Page 11 of Offside Bride

“What?!”

“Whew! I’m glad I got that off my chest.”

“Griffin told the press I’mmarriedto Sawyer? What the heck, Emily?”

“It was an accident.”

“In what universe is that an accident? Is this a joke? This is a joke, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid not.”

I laugh anyway. “Well, that’s stupid.”

Just then the guys burst outside. Hendrix has the plate of cookies and a beer.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Griffin says. “I thought they were asking about Owen and Emily. It was loud and I couldn’t hear the question very well.”

“And it just escalated from there.” Owen supplies.

Hendrix bites into a cookie and laughs. Crumbs spill to the ground.

Griffin approaches me and takes a seat on the edge of one of the lounge chairs. Hendrix and Owen sit down at the small table shaded by an umbrella. Owen sets down his beer, stiff backed and rubbing the bridge of his nose, while Hendrix leans back enjoying the show. He takes a swig of his beer and crosses his ankle over his knee. He’s the picture of ease and breezy abandon.

Sawyer stands a few feet away, crossing his arms over his chest. He’s wearing the biggest scowl imaginable.

Honestly, I don’t blame him.

“Can somebody please tell me what’s going on?” I cry.

Emily places a hand on my knee. “Okay. Remember the bar fight the other day?”

“How could I forget?” My eyes dart to Sawyer’s for a second, and his jaw clenches.

“Well,” she continues. “Somebody recorded the whole thing on their phone, and it kinda went viral.”

“So?” I say. “I mean, I feel bad about the whole thing, but it wasn’t entirely our fault. Rugby fans are a little nuts.”

“They’re crazier than hockey fans,” Hendrix chimes in with a mouthful of cookie.

“That they are,” Owen agrees.

“So how did it go from bar brawl to married to the playboy?” I ask, a little annoyed but mostly curious and amused.

“I was at a charity event,” says Griffin. “And reporters were asking all sorts of questions. Mostly about our hopes for the next season. Usual stuff. But then one of them asked about the bar fight. Of course I wasn’t there, so who knows why she asked me. All I knew was what Owen had told me—that a fight broke out, you and Sawyer seemed to sneak away somehow, and he waited it out with Emily under a table where he could protect her from all the things flying everywhere.”

“Yeah,that’swhat they were doing under the table,” I say under my breath.

“Hang on. This is the funny part,” Hendrix says, having a jolly, old time.

I sigh. All I want to do is take a nap and then figure out how I’m going to make enough money to move out. But I suppose there’s a reason these guys are all here, although I’m pretty sure they can clean up this mess on their own. “Okay. I’m listening. What’s the funny part?”

“In my defense,” says Griffin. “There was a rock band playing at the charity event, and I could barely hear the questions.”

“Basically, he thought they were asking about me and Emily,” Owen says. “Not Sawyer.”

“And the only thing I said was that he was just trying to protect his wife. That’s it.”

“And the press ran with it,” Emily supplies. “Paired with the viral video, now your picture is all over social media and the sports section of the Toronto Herald.”

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