Girl, you know I want your love

Your love was handmade for somebody like me

I got back to my house after finishing at Mae's in the early afternoon. I parked and got out of the car, I checked my phone sine I heard it buzzing on the drive home. Tyler.

From Ty
what are u doin today????

just got home from my sissys, and then nothing. because I live an exciting life. you??

I went up the steps and opened the door, letting myself in. I heard talking from the kitchen so I dropped my purse and overnight bag in the hall and walked over there.

"Hey, y'all," I said with a smile, taking a seat at the kitchen counter next to Sawyer who nudged me with his shoulder, nearly sending me off the chair.

"What's up, little one?" he asked me.

I smirked, "I'm actually older then you!"

"And yet you still have the height of a toddler," he told me.

"Ha ha ha," I laughed sarcastically, grabbing my phone as it buzzed.

From Ty
did you wanna swing by my place? I was gonna order Chinese food since its a cheat day for me :)

"Who is Ty?" Sawyer asked, looking at my phone.

I brought my phone closer to my chest and gave him a dirty look, "A friend."

He wiggled his eyebrows, "A special friend?" he asked suggestively.

I rolled my eyes, "God, you love gossip just as much as nosey Mrs. Auburn!"

He laughed and shook his head, "Now, now, children!" mama said looking over at us, from where she was leaning against the opposite counter with dad standing next to her.

sounds like fun! tell me the deets!

"So who is Ty?" my dad asked me, pulling me away from the text I had just sent.

I shrugged lightly, "He's just a friend, y'all! That night when Markus ditched me at the restaurant...Tyler came and sat down to save me from the embarrassment," I said laughing softly, pushing my hair away from my face, "he plays hockey. That's how I got those tickets to see the game, when Markus ditched me once again! And he's the one that drove me home that night!"

"So have you ditched Markus then?" Sawyer asked me.

I shook my head, "No. But Tyler is an awesome friend, so we talk."

From Ty
awesome! I’ll order the food, can you pick it up on the way??

"What's he like?" mama asked.

I hummed, "He's really nice...he's just a really good guy. He's funny and he's really talented! Y'all should watch a hockey game, like; it's real crazy out there!"

"Aww!" Sawyer said, patting my head, "Rae's got a crush!"

"I don't!" I sang back at him, hitting the back of his head.

sounds like a plan! Tell me which one then send me your address!

He barked out a laughed, "Then why are ya grinning like an idiot?" he asked, "Making plans for some Chinese food?"

I turned my phone over so he couldn’t see the screen and smacked his chest hard, "Don't be nosey!"

"Don't try to hide shit!" he said back.

I rolled my eyes just as my phone buzzed, "Drop it, Sawyer," I told him.

"Does Markus know?" my dad asked.

I scoffed and flipped my phone over to see my message, "You think I was born yesterday?" I asked sassily.

From Ty
anything you want specifically?

as long as you get fried rice and lemon chicken I’m good!

"It's a shame you feel the need to hide friends from him," mama said casually.

I snorted, "That's the life I lead," I muttered.

From Ty
DONE! its the place on lemmon, it'll be done in 20!

I’ll be there!

"Okay," I said, sliding off my chair, "am I done being interrogated?" I asked them.

My dad and Sawyer laughed while my mama looked at me sternly, "Going somewhere?" dad asked me.

"I'm gonna hang out with Tyler for a bit, ya bunch of nosey Nancy's!" I said with a laugh, heading back to the hall to grab my purse.

"I’ll see y'all later!" I called before heading out again, going to my car and starting the drive to get our food.

Ty texted me on the way with his address. I was surprised to find that the food was already paid for when I got there. I texted Tyler quickly to let him know I was on my way just as I was about to start the car when my phone rang. The Bluetooth was hooked up so I answered it in the car.

"I'm on my way Ty!" I said just about to start the ignition.

"Can you do me a favour?" he asked quickly.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Can you just...please, please make sure the food doesn't fall over or something? I would actually be devastated if it ended up on the floor of your car," he said sheepishly.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I leaned over to the food sitting in the passenger side and put a seatbelt around it, "Ty, you need to relax! Everything is fine!"

"Well, I just wanna make sure is all! I get nervous!"

I laughed and shook my head, "Tyler! I've literally seat belted the Chinese food in the passenger seat! It's not going anywhere!"

"I just wish you have put it on the floor! It could still fall over! It's my only cheat meal this week," he groaned.

"Trust me! It'll be fine!" I said laughing, "Listen, I'm on my way so I'll talk to you when I get there!"

"Be careful! I need the lemon chicken!" he yelled dramatically making me laugh even more.

"Shut it! I'll be there soon!" I said as I clicked the Bluetooth in my car to hang up.

