37. Cassidy

Tatiana looksme up and down, her eyes lingering on Hayden"s jersey, before she finally opens her mouth. "I hear you"ve found a new player for the season. Good for you." Her voice is cold and patronizing, and I bristle as she looks down her nose at me. She"s got a face that looks like it"s been through about five different plastic surgeries and she"s dressed like she just walked off the cover of Vogue. Maybe she doesn"t realize she"s at a hockey game.

For some reason, being around her leaves me feeling small, and I hate that.

"Fuck off, Tanya," Sawyer says in a bored tone, and how the hell does he even know her?

"It"s Tatiana."

Sawyer ignores her, and she stiffens before flipping her long dark hair over her shoulder. Then, she smiles with all her teeth before turning her attention to me again. "So what? You"re going to be one of those girls who hooks herself to players just for the attention? Or maybe it"s the money."

Sawyer laughs. "Like you"re any different."

Tatiana"s eyes flash and I can feel her rage from here. It"s like those waves of heat that rise off a desert road. "I"m not a fucking groupie," she snaps, looking back at me. "But I guess you are, huh, Cassidy?"

I don"t answer because I know anything I say will just make things worse. She wants a reaction out of me, but I will not give her one. Instead, I just stare at her, my face blank.

"You think you"re special because Hayden Vaughn gave you a little attention? You think he"ll stick around once he gets bored?" She keeps going, I"m sure hoping to get a rise out of me. What"s the point of arguing with her? She means nothing. I don"t want to be her friend. In fact, I"d be happy if I never had to think of her again.

I"d be lying if I said her words didn"t chip away my insecurities, though. My gaze slides to where Hayden"s standing by the bench and I find him already watching me with narrowed eyes. He mouths something that looks like you okay? and I nod before turning back to Tatiana.

She"s still ranting, but I"ve tuned her out. She"s not worth my time or energy, and Sawyer seems to agree because he"s got his phone out and is scrolling through it while she talks.

"Enough, Tamara," he finally says, having enough with her shit talking. "You"ve got no room to criticize anyone considering you were on your knees for me at Cassidy"s bar two weeks ago. Or were you too drunk to remember that? Shittiest blowie I"ve ever had, by the way, and before you I thought there was no way to fuck it up. So congrats. Now take your ass implants and your fake tits somewhere else. Cass and I want to watch the game." Sawyer looks out over the ice, gaze lingering on Torin Mattson. "Unless you want your husband to know you"re using your side pieces to fund your coke habit?"

Tatiana"s face goes white and then red as she spins on her heel and stomps away like a child who didn"t get her way.

Sawyer turns back to me with a grin, but I just hold up my hand for a high five and laugh. "Damn. That was cold as hell."

He slaps my palm with his. "Yeah, but she deserved it. She"s a raging bitch and you don"t deserve that shit. Plus she legit tried to get me to buy her some coke after her shitty head like some common prostitute, yet she"s here trying to tear you down." He shoves his phone back into his pocket and grabs another handful of popcorn as the lights dim for the national anthem. "Besides, Hayden would kick my ass if I didn"t have your back."

After that, the puck drops and we get lost in the game. Sawyer and I cheer for Hayden when he gets an assist, but I keep thinking about what Tatiana said.

What if she"s right about him getting bored? Maybe he"ll move on to someone else once he"s had his fill of me. The thought makes my stomach flip and my heart hurt, but I try to push it away as the game goes on.

Sawyer frowns down at his phone, fingers flying across the screen for probably the tenth time since we sat down. "What"s going on?" I finally ask him when he huffs in annoyance beside me before shoving his phone back into his pocket.

"Nothing. Just the senator fucking up my mood with his usual demands."

I sip my Dr. Pepper, thinking about what that could mean. Finally, I decide to just ask. "What demands?"

