Wicked, Young Thing - T. Seguin

Chapter Three

Tay and I had returned to our hotel for the night, her nursing what would be a hangover in the morning, and me emotionally exhausted from the day. I wanted to sleep, but my mind wouldn't shut up. Tyler had seemed nice and genuinely interested once I actually thought about it. The whole time I had been with him I'd been trying to think of excuses to get away because I was worried about what my Momma would have thought of him. He certainly had a reputation of being trouble, yet I'd had fun teasing and flirting with him, which I hated admitting to myself. I hadn't been that playful with a guy since Jake.

But Tyler had been drunk tonight, not a good sign. Part of me wanted to use that as an example of a reason not to trust him and not to see him, but another part of me wanted to look past that and not judge, like God had taught me. But I wasn't perfect, and I knew it. Only time would tell how I would respond to him, if he ever called again, which seemed unlikely since I'd scorned him twice in one day. Maybe it would be better this way. I turned over in my bed and closed my eyes, finally relaxed enough to sleep.

I woke up to my phone ringing incessantly, and since I had left it across the room, I had to actually get up to answer it. "Hello," I yawned, not conscious enough to be mad that they'd woken me up.

"Andi?" Tyler Seguin slurred. So much for him not calling me.

"Seguin, it's two thirty."

"The bar just closed."

"Okay," I drew it out, not sure why that was supposed to matter to me.

"Can you come pick me up, please?"

"Don't you have other friends you could call?" I complained, lying back down on my bed.

"They're all probably hammered or out of town. Please, Andi? I can hardly see. I didn't know who else to call," he sounded helpless and it tugged at my heartstrings. "Andi? I can't drive like this. I don't even remember where I parked my car-"

"No!" I almost shouted, awake now. "Don't drive! I'll be right there. Same bar?"

"Yeah," he was startled by my sudden shouting.

"I'm on my way. Don't move. Don't do anything stupid, Seguin." I hung up and jotted down a quick note for Tay in case she woke up while I was gone. Then I threw on my shoes and a hat, grabbed the keys to my Ford F-150 and darted out the door. I tapped my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as I drove, even though I was the only one on the road. I really hoped he would be there. I didn't want to be led on a wild goose chase through Dallas at three in the morning, but there was no way I would have let him drive himself home drunk.

I pulled up to the bar and saw him leaning against the wall; I thought he was asleep. I killed the engine and hopped out. "Seguin?" He didn't respond. "Tyler?" I poked him, still nothing. I shook his shoulder and he blinked awake. He looked at me, but his eyes were unfocused. "Andi?" I almost couldn't hear him.

"Do you want me to take you home?" I asked softly.

"I dunno where that is. Are we in Toronto?"

"No, we most definitely are not," I frowned; this was not an ideal situation. I didn't know where he lived so I couldn't take him home. I had to take him back to the hotel, but he wasn't sleeping with me, or with Tay, so I'd have to get another room. I silently cursed him for dragging me into this, but I was already here and I couldn't leave him like this.

"Can you walk?" He shook his head. I sighed, "Come on," I wrapped my arm around his waist and helped him over to the car. He dragged himself up into the cab and I shut the door.

"Don't puke in my truck," I said jokingly as I got in, but he was already passed out. And he hadn't fastened his seatbelt. I groaned and slid across the bench to fasten it. He smelled like alcohol and sweat and cypress. I sat there longer than I had meant to as I took that in. Then I blushed, even though I knew that he had no idea that I'd been smelling him. I scooted back to my side and got on the road.

At the hotel, I checked out another room and dragged him to the elevator. He wasn't entirely unconscious, but he was not fit to walk by himself, either. We made it to the room, which happened to be right down the hall from mine and Tay's, and I unlocked the door. I stumbled inside, exhausted from the heat, the long day, and getting up in the middle of the night to rescue the hockey player in distress. I helped him to the bed and he passed out again as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was going to have a massive hangover tomorrow. I turned him on his side so that he faced the space between the two bed and set one of the trash cans there, that way, if he threw up while he was asleep, he wouldn't choke to death on his own vomit. I grabbed a tumbler from the desk and filled it with cold water, setting it on the bedside table.

I stood awkwardly next to his bed. I had done what he had asked, and more; I'd picked him up and now he was all settled in a hotel room. I should have left, but I couldn't. I didn't want to leave him alone because I knew he'd wake up dazed and confused. Sometimes I wondered why I was so nice to people when many of them wouldn't return the favor. 'Maybe I'm too nice,' I thought, then I sat down on the couch and immediately fell asleep.

Someone sat on the couch next to me and I blinked lazily, what time was it? Where was I? I looked over to see Tyler Seguin staring at me. "Hey," I said, remembering what had happened.

"Hi," he whispered back. The curtains were shut and the room was dark except for the little bit of light that was shining under the curtains and the door to the room. "Is this your room?" He asked.

"No, mine is across the hall with Tay." Tay. "Oh my gosh! Tay! She doesn't know where I am!" He winced at my loud volume. "Sorry," I whispered and pulled out my phone to text her. She hadn't texted me, so I assumed that she was still sleeping, even though it was almost ten.

Tyler and I sat in silence for a minute. I kept my eyes cast downward so that I didn't have to look at him, but I felt his gaze on me. He finally spoke, "Why did you come get me?"

"You called. Did you not want me to come get you?"

"I did, I just don't know what made you come. You didn't seem eager to see me again either of the times we'd met before."

"I didn't want you driving drunk," I didn't know what else to say. I didn't care for him in the romantic sense, I didn't believe in that love at first sight bullshit, but drunk driving was touchy with me. I was always the designated driver when my friends and I went out, which I didn't mind in the slightest; I never drank. I just wanted to keep everyone safe.

"That's it?" He asked, surprised.

"Yes, that's it," I snapped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that-"

"It's fine, Seguin. Friends don't let friends drive home drunk, do they?" I slumped back into the couch, exhausted.

"We're friends?" He brightened immediately, lighting up the dark room with his smile.

"I guess," I shrugged. It didn't seem like it would be any use to keep pushing him away when he was so persistent.

"Thanks, darlin'."

"For what?" I yawned.

"For picking me up. And for being my friend," he leaned in to hug me.

I waved him away, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just let me sleep, okay? Someone woke me up at two A.M."

"Sorry," he stood off the couch and slowly made his way back to his bed. "You can have the other one, Andi. Andi?" But I was already too far gone.

Author's Note

Hey, y'all! I finished this update sooner than I had predicted so here ya go. Please vote and comment to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Thank you so much! A new update will be coming soon. Have a lovely night.