Alpha

Savannah wanted to bang her head against the wall. Today had been one of the worst days at work since she started working in Dallas. And that included the day she had been shot at. Either day she'd been shot at.

Tensions were high amongst her, Liam, and Dominic. She knew Dominic was getting heat for not having caught Bartholomew and Junior yet, and he was taking it out on her. He was trying to take control and tell her what to do, and Savannah did not respond well to that.

It had all ended about forty-five minutes ago when a screaming match between Dominic and Savannah came to a halt with Dominic telling her to get her shit together and be prepared for the take down next time or be delegated to paperwork from then on. And then, he had walked out of the building.

Liam had sat there, dumbfounded. He didn't really want to take sides, and he knew better than to say anything right now. He had left a few minutes after Dominic, after making sure Savannah was okay with him leaving. She had to assure him she would be fine alone, even after he offered to go out for a drink with her or for her to hang out at his place. She turned down both, but did promise to let him know if she ended up going for a drink later that night.

It was after 8 pm when she finally left work. She didn't really want to go home, but she didn't want to go to the bar, either. Shea was packing to get ready to leave with Audrey for their weekend away and her proposal so Savannah didn't want to bother her right now. And, Alex was at a late night photo shoot, so she wasn't available either.

She sent Tyler a text, even though she knew he wasn't able to read it right now since the Stars had a game that night. Work sucks. I'm thinking of switching careers. Think I can join the Stars and play hockey for money?

She knew it was lame, but she just wanted to talk to him. She changed into her normal bedtime wear, a camisole top and a pair of shorts. She made herself a sandwich for dinner while she turned on the television, conveniently finding the Stars game on tv. It was already into the third period, and the Stars were leading 3-1 so at least Tyler had to be in a pretty good mood.

She watched it until the end, with the Stars getting a 4-1 win, before she turned Netflix on. About an hour after the game ended, she got a response back from Tyler. Uh oh did you get shot at again? You're not in the hospital, are you?

Savannah chuckled at his worry. She had had time to calm down since getting home and realized she shouldn't have texted him about having a bad day when he was in the middle of the game. She texted him back.

Savannah: Saw the end of your game, you guys won!

Tyler: What happened at work?

Savannah: Nothing, I was just exaggerating.

Tyler: Want to come to the bar?

Savannah: I'm gonna pass.

Tyler: Shit. Savannah, what happened at work?

Savannah: Go to the bar, I'll see you Sunday!

She didn't hear back from him, and she put her phone on her nightstand, plugging it in to charge. She curled up into her blankets as she watched Friends on Netflix. She nearly jumped out of bed when she was startled by a knock on her apartment door. She looked at her watch, wondering who was bothering her this late. If it was a drunk guy, she would kill somebody.

She made her way into the living room to the front door, opening it up. She was shocked when she saw Tyler on the other side. "Sorry it took me so long to get here. Traffic at the arena sucked," he said, walking inside without her even inviting him in. He took a good look at the outfit she was wearing. "Damn, you look better than what I was picturing."

Savannah rolled her eyes. "Shut up. What are you doing here?"

"You had a shitty day," he shrugged his shoulders. "Thought you could use some company."

"And what about the post game bar scene? The guys are gonna miss you if you're not there," she told him.

"I think they'll understand," he laughed. "Tell me about your day," he said as he walked over to her couch and plopped down.

She sat down on the other end of the couch, curling her legs up underneath her. "It was fine," she said, looking at the floor. Her Netflix was still playing in the background, but she wasn't paying attention to it anymore.

Tyler stared at her, but she didn't say anything else. She could feel his eyes staring at her, but she refused to look up. "Well your text didn't make it seem fine," he told her.

She inhaled deeply. "I was being dramatic earlier."

"You? Dramatic?" he said with a chuckle. "C'mon, tell me what's going on," he said, leaning over and tapping her arm with his hand.

"I just had a fight," she rolled her eyes, thinking about the day.

"Like a fist fight? That's kinda hot," he said with a grin on his face.

"No, not a fist fight. Just an argument."

"With the hot one?"

Savannah rolled her eyes again. "No, not with Liam. With Dominic. Tensions are just high and he's pissed that we haven't caught the guys, and I think part of him thinks that if they had someone else on their team besides me then they'd have gotten him." She bit her lip, hating that Dominic had partially blamed her for the reason they were still on the loose.

"It's not your fault, I don't know why he thinks that."

"Thanks," she said, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"It's true. Look, I know I don't know all that goes on with your job, but I know you're a badass, and you could probably kick my ass if you really wanted to. I know you care about your job, and I know you're good at it."

She gave him a genuine smile this time. "Thank you," she told him. "You know you still have time to get to the bar," she added, knowing that if it wasn't for her text, he'd be with the guys right now celebrating their win.

"You trying to get rid of me?" he questioned with a smile.

She shook her head. "Not yet," she joked.

He reached over and gently tugged on her forearm so she'd lean over and put her head on his chest. "You liiiiiiike me," he teased. She tried to sit up but he wouldn't let her. "You wanted to seeeeee me!"

She jokingly hit him in his rock hard stomach. "Shut up!" she exclaimed.

"You liiiiiiiiiike me," he continued half-singing. She shook her head but didn't say anything as she turned her attention towards the tv, trying to focus on the Friends episode she'd seen a hundred times before and ignore his teasing.

