Beta

Tyler knew immediately he had drank too much the night before. But, who could blame him? He was thrilled the Stars had won and advanced in the playoffs. And, he was happy for Shea and Audrey. It wasn't his fault they had an open bar he had taken advantage of.

He vaguely remembered bits and pieces of the night before. He had danced with Savannah.
She had missed the bouquet that Shea threw in favor of Alex, who hadn't even attempted to snag it from the woman standing next to her that was clearly on a mission to catch the bouquet. And he had a good time with his friends. Too much in some people's minds. He and Savannah had ended up having to Uber home afterwards, neither in a state to drive.

"I'm. Never. Drinking. Again," Savannah muttered from beside him. She clearly felt the effects of last night as much as he did.

"That's a lie," he replied. "But I feel the same way."

She rolled over. "Jesus. Get some better curtains," she mumbled, putting her arm over her eyes.

Tyler laughed as he pulled the blanket up over the two of them, making a makeshift fort.

"Thank God I don't have a game tonight," he groaned.

Savannah had her head pressed against his bare chest. "Do you have anything today?"

"Nope," he replied. His hand was casually rubbing her upper hip. "So we can spend all day in the fort," he said with a hint of a sexual undertone, which Savannah caught on to immediately.

"Orrrr you can come with me," she replied.

Tyler lifted the blanket higher to allow some light in so he could see her as he lifted an eyebrow. "Where are you going today?" he questioned. He would kill her if she planned on going into work.

"Alex is going over the wedding pictures," Savannah smiled. She really did love everything about Shea and Audrey's wedding, and she was anxious to see how the pictures from last night turned out.

"I'm not really a going over pictures kind of guy," Tyler began.

She shrugged. "Fine, don't spend time with your girlfriend," she joked, giving him a slight guilt trip.

"I have a meeting with a magazine anyways," he said suddenly.

Savannah looked at him. "You just told me you don't have anything today!" she called him out, pushing the blanket out of the way and immediately regretting it when the sunlight shone through.

"I meant no practice," he recovered quickly, but Savannah narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, I forgot," he admitted. "It's with GQ. They said they needed to talk to me about something about that shoot in a couple of weeks," he explained. He had a photo shoot set up with GQ right after the season ended, assuming they made it to the Stanley Cup finals. Otherwise there was going to be an awkward amount of time between cleaning out his locker and doing this photo shoot. "How about I pick you up and we can go get food afterwards though?" he suggested.

"One condition."

"Name it."

"You go get me the greasiest breakfast you can find right now," Savannah told him.

Tyler laughed wholeheartedly. "Deal. I'm gonna need some grease to soak up this hangover, too," he told her. He climbed out of bed, wearing only a pair of boxers and she couldn't help but stare at him. "Like what you see?" he teased.

"I'd like you better if you were holding a McDonald's sandwich right now," she replied.

He laughed. "Got it, you want food over your boyfriend." She mumbled in agreement, and he just laughed some more as he went to get some food from down the street.

When he returned fifteen minutes later, she had moved to the living room with her computer in her lap. "Shit, work already?" he asked.

"Remember that weird call?" she asked him. She seemed completely sober now, so Tyler knew something had happened in the short time he had been gone. He put the bag of McDonald's breakfast on the couch next to her while he went to grab a water out of the refrigerator before joining her. "I know who it was now," she told him.

"Who?" he asked, rummaging through the bag for the hashbrowns he had gotten.

"Odella."

Tyler froze, hashbrown in mid-air. "What!?" he exclaimed louder than intended. "How do you know?"

"Had another call yesterday at the wedding. Before you got there. I didn't pick up because I was busy and then forgot about it. Saw a voicemail this morning, and it was her," she explained.

"What did she want?" Tyler asked. He momentarily abandoned his breakfast and moved the bag of food onto the coffee table in front of them.

Savannah shrugged. "She said she had something I want," she told him, the same thing Odella had said during the first call to Savannah. "My guess is she either has Bartholomew in hiding or she knows where he's at."

Tyler wanted to tell her to not go after her. Not to get herself in another situation where she could die. But he stopped himself before he said those things, instead simply saying, "be careful." He felt like he was saying that a lot lately.

"I will," she told him, her voice low, and he knew she was deep in thought. She surprised him by grabbing the bag of food. "I need hangover food," she said, wasting no time in unwrapping the breakfast sandwich and taking a big bite. "God, this is the best thing I've ever had in my life," she moaned.