"You know how you hear stories about people coming out and their parents kick them out?" I nod and he laughs, but it"s humorless. "The Senator threw a party."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. One complete with a press conference for the perfect photo op and interview. Also, his rich donor friends. So many assholes with way too much money looking to throw it at a cause that makes them look progressive. Being bisexual makes me his automatic in with my demographic and he takes advantage any time he wears me down enough to give in."

I hear the bitterness in his voice and I can"t blame him. It sounds like a nightmare. "I"m sorry."

He shrugs. "It is what it is. Hayden has it worse." Then he turns back to the game and we watch Hayden score on a slapshot that has the crowd on their feet. Sawyer and I jump up too, cheering as he skates around the ice with his arms raised in celebration while his teammates circle him.

"What could be worse than your own father using you?"

"Your father teaching you that the only way he could ever love you is if you"re winning. The second you lose, all that love and attention disappear. It"s the way he"s always been with both of us, but Hayden more than me since he can get something else from me now."

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"Hayden was always the one who had to win. Always had to be the best because it was the only way he got any attention or love from our dad. And when he started playing hockey, it was like a godsend for him. He could channel all that rage and frustration into something productive, and it gave him a way to prove himself to our dad. But it also meant that he never got to be a kid. Never got to have that feeling of unconditional love that all kids deserve."

"Where was your mom?" I ask, thinking about how my own mother showered me with love and affection when I was little. Warmth fills me before twisting into a sharp stab of pain at the loss, even all these years later.

Sawyer sighs. "She left when we were little. She couldn"t handle being married to the senator and having to deal with his shit on a daily basis. She just packed up one day and left us with nannies and housekeepers. We didn"t see her again until I was sixteen and she showed up at my graduation with a new husband and a new family."

"Wait. You graduated when you were sixteen?"

Sawyer grins, a real one this time, as he points at himself. "Smart as fuck."

I laugh, but then get lost in thoughts about everything Sawyer told me as we watch the Anchors crush the Armada. By the time the final buzzer sounds, the score"s 8-2 and I"m horny as hell from watching Hayden in his element.

I wonder if this means I have a competence kink.

"Let"s go wait by the locker room," Sawyer says, standing up and tossing the trash. I"ve got a bag from the gift shop with Hayden"s sweaty jersey in it so at least the new one I"m wearing is clean and dry if I have to face the posse of hockey wives and girlfriends again down in the family waiting room.

When we get down by the locker room, I stop before we go into the room for the player"s friends and family. "Can we stay out here? I"m not really in the mood for another run-in with Tatiana or her clones."

Sawyer nods, leaning against the wall as he scrolls through his phone again. "No problem. If they start shit, I"ve got no issue causing a scene."

I bump my shoulder into his as I settle into the spot beside him, crossing one foot over the other. "Thanks."

It doesn"t take long before Roman"s slamming out of the locker room doors with a brand new black eye and stitches along his chin. He glares at me and then Sawyer before storming off.

"What a douche," Sawyer mutters under his breath, and I can"t help but agree.

Hayden comes out a few minutes later, freshly showered and looking hot as hell in his suit. His gaze finds me immediately, and he strides toward me with purpose. He grabs my face between his hands and kisses me hard and deep, making me forget about everything but him. When he pulls back, he looks down at my arm with his number on it and smirks. "I never want to see anyone else"s name on your body but mine."

"What, a tattoo of your name isn't enough?" I say, caught in the intensity that"s always between us, when I remember Sawyer. He"s distracted by Hayden"s teammate Torin, who just walked out of the locker room.

"No. It's not."

"And that"s my cue to leave. See you at the bar," Sawyer says before pushing off the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking off after Torin.

"Should we go make sure he doesn"t do anything stupid?"

Hayden smirks. "Sawyer"s a big boy, Princess. He can make his own mistakes." He runs his hand up my outer thigh and under the hem of my skirt before dropping it and grabbing my hand instead. "There"s something I"ve always wanted to do," he murmurs into my ear before pulling back and looking down at me with a predatory glint in his eye. "You game?"

I don"t even hesitate. "Hell yes. Show me."

And then he"s dragging me into the unknown.