by Vera Roberts
Paparazzi caught her on dates with random men and all of them had one thing in common – they were beyond rich. Some looked better than others, but they were all loaded. She never had a boyfriend – could she even call them that? – longer than a few weeks. They were simply there to keep her bed warm and a storyline on the show. When she was done with them, she simply moved onto the next one.
She knew as well as anyone did there was only one man who would ever have her heart and he was mysteriously absent once again.
As Rebecca waited for her scene, she glanced down at her phone. Still no word from Dean and she wondered if he accidentally lost her number. No, he knew her number. He practically had it memorized the fateful night he called her, sounding despondent and desperate.
She didn’t know what was the bigger mistake – thinking the weeklong excursion was the start of a new beginning or answering Dean’s calls to begin with.
Not that it mattered. Dean gifted her the biggest storyline in her career and she was so glad her workouts paid off. Her body looked fantastic in the photos and she was about to catapult into stardom never seen before. She already had her own set of emojis – Rebrojis – and she had numerous sponsorship deals.
Rebecca often went to sleep with thoughts of dollar signs – not sugar plums – sweetly dancing in her head.
Truth was, she didn’t need Dean. She wanted him, and that was the difference. They were perfect together. They could’ve been the ultimate power couple; a not-so ethnic version of Bey and Jay and Kim and Kanye.
The super-hot hockey player with the reality star? She saw their own spinoff show, shots of Dean taking her ice skating at the local rink, and Rebecca trying to juggle being a wife and mother while maintaining her killer bod.
It was going to happen, regardless of how Dean felt or thought he felt about naïve Sydney. The moment she found about their tryst and the photos? It was a done deal. She would never forgive him and she’ll be gone and out of their lives for good.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect since Rebecca was flirting with 30. Her blowout birthday was in a few weeks and what better way to celebrate than to release the photos.
Happy Birthday to me.
Fifteen
“My advice to you, Dean, is to have fun while you’re young,” Gavin advised to him. He took his sons out fishing while their mother had some alone time at home. “Don’t settle just because you think you like some girl. She might be great today and a few months later, you’ll wonder why you even bothered with her.”
17-year-old Dean listened intently as he waited for fish to take his bait. “How old you were you when you met Mom?”
“I was your age,” Gavin chuckled, “I saw her and knew, that was it. I had to have her.”
“But you dated for a while before she said yes?” Dean’s older brother, Chris, chimed in, “it wasn’t overnight.”
“Nah, it wasn’t and it worked out. We dated for five years before we got married. Had you, Chris, within the first two years, and Dean a short time later. But we had fun. We didn’t rush into anything. She supported my dreams and I supported hers. She wanted to teach and I paid for her schooling so she could. When she had you two, I took time off from work to help her out. There aren’t any gender roles with us.”
“Gender roles?” Dean asked. “What does that mean?”
“I didn’t have any expectation on what she should be doing because she’s a woman. She had no expectations on what I should be doing because I’m a man. We evened it out. Sometimes she covered for me in terms of finances and sometimes I covered for her. That’s what love is. It’s not about who’s going to pay for the date this time. It’s never 50-50, despite what everyone else loves to tell you. It’s about loving someone so much, you won’t mind helping them out because you honestly expect nothing in return.” Gavin replied. “If you love someone so much, you won’t keep track of what you did for them or what they’ve done for you. All of that is irrelevant.”
“That means it’s not important,” Chris advised to his younger brother.
“I know what irrelevant means, Chris,” Dean snapped back, “it means what you’ll be in a few years.”
“Anyway,” Gavin chuckled, “choose one, choose wisely. A woman will only allow you to mess up so many times before she gives up on you completely. Don’t ever give her a reason to.”
“Earth to Dean?” Dean’s lawyer, Samuel, snapped his fingers in front of his client. “Are you okay?”
