Beta

Tyler knew he needed to move on. Move on from losing in the playoffs. Move on from drinking his sorrows away. Move on from partying to forget the loss. He needed to call Savannah. Or at the very least text her. He hadn’t talked to her since the loss. While Jamie had immediately offered to pick Alex up from the airport after their flight home, Tyler had done the opposite. He didn’t want to see Savannah. Didn’t want to talk. Didn’t want to do anything but drink.

But now he needed to end his bender. Jamie had told him that two days ago. Had he listened to him? Of course not. But after three straight days of drinking, Tyler felt like shit. And he needed to stop.

His head pounded. He didn’t know the last time he had drank water. Or really anything besides alcohol. He made his way into the kitchen. He wondered where his dogs were, usually they were right there with him. He didn’t bother to find out now, though. He grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and chugged it. Throwing the empty bottle into the garbage, he found his phone. He groaned. He wasn’t sure how Savannah was going to respond. She’d either yell at him or just ignore the past three days. He hoped it was the latter of the two.

He tried calling her, only half surprised when she didn’t pick up. It was Friday in the middle of the day. At least he was pretty sure it was Friday. He looked down at the t-shirt and pants he was wearing. He was fairly sure he hadn’t changed his clothes since Wednesday, and his shirt was stale from spilt alcohol.

He slipped the shirt over his head and tossed it in the laundry on his way to the bathroom to take a nice, long, hot shower. After more than enough time under the water, he finally got out, wrapping a towel around his waist. He felt better. Still not great, but better. He found his phone on the back of the couch and glanced at it. Missed call from Savannah.
He called her back immediately, and she picked up on the first ring. “I thought for sure you were going to be dead from alcohol poisoning,” she said.

“Nah, still alive,” Tyler replied. “I’m...uh sorry...for kinda going MIA,” he told her.

“No need to apologize,” she said simply. “You’re a grown man, you can do what you want.” He was unsure if she really was cool with him going on a bender or if she was just saying that.

“You feel like dinner or something tonight?” he asked. There was a long pause, and he knew she was pissed at him and trying to figure out if she should hold a grudge or not.

“I can’t tonight,” she told him, and he shut his eyes. “How about breakfast tomorrow...if you can wake up that early?” she suggested.

“Breakfast it is,” he responded. There was a brief period of silence before Tyler said, “You coming home tonight?”

“Home?” Savannah questioned. “I’ve been home.”

“I mean our home. My place. Our place,” he clarified.

“Didn’t know it was our place,” she stated.

“Savannah…” he trailed off. “You know it’s our place.”

“No, we have separate places. The past three days have proven that I still need my own place.”

“I’m sorry for being MIA,” he apologized.

“Don’t apologize,” she repeated. “I’m not mad. Really, I’m not,” she insisted. “I’m just saying that I’m happy I have my own place for when you decide to go on three day benders and don’t text or call me. Look, I can’t keep talking about this right now, I’m at work. I’ll text you later. And, I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget about breakfast, Seguin, or I will be pissed,” she warned.

Tyler didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye before she hung up the phone. He tried not to dwell on it, instead heading to his room to get dressed. He had just gotten pants on when he got a text from his agent, telling him that they had scheduled the photo shoot for GQ with Alex for Monday. He knew he had better get his act together and stop drinking for the weekend if he wanted half the abs they were going to photoshop in for the coverpage.

He finished getting ready and headed out the door. The sun hurt his eyes and his head, but he tried to ignore it. He got in his car and drove to Jamie’s, wanting to show him that he wasn’t dead from alcohol poisoning either, since that seemed to be the assumption going around.

Tyler laid his finger on the buzzer until he heard Jamie’s voice. “Take a break from your bender?”

“Just let me in,” Tyler replied, and he heard the door unlock. He made his way into the elevator and up to Jamie’s condo. He wasn’t surprised when Alex was sitting at the dining table. “Hey, Alex,” he greeted.

She gave him a small smile. “Hey, how are you doing?”

Tyler shrugged. “Fine,” he answered. “Hey, question for you,” he said, taking a seat next to her. Jamie hovered over Tyler, wondering what he was doing there. “How pissed is Savannah?”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “In reference to…?” she asked.

“Me. I called her this morning,” he told her.

“Well that’s a start,” Alex muttered, and Tyler knew she was on Savannah’s side. Not that he’d expect anything differently. They were best friends.

“I’m surprised she doesn’t dump your ass,” Jamie stated. Clearly, he wasn’t too happy with his teammate.

