31. Shayla
31
SHAYLA
M y phone buzzed in my pocket for what felt like the millionth time. I was in a meeting and couldn’t look to see who it was, but they were persistent. Fear crept up my spine at the thought it could be my mom. I was torn. Something could be wrong, but I didn’t want to be unprofessional and pull my phone out in front of the general manager and coach. Claire wouldn’t care, but the others might. Finally, the meeting came to a close and the two men across the table stood. My shoulders relaxed, but before I could retrieve my phone, Mr. Perkins, the Wraiths’ GM, spoke up.
“Ms. March, I understand you and Mr. Walker tied the knot recently.” My stomach dropped, and a cold sweat broke out across my brow. Shit, was I in trouble? Easton assured me this wouldn’t cause problems for us at work. I swallowed hard, straightening my spine as though I had nothing to worry about.
“We did,” I confirmed. His skeptical gaze softened, and he gave me a warm smile.
“So the rumors are true,” he mused. “Congratulations,” he offered, and I thanked him. It had only been a couple days, but news had spread about Easton and I getting married in Vegas. I received several congratulatory hugs from players and staff as well as some expressions of shock. I couldn’t blame them. I still felt a little stunned by the turn of events.
Everyone cleared out of the conference room besides Claire and me. I finally fished my phone out and saw several missed calls and texts from my friends. This couldn’t be good.
Ignoring my call log, I went straight to the group chat.
Hailey: Shayla, you need to answer your phone. This is an SOS.
Hailey: I’m serious. Pick. Up. Your. Damn. Phone.
Brynlee: Yeah, babes, we need to talk to you.
Delilah: Guys, she’s probably at work. Give her a second.
Emily: What did I miss?!?!
Melody: What the hell is going on? Are we being invaded by aliens or something?
Hailey: No, but Shayla has some serious explaining to do.
There was a link attached to Hailey’s last message. I clicked on it, then nearly dropped my phone when it opened. It was a grainy photo of Easton and me leaving the Vegas wedding chapel, me clad in my white dress, clinging to Easton’s arm for dear life. The title read “Hockey heartthrob Easton Walker weds team dietician in secret Vegas ceremony.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, bracing a hand on the conference table to balance myself.
“What is it?” Claire asked, peering over my shoulder.
I’d known the news would break eventually, but nothing could’ve prepared me for seeing my name and image splashed across a celebrity gossip site. I wanted to crawl in a hole and hide from the entire world. Noting my distress, Claire snatched the phone from my hand and began reading the article out loud.
“Easton Walker has finally settled down. Hockey’s biggest playboy is officially off the market. You may be wondering which of the lovely ladies in his life has what it takes to pin down the league’s most eligible bachelor. Well, it’s no one we’ve ever seen with him before. It appears Walker fell hard and fast for Wraiths’ dietician, Shayla March. Both March and Walker are new to the Wraiths’ franchise this year, and sources are saying it’s been a whirlwind romance.”
Sources? What sources? Before I could entertain that line of thought, Claire continued.
“They met only a couple months ago, but they’ve already taken the plunge. Their quickie wedding has hockey fans wondering, what’s the rush?” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let out a frustrated huff of air. “What the hell?” Claire mumbled, and my head snapped up.
“What?” I asked and grabbed the phone from her. Below the text was a screenshot of a social media post from a well-known gossip rag. It was the same image from the article with the first few comments visible below the image.
“A shotgun wedding after only knowing each a couple months. That could only mean one thing.” The comment was punctuated by a pregnant woman emoji.
“What’s the rush?!? She’s obviously preggers,” the second comment read.
My lunch threatened to make a reappearance. All these people thought Easton and I had gotten married because he knocked me up. The joke was on them. We hadn’t even slept together. Before I could finish the article, my phone buzzed in my hand, and I startled. Hailey’s name flashed with an incoming call. I excused myself and slipped out of the conference room to head to my office. I would need privacy for this conversation. Heaving a deep breath, I slid my finger across the screen and brought the phone to my ear, prepared to make my case.
“Hailey, I can explain.”
“You’re still on my shit list,” Hailey announced before taking a sip from her fishbowl-sized glass of sangria. She was still salty that I hadn’t told her about my plans to marry Easton. Brynlee snickered at her petulance, and Delilah shook her head, attempting to hide her amusement. Melody and Emily both sat quietly, their expressions sympathetic.
It had been a shit-tastic week, and this dinner party was meant to be my reprieve from the chaos that had erupted after news broke about mine and Easton’s wedding. My image was splashed across gossip sites and social media accompanied by speculation about our relationship. Everyone either swore I must be pregnant, criticized my less than perfect body, or both. I finally had to stop looking and started ignoring the tags.