Dean shook his head to relieve the memory and focused more on what was in front of him. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“Here are the terms of the prenuptial agreement,” Samuel slid the document over to Dean. “Look them over carefully and see if it’s favorable to you. Sydney’s lawyer had some suggestions of her own and I thought they were rather fair considering Sydney’s current income and any future earnings.”
Dean quickly skimmed over the prenup and nodded in agreement. “What about child-rearing?”
“She’ll be well-compensated. She’ll also receive a bonus for every year you’re married.” Samuel advised. “She’ll receive that bonus at the dissolution of marriage.”
Dean closely read the document. Should Sydney die, the bonus would be set up in a trust fund for any children they have, adopted or conceived. If no children were born, the money will be established in an art foundation for underprivileged and at-risk children and teens. Dean was a bit irritated at the wording of it all – it had Ian written all over it – but he couldn’t be mad. Ian actually had Dean’s best interest in mind.
In return, all the money and endorsements Dean made prior to their marriage would be his and the same would be for Sydney.
“If everything is okay, all you need to do is sign and I’ll fax this over to Sydney’s lawyer right now,” Samuel suggested.
“Before I sign, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” Dean slid the document to the side. “There are photographs of me that might be released soon.”
“Photographs of you doing what?” Samuel’s eyes narrowed and his voice was flat.
“Being intimate with someone else,” Dean responded, “I need to know my legal rights.”
“Intimate in what way?” Samuel asked. “Sexual acts?”
“Yes,” Dean replied, with a stain of regret.
“Does the other party have the photos?” Samuel asked and Dean nodded. “Have you seen the photos?”
“It’s clear it’s me,” Dean responded, “can she legally do that?”
“Without your permission, she can’t and she can get sued.” Samuel replied. “However, she can claim the pictures were stolen or someone else took them and unless we can prove she’s lying, I have to say you’re royally screwed, kid.”
Dean let out a heavy sigh. There was no doubt, those pictures would be the finally nail in the coffin with Sydney and Dean was holding the hammer. “Okay.”
Samuel read Dean’s face. He looked like a man who was in heavy remorse but more afraid of the future. “Sydney doesn’t know about the pictures?”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“Your plan to give her the prenup before she knows about the pictures is a stupid one,” Samuel cut to the chase, “tell her about the pictures and then present the prenup to her.”
“What if she doesn’t want to sign it after she sees the pictures?” Dean worried. If Sydney never forgave him, he completely deserved it. “What then?”
“You know the answer to that question, Dean.” Samuel replied. “You don’t need me to tell you.”
~~~~~
“Well,” Sydney wiped her damp forehead, “what do you think?”
Quinn was in awe by Sydney’s amazing mural. It covered the entire wall and started from when he was a child, standing with his parents to solo picture of him holding a baseball bat at the plate, to the world-famous picture of him winning his first World Series. Rich colors of orange, black, white, green, and deep blue covered the surface.
Anothe
r corner had a painting of Jeffrey, while the crowd behind Quinn pitching was Lego figures cheering him on.
“This is fantastic, Sydney!” Quinn took out his phone and snapped a couple of pics. “Do I mind if I post them online?”
“No, go ahead. I still have some work to do on it but it should be fine.” She smiled. “I’m just so glad you like it.”
“I more than like it. I truly love this!” Quinn beamed. “This is so incredible.”
“Yay!” Sydney cheered. “I love that you love it!”
“Man,” Quinn stepped closer to the mural and was amazed by the intricate detail, “I think I might have underpaid you.”
“Don’t worry about it!” Sydney took a sip of water. “I’m just so glad you liked it. I tried to represent everything about your life and hopefully it’ll reflect in the future as well. I left out Bobbi because I wanted to see where things go with you two before I included her.”
Quinn lightly chuckled. “You spoke to her, huh?”
“I told her to go with her gut and not to worry about the outside noise.” Sydney assured. “It’s advice I’ve also given myself.”