“Sorry we’re not all whipped by our girlfriends like you,” Tyler spat back. He knew he shouldn’t have said it. And by the look on Jamie’s face, Tyler knew he should be running out the door, but he stood his ground.

“No, I just know how to treat my girlfriend,” Jamie countered.

“Yeah, you just can’t propose and actually make a real commitment to her,” Tyler rolled his eyes.

Alex stood up, stepping in between the two of them. “Stop it. Now,” she ordered. “Tyler, why are you here?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“I don’t even know,” he muttered.

“Then get the fuck out of my place,” Jamie said lowly.

Tyler hung his head. He didn’t say anything as he turned around and did as told. He knew he was in the wrong. With Jamie. With Savannah. Hell, he probably pissed off his family at some point, too. “Fuck it,” he muttered, heading back to his car.

He’d reached his car and had his hand on the door handle when Alex’s voice called out his name. He turned around to see her jogging towards him. “You know Van, she’s annoyed, but not pissed,” she told him.

“She hasn’t stayed at my place the past few nights,” Tyler admitted.

“Do you blame her?” Alex asked. “C’mon, Ty, you’ve been out partying. Not something she wants to come home to. She doesn’t need to take care of you when you’re blackout drunk. She’s focusing on this case. She says she’s close to breaking it,” she informed him.

That got Tyler’s attention. “What do you mean?” he asked. He felt like an asshole of a boyfriend for not knowing more about the case.

“I don’t know details, but she’s pretty sure that she’s close to getting Bartholomew back behind bars,” Alex told him.

“Should I be worried?” Tyler asked.

“Probably,” Alex chuckled. “But you know she doesn’t want you to worry about her.” He must have had worry written all over his face because Alex added, “You know she can take care of herself. And, she’ll come back to your place. You just gotta show her that you’re over this getting plastered every night phase.”

“It was three nights. You act like it was three months,” Tyler muttered.

“And you didn’t talk to her during that whole time. I know it’s just three nights. And I know you’re upset that you lost. We all are. But, she’s allowed to be annoyed,” Alex pointed out. “Maybe if you’re really nice to her, she’ll even show up to that photoshoot on Monday,” she added with a smile.

“Thanks again for working on that,” Tyler replied. “I know you’re going to do a good job with it,” he said sincerely.

She smiled at him. “Thank you, I appreciate that. Now go home and figure out how you’re going to make this all up to Van later on,” she said half-jokingly. Tyler knew he’d have to do something for Savannah. Even if she claimed to just be annoyed and not pissed, he knew she was pissed off at him. But, he also knew she’d forgive him and let it go. A three day drinking bender was way better than some of the other things he’d done in his past.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” Tyler suddenly apologized. Alex looked up at him curiously, not very sure what he was actually apologizing for. “You know, the thing about Jamie not proposing,” he clarified.

Alex shrugged it off. “It’s fine,” she said, but Tyler knew it wasn’t really fine. Even if she claimed so, Tyler knew she wanted to be married. Jamie just needed to get his head out of his ass and man up. Tyler supposed the same could be said of him after how he handled the season ending. “You should probably apologize to Jamie more than me,” she told him. “You know it really does bother him when people make comments like that.”

“It’s not because he doesn’t love you,” Tyler told her. He didn’t know why he felt the need to tell her that, as if to defend Jamie. He was sure Alex knew that Jamie loved her.

She gave him a soft smile. “I know,” she assured him. “Now go before Jamie comes down here and kicks your ass,” she said with a laugh. Tyler knew that was an actual possibility, and he opened his car door.

“See you later, Alex. Hope you’re looking forward to seeing me naked next week,” he added with a wink. Alex rolled her eyes as she turned away, giving him a wave goodbye before walking back into Jamie’s condo building.

Tyler spent the rest of the day and most of the night cleaning his place. He found out his dogs had been staying with his neighbor, who dogsat them while he was away on road trips. He figured that had probably been a good thing while he had been drinking, because he most likely would have forgotten to feed them and take them out. But, now they were back home, excited to be around him again.

The place looked halfway decent again, with at least all the alcohol bottles and cans taken to the trash, by the time he crashed in his bed early the next morning. He made sure to set a couple of alarms to ensure he’d be awake for breakfast with Savannah. He had texted her the night before asking if 8:00 am worked, and she had said it did. But, after that, she didn’t respond to any of his texts. He assumed she was either working or still mad at him. Maybe both.

His alarm went off at 7:15 am, and he got out of bed without even hitting the snooze button. He used the bathroom before taking his dogs out to go potty. He had just enough time to change clothes and get ready to meet Savannah at a fantastic breakfast spot just down the street.

