Beta

Tyler was not in a good mood. The team had gotten destroyed in their game the night before in Nashville. You would have thought they'd never played in the NHL before. He had a text from Savannah after the game, but he didn't respond. He hadn't responded to the many texts he'd gotten from a bunch of people.

Instead, he'd gone out for a few drinks with some of the guys and then went back to the hotel and crashed. Jamie hadn't been too happy with Tyler's decision to get a little too drunk after a loss, but Tyler figured he'd have plenty of time to sober up before tomorrow's game.

He was hungover when he woke up, and immediately wanted a bottle of water. He stumbled to the in-room refrigerator, grabbing one. He was sure the team would have to pay for it, but he didn't care. He needed hydration.

The door to the room opened, and Jamie walked in. Tyler hadn't even noticed he hadn't been in his bed. From the looks of him, it appeared Jamie had just gotten back from a workout. Leave it to the captain to go work out on the team's off day between playoff games.

"I see you finally woke up," Jamie muttered, making it clear he still didn't approve of Tyler's over the top drinking last night. Jamie himself had had a beer, but one was it, and then he had left to go get some much needed sleep.

"I know what you're thinking, and I'm going to be fine for the game tomorrow," Tyler told him.
"I'll score the first goal just to prove that to you," he added. Jamie gave him a look that said "prove it", and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower.

Tyler headed back to his bed, grabbing his phone. He glanced through the texts he'd ignored last night. After texting his brother back, he went to his text thread with Savannah. He'd missed a few from her. The last one said she'd watched the game and she'd be awake for a while if he wanted to talk. She didn't send another one after that, so she must have known he didn't want to talk.

He texted her now. Sorry I didn't text back last night, wasn't in the mood.

She must have had her phone in her hands because she replied right away.

Savannah: I figured. I was at Alex's anyways

Tyler: How was girls night?

Savannah: Good, talked about how much better Jamie is than you

Tyler rolled his eyes before he responded. There's nothing that Jamie's better at than me.

Savannah: Suuuuuuure.

Savannah: How's your hangover

Tyler: Manageable

Tyler: How was the doc appointment yesterday?

Savannah: Good, he cleared me for more work

Tyler: I bet you're happy about that

Savannah: Obviously

Savannah: Dominic is putting me to work

Tyler frowned at that text. He was scared to ask for more information, but he needed to know. How so?

Savannah: He's sending me to Miami.

Tyler re-read the text three additional times before immediately calling her, forgoing texting any longer. "Hey," Savannah answered the phone casually.

"You're going to Miami?!" Tyler said louder than intended. "Why?" he questioned.

He heard Savannah sigh. "There's a lead on Bartholomew there," she said, not giving any more detail than that. Tyler didn't even know if she had more details. Or if she was chasing a slight inkling hoping to find something on Bartholomew.

"When do you leave?" he asked.

"Tomorrow."

Tyler jumped up from the bed he was sitting on. "Tomorrow!?" he yelled. "What about our games? And your health," he added, knowing he should have started with that. "The doc just cleared you for more work and you're up and leaving to go to Miami. That doesn't sound like the wisest choice."

"Are you more concerned for me and my health or me missing your games?" she asked.

"Both," he replied. Again, he knew he should have just said her health, but he was upset she was going to miss his games. These were important. Even his family was flying into Dallas to see them.

There was a long pause before she spoke, and he knew he was in trouble. "First of all," she began pointedly. "I've been cleared by the doctor. I can work full time. And if I choose to go to Miami and do my work, then that's none of your business. And second of all, what difference does it make if I'm at your games or not?"

"You're missing something big for me to go after some lead that you don't even know if it's going to become anything."

"You missed my sister's wedding!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Because I had a game, not because I wanted to!"

"You chose your job over the wedding. And that's fine. I understood. Now it's your turn to understand. This is part of my job, and I need to go. It's not like you're going to play better if I'm there anyways," she told him.

Tyler ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Yeah, but maybe I won't be so worried about you getting yourself killed that I can focus on the game," he argued.

