Page 36 of A Play For The Heart
She whips her head back at Sawyer, who shoots her a guilty smile. Maren shoots daggers at her, then closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Her jaw is clenched so tight she may crack a tooth. She looks back at Sawyer and smiles, except it comes out more like a murderous grin. I shiver and turn back to Sawyer, who is biting her lip in an attempt not to laugh. I’m not sure exactly why Maren doesn’t like Jack, but it must be ridiculous if Sawyer is holding back laughter.
Maren snatches her beer the moment the bartender sets it down and storms off towards the table. I watch her slide into the booth across from Jack and sips her beer, not breaking eye contact with him while she does.
Alright then.
I can’t peel my eyes away from the stare down when I notice Deon get up and head towards me, clearly trying to avoid whatever is happening over there. He shakes his head as he makes his way to me, clearly amused by whatever one of them just said.
“Do you know what is going on with those two?” he asks, looking back at the two of them before grimacing at Maren’s signature scowl. He turns from me, noticing I haven't ordered, and flags the bartender then looks back to me for a response.
“I have no idea.”
I peer over at Sawyer and Nathalie, hoping one of them can answer the question.
The two of them burst out in laughter, nearly keeling over. Deon and I watch in utter shock as they gasp for breaths, like whatever happened between Maren and Jack was the funniest thing to ever happen. Nathalie is clutching her sides while Sawyer smacks the air, the two of them unraveling in the middle of the bar. Eventually, Sawyer's laughter turns into soft giggles and she gazes at me, tears of laughter in her eyes.
“I’m not sure how the topic came up, but according to Maren, the first time they met they were talking about some nature documentary and Maren said something about a bug in South America and Jack corrected her saying it was in Africa. Maren was confident she was right. Except he looked it up and she was wrong. And Maren did not respond to that well. Especially when he laughed at her reaction.”
I chuckled, not surprised by his apparent knowledge of African bugs. Jack watches a shocking number of documentaries, and I swear he knows more biology facts than I could ever imagine.
“Oh. It gets worse. Well, according to Maren, it gets worse. Personally, I think the whole thing is funny.” She and Nathalie laugh again, and she continues. “He then said that LeBron was the greatest player of all time. That really sent Maren off the deep end.”
“Maren made me listen to her entire speech about the Jordan versus Lebron debate after she told us what happened,” Nathalie shivers, reliving the memory, “If anyone was curious, Jordan has two more championship rings than Lebron.”
“I do remember her screaming about Michael Jordan at one point and Jack laughing at her outburst. He seemed amused, not upset.”
“Oh, he was amused. Maren was pissed. She spent days complaining about him to Nathalie and me. Which is why I didn’t tell her he was going to be here.”
All four of us turn our heads to look at Maren and Jack sitting in the booth. Neither of them is speaking. Maren is glaring at Jack; Jack is smiling back at Maren. All four of us chuckle at them. The bartender returns with the beers, and we move back towards the booth. Sawyer slips into the booth next to Jack, and I sit down next to her. Beside Maren, Nathalie slides into the booth, followed by Deon.
Maren breaks the staring competition and looks at Deon and me, pointedly excluding Jack in her statement. “We watched the game on Thursday. You two played well in the second half.”
“Thank you,” Deon says gracefully.
“We?” I question at the same time.
“Yeah. All three of us.” Maren gestures to Sawyer and Nathalie.
I look down at Sawyer, and she just smiles. I look back to the table when Nathalie clears her throat. “It’s confirmed. You three actually play football. It wasn't just a ruse to get out of snack duty.”
The table is silent. One second. Two seconds.
Then Deon breaks out in booming laughter at Natalie’s comment. His chest shakes as he sucks in oxygen. “You still weren’t confident we were? Even after Sawyer confirmed it?”
I'm not sure I've ever heard Deon laugh so hard since I met him.
Nathalie blushes, but then straightens her shoulders and turns directly to Deon. Ready to defend herself. “I don’t know what football players look or act like. Before you three, I had never met one. Nor have I fangirled over any either. So, yes. It took watching you prance around the field for the knowledge to fully settle. Plus, people will say anything to avoid cutting carrots and celery. Lying about being a professional athlete isn’t entirely unbelievable.”
Deon looks at her curiously then, something I can’t decipher flickering across his gaze.
“We don’t prance,” Jack guffaws, defending us. “We run majestically.” He says, proudly.
“They may run majestically,” Maren declares, sipping on her beer, “but you prance.”
A mischievous gleam forms in Jack's eyes, as he smirks at Maren. “Were you watching me on TV, Maren baby?”
The victorious smile Maren had on her face instantly fades away at his response. We all watch while her cheeks go red in annoyance. She simply huffs at him and goes back to sipping her beer.
I take the moment of silence to look at Sawyer, who is already almost finished with her first vodka cranberry. Her cheeks are rosy from the alcohol flowing through her bloodstream. A blonde curl falls in front of her eyes, and the urge to tuck the piece behind her ear is overwhelming. Before I can think better of it, my hand is moving. Gently, I take the rogue strand of golden hair and tuck it behind her ear. I let my hand linger for a moment before I pull away.