My friends had been understandably shocked and confused by the sudden turn of events. They were all under the impression I hated Easton’s guts considering our history. They had a front row seat to all the misery he’d caused me, and now I was married to the man. My friends had every right to be miffed. I left them in the dark during one of the biggest events of my life, and they had to find out about it on social media.
They understood, of course, why I did what I did. I’d tried to give them the watered down PR version of events like we had with everyone else, but they saw right through the bullshit. I eventually broke down and told them everything, from my family’s financial struggles and my father’s refusal to help, to how I needed to get married to access my trust fund. They were all incredibly supportive and vowed to take my secret to their graves.
I was relieved to get it all off my chest, but there was just one problem. Easton and I had agreed not to tell anyone the truth. He tried to hide his irritation, but I could tell he was upset by the hard set of his jaw and the lack of teasing that frequently accompanied our interactions. It didn’t help that I’d confessed what I’d done while he was packing to go out of town. He had back to back away games and would be gone for a few days. I didn’t like the thought of him leaving angry. He might have been my husband in name only, but we’d formed a friendship of sorts, and I didn’t want there to be tension between us while he was on the road. I was surprised to receive a text from him later that night asking me to set up a dinner party so he could get to know my friends.
“Give her a break. She’s finally found true love,” Jonah said, snapping me out of the memory. Hailey’s husband sidled up behind her and lovingly wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “We’re happy for you,” he announced, a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Aren’t we, Hailey?” he prodded, his tone almost admonishing. She rolled her eyes and huffed. Hailey was the hard ass of the group. She didn’t take shit from anyone and saw through people’s bullshit, but she had a soft spot for her husband.
“Of course,” she replied, her voice saccharine. Jonah leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and she shivered. I didn’t want to know what he'd said. Jonah had straight-up golden retriever energy, but according to Hailey, he was a beast between the sheets. More than I wanted to know, but I was happy for her. At least someone was getting bent like a pretzel and pounded into next week.
My gaze involuntarily flicked to Easton as he leaned against the counter, his muscular arms folded over his chest as he talked to Macon and Vance. Gavin, Melody’s husband, was on the back deck conversing with Sean and his new flavor of the week. Cameron and Brynlee’s sister, Blake—who, to all of our surprise, started dating when Blake went to college—were in the den, checking on the kids. When Easton proposed we host this dinner party, I was surprised at his willingness to include all the kids. There were five of them, ranging in age from one to eight, and they were a rowdy bunch. I shouldn’t have been surprised considering how good he was with his nephew. I didn’t know what it was about a man who was great with kids, but it did something to me. It made me almost feral. I wanted to jump his bones and?—
“Earth to Shayla.” A set of perfectly manicured fingers snapped in front of my face, breaking me from my trance. I tore my gaze from Easton and leveled it on Hailey’s smirking mug. I had been openly and unabashedly ogling my husband. My fake husband. Heat bloomed across my cheeks, and I squirmed in my seat.
Jonah chuckled before repeating the question I clearly hadn’t heard the first time.
“Have you considered what you’ll do if Easton gets traded?”
I drew back, surprised by his question. I hadn’t considered it. What would I do if that happened? I could never leave my mom and little sister to follow him to a new team.
I had to remind myself this was temporary. There were still several months left in this season. Surely the Wraiths wouldn't trade him before it was over. By then, this sham of a marriage would be coming to an end anyway.
Still, I didn’t want to see him leave the team. They finally had a good thing going. It was as though Easton was the missing link to their success. They had more wins than losses under their belts so far, and I couldn’t imagine they’d risk losing that momentum when they were finally making a name for themselves.
Then again, Easton getting traded and moving away could offer us an easy out. We could claim that was why our marriage didn’t work. He wanted to play for another team, but I wasn’t willing to move away from my family. It was the perfect solution. So why did my chest suddenly ache at the thought of him leaving?
Easton’s gaze landed on mine as though he could read my thoughts. Whatever he read on my face made his brows pinch in concern. I quickly glanced away and took a sip of my wine before answering Jonah.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Hailey shot me an apologetic look. Jonah didn’t know this was all a ruse. I couldn’t blame him for being curious, and it made me realize I needed to be prepared for more questions like his.
“Well, I hope he sticks around for a while. We’ve enjoyed watching him play. The Wraiths are killing it this season with him in the lineup.”
I found myself hoping he stuck around too, even though the longer he stayed, the more likely he was to break my heart.