What You Don't Know, Can't Hurt You

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. I immediately sat up and looked around for Brayden. It was then that the events of the night before came rushing back to me.

After I had a drink poured on me it seemed like the whole Flyers team was surrounding me and Brayden and I was just trying to figure out what the hell was going on. All I could make sense of was the fact that there was a girl yelling at me about being “the other woman” and that Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk were holding her back and preventing her from attacking me and Brayden. My immediate thought was that she was some seriously psycho fan girl who really thought that I was fucking her “husband” or something but when I saw Brayden’s face it clicked – he had a girlfriend. He had had a girlfriend the whole time. I looked at Claude and thought, “It was never you that was calling.”

Next thing I knew we were in an alley and Brayden and I were being verbally beaten by this girl – apparently named Zoe – and all I could do was apologize. How could I not have known?
Four months of being stupid enough to believe that Giroux was an obsessive roommate – even the jokes Brayden would make about him seeming like an overbearing girlfriend! All this time, it was a lie. He never wanted any commitment because he already HAD commitment at home. I couldn’t stop myself from starting to cry. Then, Brayden started going on about how I was a huge mistake and he loved her and he was so sorry blah blah blah. I started crying harder and pulled out my cell phone. I dialed Chelsea and as soon as she answered I sobbed into the phone, begging her to come get me.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked, worried.

“Just come get me! Please! I need to leave right now!”

“I’m on the way. Give me 5.”

When I turned back it was just me and Brayden left. He was sitting against the wall with his head in his hands. I started walking towards the street and heard him shout, “Where the FUCK do you think YOU’RE going?!”

“I’M GOING HOME BRAYDEN! What the fuck do you think I’m doing?” He stood up and started coming towards me.

“You aren’t going anywhere. If you’re going home, I’m coming with you.”

“Not a fucking chance,” I spat out at him. “I’m done with you.” He grabbed me – hard – by the wrist.

“I didn’t fuck up my relationship for nothing, Jory. I’m single now. We can focus more on us!”

“Are you KIDDING ME?! You were just rambling on about how you love her and I’m a fucking mistake! You’re sadly mistaken if you honestly think I’m okay with being a fucking whore. It was fun when I thought we were both single. You’re an asshole. You always were. How long were you with her, hm? How many other girls were there?”

“You were the only girl. I’ve been with her for a year and a half. I got bored, okay? And you were fun. I don’t regret it. I probably should’ve just broken up with her first.”

The stuff he was saying left me speechless. All I could do was look at him and shake my head. “You’re actually serious. Wow. Good-bye Brayden.” I turned and walked away, hearing Brayden screaming about me being an ungrateful bitch, and climbed into Chelsea’s car. The minute I shut the door the tears started flowing again.

“Hun, what’s going on?” Chelsea asked with her eyes wide.

“He has a fucking girlfriend Chels! He’s had a girlfriend the whole fucking time. And she showed up here tonight.”

“Oh. Wow. Didn’t see that coming.”

“That’s an understatement. Can you please take me home?”

“Sure. You want me to stay with you?”

“Nah. I just want to climb in bed and die, to be honest. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

And now, it was tomorrow and all I could do was think about the madness that was last night.

A little while later I heard someone beating on my door. “Jory! Let me the fuck in right now!” I heard Brayden shouting through the door.

I ran to the door and pulled it open. “Stop fucking yelling right now. I have neighbors, Bray. You need to leave. Now. We’re done, alright? I’m not dealing with your shit anymore. Leave.”

He pushed his way into the apartment, grabbed me and started kissing me. I struggled to push him away – he was so much stronger than me and had a tight hold.
“GET THE FUCK OFF ME! Do you want me to scream for help? You need to GET OUT. You’re disgusting. What the hell did I ever see in you?! Leave.” I pulled open the door and he stormed out through it.

“You’re a fucking idiot. I leave here and I’m not coming back you know.”

“Good.” I slammed the door and locked it behind me. Only then did I let myself react. I started shaking like crazy and called Chelsea. “Can you come over? I’m really scared.”

She was there in a matter of minutes and I explained everything that had happened.
“Jesus, Jory. That’s intense. He sounds pissed!”

“That’s not my fault! How could I be so stupid, Chels! It was so obvious! Four months of him sneaking around and I honestly believed him when he told me it was Claude. I should have known bet-“ I suddenly stopped talking.

“What?” Chelsea asked, confused.

“I knew. Oh my God, I knew the whole time. I figured it out but I was too drunk to remember.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That first night when Brayden took us to that club. You went home remember? He got us a room. I heard him on the phone and I figured out that it wasn’t Giroux. Oh my God. We got in a huge fight! How could I not remember that?”

“You were really drunk, Jory. It honestly doesn’t surprise me that much…”

“It was a blow out Chels! I couldn’t remember a thing! And he acted like nothing happened the next morning! Wow. What a dick!”

“That’s putting it lightly…” Chelsea said, looking at me. “I’m sorry, by the way. I know you liked him, even though you didn’t want to admit it.”

“I really did, Chels. I liked what we had, even though it wasn’t really anything. He seemed like a really good guy.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. I jumped and looked at Chelsea nervously.

“I’ll come with you,” she said. “He’s not going to hurt you.”

We walked over to the door and I looked through the peephole. “Jesus. Is this building not secure at all?” I asked, shaking my head at Chelsea. I pulled open the door slowly, facing Zoe.

“I think we need to talk,” she said as I moved over to let her in.