“I keep forgetting how hard it might be to be on the other end. It’s one thing if you’re the athlete but it’s a completely different ball game if you’re the athlete’s significant other.” He replied.
“It’s not an easy job but somebody’s gotta do it,” Sydney received a text on her phone and checked it. It was Dean. I need you home so we can talk about something serious. She slightly frowned at the text. It was unlike Dean to send her something cryptic and serious so she knew there was trouble. “I need to go now but I’ll be back later to finish it.”
“Thanks so much, Sydney!” Quinn gave her a light hug. “I’ll see you soon!”
~~~~~
Is he about to break up with me? Is he going to leave me? Does he want me to quit art? What is going on?
No less than a dozen things ran through Sydney’s mind as she hurried home to see what was bothering her boyfriend. The last two months have been great and relatively worry-free. They’ve made love like it was their part-time hobby and all of the wrinkles in their relationship seemed to have ironed out.
Now something was amiss.
She parked Dean’s SUV in the driveway and barely turned off the car before she rushed inside. “Dean?” She called out. “Dean, baby?”
“I’m here,” His deep voice boomed from the hallway with one hand behind his back. “Close your eyes.”
“What?” She questioned. “I get a weird text from you so I dropped everything I was doing at Quinn’s and…” She noticed Dean’s stance. “…what’s behind your back?”
“Just close your eyes.” He repeated.
“Uh, fine.” Sydney rolled her eyes before she closed them. She felt Dean lead her to the living room where she sat down on the plush brown sofas. “Now can you tell me what’s all this about?”
“Open your eyes.”
Sydney opened her eyes and was astonished by the dozens for roses surrounding her. “Oh my gosh!”
“And one more thing,” Dean revealed his hand carried a tiny Chihuahua. He handed the dog over to Sydney. “It’s for you.”
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Sydney hugged the tiny puppy. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“It’s a boy,” Dean replied.
“Boss! That’s his name, Boss.” Sydney giggled as the Chihuahua licked her face.
“There’s one more thing,” Dean walked closer to her and got down on one knee.
“Holy shit!” Sydney screamed.
“I know we were trying to take things slow but that’s not the pace neither of us is comfortable with. We don’t have to get married right away but I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else,” Dean opened the box to reveal a stunning radiant-cut diamond ring, “Sydney Rose, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Oh God, yes!” She screamed again as Dean slipped the ring on her. She gave him a bear hug and kissed him. “This is the best day of my life!”
Dean felt his stomach churn into slow knots. He was about to make it the worst day of Sydney’s life but he had no other option. “Sydney, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?” Sydney giggled as Boss licked her face. “This is the most incredible gift!”
“While we were broken up, I was with someone else.”
“You told me that already, babe.” Sydney giggled as Boss kept licking her face.
“I didn’t tell you who it was and how long we were together,” Dean blew out a slow breath before he turned to look at Sydney, “I was with Rebecca the entire week. She has pictures of us she’s threatening to release to the public soon.”
Sydney slowly put the dog on the floor and rested her head on her hand. After several long moments, she glanced down at her engagement ring and adjusted it. The happiest moment of her life quickly turned into the worst.
It was time to make lemonade out of lemons. ‘“Well,” she cleared her throat, “I guess this means I’m getting a bigger ring.”
Sixteen
“Girl, let me tell you about those younger men,” Sarah bellowed as she brought over Chinese food and wine, “I don’t know who put the myth that younger men don’t know what to do in bed, but trust and believe, Jameson put an end to that bullshit.”
“He’s blowing your back out?” Sydney took out the wine glasses.
“Girl, he made me break a damn sweat,” Sarah pulled out the chopsticks and the best friends made their way over to the living room, “he pulled me on top and was like, ‘Ride me, baby’ and I’m like, ‘You sure you want my big ass on top of you?’ and girlfriend…he gave me that wink. You know the wink…”
“You want to take this dick?” Sydney chuckled.