He got there with two minutes to spare, surprised to see that he had arrived before Savannah. Normally, she was early, unless she was working. But he doubted she had gone into work that early on a Saturday morning.

He got a table for the two of them and ordered a coffee as he waited for her. Ten minutes went by and he started to get suspicious of her not showing up yet. He tried texting and calling her but didn’t get an answer. Finally, he went with his backup plan, texting Alex. Have you heard from Savannah?

Alex: Not since last night. Why?

Tyler: Was supposed to meet her for breakfast and she didn’t show up

Tyler: Ten minutes late now

Alex: That’s not like her

Alex: I’ll try calling her.

Tyler: Already tried that. She didn’t pick up.

Alex: Not picking up for me either…

Alex: She said she had something to do for work last night…

Tyler: You think something happened?

He didn’t get a response from Alex then, and he knew they were thinking the same thing. Something had gone wrong for Savannah last night.

He was just about to throw a ten dollar bill down on the table to cover the drinks to head to Jamie’s to team up with Alex. He hadn’t spoken to Jamie since their blow up the other night, and while he didn’t really feel like facing him right now, he knew Alex would be there.

But then, the door opened and Savannah came rushing in. She slid into the seat across from him. “I’m sorry,” she said immediately. “I know I’m late.”

“I thought something happened at work,” he mumbled. He had been worried about her, not that he wanted to admit it. Usually that ended in a fight between them.

“Not yet,” Savannah muttered under her breath, but Tyler had heard her. He decided to let it go this time though.

There was an awkward amount of silence. Savannah had already drank half of the coffee sitting in front of her. Suddenly, they both looked up, catching each other’s eye. And then both started talking at once.

Savannah stopped first. “You go first,” she told him.

“I fucked up,” Tyler said bluntly. “I know that. I was pissed that we lost so I did what I know best. Party.” He suddenly looked up at her. “Nothing happened, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

The look on her face betrayed her, but she tried to play it off. “Didn’t even cross my mind,” she said simply.

“Can we just move on?” he asked hopefully.

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

Tyler cracked a smile. “Thought it might be more for the meal than the company,” he said with a light laugh.

“Eh, maybe a little of both,” she shrugged before grinning herself. “Plus Shea gets back today. And if she found out I wasn’t speaking to you, she wouldn’t be happy.”

“I forgot she gets back today,” he said as the waitress came over to take their order. As soon as she left, Tyler went back to their conversation. “Have you heard much from Shea?”

Savannah shook her head. “Nah, but I’m not surprised. They should be pretty busy on their honeymoon if it’s going well,” she chuckled.

Tyler grinned. “How a honeymoon should be,” he winked at her. “So what do I have to do to get you back home?”

“Home?” she cocked an eyebrow up curiously.

“My place...our place,” he corrected.

“Let’s get through your photo shoot on Monday and then we can discuss our place,” Savannah said, and Tyler wondered if she would consider moving in for real. She practically lived with him already, though she had her own place. He wouldn’t mind if she officially moved in to his place and got rid of her own.

“You coming on Monday?”

“Miss my best friend taking naked photos of my boyfriend? Never,” Savannah laughed. “Jamie and I will be watching closely.”

“Shit, Jamie,” Tyler muttered under his breath, remember the things he’d said to Jamie the day before.

Savannah looked at Tyler curiously. “Something going on with Jamie?” she inquired.

“No,” Tyler sighed, but she could see right through him. “Yeah,” he muttered.

“What?”

“I said some dumb things to him yesterday,” he admitted.

“Like…?” Savannah prodded.

Tyler was saved by the server bringing out their food. But that only lasted momentarily and Savannah insisted he tell her what was going on as soon as the server left. “I said something about him not proposing again,” he revealed.

“So? You’ve said that before,” she shrugged, not seeing the harm in his comment.

“It wasn’t exactly the nicest way,” he told her. She looked over at him, fork full of waffle floating in the air. “It was more like that he’s being a pussy for not proposing.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t kick your ass,” she laughed. Everyone knew Jamie was sick of the questioning about proposing.

“Eh, he kicked me out,” Tyler shrugged, finally digging into his omelet that was sitting in front of him.

“Fair enough. You’re gonna have to make up though, or Monday is gonna be awkward,” Savannah pointed out.

“I’ll go over there after we’re finished with breakfast,” Tyler said.

“I’ll go with you,” Savannah replied. “Someone’s gotta save your ass from Benn,” she winked.

Tyler thought about arguing with her, but decided against it, just smiling instead. If she wanted to think she could protect him, she could go ahead. Tyler knew he was in charge, even if he let her think otherwise.

Notes