Dean had heard of groupies doing some crazy things when he was younger. From groupies getting tattoos of their favorite celebrity in interesting areas to them sexing members of an entourage that weren't even part of said celebrity's, groupies had gotten crazier over the years. He would never forget the time he walked into his hotel room and found two naked women waiting for him after a game. Okay, so maybe that particular event wasn't so bad.
The stunt Renee pulled, however, tiptoed the line between overbearing and obsessive. He got the text from Jericho when he was at the restaurant but ignored it. The moment they were back at Sydney's home, Dean couldn't get on the phone with his brother fast enough. "What do you mean she showed up?"
"She showed up and was at the front door, man." Jericho replied. "I opened the door and there she was, Restylane face and all. Had it been Mom instead of me answering the door, she would still be here."
Renee was slowly becoming the uncomfortable itch on the asshole of life. "Fuck, dude…"
"Bro, I thought you said you ended it with her?" Jericho asked.
"I did." Dean was clear about it. "I told her about Sydney. Hell, she's met Sydney."
"Oh, you gotta me that story, bro." Jericho laughed.
"They sat next to each other at a game," Dean felt the hairs stand up on the back of his head when he discovered Renee's intrusion, "believe me, it was not intentional and they wouldn't have met at all if it were up to me."
"So why did she fly across the country just to see you?" Jericho asked. "Come on, bro, be real with me."
"I don't know why she flew there," Dean defended himself, "I told her I was out of town visiting family."
"Why didn't you tell her you were visiting Sydney?"
"So she could fly up here and surprise me? No, thank you." Dean briefly thought about how that interaction would've went. He could already imagine a Jerry Springer-type of fight. Knowing Renee, there would've been cameras capturing the entire thing. Dean would've said bye-bye to any credibility on the ice in addition to his relationship with Sydney. "Besides I didn't think I had to let her know my schedule at any given time."
"Well, you need to settle that, little brother." Jericho warned. "Unless you want to be a Real Househusband?"
"Fuck you," Dean replied and Jericho laughed, "thanks for the heads-up." He hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't know what Renee was up to but whatever it was, he was going to be a stop to it ASAP. He sent a text to Renee and turned off his phone for the night. If anyone important needed to reach him, they knew how to get a hold of him.
Renee wasn't important.
Sydney didn't believe in coincidences. She believed in karmic retribution and minding her own business. She'd never bothered anybody and nobody bothered her. She liked her boring and plain life. All she needed was a cat and she would be content.
She didn't buy into the whole everything happens for a reason spiel that her friends and family loved to say. When the stars aligned just right, in her mind, that's when an extraordinary event occurred.
Roman being at the restaurant tonight was an extraordinary event.
It'd been several months since she finally scrubbed the filth known as Roman Reigns off her body. At least figuratively. There would always be the permanent reminders of him on the inside of her right wrist, her inner left ankle, the small of her back, and along her torso.
They'd been together on and off for two years and it was two years too long if Sydney wanted to be completely honest. They were involved in an unconventional relationship – she was His submissive and He was her Dom. He was the best thing to happen to her because he taught her about loyalty, respect, self-worth and love. He was the worst thing that had ever happened to her because she had to go through plenty of bullshit to learn those lessons.
Still, Roman wasn't a complete asshole. When they were in the privacy of the home they shared, she took her submissive duties, assignments, and tasks seriously. She was often rewarded with little things that only a submissive understood the value of. If a man looked at Sydney the wrong way, Roman rearranged the guy's face and had the jail record to prove it. If her car needed a tune-up, he took care of it. It didn't escape Sydney that most of Roman's altruistic acts took place after he committed some foul shit against her.
Now he was back.
Running into him at the airport was a coincidence. Seeing him at the same restaurant a day later told her fate was playing tricks. She didn't know what the universe was saying but Sydney was not going to listen. She'd more than her fill of Roman to last a lifetime. Dean was what her heart and soul needed and that was that.
She just wished she could shake off the uneasy feeling that Roman came back into her life for a reason. When all else fails, she hit the canvas. At least she would be able to get some good art out of it.
"Is everything okay?"
Sydney looked up as Dean watched her frantically draw a figure. She was in the middle of shading it when he interrupted her. "Yeah, just working, that's all."
"Oh yeah?" Dean pulled up a chair behind Sydney and watched her work. She was drawing a black woman with a huge Afro. She had her arms in the air with tightly-curled fists along with the caption, Please don't try it this at home. "Powerful."
"I try," Sydney focused more on the figure, "everyone is so used to us being portrayed as slaves or as broken but we're so much more than that."
"You don't need to tell me twice," Dean nuzzled her neck. "Say, who was the guy at the restaurant?"
"What guy?"
"The guy who toasted us from a few seats away," He kissed the nape of her neck, "do you know him?"
Shit. She held eye contact with Roman longer than she should've and would've. It didn't occur to her that Dean might have also seen him. Her life seemed to be a romantic comedy and she was in the starring role of Blubbering Fool. "Oh that guy?"
"Another friend of yours? Why didn't he join us?" He asked.
"Because he's not a friend of mine," she replied.
It didn't take long for Dean to get the hint. "Oh."
"Yeah," Sydney picked up an eraser and began smudging. "So there's nothing to say. He was there and I just happened to be there at the same time. No big deal."
"But you're drawing like someone's holding a gun to your head," he noticed, "so it kinda is a big deal."
"He's nothing to worry about," she quietly replied, "I'm fine."
"You don't seem fine," he noticed, "should I be worried about you?"
Sydney wondered herself. "No, baby." Roman wasn't the type to barge into her life unless she explicitly wanted him there. Though she was sure Dean meant if she could handle Roman on her own, she also knew the unspoken implications of his question – if she was capable of staying faithful to him with a nearby ex? "It'll be fine."
"Good," Dean placed a series of small kisses all over Sydney's neck and shoulders. "If your left leg was Thanksgiving and your right leg was Christmas, can I visit you between the holidays?"
Sydney burst into laughter and turned to her boyfriend. "Sarah?"
"Of course," his wide smile revealed his dimples, "where else would I've learned that?"
"You are a hockey player so I don't know…" she trailed off.
Dean took the pencil away from Sydney and set it down. He stood up and placed his hands on Sydney's hips, nudging her to stand. "I want to celebrate."
"Celebrate what?"
Dean led Sydney to the living room and laid her down on the sofa. "Hanukkah."
