but always in tandem

always in tandem #1

by Youcouldmakealife

Doesn’t matter which jersey they’re wearing. Doesn’t matter that off the ice Robbie can’t even look at Georgie without feeling sick, half the time. Doesn’t matter that Robbie doesn’t think he’s ever hated anyone more. They still play beautiful hockey together.

Genres: Hockey, M M Romance, Sports, Romance, Gay, LGBT, Fan Fiction

376 pages, ebook

Published August 1, 2017

Reviews

[Snjez]

I've read 69 chapters out of 88 available at the moment. I don't think I'll be continuing. No rating, not because it's not finished, but because I don't know how to rate it.

For the longest time I was loving it so much, that I thought it would the easiest 5 stars I've given in a while. But ... more thoughts under the spoiler tag.

Robbie's POV - absolutely loved it. 100 % invested. This part of the story gave me all the feels. It was so intense, but in the best possible way. I couldn't put it down at this point.

Georgie's POV - I didn't expect it, but at first I thought ok. Sadly, the more I read, the more downhill it went. The author just started rushing through years, nothing happening between Robbie and Georgie. I felt like the story fizzled out and I started distancing myself from the characters. Like it's not the same story anymore.

Another thing are the relationships both of them started. I hoped it would be temporarily, but no. And now they're not on the same team anymore and I couldn't care less about Georgie's private life. I absolutely hate what is happening now, that's not what I want to read about. I don't feel hurt or heartbroken, just p***ed. And I miss Robbie. After spending so much time in his head, it feels like he is gone. I wish I'd stopped reading at the end of his POV

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

**** 4.5 stars ****

Seriously, now what?



Shall I have hopes?
wait?
forget about it?



I love the hockey universe Taylor Fitzpatrick has created.



She has a very distinctive voice and is probably the only author that makes me read from a 3rd person's POV.



What a festering wound this story was, so much pain, resentment and anger!
The hurt was so good!
I need more.

[Evelyn Bella (there WILL be spoilers) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're ever in the mood for feeling like your heart's been blended, I highly recommend this one.

No joke—this one's a stark depiction of what infidelity can do to someone.

The first half is told concurrently between the past and the present.

Georgie gets traded to Robbie's team and it's clear from the flashbacks that these two used to be inseparable (as friends and boyfriends) until Georgie cheated on Robbie and they split up.

I could tell why Robbie was angry and blindsided by both the past and present because reading about these two in the past? It doesn't make sense that Georgie would have done that. He was as gone for Robbie as the reverse, more maybe, and I hoped there's been some miscommunication somewhere.

Welp. There. Was. Not.

So. George's a cheater(for reasons that I then hoped would be forgivable, maybe? -spoiler alert? They weren't)

And Robbie's the poor baby who now has to face his ex whom he last saw after he walked in on him shortly after a hookup with someone that wasn't him three years ago.

Given Robbie's emotional situation in the present, it's clear he never really dealt with the heartbreak, just sort of shoved it down because he is WRECKED.

So here he is, in a locker room where he can't avoid his ex(they play on the same line), he can't talk to his close friends on the team(because the rest of the team is already giving Georgie a wide berth since nobody wants to piss him off as he's usually so easy going that the team figures if he has something against Georgie, Georgie HAS to have done something terrible. Which... Fair)

And he's not dealing. At all. He gets angrier and angrier, and more hurt, and eventually depressed.

Doesn't help that the fucking cheater is in his ear all the time, saying he's sorry a thousand times, talking about how Robbie's the love of his life. And how he understands why Robbie's so angry at him.

Andddddddd then they start fucking. Hate fucking, sure, but it's tearing them both up.

I don't know if it's better for the person who cheated on you to go on to live happily ever after with that person, or for them to have fucked you over for nothing in the end.

Because the latter's what happened here and let me tell you it is difficult to read.

Robbie HATES Georgie. For cheating on him. For ruining their friendship. For showing up on his team. For taking on the martyr role and just sucking it up whenever Robbie needs a punching bag. But most of all he hates Georgie for the simple fact that Robbie is still so, SO in love with him.

And after each fuck(sometimes before, some during 😂), Robbie would ask for details from the past affairs that were guaranteed to crush him, but he couldn't not ask. Got obsessed with it like picking at a scab.

"How many were they? No. Wait. Don't answer that. I don't care."

And Georgie(infuriating whore Georgie) would go....very gently btw...

"You care. I know you care."

💀💀💀💀Honestly I don't know how Robbie didn't stab him.

I didn't want Robbie to forgive Georgie. And I'm glad he doesn't —in this book. I know there's another, and these two are so hopelessly in love with each other that there's no way they don't get a HEA.