"Stop acting like you are worried about me. You're being a selfish dick right now. Get over yourself," she scoffed. "You weren't worried about me last night, and you guys still lost. But you know what, when you lose tomorrow night and both games in Dallas and get swept, you can blame me. Tell all your fucking fans the same thing," she said, hanging up on him.

"Fuuuuuck," Tyler groaned, throwing the phone on the bed.

"Lovers' quarrel?" Jamie joked, coming out of the bathroom with just a pair of shorts on, his hair still wet from the shower.

Tyler glared at Jamie. “She’s fucking going to Miami,” he spat.

“Whoa, wait, what?” Jamie asked, holding his hand out.

“She’s fucking going to Miami,” he repeated. “They’re sending her to fucking Miami to find Bartholomew on some bullshit lead. Tomorrow. She’s leaving tomorrow.”

“Jesus,” Jamie said under his breath, shaking his head.

“No fucking kidding,” Tyler said. “She doesn’t even think it’s a big deal. Just says ‘it’s part of her job,’” he imitated her.

“Well...” Jamie trailed off, but the look Tyler shot at him got him to shut up pretty quickly.

“You know it’s not smart for her to go to Miami. She’s barely getting back to work full time and they’re just gonna ship her to Miami?” Tyler questioned.

Jamie stared at him for a moment. “It’s not up to us to decide,” he said.

Tyler frowned as he looked at the floor. “Call Alex,” he said suddenly.

“What?” Jamie asked, confused.

“Call Alex,” he repeated. “Savannah isn’t gonna talk to me now. She’s pissed. And to be frank, I don’t really want to talk to her right now because she’s being stupid. Call Alex and see what she thinks. If she agrees with this dumb mission,” he explained.

Jamie hesitated. “Why don’t you call Alex?”

“Because she’s probably been instructed not to talk to me. You know those three. They’re constantly talking to each other. She was probably texting her while she was yelling at me.”

Jamie chuckled, knowing Tyler was probably right. But he went stone faced immediately when he saw Tyler wasn’t amused. Jamie grabbed his phone, and against his better judgement, called his girlfriend.

“Hey!” Alex answered her phone, obviously happy to hear from Jamie. “How are you?”

“Good, just got out of the shower,” Jamie told her. Tyler was staring at him, silently willing him to stop the chit chat and get down to business. “Hey I heard Savannah’s going to Miami?” he changed subjects.

“Tyler tell you?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Jamie replied.

“I don’t know many details, mainly because I don’t think she knows many. Dominic asked her to go because they had a new lead on bartholomew. I know Segs wasn’t too happy about that,” she said. Tyler rolled his eyes, knowing he’d been right when he told Jamie that he bet Savannah had been texting Alex.

“Yeah well can you blame him?” Jamie defended his friend and teammate.

“Jamie, it’s her job,” Tyler heard Alex say, and he groaned. He couldn’t listen to this anymore.
Instead, he walked into the bathroom, taking a long, hot shower.

Nearly a half hour later, he walked back out, seeing Jamie sitting on the couch, watching tv.

“Your phone has been ringing,” he told Tyler.

Tyler walked over to his bed, picking his phone up. He had three missed calls from Savannah. Shit.

He called her back, surprised when she picked up on the first ring. “Hey, wh-“ he began before she cut him off.

“How old are you? Thirteen? Getting Jamie to call Alex. Fucking grow up and grow a pair and call me if you want to talk instead of acting like a teenager,” she spat.

She was so loud on the other end of the phone that even Jamie had looked up at Tyler. Tyler ignored him and responded to Savannah. “Well you hung up on me,” he reminded her.

“And I’m about to do it again,” she stated.

“You called me a bunch. I’m just returning the call,” Tyler said, starting to get annoyed.

“Don’t send your buddy to try to find out information through my best friend. And just so we’re clear, I am going to Miami tomorrow. And I could care less if you lose your fucking mojo and blow this whole series,” she spat. Tyler knew she was just angry and blowing off steam, not really meaning her words, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed off at her.

