Promises to Keep

Tyler was angry; and that was putting it lightly. The game was an absolute disaster. He couldn't have pictured it going much worse than it did. He could only imagine the headline Tayla would have to write about him and his team. After their performance, they had deserved it; he wasn't denying that.

Most of his team went to their rooms, deeply thinking about their performance and how if they didn't pick up their shit to say nicely, they'd be swept out of the playoffs, just like the Knights had done last year to another team.

Tyler decided there was nothing he needed more than a drink. They had an early practice in the morning, but that wasn't going to stop him. He made his way into the hotel, the same one Tayla, Katie, Cassidy and Nick were staying at. He wanted nothing more than to go up to her room and talk it out with her, like he had done so many times before, he knew she had an article, and Nick was there.

"Oh hey Tyler!" Tyler was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice he only slightly recognized. "Here- take a seat" he added, pointing to the seat next to him. Nick greeted him happily, and Tyler was in no mood to deal with the likes of him at this point.

"Thanks" Tyler half smiled, taking the seat next to Nick despite wanting to go as far away from him as possible. "I'll take a rum and coke" Tyler called to the bartender, who nodded, clearly recognizing Tyler but not saying anything. Tyler took the opportunity to look around the hotel bar. The lighting was dim, making it hard to see fully across the room. There were a lot of tables that were empty, which made sense seeing as it was a Tuesday night. There were only a handful of people in the room; the bartender, Nick, and a few people who were playing on the few slot machines the hotel had in their bar.

"Good game tonight" Nick said, trying to make conversation. He wanted to get to know Tyler, since he was close with his girlfriend. She talked about him a lot, and was a very important person in her life. He knew it would be in his best interest to be on his good side.

"Good game?" Tyler scoffed, taking a very big gulp of his drink, wincing as the cool liquor went down his throat. "I don't think we were at the same game, then" he then added, finishing off his drink and flagging down the bartender for another.

"You guys came alive for the last few minutes, maybe you'll bring that energy into the next game" Nick added, feeling slightly uncomfortable and at a loss for words.

"Did Tayla say that?" Tyler asked, smirking. He knew from conversations about Nick with Tayla that he wasn't as big into hockey as she was. Sure, he enjoyed watching the games, but he didn't analyze as much as Tayla would.

"Yeah, she did actually" Nick replied, a little off put. "She's probably going to include it in her article" he then added, again trying to make casual conversation. Maybe Tayla was right; he was too cranky to deal with after a bad loss.

"Probably" Tyler shrugged, getting his second drink.

"I'll have another" Nick flagged down the bartender.

"Put it on my tab" Tyler told the bartender. "All drinks on me" he shrugged. He knew he needed to be nice to this guy- despite not wanting to. But he refused to let Tayla out of his life; so if embracing Nick was part of that, so be it.

"Thanks" Nick replied, beginning to feel like maybe now they could get somewhere. "So, how did you and Tayla meet?" he asked. He had never asked Tayla the story. In truth, he was a little jealous of Tyler, though he would never admit that to her.

"Our parents are really close" Tyler told Nick, surprised. "Tayla didn't tell you?" he asked, a little surprised.

"No... she didn't" Nick confessed. "She doesn't talk a lot about life before she moved here. Basic stuff, of course" he defended, realizing how bad that sounded.

"I wouldn't look far into it" Tyler shrugged it off. "She's been through a lot"

"Like what?" Nick asked, trying to pry more information out of Tyler.

"That's not my story to tell" Tyler informed him honestly.

"Is it bad?" Nick kept pressing for answers.

"I'm sure she will share more things with you, in time" Tyler told him, noticing he was getting a little bit aggressive. He wasn't sure what Tayla was and wasn't telling him, but it was none of his business. He probably wasn't helping with his cryptic answers.

"Look" Nick began, beginning to grow a little frustrated. "I know you and Tayla and really close, and that's cool; I have no problem with that. But you don't need to be rude to me. I'm only trying to get to know you; don't you think that's what Tayla would want?" Nick fumed, now bordering on angry.
He was on his fifth drink; he wasn't even sure how he had drank so much.

"No, you're not trying to get to know me" Tyler spat back. "You're trying to figure out things about Tayla's past, for whatever damn reason" he shook his head.

"I'm just trying to get to know my girlfriend" Nick insisted, which was the truth. It was not overly strange that she didn't share every detail of her past; there were things that he didn't tell her not because they were bad and he was trying to hide, but because they were bits of the past he did not want to relive. He assumed she did the same. But there was one thing he needed to know more about; and that was Tyler.

"Then you ask her" Tyler told him in a duh voice. "If its something she wants to talk to you about, she will. You can't make her tell you about her past"

"I know" Nick spoke softly, trying to regain control of his temper.

"You don't seem to, because you keep pressing me for answers to whatever questions you have" Tyler told him, taking the last sip of his drink and slamming it down on the table.

"I'm sorry for coming across this way- I know you mean a lot to her" Nick stumbled on his words, and it all began to come together for Tyler.

"You want to know more about me, don't you?" Tyler asked, an eyebrow raised. "Well not me specifically, but about our past together?" he added, and wasn't surprised when he nodded solemnly.

"She doesn't talk about it much, I was just curious as to why" he confessed, not sure why he was admitting to this.

"Again, I wouldn't worry about it bud. We've been best friends since we were younger, always have been really close, always will be" Tyler replied, getting an idea in his head. "I've got an early practice, later" he patted him on the back before leaving the bar, a smirk on his face.

Nick sat in place, feeling slightly drunk. He was now more convinced of his suspicions than ever.