But Georgie didn't deserve forgiveness, not in this timeline. And I don't know if I'll feel differently by the end of the next one. The way things stand though, they're unhappy together and unhappy apart, and they don't really know what to do with that.

My favorite thing though was how Robbie's go to emotion was anger, because his anger was very valid, and he does rake Georgie over the coals a million times in this book. And it's still not enough.

Because the gaslighting from Georgie? Exquisite. He should teach a class.

One of the things Robbie hates (about himself) is that he knew Georgie was a cheater. He'd cheated on every girl he'd ever dated, with no remorse. But this poor baby was so in love with his best friend that he thought it would be different for them. Which—poor judgment call on his part, maybe, but.

He tried. To resist(Georgie insisted). To clarify(Georgie promised). Swore he'd be different for Robbie. And the poor schmuck bought it.

Turns out he wasn't the exception after all. And in the present, he still can't get over how stupid he was to believe him.

MEANWHILE. Every chance he gets, Georgie reiterates how Robbie shouldn't feel stupid for trusting him, how Robbie WAS, and IS not like anyone else. He's different to Georgie. Means so much more to Georgie.

Which, like..... CLEARLY NOT. (You wouldn't believe the number of times I wanted to throw shit when Georgie would get on this bullshit)

And I could get Robbie's frustration because how are you saying the most when your actions show the opposite?

Gaslit in 4K.

How does someone who cheated on you look at you with heartbreak in THEIR eyes, and tell you how you're the love of their life and they're still hung up on you?

Diabolical.

I'm so excited to start the next book.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need more!!!

[Laxmama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished B.A.I.T & S.A.I.T 💔

Please Taylor get back to this series

[the moodigader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of But Always in Tandem by Youcouldmakealife/ Rant About How Much I Can't Stand Georgie

1. Georgie is a horny and selfish bastard.
Georgie knew for a while that Robbie had feelings for him, BUT he also knew that Robbie was looking for a monogamous relationship and he knew about himself that that wasn't something he could/wanted to offer.

“You’re the boyfriend kind, though,” Georgie says.
“I don’t like, try to be,” Robbie says. “I just am.”

And yet, he still pulled Robbie into a relationship with him when he should've taken a step back for Robbie's sake. He disregarded Robbie's monogamous orientation and took advantage of Robbie's feelings, all for what? What was it that he would get in a romantic relationship with Robbie that he didn't already have in their friendship? Well, two things: 1) He'd get to have sex with Robbie, which was very on-brand with him since he was a horny bastard; and 2) he'd get to have Robbie all to himself, which was very selfish of him since had no intention of returning the favor.

2. Georgie had no intention of being faithful.
After becoming Robbie's boyfriend, Georgie had two choices: 1) Be up-front with Robbie about his inability to be monogamous and let Robbie decide if he'd still wan't to be in a relationship with him; or 2) promise Robbie that he would be faithful and then do his best to keep that promise no matter how difficult because he didn't want to hurt Robbie. But when he was given a chance, he chose neither.

“No fucking the first available chick when I’m not around?” Robbie asks [...].
He’s afraid Georgie’s going to get mad, but he just laughs. “When are you not around, babe?” he asks.

From the start, Georgie obviously had no intention of being faithful, but he didn't come clean about it because he knew it would be a deal breaker and he didn't want to lose Robbie. But he also didn't push himself to commit to be monogamous with Robbie because he knew that there was a good chance he would cheat on Robbie if the need come up and given the opportunity. So instead, he chose to omit that critical information to keep Robbie and thought that if it happened, if he cheated, it wouldn't matter because Robbie would never find out anyway. What Robbie didn't know wouldn't hurt Robbie, and an unaware Robbie is a Robbie he could keep.

3. Georgie felt bad only 'cause he got caught.
Before they were together, Georgie was hurt when Robbie slapped him with the truth that he was a serial cheater. And this was while he had a girlfriend named Kaitlin, and yet weeks later he still cheated on her and even had the audacity to implicate Robbie for simply being present at the crime scene.

“Didn’t guide your dick into her,” Robbie says.
“Didn’t stop me,” Georgie says.
“Not my fucking job, dude,” Robbie says. “You are in charge of your own dick.”

If he was someone who felt any shame or remorse, at all, while doing the act of cheating, from flirting to propositioning to doing the deed, he wouldn't have cheated on Kaitlin in front of Robbie, knowing how Robbie felt about his cheating and given that they had had a fight about it just weeks prior. He felt shame and remorse only after Kaitlin found out, was hurt by it, and broke up with him.