Tyler chuckled and she glared at him. "Just saying, I've tasted a lot better things in my lifetime," Tyler said suggestively.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Just how many better things have you tried in your lifetime?" she questioned. He immediately knew he had just thrown himself into a terrible situation. They had an unwritten rule that they didn't discuss their past love life history. Tyler's was too long to even write down, and after one huge fight between them when she brought it up, they both decided to keep the past in the past.

"Only one current thing that's important," he said, leaning over and kissing her bare shoulder where his t-shirt had fallen, exposing the skin.

She rolled her eyes. "Nice save, buddy. Good thing you're not a goalie or you'd be losing every game with weak saves like that," she spoke. She continued to eat her sandwich, and Tyler could tell her mind was on Odella and the call.

He didn't even try to get her mind off of it. Instead, he went to go shower after finishing his breakfast sandwich and three hashbrowns. He needed to get to this meeting so he could come back home and rest for the remainder of the day. Or at least have a relaxing day off with his dogs and possibly Savannah if she didn't end up going into work after meeting up with Alex.

He said goodbye to her and went to his meeting. His agent was meeting him there. He wasn't sure exactly what they needed to talk about. He thought they'd confirmed everything for the article and photoshoot already, but his agent said something had come up and they needed to meet with him to discuss a change. Tyler didn't argue and agreed to the meeting.

He showed up with two minutes to spare, and his agent, Matthew Donaldson, nodded in approval. Tyler tended to be late, a big pet peeve of Matthew's. "Early, I like it," he commented.

"Yeah, yeah," Tyler rolled his eyes. "So what is this meeting all about?" he questioned.

"They said they needed to discuss with you some change," Matthew was as vague as he had been about it. Tyler wasn't sure if he really didn't know what was going on or if he was keeping it from Tyler.

Tyler didn't have time to question him more as two people dressed in business clothes walked into the room. He looked them over. He hadn't met anyone from GQ in person yet, having done most of the talking over conference calls or letting Matthew handle it. The woman was in her mid to late forties with a business skirt that matched her blazer. The man had to be pushing his sixties in a nicely pressed suit. These two definitely weren't who Tyler had pictured when he had been speaking to the GQ people.

"Matthew," The man smiled at Tyler's agent, obviously having met him in person already. He then moved to shake Tyler's hand. "Leonard Morris," he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you in person. This is our other executive editor, Marie Fowler."

The woman smiled as she reached for Tyler's hand as well. They then ushered him into a plush seat as they started speaking. "So we've had a little snafu. Our photographer that was supposed to be doing the shoot had some…conflicts come up," Leonard began.

Tyler wanted to ask what these conflicts were, but Marie kept the conversation moving. "We are in the works to find a new photographer."

"But it's supposed to be as soon as we finish playoffs," Tyler pointed out.

"We've got several people in mind," Marie assured him.

"Well we need someone that's professional given the type of photoshoot we're doing," Matthew pointed out. When GQ had originally talked with Tyler, they requested him for a story about his fitness and getting in hockey shape. To accompany that, they wanted to do a photoshoot similar to the ESPN body issue. That meant Tyler was going to be taking some naked pictures. Tasteful naked pictures. Something he hadn't quite mentioned to Savannah yet.

"Well of course," Leonard agreed.

"I know who should do it," Tyler piped up, and all eyes were suddenly on him. "Trust me on this. Your person wasn't right for the job, clearly. Why don't you let me pick?"

"Tyler, that's not exactly how this works," Marie began, talking to him as if he were a small child.

"I'm not picking someone off the street. She's a professional photographer. A fantastic one. I can get you some of her pictures if you'd like," Tyler continued.

Matthew looked over at Tyler, knowing he was talking about Alex. Matthew then looked at the GQ executives. "I think it's a great idea," he agreed with Tyler. "She's a phenomenal photographer. Someone that's trustworthy and isn't going to pull anything with the shoot."
Both Leonard and Marie looked hesitant. Tyler knew they didn't let the cover boy usually pick his own photographer, but he knew Alex could do this photoshoot justice. Matthew could tell Tyler was going to be stubborn with this. "We let you choose someone and it didn't work out. Now it's our turn. You use our photographer or we walk," Matthew laid down the law. Tyler was impressed.

"What's her name?" Marie asked reluctantly.

"Alex Dayton," Tyler said with a grin on his face. "I'll get you her contatct information." Now he just had to go tell Alex, as well as Savannah and Jamie, that she was going to be doing a naked photoshoot with him.

***
Tyler drove to Jamie's place, not surprised to see Alex's car in the parking lot. He had driven there specifically for her. He buzzed the door but didn't get an answer immediately, so he held the button down longer. "Tyler Seguin. What are you doing?" Alex's voice came through the speaker.

