Alpha

Tyler stared at the ceiling of the hotel room. He had tried going back to sleep after waking up before the sun even came up, but he had given up on that. He knew he wasn't going to get anymore sleep, regardless if he had only gotten about three hours of sleep the night before.
He had checked his instagram on the way out of the arena after losing to the Ducks and had seen the picture of Savannah and Liam, and it had just set him off. He had immediately called her and had probably overreacted, and then Shea had gotten on the phone and called him out for being jealous, which pissed him off even more. Tyler Seguin did not get jealous of other people. Other people were jealous of Tyler Seguin.

He turned his head to see Jamie still fast asleep in his bed. They had gotten into San Jose pretty late the night before, and Jamie had gone right to bed, while Tyler still stewed in his anger. He heard his phone vibrate on the desk next to him, and he looked over at it to see it was Savannah texting him. He was surprised she was up so early given how drunk she was the night before, though there was a two hour time difference, and it was later in Dallas.
He grabbed the phone to read her text. I guess we should get straight to the point…are we still together?

Tyler didn't bother texting her back, instead calling her as he got out of bed and walked out into the hallway so he didn't wake Jamie up. "Well you're at least talking to me," Savannah answered the phone.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Tyler hissed. He tried to remember to keep his voice down. He didn't need his teammates to hear him and come out into the hallway to see what was going on. He wanted to keep this fight with Savannah between just the two of them.

"Shea told me you were pretty pissed last night," she told him.

"Well yeah, when you see your girlfriend posting pictures of her and another man, yeah, you get a little pissed off," Tyler replied, leaning back against the wall.

"Girlfriend?" Savannah asked, and Tyler realized it was the first time either one of them had labeled their relationship.

"That's all you've got to say?"

Savannah sighed. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "For last night, for now. Look, Liam just asked me if I wanted to go for a drink after work. It meant nothing. In fact, we went someplace where I could watch the game. He knows I'm dating you. It was nothing more than coworkers getting a drink," she explained. "I took the picture down, by the way," she added.

"Fuck, Shea was right," he muttered, rubbing his temple with his fingers.

"She was right about what?" Savannah asked, worry evident in her voice. "Did you…hook up with someone else?"

"No!" Tyler's voice got loud. "I'm not the one that got drunk and was taking pictures," he countered.

"I know, I'm sorry," she apologized again. He could tell she really did regret what she did last night. But, she really had no reason to be sorry when she didn't actually do anything wrong. "What was Shea right about then?" she asked, pulling him out of his drifting thoughts.

Tyler shut his eyes when he admitted, "I was jealous last night."

"Jealous?"

"Yes," Tyler groaned. "I was jealous that pretty boy was near you and I wasn't. I know, it's stupid. But, we played a shitty game, and then I saw that picture. And then I called you and you were drunk, and I don't know…I was just jealous that I wasn't there and he was." Tyler was pretty sure this was the first time in his life that he'd ever admitted to being jealous of another man.

"You have nothing to be jealous of," Savannah began.

"Can we just move on?" Tyler asked, not wanting to discuss this anymore.

"Sure," she said softly.

"Wait a second, did you really ask me if I hooked up with someone last night?" he asked, going back to her question for a short while ago.

"Shea said it got brought up last night…" she trailed off.

Tyler shook his head. "Do you two tell each other every damn thing?" he muttered.

"She's my sister. So yes," Savannah answered straightforward. "And you can't really be mad at me for wondering. I mean, I know you were pissed off last night, and well, I know your past…"

"Yeah, my past. Not how I am right now," he said defensively.

"I'm sorry," she apologized immediately, knowing she'd struck a nerve with him. "We can move on," she added.

"We've talked about my past a lot. I know I'm not perfect, and my past definitely isn't perfect. But, we haven't really talked about yours." She didn't respond, so he continued. "Why are you so mum on your past relationships?"

"I just don't talk about them," she replied.

"You brought up my past during our date and wouldn't let it go," he reminded her. "You're not getting out of this one that easily." He remembered Alex briefly mentioning that Savannah had had a not so great ex-boyfriend. He wondered if he was the only serious boyfriend she'd had or there had been others. She really was quiet when it came to past relationships, and if she hadn't pried so much into Tyler's, he probably would have let it go.

"Ty," she began.

"Just tell me how many there have been. You at least owe me that."

"Two," she answered quickly, which surprised him she didn't put up more of a fight.