“Well you can fucking go to Miami and chase after the bastard you couldn’t keep in jail the first time,” he retorted, promptly hanging up on her this time.

He looked over at Jamie. “You know you just fucked up, right?” Jamie asked simply.

“Monumentally. And I don’t even care," he lied.

"Get your head straight, man," Jamie told him.

"I already told you, I'll be fine for the game tomorrow," Tyler insisted, knowing that's all Jamie cared about right now. He had every right to focus only on the game at hand. They needed to win before heading back to Dallas. And even though Tyler told Jamie that he was going to be fine for the game tomorrow, Tyler wasn't so sure himself. He tried to ignore that feeling, though. He needed to focus on what was important. And that was winning.

The rest of the day consisted of a lot of napping and watching tv. Jamie hung back with Tyler in the hotel room. Tyler was unsure if Jamie was babysitting him or wanted to hang up, and he didn't care enough to ask. He was doing everything he could to avoid thinking of Savannah.

The next morning, Tyler woke up, wondering if he'd been dreaming about Savannah going to Miami. But, when he checked his phone, he realized it was reality. He groaned, getting out of bed. He looked around and didn't see Jamie. He was probably in the fitness center working out.

Tyler turned the television on, seeing last night's highlights of the Penguins/Bruins game. When he saw the Penguins had won, a small part of him smirked that his old team that had traded him had lost. He still had a soft spot for the team that had drafted him, but he also had some hard feelings as well. Though he wouldn't have changed anything. He loved Dallas and wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.

The door to the room opened, and Jamie walked inside. "Work out?" Tyler asked him.

"Nuh uh," Jamie replied. "Alex called. I didn't want to wake you. Figured you could use all the sleep you can get."

Tyler looked up at him. "What did Alex have to say?" he asked, hoping she had mentioned Savannah.

"Sorry, not what you wanted," Jamie let him down. "All she said about Savannah was that she was taking her to the airport, that's why she hung up. But, she called about something else."

Tyler was intrigued by Jamie's vagueness. "Something else? Like what?"

"Like none of your business," Jamie snapped.

Tyler almost egged him on, but he knew better than to do that on game day. "Still can't believe Savannah's going to Miami," he muttered instead.

Jamie walked over, putting a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "You gotta get over it, man. She's doing her job. Just like you're in Nashville for yours," he reminded him.

Tyler locked his jaw, not responding. "I'm gonna take a shower," he said, suddenly standing up and walking towards the bathroom.

After getting out of the shower, Tyler immediately checked his phone. He didn't know why he thought that Savannah would text him before she hopped on a plane to Miami, but he was frustrated when he saw she hadn't. "Just call her," he heard Jamie say.

He looked up at his friend. "What?" he asked.

"Call her," Jamie repeated. "You're going to worry about her the whole time. Didn't you learn anything from the last time? Just call her." Jamie grabbed Tyler's phone and thrust it into his hand. "Call. Her."

Tyler was stubborn, and he didn't want to be the one to cave in and call her. But, he knew she was more stubborn than him, and she would hold out longer. "Fiiiiiiine," he whined. His thumb hovered over her name on his phone, hesitating calling her. He didn't want to seem desperate. But, he was. Finally, he pressed it and heard it ringing a moment later.

Jamie watched and waited for Savannah to pick up. But five rings later, and it was going to her voicemail. Tyler hung up without leaving a message. "Guess we know where I stand," he muttered.

"Or she's on a plane," Jamie suggested.

"Yeah, to fucking Miami," Tyler muttered. Jamie groaned, knowing he'd put Tyler in a worse mood by suggesting he call Savannah. "Fuck it," Tyler cursed. "I'm not going to worry about her. She wants to go off on her missions, fine."

Jamie shook his head. Tyler wasn't going to let go of this, even if he said he would. Tonight's game was going to be a disaster for Tyler. Jamie just knew it.

Notes

So sorry for the delay in updates! But, hope you liked it!