at them, smiling. When they stood in front of Jeayan and the others, Amber apologized for being late.
Jeayan just waved away her apologies. It was then she realized that there was another person behind them. She peeked around Amber and was surprised to see a good-looking blonde guy. As she discreetly sniffed, she realized that the guy was a shifter as well.
"Who is he?" Dana asked, gesturing at Bastian who was smiling at them.
Just then, Hamish walked over with his duffel bag on his bag and another duffel bag in his hand. He tossed the other duffel bag at Erick. Apparently, it was Erick's.
"I already told the coach that we have our own ride back home so he and the others have left," Hamish said.
Erick nodded his thanks.
Hamish then turned his head and frowned when he saw Bastian. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm joining the fun," Bastian answered shamelessly with a grin.
"Who is he?" Dana asked again, this time softly at Jeayan. However, since the four of them were shifters, except for Amber, of course, they, including Bastian had heard her question.
Bastian flashed his winning smile at Dana and answered, "I'm Bastian Cesaro, the captain of the Port Robston Bay Football club."
Dana's eyes widened in surprise. She did not expect the captain of the football team whom they just beat to be in front of them. Shouldn't he be with his team?
Jeayan had the same question as Dana and she voiced them out, asking bluntly, "And what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your teammates? Your team just lost the game."
Bastian clutched his chest where his heart lay and pretended to be wounded. "That hurts," he said sadly.
Erick ignored him once more as he turned to Jeayan. "So, where are you all headed to?" he asked, hoisting his duffel bag onto his back.
Jeayan shrugged. "We're planning to go around town and grab some food." Then she looked at Amber, "Though, I'm not sure whether this girl is still hungry."
Amber rolled her eyes as she turned around, showing her backpack. "You think the stuff inside is enough?"
Bastian butted in. "Then it's a good thing you have a local here with you! I can bring you to the best place to eat! What do you want? Hot pot? BBQ?" he suggested happily.
Jeayan glared at him. "Can you shut up for one second?"
Bastian's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He then took a step back and walked closer to Hamish, who was quietly watching them. He leaned closer and asked, "Are most females in your town that cranky and rude?"
Jeayan continued to glare when she heard his question.
Bastian immediately kept quiet.
"How many cars did you girls bring here?" Erick asked again, still ignoring Bastian's antics.
"We actually came here with Isaac and some couple of guys too," Dana answered.
Erick's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Other guys?" he repeated, looking down at Amber.
Amber just rolled her eyes.
"Want to ask Dex whether he wants to join us?" Hamish asked Erick.
"He's here?"
Hamish nodded. "He came to pick up his ma-- girlfriend, Zoe," he replied.
"You can go ask him."
Hamish nodded again. He then turned his back to them, his fingers typing on his phone. If one looked closely, he actually did not typed anything on his phone. Rather, he was using his mindlink to connect with Dex, who was still somewhere at the football field with Zoe and the other cheerleaders.
Dex, who had received Hamish's mindlink, rejected the offer, saying that he would be bringing Zoe back home since she was tired. The other cheerleaders too would be going straight home, together with their coach, using the bus.
After saying goodbye to Dex, Hamish turned back around and told them what Dex had replied. Erick and the others nodded. Isaac then joined the group. After waiting so long in the car, he decided to get out and asked what was taking them so long.
Amber apologized for being late. Isaac brushed away her apologies, saying it was fine. Who would want to scold their future Luna?
Soon, they began to discuss who will follow in which car since they had two cars; Dana and Isaac. Few minutes later, it was decided that the girls would follow in Dana's car, whereas the guys would follow in Isaac's car, much to Erick's dissatisfaction.
When both Hamish and Erick had climbed in Isaac's car, Bastian was about to follow suit when Erick pushed him out of the car, saying, "What are you doing?"
Bastian gave him a sad look. "I'm joining you."
"Who invited you?"
"I invited myself."
"But I did not invite you."
"Do I look as if I care that you invite me or not?"
Tired of listening to them bicker, Hamish let out a long sigh and said, "Just let him join or he would not shut up."
So Erick had to move a bit to give space for Bastian to join in. Luckily, the car that Isaac drove was a slightly larger car so they weren't feeling cramped inside.
Since they were waiting for Isaac to drive since he would be leading the way, Dana and the other girls had to wait. Soon after, when Bastian finally got in the car and Isaac was now driving, the girls followed from behind.
The trip took nearly an hour, with Bastian keep changing the direction because he could not make up his mind on where to eat. It was not until Erick smacked him on the head and threatened him to pick a place before he kicked him out of the car.
They finally decided on a BBQ place. Seeing how the weather was getting colder during the evening and that they, especially the guys, were getting hungry, it seems like the perfect place. And the best thing of all was that there were meats!
When they arrived at the BBQ place, it was already crowded for dinner time. Even after eight o'clock in the evening, it was still crowded. Luckily, there were a couple of empty tables outside. Even if the weather was cold, at least they were eating BBQ and the heat from the grill may help them to keep warmth.
Seeing the big group, the waiters and waitresses in the restaurant helped to place the empty tables together to make a longer table. After they were done, they began to place a portable bbq grill pan on each of the tables.
Erick and the others soon made themselves comfortable. Erick quickly tugged on Amber's hand, pulling her next to him so that she would sit next to him.
Bastian, who sat across Erick and next to Hamish, leaned closer to the latter and asked, "Is he always like this?"
"You have no idea."