I laughed and continued driving down in the fancy part of Dallas. Parts that I had driven many times before because I used to always love looking at the houses that were on the streets. But now I was driving down them to get to Tyler's place, which was kinda surreal.

I finally pulled up and the gate was already open so I drove through and saw some cars in the driveway, I parked a ways away from them and got out, going to the other side to grab my purse and the food.

I closed the door and balanced the two bags of food in my arms as I looked to his front door and saw Tyler just coming down the couple steps from his front door. He came over and took the food from me and smiled.

"Thanks for picking it up!" he said leading me to his house.

"No problem. I coulda paid for it too," I mentioned.

He shrugged and opened the front door, "I ordered it online! What was I gonna do?"

I laughed and closed the front door behind me, "Well thank-you!"

As I turned away from the door, I saw two dogs standing on each side of Tyler while he watched me. I smiled and looked at the dogs.

"You never told me you had dogs!" I said excited, walking over and keeling to pet them.

He chuckled, "You never asked," he said back to me.

I shook my head, "Dogs should be like the first thing you mention to someone!" I laughed, "What are their names?" I asked.

"The brown one is Marshall, and the black one is Cash," he told me.

I petted the dogs for another few seconds before standing back up, "They're so cute!"

He laughed and nodded, "I thought so!" he said before leading me away.

"Oh wow," I breathed, taking in his house, "this is amazing, Ty."

He turned and smiled, "Thanks! I like it."

I rolled my eyes and laughed, "Well, obviously!"

"After we eat I'll give you the tour!" he said, turning and starting to lead me away once again.

I followed closely behind him and kept looking around at everything. The artwork on the wall and then his jersey that were framed and photos everywhere. I made a mental note to go back and look at all of them. I heard the dogs trotting along behind us.

He led me to his kitchen and placed the bags onto the island that he had there, taking each container out and placing them on the marble countertop.

"Need me to get plates or anything?" I asked him.

He glanced at me, "If you don't mind. It's the one to the right of the sink, thanks."

I placed my purse on one of the stools and walked over and opened the cabinet, grabbing two plates and guessing at which drawer might have cutlery. I was right, the one right next to the sink.

I brought them over and set them down. Tyler had the containers opened and we loaded up our plates with everything. Tyler more so than me.

"Wanna eat in the living room?" he asked me.

I smiled and nodded, "Sure, whatever you wanna do."

He smiled back and led me to the living room which was right off of the kitchen. He had several huge windows that overlooked the backyard and a big 'L' shaped couch facing a giant flat screen TV. He had two chandeliers hanging above us. It was crème with dark wood details...it was stunning.

"Beautiful," I said, mesmerized.

He laughed as he sat on the couch, "I've never had anyone call me beautiful before," he mused.

I smiled and sat down next to him, smacking his leg, "Shut up."

The dogs came and stood in front of us, probably waiting to see if we would give them any food. I smiled at them as Tyler spoke.

"Alright boys, go and lay down," he said to them and they went instantly. He had obviously trained them pretty well.

"But seriously, thank-you, I really like it here," he said going back to me saying the house was beautiful, looking around the room for a second before grabbing the remote from the coffee table in front of us, "just in time," he said looking at me with a smile.

"In time for what?" I asked, before eating some of the fried rice.

"Afternoon game," he said, scrolling through his channels before settling on something.

"Who's this?" I asked, watching the screen.

"So, this is the LA Kings playing against the Vancouver Canucks," he explained, putting the remote on the couch on the other side of him, "hopefully it'll be a good game."

"So do you watch like, every game?" I asked him.

He chuckled and shrugged, "I try to watch a lot of them. I like watching Toronto right now because they have a lot of rookies and they're killing it right now."

I nodded and continued to eat my food. Tyler would call out moves as they were being made by the players as the announcers would call it as well.

"Why did he blow the whistle?" I asked Tyler, placing my empty plate on the coffee table and crossing my legs under me, "No one got hit."

Tyler smiled and turned towards me, "It was offside," he said.

I tilted my head, "Now you know I have no idea what that means," I said with a smile and small laugh.

He laughed too, "I know! I just wanted to see if you were gonna ask me," he said which made me laugh again, "So, basically if a player on the attacking team enters the offensive zone before the puck it's offside. But, if the puck is sent or carried there by a defending player then it's not offside."

I looked at him with wide eyes and watched as his smile grew, "First, that was very textbook," I said as he began laughing, "and second. I still have no idea what that means."

"Okay, so, in basic Raeanne language," he started, causing me to punch his shoulder which only made the two of us laugh, "So I'm on the Stars. And let’s say we're playing the Hawks. My attacking zone is where their goalie is. Let’s say that Chubbs has the puck and he hasn't passed into the attacking zone yet, but I skate and pass the blue line into the attacking zone, near the Hawks goalie. The Ref would blow the whistle and call it offside because I went into the attacking zone before the puck did.