Same could be said about his cheating on Robbie. He cheated on Robbie with not one, not two, but five women, and god knows how many times he cheated with each of them. And all of these cheatings happened in the short span of one month or less. He first cheated on his 21st birthday in January and Robbie caught him in February.

“How long were you together?” Matty asks [...].
[...]
“A little over thirteen months,” Robbie says,

“I didn’t have sex with anyone else until the end,” Georgie says [...].
[...]
[Georgie:] “I was faithful for over a year—”

If Robbie meant to him half as much as he claimed Robbie did and if he felt half as much shame and remorse as he should have for cheating on someone who supposedly meant a lot to him, the guilt alone should have eaten him alive after the first time and should have been enough to stop him from doing it perhaps a second time but certainly a third time. But no, he did it again and again. And if he was guilt-ridden after each time he cheated on Robbie, it should have taken him at least a month to give in to his urges and cheat again. But no, the fact is, on average, he cheated on Robbie at least once every week. Again, he felt shame and remorse only after Robbie found out, was hurt by it, and broke up with him.

4. Georgie is a bullshitter and a gaslighter.
Let's be clear: Georgie had no valid reason for why he cheated on Robbie. All he had were excuses, and they weren't even acceptable excuses. They were bullshit excuses. So let's unpack his bullshit, shall we. He said he cheated because he was lonely and he was not doing well professionally. And apparently these pushed him into drinking, and when he was drunk, he cheated.

“I was lonely!” Georgie shouts, and Robbie quiets, because he doesn’t think he’s ever heard Georgie reach that volume off the ice.

“I had no friends there,” Georgie says flatly. “Later, maybe, but not at first. They needed me to be good, and I sucked. The more I tried not to suck, the worse I sucked, and the harder I tried, and it just �� it never got better. [...]”

So he cheated multiple times, and his reason was that he wasn't having a good time, and his excuse was that he was drunk. If you didn't roll your eyes at that, then you're a saint. I'm not saying he shouldn't have been lonely, given his situation at that time, but there are alternatives to drinking and cheating that he could have done to ease his loneliness. And I'm guessing it's a lot easier to make friends in a new place than it is to cheat on your boyfriend, unless of course you don't give a shit about said boyfriend.

“I resented you too,” Georgie says.
“For what?” Robbie asks. “What the fuck did—”
“You were playing awesome,” Georgie says. “You didn’t need me like I needed you, clearly, because I was fucking sucking, and you were just as good as you were without me. You were playing awesome, and you were having fun, like, you’d bitch about classes but you’d knock them out of the park too, and I missed you every fucking second but you seemed to be doing just fine without me.”

And the truth came out of his lying mouth eventually. Yes, he was lonely; yes, he was miserable; yes, he was failing. But those are simply what pushed him toward cheating; they are not the reason why he cheated. Cheating is a process, and he had all the chance to not cheat in all the time while he was flirting with the woman, driving her to his place, and while he was undressing her and himself. Cheating is a conscious decision, and he consciously decided to cheat; his dick didn't just fall into a hole and stayed there for a while by accident. Cheating is intentional and motivated, and he intentionally cheated on Robbie and his motivation was his resentment. And he did it multiple times because somehow that resentment was reason enough in his mind to do it over and over and over again.

5 Georgie is a victim blamer and a manipulator.
After everything he'd done to Robbie, Georgie still had the audacity, the fucking audacity, to blame Robbie for his shitty actions, implying that Robbie was somehow partly responsible for him cheating. When Robbie asked why he cheated, he said:

“I was so fucking lonely, and the person I missed more than anyone kept brushing it off when I told him! [...]”

“I’m not making excuses, I am fucking telling you the answer to what you asked me,” Georgie bites out. “So fucking listen for once in your goddamned life, you self-centered asshole.”

Like I said, he's a gaslighter. Yes, he missed Robbie, but Robbie missed him too! And yes, he was lonely and miserable, but what was Robbie supposed to do! Robbie had school and was struggling to keep his GPA afloat while playing hockey himself! Robbie couldn't just leave and be in Cleveland to cuddle and coddle him. And the way he blamed Robbie for his loneliness, it was as if Robbie cut off all communications between them, when it fact they semi-regularly texted and called each other and occasionally had video calls over Skype to have virtual sex. What more could Robbie have done!?

Every day there’s texts, most days a call of at least a couple minutes, Skype whenever they can, which isn’t as much as Robbie would like, especially during road trips, because Georgie has a roommate and it’s probably rude to kick him out so you can jerk off with your boyfriend.

