Chapter 51: Bryn

“Well, look who it is.” The obvious leader of the group seems to do most of the talking, it seems.

I never understood group dynamics like this, but it seems high school isn’t the only place where there are obvious leaders and their dedicated followers.

“It’s me. What can I do for you guys? Actually, the rink is closed to the public for practices.” I tell them because as much as I hate conflict, I hate mean girls more.

“Then why are you here? Hooking up with Sawyer in the showers? How exactly did you trick him into marrying you?” She gives me a once over with a deep look of disgust on her face. “You don’t look like the sort of girl any of these guys would be interested in, especially Sawyer Becket.”

“Actually, it’s Raven now.”

“What?”

“His last name. He took mine when we got married. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but he insisted. Said the world has changed and how else would everyone know that I was his unless it was legal and official?” I let out a small, dreamy laugh. “He can be so sweet.”

The main girl scoffs. “He’s only using you for his image. Draft season is coming and it will make him look like a better choice if he has a fake wife on his arm. Because that’s all this thing is between you two…fake.”

She smirks and crosses her arms like she’s won something and the other girls laugh like she just told the best joke they’ve ever heard. Seriously, did these girls step out of a teenage romance movie? This was ridiculous.

“Right. Well, you can say what you want about me and Sawyer, but that doesn’t make any of it true. I know what we have and so does he. Now, I’ll need to ask you to leave. Like I said, this is a closed practice.” I give them a sweet smile.

They gasp in dramatic horror like I just insulted their expensive shoes or some crap.

“You’re a real bitch. This isn’t over. I’ll show you that you mean nothing to Sawyer. He’ll come running to me when I’m done.” She flips her hair and hits one girl to her left, right in the face.

The girl cringes but doesn’t complain, and in fact, does the same thing.

“So weird.” I say to myself because this encounter was bizarre.

“Trouble, Little Bee?” Sawyer’s voice behind me makes me smile.

I turn to face him and find him walking toward me with a concerned look on his face. He stops in front of me, and I wrap my arms around his waist.

“Nothing I can’t handle, although I’m starting to wonder if I’ve fallen back into high school. These puck bunnies don’t seem to have left their mean girl personalities behind when they graduated. Who knew college was just a more adult version of high school.” I shrug and he smiles down at me.
“Yeah, all the colleges have those cliques. The girls who follow the players are always bitches ready to start a girl fight at any second. A lot of guys enjoy that sort of thing, but it can get out of hand sometimes.” He makes a face like he knows that from experience.

“Girls can be nasty to each other.” I point out.

He nods and gives me a tight smile.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah! Ready to stretch me out?” He wiggles his brows at me and I roll my eyes.

He’s a pervert. Everything he says has a sexual undertone, but it’s oddly charming. As long as those sexual advances and hints are only for me. As much as I feel Sawyer would never cheat on me, I have to admit that the mean girl’s words hit me. She’s beautiful in that made-up like a doll sort of way, but sexy and confident enough to get any guy’s attention.

“What’s got you looking so serious?” He asks, brushing some of my hair behind my ears.

I went with a messy braid today and forgot to put on any make-up. I’m a mess and realizing how I must have looked at those girls has my confidence a little shaken. Of course, I know it’s dumb to care, but seeing as this isn’t my first encounter with a group of mean girls, it’s bringing back some bad memories. It has me feeling like I’m back in high school and hiding in the bathroom during gym, so no one steals my clothes.

“It’s nothing…It’s stupid.” I wave him off and move back from him.

He grabs my wrist and pulls me back against him. “It’s not nothing. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“It’s dumb. Those girls just reminded me of another group of mean girls from years ago. It’s crazy how sometimes things can make us feel like a kid again.”

“What mean girls? Did someone bother you back in high school?” He’s looking at me like he has no idea what I delt with back then.

I let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, Sawyer, it was high school. Everything back then was about who you hung out with and how you looked. I wasn’t exactly the girl who turned heads, which made me the target of a few mean girls and guys.”

“Who?”

He’s serious. “Daphne Thomson for one and Chris Matthews. The two of them made sure I knew my place pretty well. I wasn’t in a group or a clique, so I was an easy target. I was lost back then, and after…” After us. “…I didn’t want to make new friends. It was easier just to stay away from everyone.”

Sawyer sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry B. I should have been there for you. None of the hockey guys messed with you, right?”

A sense of dread from old memories has me feeling nauseous. He doesn’t know the kind of guys who used to be on his team. They were so different when he wasn’t around. Probably because they thought he would stick up for me if he knew what they got up to. Maybe he would have, but I told no one what those guys would do.
“B?” He says, a little firmer.

He isn’t going to let this go. “Yeah, sometimes, but it wasn’t a big deal. All that is over Sawyer. Let’s just leave it in the past.”

I try to walk away again, but he moves past me and stops in front of me, blocking my way. “What?”

“What did they do, Bryn?” His voice leaves no room for excuses and it has my hackles rising.

“Let. It. Go. Sawyer.” I enunciate each word in the same tone as him.

“I’m not moving until you tell me.”

“Yo Becket! Let’s go!” One of the guys call.

“In a minute!” Sawyer snaps back. “And it’s Raven asshole!”

There are a few chuckles as the guys skate onto the ice.

“Sawyer, you need to go practice. I’ve already showed you the stretches I’ve picked out for you this week, so I’ll grab my stuff and take some notes while you guys practice.”

“Bryn. I won’t ask again.” He threatens.

It would be hot if it wasn’t making me mad. “I don’t want to talk about it. Just like you don’t talk about all the stuff that happened to you at your old college.”

I’m not sure why I throw that in the conversation. I guess my curiosity has gotten the best of me, and wanting to know what sort of guy Sawyer was there has been slowly eating at me.

He scoffs. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that other than your stats, I don’t know a thing about what you did there.” Why am I talking about this?

Especially now…

“I’ve never tried to keep that a secret from you, but there isn’t much to tell. I was a typical asshole who drank too much and partied too much.” He says as if all of that is par for the course for an athlete in college.

I guess it is, but I don’t like thinking of him getting blackout drunk and hooking up with random girls every night. Man, I should have left this alone.

“Come on Bryn. None of that shit meant anything. I was a mess, and I paid the price. What else do you want to know?” He sounds exasperated by this conversation, but I want to know more.

He’s my husband now. Aren’t we supposed to know everything about each other, even the bad stuff? I guess I’m being a hypocrite then because I still haven’t told him some things too. Maybe we should have waited to get married until we got all this stuff sorted out.

“Don’t.” He snaps. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Don’t second guess what we did. We have a lot of things to talk about, and I promise to be open about it all as long as you do the same. Okay? We can wait to talk about this for now, but we will talk about it.” He gives me a pointed look and I deflate with a nod of my head.

“Yeah okay.”

“Good. Hurry that cute ass up so you can watch me kick Bishop’s ass.” He smirks and saunters off.

I blow out a breath and try not to dwell on the memories he plans on pulling out of me.