Page 93 of Making the Save

I thought back to stories I knew about Syd and something Bea said about a brouhaha in Paris.

“No.”

“I was…taken in by the police for questioning,” she said, pulling her green blanket up her body. She was making a point of not looking at me and it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about this, but for some reason that convinced me weneededto talk about it. “But they let me go.”

“You were arrested?” I asked her.

“Not arrested,” she insisted. “Taken in, and then released.”

“I’m going to need this story.”

“Why? It’s not a good one,” she muttered.

Because I care about you.I couldn’t say it though.

“Tink,” I said, in my tone that suggested she cough up the details.

“Fine, I was dating Sam Jacobs-”

“Fake dating,” I pointed out. She hadn’t dated anyone. Not even me.

I knew who Sam Jacobs was. He was a lead singer for a mildly popular rock band. A few hit songs, but someone who would ultimately be forgotten.

“Fake dating,” she said. “Anyway, Sam was all talk. All the time. You could never believe anything he said. We were at a club, he got drunk and started a fight. Then it turned out he had a gun. The police arrived and it was mayhem,” she said with a stiff shrug. “They handcuffed a lot of people, not just me.”

“Where was he? When you were getting arrested-”

“Not arrested! Taken in for questioning. They let me go once they knew I had nothing to do with it and we broke up after that,” she said, using rabbit ears around broke up.

“Fine, where was he when they were putting you in handcuffs?” I pushed.

“Hiding in the bathroom,” she said, as if she was embarrassed for him. “Turns out he can start a fight but not finish one.”

I got to my feet, suddenly pissed. “Honestly, Syd, you have to start protecting yourself from these assholes Tyler sets you up with.”

She sucked in a breath so deep the oxygen levels in the room dipped. Not expecting my sudden ire.

“Why are you mad?”

“Because the next time this kind of shit happens, I won’t be around to save you!”

That was a mistake. The second the words left my mouth I knew it was a mistake.

She curled deeper into the couch. “I don’t need you to save me.”

“Syd…”

“No,” she snapped. “I get it. Stay away from the assholes when you’re gone. Got it. And what about you? What happens to you when I’m gone?”

I scowled because I could almost feel the gaping hole opening up in my chest. “I go do what I do. I play hockey.”

She nodded. “So you’re not retiring.”

I heaved a sigh. “I don’t think I know how.”

“Well, maybe that’s best for you. You can have all the control you want on the ice.”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”