"But let’s say that Kaner, who is on the Hawks, has the puck and skates over into my attacking zone, where his goalie is. But I get to their side after he does. That's not considered offside because someone from the other team was in the zone before me."

"Why would he go into his side near his goalie? Wouldn't that like, up the chances of them getting scored on?" I asked.

He smiled, "He might go there to revaluate the play or to give them a chance to change players. But he'd probably only be there for a second."

I hummed and looked back at the screen, "Is there a lot of rules?" I asked him.

He chuckled, "Yeah, quite a few."

"I would have no clue," I said with a smile looking at him, "I'd be in trouble all of the time."

He laughed and nudged me, "Nah, you'd be a pro."

I shook my head, "No way! I'd be like a bull in a china shop, just falling all over the place being terrified while y'all would just be skatin around me like it was nothing."

"No!" he said while laughing, "I would totally help you out!"

"Lies!" I cried, "You'd be skating around and laughin at me!"

"No no!" he said as we both continued laughing, "I'm gonna make it my mission to teach you to skate!"

"Well good luck, Ty, you'd be a brave man!" I told him.

"Challenge accepted!" he told holding his hand out for me to shake.

I laughed and shook his head, "Deal!"

We released each other’s hands and smiled at each other. I took in his brown hair and the scruff that was growing on his face. It was then that I noticed that his eyes weren't just a regular brown to me...they had a shine to them...a sparkle. There was something different about them. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt that showed off all of his tattoos, all of which I was very intrigued by.

I looked away from him with a small smile and a burning face when I realized we might have been looking at each other for longer than we should have.

"So," he started, causing me to look back at him, "whats the boy up to?"

I breathed out a small laugh and shook my head, "Who knows," I said rolling my eyes, "He’s the only hell his mama ever raised, I'll tell ya that much," I said sighing.

"What?" Tyler asked with a bark of a laugh.

I smiled and shook my head, "Sorry," I said, "I'm used to talking to people that understand what the hell I'm talking about. That just means that...I dunno...he likes to argue with me about shit. He gets mad easily. Raises hell."

"Oh," he said, "why does he do that with you?"

"I don't know," I told him, "I think because that's the way it's always been with us that that's the way he goes with it. And half the time it's not even important shit. Like the hockey game for instance," I told him, "He was so mad at me the next day because I didn't leave with him. He was livid, absolutely livid."

"Really?" he asked, surprised, "Why would you have left?"

I shrugged, "Exactly. I mean, I do understand that maybe some girls would leave when their boyfriend storms off, but I know Markus, and I know that he needs a cooling down period without me being there. And I knew the second we were out of the arena he woulda flipped out on me. I wanted to stay and watch the game!"

"Well, what does he think about you hanging out with me?" he asked.

I laughed and shook my head, "You think I'm crazy or something?" I asked, "He has no idea! He'd be so mad at me."

"So then why do we hang out?" he asked, "I don't want you getting in trouble."

"Tyler, that boy does not run my life," I said with a smile, "I've been starting to realize that he shouldn't be treating me the way that he does. It's not okay."

Tyler leaned back against the couch, "So why do you stay?"

I smiled, "I do love him, Tyler. He does stuff that he shouldn't do...but I really do love him. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"There's guys out there that would treat you a hell of a lot better than he does. Show you that they want you, and treat you well and with respect," Tyler said quietly, intensely.

I tilted my head, "He does want me," I said.

Tyler smiled, "Physically, I'm sure he does. A guy would be crazy not to want you," he said playfully, "I mean wants you...on an emotional and mental level. Someone that won't ignore you for hours or days at a time if they can help it. That won't storm off and leave you somewhere that you've never been. That you wouldn't have to worry about getting mad if you hung around with a guy friend. Someone that you can have a fun relationship with and goof around with, but then go and talk under the stars until the sun comes up about nothing and everything. That's what you deserve, Rae."

I smiled a bit sadly at him, "Yeah. I get that, for sure," I said with a long sigh, "I know I don't really have that with him...I don't think that'd be something I would be used to. I wouldn’t know how to be in a relationship like that...I know how to be with Markus. I know him in and out, backwards and forwards."

"Why are you settling?" he asked me.

I felt my eyes widen, "What?"

He pointed at me, "That’s what it seems like...you sound like you're settling for this guy. You know how to be in a relationship with him. So you wouldn't be in a relationship with someone else because you wouldn’t know what that would be like. So you'll settle for this guy because you know what you're in for."

I felt flustered. My face was hot and my heart was beating quickly.

"Ty, I don't think that's a fair thing for you to say," I told him.

He chuckled and shrugged, "Just my two cents is all. We don't have to talk about it anymore," he said simply.

I breathed in deeply, "I'm sorry," I told him, slouching over; "you're the last person I should be saying that to."

