Page 9 of Offside Bride

Stepping into the massive foyer of Emily and Owen’s house, I drop my keys in the fancy bowl they keep by the door. I make a beeline for the spare bedroom I currently occupy with the intention of checking on my polymer clay inventory. It’s been a while since I made jewelry, and I might be low on supplies.

“Oh yay, Maggie you’re here!” Emily intercepts me at the foot of the stairs, chirping her greeting as if she didn’t see me a mere two hours ago. “I’m so glad to see you. I need to ask you something.”

She yanks me by the arm and drags me toward the kitchen.Thatkitchen. I give the island counter the side-eye as we walk in.

“I made sugar cookies,” she says, offering me an entire plate.

“Did you roll out the dough on the counter?” I ask skeptically.

She just looks at me confused. “It’s quartz, Maggie.”

So that means yes.

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

“Oh.” She looks positively crestfallen. “How about some iced coffee?”

NowthatI can get on board with. “Extra caramel?”

“Of course.”

She throws together two iced coffees in mason jars, adds whipped cream and glass straws, and we take them to the backyard since it’s such a beautiful day.

We sit on lounge chairs overlooking the pool, sipping in companionable silence until our drinks are half gone. I figure now is as good a time as any to tell her I was fired.

“So,” I start. “You’ll never guess what happened to me today.”

Her eyes go wide, and she stutters, “Uh…oh. You heard?”

“Heard? Heard what?” Obviously she has some kind of news other than my jobless situation.

I’m trying to decipher if it’s good or bad when Owen bursts through the rear patio doors and rushes over to us. “Did you tell her?”

He’s followed closely by Griffin, his team’s goalie, and Hendrix, the other guy on his team that skates around the ice like a hotshot. I don’t know what position he plays, and I probably wouldn’t understand it if they told me. So I just file that information under “things I don’t need to know at this time” and smile.

Then, as if my heart can’t take any more of a beating today, out walks Sawyer, slow and casual, deliberately hanging back by the pergola. He’s wearing low-slung jeans and a V-neck T-shirt with some kind of leather necklace hiding underneath.

I hate that he looks so bleeping delicious. I hate that I’d rather have him than this caramel iced coffee for my afternoon delight. I hate that I’m even entertaining the thought when I should be questioning what Owen just said.

Did you tell her?

Maybe he’s talking about someone else. Or maybe they found me an affordable apartment and can’t wait to tell me about it.

Emily throws a piece of ice at him. “Go away. We just sat down.”

“You haven’t told her yet?” he says.

“Tell me what?” I ask. “Is there a new apartment listing?”

Emily and Owen swear by their real estate agent. He found them this amazing house in the Bridle Path neighborhood.

When my loser roommates got us evicted, Owen asked his agent to help me find a place of my own. He’s a nice guy, he really is. But all the apartments are just slightly over my price range. Lord knows the commission can’t be great for him. I thinkhe’s just doing a favor for Emily and Owen because the sale of this house got him a new Cadillac.

Owen and Emily exchange a look, which the other three hockey players seem to be in on as well. They’re all exchanging knowing glances. It’s making me itchy.

“Well…” Emily says. “I guess you could put it that way.”

Sawyer scoffs from his place leaning on the wood column of the pergola. His arms are crossed, and he’s looking everywhere but in my direction.

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