“That’s the one!” Sarah sighed. “And yeah, he kept giving it and I kept taking it like a champ. Now his balls are drained and I’m bowlegged but enough about me, let’s talk about why I’m over here.”
Sydney rolled her eyes. It had been a long week in the Winchester household and Sydney used her spare time at the loft to work on her art show projects and avoid Dean whenever she could. Even when he presented a new ring to her, it had an awful stain from why he gave it to her. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“Not really,” Sarah took a bite of broccoli beef, “you two were on a break, whatever the hell that means, and you both did some really stupid shit. I say you’re pretty even in this aspect.”
“I can’t believe he freaking told me after he proposed!” Sydney exclaimed. “Like, who does that?”
“Your man,” Sarah pointed out, “pretty shitty of him, yes, but at least he told you.”
“He knew if he told me before, I would’ve never said yes.” Sydney shook her head.
“Maybe, but he also knew if he told you when you were in a really good mood, it wouldn’t have made a difference.” Sarah defended him. “It’s been a week already, Syd, and you’re still wearing your ring.”
“He upgraded it,” Sydney glanced down at the enormous rock on her finger. She particularly loved how it shined from all aspects, no matter the lightening. “It was five carats. Now it’s 10.”
“Hold up, hold up, hold up…” Sarah grabbed Sydney’s left hand and stared at her enormous rock. “…how in the hell do you have a ring bigger than mine and I’m the one married to a billionaire?”
“I got the Kobe special,” Sydney quipped, “the ‘I Fucked Up So Bad and Embarrassed You in Front of the World’ special. The ‘Please Don’t Leave My Dumbass’ ring.”
“Oh, bump that noise!” Sarah took out her cell phone and dialed Jameson. “Hey, baby? Yeah, I’m going to need a bigger ring. How much bigger? I’m going to need the Mariah Carey Salma Hayek Ugly Billionaire special. No, I’m not calling you ugly, babe. I’m saying I need you to buy me a ring as if you were the ugliest fool on the planet. Thanks, babe. I’ll call you later. Ti amo tanto.”
“I don’t know what I’m
going to do,” Sydney slumped down to the floor, “I don’t know what this means.”
“What does it mean?” Sarah put her phone away. “You’re engaged – again. You’re living together. You’re going over the details of your prenup. You’re getting married to Dean, Syd. You’re going to have snot-nosed babies I’m not going to babysit for free. You’re going to be the art darling of the industry and probably work for some major graphic arts company if you choose to go that route. You’re going to accompany Dean to all of those fancy-schamancy industry events and pretend you like an overpaid and overhyped A-list America’s Sweetheart while you give her fake air kisses and comment some shit on how you like her hair when really it looks and smells like piss and vinegar.” Sarah finished her wine in a gulp. “And then you’re going to live Happily Ever After.”
“If these pictures come out, I’m going to look like a fool,” Sydney worried.
“Who cares? You’re with Dean now and you’ll be with him forever. People are going to talk about your art more than whatever gossip between you two. If you think this is going to cause a dent in your relationship, then maybe, you need leave Dean alone and for good.” Sarah warned. “But it’s clear to me, it’s not a deep issue. Yeah, he slept with his ex. You slept with your super hot manager who’s not me. I say you two were both assholes but now you can move on. He has a defending championship and you have a major art show in less than six weeks. That’s enough for both of you to concentrate on what’s really important.”
Sydney leaned against her best friend and sighed with relief. “Why do you always know what to say?”
“Wisdom comes with experience,” Sarah shrugged, “and getting a good dick-down played a role.”
“I already signed the prenup,” Sydney replied, “so there’s that.”
“Hmm…” Sarah thought aloud, “who says you can’t amend it?”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to be an ass about it but play hardball with him. If he really wants to be with you, he won’t have an issue with your terms. Be generous but also be fair.” Sarah mentioned. “In the words of Ivana Trump, don’t get mad; get everything.”