Page 17 of Making the Save

“You,” Beatrice said, looking at me. “Of course.”

I didn’t like that. I didn’t like that one little bit. “I got drunk too. I got married too. I was stupid and reckless too.”

Beatrice pursed her lips. “Yes, but it won’t matter as much for you. Will it?”

She’d come to the same conclusion I had. There would be no consequences for my actions.

“But how does it look for Sydney if I don’t leave with her?”

“Like it has every other time the press thinks I’ve done something interesting.”

Sydney stood up and poured herself another cup of coffee, black. Then she curled up on the stiff formal sofa, her knees touching her chin as she tipped the cup to her lips.

Damn she was pretty. She’d washed off her makeup and had let her short dark pixie haircut dry naturally, which formed soft curls around her face. Her green eyes - made famous by music videos and red-carpet appearances - were so much greener in real life.

“It’s okay, Wyatt. Sad to say, but this is not my first rodeo with the press. You should go sooner rather than later. The mob will only get bigger.”

Beatrice nodded in agreement and it felt like I was running up against the Bruisers’ goalie again in game seven of the finals – a brick wall.

“This doesn’t feel right,” I said.

“I know,” Sydney said, like she was resigned to her fate.

I stood and walked back to the bedroom, shutting the doors behind me.

My phone sat on the table next to the bed. It had been dead this morning, but like everything else, Beatrice had taken care of that too by finding a charger. I hit the screen and waited for it to recognize my face. I had over two hundred texts waiting for me, and I groaned.

I did not like my phone. I was not addicted to my phone. My phone was a tool. I used it to communicate with my father, my brother, my teammates, my coach and a few close friends. It got me to places. It was a convenient flashlight when I needed it.

But I could feel the weight of all those messages.

Dad and Liam right at the top. Several of my teammates. A lot of emojis. Richie chimed in too.

Richie: I fucking knew it. You were a goner for her the second she got on our cart. I’m just mad I wasn’t invited to the wedding.

I opened Liam’s text thread.

Liam: Is this a joke?

Liam: This is real?

Liam: You’re married?

Liam: To SYDNEY MALLOY?

Liam: Swear to god Wyatt, you better not be fucking married to the only woman I’ve ever loved.

Liam: What about my best man speech?

Liam: WHAT ABOUT THE BACHELOR PARTY!!!!!!!!!

Liam: What. The. Fuck? Call me!

I was not calling him. Not until I had some perspective on the matter. No doubt, he would find the whole thing hilarious. That was one thing Tyler got right. If Liam were here, he’d be making the most of the situation.

The good brother.Mean Tyler wasn’t wrong.

I grabbed my wallet and shoved the fully charged phone in the back pocket of my brand new jeans and returned to the living room.