"And did they end badly?" he continued, wondering how much information he could get out of her.

"Tyler," she said in a warning tone.

"So yes," he figured out the answer she refused to tell him. "What happened?"

"Seguin. I said I don't want to talk about it." He knew he had hit a sore subject, which made him even more curious as to what had happened in her past.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked her, halfway joking. She didn't say anything at all, and he could tell something was wrong. "Shit. Savannah, did someone really hurt you?" He wasn't referring to breaking her heart this time, and she knew it. "Savannah, talk to me," he urged. He was still out in the hallway, and he was surprised none of the other guys had come out of their rooms to head to breakfast yet.

"Yes," she finally spoke. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"What happened? How old were you?" He wanted to know all the details. He was surprised at how protective he was feeling of her right now. She could kick his ass, and yet, he still wanted to protect her.

"Tyler, are we really going to do this right now? I’m hungover and really don’t want to stroll down memory lane," she whined.

"Yes, we're going to do this right now," he demanded.

"Fine," she groaned, giving in, knowing he wasn't going to let her go until she told him some details. "I was twenty-three, twenty-four years old? I was young in my career."

"What did he do to you?" Tyler asked, realizing his fist was clenched at his side.

"Oh you know the classic story. Hit me, controlled me mentally. Look, it was a bad relationship a long time ago. Shea and Alex helped me get out, it just solidified our friendship even further. I know you think it's weird I'm constantly texting them and stuff, but I trust them more than anyone," she told him. Tyler noticed she had quickly changed subjects from her abusive ex to her best friends, and he decided not to point that out.

"They told you to go out with me," he remembered.

"Sometimes they know best," she chuckled.

He ran a hand through his hair as he heard a couple of his teammates speaking from behind their door across the hall. "They do," he smiled. "Look, I'm gonna go take a shower so I can head to breakfast. I'll text you when I get out."

"I'm sorry about last night," she apologized again. "I wasn't trying to start anything."

"Next time you want to get drunk, make sure I'm there with you," he laughed. He had already forgiven her. He wasn't one to really hold grudges, especially against his friends or in this case his girlfriend.

"Maybe when you get home," she said with a soft laugh.

"When I get back, I'm coming over, and we're not leaving your bed," he told her.

"What about your dogs?"

"They're staying with my neighbor while I'm on the road. They can stay one more night," he grinned to himself.

"Deal," she told him. "Go get in the shower. I should probably do the same. I passed out on
Shea's couch in the clothes I wore to work yesterday."

"Nice visual," he joked. "I'll text you in a bit," he said before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Tyler walked back into his room to see Jamie awake. The captain turned his head and gave Tyler a curious look. "Where've you been?" he asked.

"Talking to Savannah," he replied, tossing his phone on the bed and heading to his suitcase to grab clean clothes.

"You two make up?" he asked. Jamie had been around when Tyler had argued with her and Shea the night before and then had gotten texts from Alex asking him to make sure Tyler didn't do anything stupid.

Tyler didn't answer his question but instead asked, "Did you know she was in an abusive relationship?"

Jamie furrowed his eyebrows. "What? How would I know that?" he asked.

"I didn't know if Alex told you. I guess she and Shea helped get her out of it."

"Damn, that girl has been through a lot. No wonder she's got the attitude that she's independent and in charge," Jamie muttered. Tyler thought about it, and Jamie had a point.
Jamie looked over at Tyler, trying to read what was going through his mind. "You are falling hard," Jamie shook his head. Tyler glared at him, and Jamie laughed. "Correction: you've already fallen hard for her. She's going to be the death of you, man."

"So what, you think I need to break up with her?"

Jamie gave him an incredulous look. "Fuck no. I think I've just never seen you like this with a girl. Jealous when she hangs out with another guy. Protective of a past relationship. Next thing you know, you'll be proposing on the third date," he joked.

"You're the one that needs to get your ass in gear and propose already," Tyler argued.

"Not gonna happen," Jamie replied.

"You better watch out and Alex is gonna leave you for someone that will commit," Tyler told him.

"She hasn’t left me yet," Jamie shrugged.

"Just wait and see," Tyler replied as he walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He thought about what Jamie had said, that Tyler had fallen hard for Savannah already. Tyler shook his head. Jamie was right, she was gonna be the death of him.

Notes

And there's a teeny bit of background on Savannah. And Tyler admitting he was jealous. Neither of which you see very often.