He laughed. "How did you know it was me?" he questioned as she allowed him up.

He went to the elevator and made his way up to Jamie's floor. He didn't bother knocking and instead just let himself in. "Nice of you to just drop by," Alex said sarcastically.

He had a boyish grin on his face. "Missed you, too," he replied. He saw Savannah sitting on the couch, just looking over at him, wondering what he was up to. "Couldn't stay away," he added.

Savannah rolled her eyes. "How'd your meeting go?" she asked him.

He didn't answer but instead looked over at Alex. "You've got yourself a new gig," he told her excitedly.

She looked at him, confused, waiting for him to expand on his statement. When he didn't, she asked, "And what exactly is this new gig?"

"Me," he said, a big smile on his face.

"What?" Savannah was the first to respond.

Alex followed closely behind. "What are you talking about?"

"I met with GQ today. Their photographer for this upcoming shoot fell through. Not sure what exactly happened, but it didn’t sound like they had the best reputation," he shrugged. "They're looking for a new photographer. The shoot is right after we finish up the season so they're kinda scrambling," he explained.

"Segs, just because they need a photographer doesn't mean I get to do it," she chuckled at him like he didn’t really understand how these things worked.

"Yes, it does," he replied. "It's part of the deal. I get to choose the photographer."

Alex's jaw dropped as she just stared at Tyler. "GQ is a huge magazine. I don't know if
they're going to want just someone you picked randomly."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "It's not like you're some amateur off the street. You do great work."

Savannah nodded in agreement. "You really are the best. We were just saying that when going over your pictures from last night," she reminded Alex.

Alex looked at her best friend. "You're biased," she claimed. Her attention went back to Tyler. "What kind of photo shoot? I mean, they've got to have some sort of cover story angle. Besides the obvious half naked man on the cover to sell their magazine."

"Full," Tyler corrected her.

"Huh?" Alex scrunched her face in confusion.

"Uh, fully naked," he clarified. He glanced over at Savannah for her reaction, and he wasn't disappointed.

She sat up straight and scooted closer to the edge of the couch. "Fully naked?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What can I say, I've got a good body," he shrugged casually, earning an eye roll from Alex.

"Haven't you already done one of those photo shoots?" Savannah asked him.

"Don't act like you didn't like it," Tyler countered. He smiled to himself when he knew she couldn’t argue that fact.

Alex interrupted their back and forth. "Hold on. You want me to do a photo shoot of you naked?" she questioned, the reality of the situation really sinking in.

"Act like a professional, Alex," Tyler joked.

"How do you think Jamie is going to feel about this?" she asked, ignoring his comment.

Tyler rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. "It's not my fault if Captain is all insecure and knows there's a chance you'll leave him after seeing me naked and knowing there's better things out there than him." Savannah threw a pillow from the couch at his head, catching Tyler off guard. "Hey! I didn't say I was leaving you for her!" he pointed out, holding the pillow to his chest, ready to defend himself if she threw another his way.

Savannah looked at Alex. "What do you think?"

Tyler frowned, wondering why hew as being left out of the conversation. "It'd be good. I mean, it's GQ," Alex began. "But, I totally get if you're not comfortable with that," she quickly added. "We can find a male photographer. I know a couple that would be great!"

"Knowing Tyler, he'd turn them gay," Savannah muttered, earning a grin from Tyler. "And you're the best. Plus, I trust you looking at him naked more than anybody else. And, we both know Jamie's got a better body and probably better in bed than Tyler anyways," she added.

"Hey!" Tyler yelled out.

"Oh, calm down. Jamie's taken, so it looks like I'm stuck with you," she joked.

Alex interrupted them once again. "You think I should do it?" Alex asked Savannah directly. She trusted her best friend more than anyone.

Savannah nodded her head. "I really do. Besides, there's gonna be like fifty people on set for that shoot. It's not lie you two are gonna be one-on-one," Savannah pointed out.

"You can come," Alex offered with a smile.

Savannah laughed. "I think you gotta worry more about Jamie than me," she winked.

"If we want to make it even, Alex, I can see you naked first," Tyler jokingly flirted.

Savannah frowned at her boyfriend. "Alright, you're on your own tonight, buddy," she told him.

"I'm kidding!" Tyler insisted.

"And, I think I'm going to go to work and see if Liam is there," she countered. She was joking, of course, but she wasn't going to let Tyler know that immediately.

