Page 132 of Keeper
Speaking of fairy tale magic—what a weekmy Spring break turned out to be. It sure started out rocky with all the Marta drama, but the days that followed couldn’t be any more different.
Before I get to the good stuff, I suppose I should address the Marta drama and get that out of the way first.
Tanner and I didn’t want to touch the story publicly—not that media was really seekingmeout, but he’s the guy who had cameras and microphones jammed in his face every night. The WAGs, on the other hand, were our behind-the-scenes force on social media. Although the girls don’t have millions of followers, theydohave a heightened following due to hockey fans wanting a closer look at the boys’ personal lives. And the girls made sure that the word spread about what Marta had tried to do.
After I refused to try to help Marta get her Instagram account back, she attempted to sneak back on under a fakename. But her stunt of trying to destroy our lives hadn’t gone over well with the denizens of the internet—not even with the majority of her obsessed fans. Her account was flagged by the thousands of users who immediately recognized her, and her page was taken down in a matter of hours.
Call me crazy or naive, but I don’t like to see people suffer, even when they’re people who have wronged me. No, I’m not willing to help Marta get her Instagram back, but the fact that she finallydidcome clean to me about what she’d done—to me, that’s worthsomething.It might mean she’s not a totally lost cause for the rest of her life, that she might learn from this episode. And should we kick those people when they’re down, to make sure theystaydown? Should we refuse them the opportunity to redeem themselves? Well, I don’t think so, but I’m just one person.
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t have any desire to let Marta back into my life again. This Spring break has proved that I was right to distance myself from her. But I also think we should show people some mercy when they own up to what they’ve done.
With that being said, when Tanner’s lawyer spoke to us about all the charges we could file against Marta for defaming our characters and distributing intimate photos without our consent, it became clear that Marta would face jail time for what she’d done.
And, well, I wasn’t crazy about going that far. Maybe I’m weak, maybe I’m dumb, I don’t know. But Tanner’s lawyer had succeeded in removing my pictures from the internet. And the fact of the matter is, without Marta’s nastiness, Iwouldn’thave met Tanner at all. Like Tanner says—everything happens for a reason, right?
As far as I was concerned, the situation had come to a close—I was ready to move on and so was Tanner. We told his lawyer we weren’t interested in pressing charges. We just wanted to wash our hands of the situation and get back to our regular lives.
Besides, not being allowed back on Instagram seemed like punishment enough for Marta.
Anyhow.
On to thehappierthings from the past week!
When Tanner wasn’t playing hockey, we were spending time together and truly getting to know each other. When he and I weren’t together, I was getting to hang out with Emma, Austen, Katerina and the rest of the WAGs.
And who could forget the crazy hype and excitement surrounding Tanner’s shutout streak and his quest to break the shutout record? He was playing out of his mind and the whole city of Dallas got swept up in the excitement with us. It was such an incredible thing to witness and be a part of. With each save, his confidence brimmed—not just in his athletic abilities, but inus. I felt it, too. Every dazzling save Tanner made was like a shot in the arm, a confirmation that we had something special between us.
With that being said, his shutout streak was a bit of a double-edged sword, too. Because as long as Tanner wasn’t allowing any goals past him, the superstitious athlete inside him didn’t want a singlethingbetween us to change.
Which meant he wanted things to stayjust as they are.
So we were still very muchwaitingfor the time to be right.
Even though we were both very muchready.
In fact, sex with Tanner wasallI could think about all week long. My body was tense with primal need, my head clouded with unmet desires. I started to become a clumsy wreck; even the girls noticed. After I’d gotten caught staring off into space, or dropping things, or walking into walls, the group’s favorite inside joke quicklybecame how badly I needed to get laid.
It didn’t help that we were hooking up almost every single night at Tanner’s place, often staying up until the sun rose, doing every naughty act imaginablerightup to actual sex. He loved to go down on me and make me come again and again—a delicious tease, getting me that hot and bothered, because we both knew we couldn’t have each other yet.
His cruelest trick, though? He’d torment me with his solid cock, gliding it between my sopping folds, closer and closer to my entry, until I wassurehe was going to say “fuck it” and stick himself inside me—
Only to have him throw himself off me with a pent-up growl of frustration instead.
Pure. Torture.
If I’d given him a painful case of blue balls the night we met? Well, he’d sure paid the favor back ten-fold in the days that followed. I was sure he’d permanently turned my ovaries blue.
That being said, though, I’m glad that cooler heads always prevailed between me and Tanner. Because if we slipped up in the heat of the moment and his shutout streak ended the very next game? I’m not saying we’dregretit, but … I’d feel like I’d jinxed him. I’m surehe’d swear up and down that I hadn’t jinxed him, and he’d tell me not to worry about it. But I alsoknow we’d both secretly wonder what would’ve happened if we’d waited.
So the only option, clearly, was to wait.
I couldn’t get scored on untilhegot scored on.
Fair enough, right?
It was a complex time. Lots of conflicting emotions.
So I won’t lie. Imighthave let out a small, albeit guilty, “whew” when Tanner finally gave up a goal in the game he played last night. (The girls, who were aware of my dilemma, also let out a breath of relief on my behalf.)