He had more than enough opportunities to be straightforward with Robbie, to admit exactly how lonely and miserable he was, to confess about his drinking problem and the onset of his urges to cheat. But he did not. He was so bad at communicating, and he blamed Robbie for failing to keep up. One evidence of this is the part where he used an analogy to a Russian roulette instead of telling Robbie what he actually meant, and of course it confused Robbie. Even I who read the exchange repeatedly didn't get it.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Robbie asks. “The fuck are you playing at?”
“You asked me a question, I answered it,” Georgie says.
“With some manipulative bullshit,” Robbie says.

So yes, instead of taking full responsibility for his shitty actions, he chose instead to lay half the blame on Robbie. And the sad fact is, Robbie took and bore that blame. I have to give it to Georgie. He was able to make Robbie believe that he was partly responsible for Georgie cheating on him with not one, not two, but five women, not to mention the repeat performances, in the short span of four weeks. And on top of that, Georgie was somehow able to get Robbie begging for him to stay by the end of it all. Incredible.

And the kicker to Georgie's overall disgusting shittiness is, he did all of those things not to someone he randomly met in a club or through a dating up but to someone who was his best friend first before he was his lover. Ugh, I can't stand him.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young, fumbling sports boys
can’t get out of their own way.
Heartwrenchingly true.

[Pjm12 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read over a year or so. Online at AOO.

Some really sad stuff here.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always in Tandem Review #1

I started reading the AIT series in March 2025, after BAIT and SAIT are finished. All I can say, after reading the two books back to back, is that I am in love and slightly obsessed with this series.

Taylor’s book tends to be single POV but this series diverges from the norm - book 1 is single POV from Robbie, the first half of book 2 is single POV from Georgie, and the second half of book 2 is dual POV and possibly my favorite part of the series so far.

It’s interesting, that Robbie’s single POV covers 2010 summer to 2017 summer (7 years) and Georgie’s POV picks up from 2017 summer until 2025 February (7.5 years, almost equal length.) The only bone I have to pick here, is that we got enough of Georgie’s experience during the 2010-2017 period to piece everything together. But we never got enough of what happened to Robbie between 2017-2025 (at least, by the end of SAIT.)

I had great reservations prior to starting BAIT. I knew it wasn’t a “happy” story, and I was deeply worried that it was going to be a tough read, a read that breaks my heart, with how two people who were the love of each other’s life, to Robbie hating Georgie’s entire existence. But it was surprisingly a pleasant read and exceeded my sky high expectations for Taylor Fitzpatrick.

The dual timeline worked extremely well, in no small part due to the author’s meticulous planning, where the end of the first relationship overlapped with the start of the second “relationship.” Both burning with anger and sadness. And reading the scene where Robbie was sitting in the rain, outside of Georgie’s apartment in Cleveland with 50 bucks in the pocket and had no option but to cry into the cell phone to her mom, the past two and a half years of good memories, the best time of his life, shattered to pieces and forever tainted with betrayal of the worst kind. All of (present) Robbie’s anger and hatred suddenly made sense.

Robbie’s POV is also a joy to read. The little ball of anger/hate is funny and relatable, even when he is acrimonious and mean. It's easy to hate Georgie given the damages he's done, but there were enough humanizing elements that made Georgie a flawed but lovable character. Here, I wish that the author would elaborate a bit more on how awful the long distance relationship was, and how difficult it was for Georgie to deal. The author touched on it but not enough to make the audience relate yet.

I also particularly enjoyed the parts with the therapists. The author handled the parts extremely well in pushing the development of Robbie's character.

My only complaint is that the book "wallowed" a bit too much in Robbie's pain & depressive episodes. I did not feel that when reading, but looking back, the book felt a bit unbalanced.

[andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that makes me regret ever rating any other book five stars. It just cuts right into the bone, and you feel everything the characters feel. I haven’t cried the way I did reading this since I read a Little Life. A little life!!!! Like you can’t find a more different book, but those are the two books that makes me cry. And the fact that Taylor can make me cry over something as ‘simple’ (in comparison to Jude St Francis) as a college boyfriend cheating during long distance??? Fucking insane.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This kinda rips your heart out. and no indication whether they will ever get back together

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fucking gut wrenching, but really good. Only sort of a romance.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic

[Kickhy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down one of the most terrible emotional roller coaster books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading! Phew!
If you are in the mood for some hurting, better get yourself on this!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no idea why this is such a comforting read when it's really kind of sad. Like, I have faith these guys are going to get an HEA eventually if Fitzpatrick doesn't pull a GRRM, but they're like decades away from it at the end of this volume.

[Alec ⚣ · Rating 5 out of 5]