At some point that Savannah couldn't remember, she had fallen asleep on the couch with Tyler because she woke up several hours later to the sun peering in through the large window in the living room. She shifted, trying to sit up, causing Tyler to wake up as well. "Hey," he greeted, a sleepy smile on his face.

"Good morning," she said. "I'm sorry I fell asleep last night," she apologized, as she stood up, stretching her arms up above her head.

"Sorry I fell asleep! Guess I'm getting old," he joked, earning a glare from Savannah. He glanced at his phone. "Sorry to leave first thing in the morning, but I left the dogs at home, and I'm pretty sure my place is gonna be tore up," he laughed, mentally imagining how big of a mess he would be going home to.

"Shit, I'm sorry," she told him. She hadn't even thought about his dogs or that he'd be sleeping over last night. And, they didn't even have sex. That must have been a first for Tyler, to sleep over at a woman's without having sex. "Let me go get you some Starbucks to go," she offered. "There's one just up the street."

"How about I go get us some coffee?" he countered. He could see that she was about to argue with him, but he cut her off first. "Stop arguing, and get dressed," he laughed. She hesitated briefly before turning around and heading to her bedroom and changing into something that was more appropriate to grab coffee.

She came back out a few minutes later and grabbed her bag, only to see Tyler back on the couch. "C'mon, buddy, you got some dogs to get home to!" she told him. He laughed as he stood up and followed her out of her apartment. "So," she began as they made their way down the stairs to outside. "Tell me the truth, is that the first time you've slept over without having sex?"

"Not including at one of my teammate's?"

Savannah laughed. "Not including one of your teammate's places."

He walked next to her, his hand continuing to brush hers. "One of the very few," he admitted. He wasn't embarrassed by it. "I mean besides the like one relationship I've been in." It was the first time he'd talked about ever being in a relationship, and it made Savannah's stomach drop a little. She knew he had had plenty of sex with plenty of girls, but she'd never imagined him in a relationship. She decided not to go down that path and ask questions right now.
"What about you?"

"I don't have too many sleepovers," she told him as they stopped at a red stoplight.

"I feel special," he grinned with a wink as he finally grabbed her hand. "And, we haven't even had our first date! I still expect you to come up with big things for that Sunday," he said as the walk sign came on and they crossed the street to Starbucks.

The place was busy, but Tyler didn't seem to really be in that big of a hurry to leave Savannah. They waited in line, talking about Sunday, though neither of them had an idea of what they were going to do yet. A short while later, they both had their drinks and they were walking back towards her place.

When they got to the parking lot of her apartment, they began to go their separate ways. "Thanks for coming over last night," she told him. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but it really had meant a lot to her that he'd ditched the bar for her. He definitely didn’t need to do that.

He smiled at her. "Wouldn’t have wanted to do anything else. Though I do have this awful crick in my neck from sleeping on the couch," he said, rubbing his neck dramatically.

"Better go find one of those bar girls to rub it out for you," Savannah told him.

"Rub my neck or something else out?" he asked with a wink.

Savannah rolled her eyes. "Bye, Tyler," she said, turning around and walking towards her apartment. She could hear Tyler laugh as she made it to the front door of the building. She turned her head back to see him getting in his truck, and she walked inside.

She decided to take a quick shower before finishing her coffee, needing to get ready to go to work. It may be Saturday, but she was still going in. Especially after the argument with Dominic yesterday. She was going to prove to him that she was an asset to the team.
She got out of the bathroom a short while later, checking her phone for the first time since the night before. She expected more texts in the group chat, but still skimmed through.

Shea: See you guys on Tuesday! Wish me luck this weekend!

Alex: She's going to say yes! And probably cry.

Shea: Well she better say yes. I'm too damn nervous and I'll die if she says no.

Alex: Don’t be nervous. That girl loves you!

Shea: Van, you alive?

Alex: Think she's with Segs?

Shea: Maybe we should text him.

Alex: Nah, let them bang in peace. God knows you two don't let me do that all the time.

Shea: True. If we don't hear from her by 8 am tomorrow, please send help.

Alex: Will do.

Savannah: I'm alive. Shea, Audrey is gonna say yes! And then we're going to have to plan a weddingggg!

As soon as she hit send, she got another text. This time from Tyler. She opened it to see a picture attached. All three dogs were in it, and behind them was a mess. Accompanying the picture was a text from him. Next time, I say you come over here so this doesn’t happen again. I need to call a maid.

Savannah sipped on her coffee as she sent a reply. You're such a man, unable to clean his own place. How much do you pay for a maid?

Their conversation continued as she got ready for work.

Tyler: Um, I don't know. It gets taken out of my account automatically.

Savannah: I can't believe you actually pay for a maid!

Tyler: I'm not home all the time. It just makes sense.

Savannah: You have too much money.

Tyler: Can't deny that.

Tyler: But seriously, this place is a mess. All three of them are in trouble right now.

Savannah: They just missed you!

Tyler: Well, they're still in trouble.

Savannah: Call your maid.

Savannah: Does she wear a sexy outfit too?

Tyler: Haha no, and she's like 50.

Savannah: You go for the older women.

Tyler: Hey, you're the cougar!

Savannah: Watch out, or I'll be going out with Liam instead. He's closer to my age.

Tyler: I could take him.

Savannah: Eh, I don't know about that.

Savannah: I'm headed into work, I'll talk to you later.

She threw her phone in her bag. She was actually in a pretty good mood right now. She only hoped the rest of her day at work wouldn't ruing that mood.

Notes

I like this chapter, one of my faves so far, though I don't really know why. Let me know what you all think!