Tyler frowned as he looked between Savannah and Alex. "Not funny," he stated when he saw the look the two women were giving each other.

"Just wait til I tell Jamie what you said," Savannah told him.

"Shit," Tyler muttered.

"Actually, can I tell him?" Alex requested. "About the shoot. Not your dumb comment," she clarified.

Savannah looked over at her. "You really think he won't like you doing it?"

Alex shrugged. "I don’t think he's gonna like forbid it. I actually don't really know how he'll respond," she admitted.

The door opened and Jamie walked through. "Well guess we're gonna find out," Tyler mumbled under his breath.

Jamie looked at the three of them, knowing they were up to no good. "What's going on?" he asked, setting his keys on the counter just inside the door. He stood with his hands on his hips, staring at them.

Savannah looked at Alex, who finally answered. "Tyler got me a photo shoot with GQ," she told him.

Jamie looked over at Tyler. "Yeah?" Tyler nodded his head in response. "How'd you manage that?" Jamie asked.

"Uh, it's with Tyler," Alex continued. "I guess the photographer they had couldn't do it, and they're going to do it at the end of the season so they were in a rush to find someone. Tyler suggested me."

"That's big, Alex," Jamie smiled, knowing she always wanted to do a big magazine shoot.

"Congratulations," he added, walking over and giving her a kiss. When everyone remained silent, he looked between all of them. "What? There's more?"

Tyler looked at Alex, but she didn't say anything, so he took the opportunity to break the news to Jamie. "It's like the ESPN shoot," he tried explaining.

"The ESPN shoot?" Jamie furrowed his eyebrows. "That body one?" Tyler nodded his head in response. "Wait a minute," Jamie said, his head spinning around to look at Alex. "Is he gonna be fucking naked? And you're taking the pictures?"

Alex shut her eyes, nodding her head. "It's a great opportunity, a photo shoot for GQ," she told him, looking him in the eyes.

Jamie looked over at Savannah. "What do you think about all of this?" he questioned.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told them. You've got a hotter body and are probably way better in bed. I don't think Alex is gonna be jumping at the chance to leave you for Ty," she replied.

"Hey!" Tyler yelled out. "You know I'm right here, right?"

Savannah shrugged and Jamie laughed before putting on a straight face as he looked at Alex. "I trust you," he told her whole heartedly. "But Jesus, taking naked photos of him?" he shook his head, motioning towards Tyler who could barely sit still.

"I'm sure it's gonna be a little classier than you're making it seem," Alex insisted.

"Shea's gonna have a fucking field day with this," Savannah commented, thinking of her sister.

"She's too busy getting laid right now to care," Tyler retorted.

Alex laughed. "He's probably right," she admitted. "But really," she said, putting her hand on Jamie's lower arm. "I appreciate you supporting me."

"If he makes dumbass comments about it, though, you may have a bruised and beaten subject to take pictures of," Jamie told her, already seeing the wheels spinning in Tyler's head. They were all happy he hadn't gotten home five minutes sooner to hear Tyler's suggestion of seeing Alex naked first.

Alex just smiled as Savannah's phone rang. Tyler gave her a questioning look when she excused herself to answer. She came back a minute later. "Liam," she told them. Tyler looked over at her, and she gave him a look that said to keep his mouth shut.

Savannah talked with Alex a little longer before saying she had to leave to head to work. Alex and Jamie told her goodbye with Tyler following her out the door. "Thought you said you didn't have to work today," Tyler called out to her as she was already halfway down the hallway to the elevator.

"Something came up," she shrugged casually, hitting the elevator button to go down.

Tyler quickened his pace to catch up to her. "Who really called?" he questioned. He had a feeling it was Odella, and he was sure she still hadn't mentioned the mysterious calls to Shea or Alex yet.

"Liam," she repeated her answer from before, unsure why he was interrogating her. She gave in when he kept staring at her. "He got more info on Odella and Bartholomew," she admitted, not disclosing the fact she had called him earlier to tell him about the most recent phone call she had received from Odella. "I need to go in."

She expected to get a lecture from Tyler during their short ride in the elevator and was pleasantly surprised when he didn't fight her. "Let me know if you'll be home for dinner," he said simply as the elevator doors opened to the lobby.

She knew he was resisting telling her to be careful and that she shouldn’t go after Bartholomew again, and she appreciated him holding his tongue. "I will," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "And stop worrying about me," she added.

Tyler rolled his eyes as they walked outside and were about to separate to go to their own cars. There was no way he would stop worrying about her. That would come when she changed careers to become a kindergarten teacher.

Notes