He laughed, "Hey, it's all good. I get it; you're with the guy so you wanna defend him. I'm just telling you what I think."

I sighed and felt my lips turn upwards, "So, why hockey?" I asked him.

He smiled and ran a hand through his brown hair, sitting back on the couch, "It's the Canadian way," he said easily.

I rolled my eyes but still grinned at him, "Ha-ha," I said sarcastically, "seriously though."

He hummed, "It was something I was really good at...my parents and my sisters all play too. So it's just been a lifestyle for me. And when I realized I was good, and everyone else did...that's when the flash happened of thinking...this could be a career for me. And I liked the idea of doing something that I was good at and that I really loved. And I mean, the money wasn't half bad either," he said winking at me making me laugh a little, "There's nothing purer to me than getting on fresh ice to skate, or the feeling of the first goal of the season...it's awesome, really. I'm sure there's something to you that feels like that, right?" he asked me.

I smiled and shrugged a little, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, "I guess any morning that I get to the shop first and see everything there....and it kinda sinks in for me that it's mine, that it was something I had wanted to do for a long time...that makes me really happy."

He smiled at me and nodded once; "See?" he asked quietly, "We're not too different, eh?"

I smiled, "I guess," I breathed.

"SO," he started, "Brothers? Sisters?"

"One of each," I said, looking to the game still on the TV, "twin sister and little brother."

"Identical?" he asked.

"Fraternal," I said, looking to him with a smile, "her name is Maebelle. She's married to her high school sweetheart and they had a baby a year ago now."

He raised his eyes brows and his shoulder began to shake slightly, "What?" I asked with a small laugh.

"Your parents really went all out for your names, eh?" he said.

I smacked his shoulder which only made him laugh even more, "Shut up!"

"Tell me your brother’s name is Dallas or Austin and I'll lose it!"

I threw my head back and laughed, "No! It's Sawyer!"

"Well that one's not bad!"

I shook my head as I continued to giggle, "Hey! Me and Mae were supposed to be a girl and boy. She popped out first and they named her Maebelle. I was supposed to be Raymond after my Granddaddy but then I was a girl too, so then I was Raeanne for him."

He nodded along as I told him the story, "Okay, that makes sense then. I like your name."

I smiled, "Well thank-you," I said.

He smiled back at me, but his eyes looked serious, and I felt like he was going to ask me something. And I wasn't wrong.

"Can I just say something quickly and then I’ll back off?" he asked quickly.

I sighed, figuring since he asked like that he would be about Markus, "Hit me."

"I truly, truly, want the best for you, Rae," he began, "and just hearing you tell me that he'd get mad at you for hanging around with me, or that you got the tickets from me and shit...I just don't think that's how a relationship should be. You shouldn't be so fearful about what he's going to do or say or whatever. You should be allowed to have whatever friends you want, girls or guys. I just think you're awesome and amazing, and you're crazy smart, Rae! And I think you know what's up...I think you know, somewhere deep down inside, that you deserve better than that.

"I'm not trying to start shit between us," he continued, watching my reaction, "I mean, you've become a good friend of mine after...what...a month, almost two now. I just want you to know where I stand," he sighed, "I like you a lot, Raeanne. Maybe we could classify it as a small crush," he said with a small awkward chuckle as he looked away from, while my face went extremely warm, "I'm not saying that because I'm expecting anything, obviously. And I'm not gonna...you know...act on it, because I know you're with the fuckboy anyways. But I just want you to know that someone else would treat you a million times better than he does. Don't be afraid of it, just because you don’t know what it's like without him.

"I hope this doesn't make it awkward between us," he said, finishing off his little rant type speech.

I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth as I watched him watch me. I released my lip and sighed deeply.

"I don't feel awkward so don't worry about that," I said slowly, "and I mean...like always, I appreciate your input. It makes me feel...I dunno...happy that you care as much as you do, I appreciate that you're looking out for little old me," I said with a small laugh, "A lot of the stuff you've said as already gone through my head, don't think it hasn't. But I huh...yeah...I don't really know."

"We'll just leave it alone," he said quickly, "I just don't know how to keep my mouth shut sometimes," he said chuckling softly.

I smiled and nodded, "I can see that."

He laughed, "Least I'm honest about it," he said with a small shrug.

I shook my head with a small laugh, "True," I agreed, "So," I began, wanting to change the topic to something else, "brothers, sisters?" I asked him, echoing his own question to me.

He smiled and nodded, and began talking about his two sisters. His face lit up talking about them. And most of the time while he was talking, I was hardly listening to him. I was focusing on how bright his eyes got when he talked about people or things he really loved. How big his smile was just before he would burst into hysterics.

Seeing Tyler like that, totally free and open, was probably my favourite Tyler Seguin.

Notes

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