Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Erika
Fed, showered, dressed, and looking better than I feel, I’m sitting next to Leon on the sectional sofa in our suite in Las Vegas, looking down the camera as Ash has a full-on malfunction.
“So, let me get this straight. Neither of you remembers queuing at the Marriage Licensing Bureau, picking rings, or getting married?”
“No,” Leon and I reply at the same time.
I feel like I’m at school again, being scolded by my middle school teacher, Miss. Tremblay. I swear that woman had it in for me.
Exasperated, Ash rushes in with, “What the fuck were you both thinking?” he asks, running his hand back and forth across the top of his buzz cut.
I answer, “We weren’t.” That sounds terrible. We were drunk. That’s it.
“Have you contacted Kali to discuss a press release?” Ash asks, shifting his focus to Leon.
“No. What do I need to do that for? I can write a press release, Ash,” Leon replies, sounding pissed.
“You’re too close to this, too emotional and too exposed, and you need someone outside of your organization to write a press announcement, Leon. Someone who will find the right words to appease the press.”
Ash is right. With offices all over North America, Kali Edwards runs the top public relations agency, representing models and sports personalities.
It also helps that she’s married to Wade Edwards, the Eagles’ captain and the son of the Edmonton Eagles’ owner, so she understands the game and the sports industry inside and out.
She doesn’t read the headlines; she creates them.
“I’ll think about it.” Through a tight jaw, Leon is non-committal about contacting Kali.
“Great.” Relief washes over my brother’s face. “And if you do go ahead with it, which I think you should, you’ll inform them that it was unplanned. Say that you did it for a bet or something.”
“What?” I exclaim. Is he being serious?
Fear grows in Leon’s eyes, as if he thinks he’s going to lose me before we’ve even begun. “No fucking way am I saying that.” Leon supports me on that decision. “That’s not what happened.”
“Well, what the fuck are you going to say then? Because if you’re going to get an annulment when you return from Bora Bora, then it’s really fucking simple.”
“We’re not getting an annulment, Ash.” Anger crawls up my spine, making my skin flush with impatience. What a presumptuous asshole.
There’s a sharp intake of breath before his question tumbles out of his mouth. “What the hell do you mean, you’re not getting an annulment?”
“Because then we wouldn’t be married, and that’s what we both want,” Leon shoots back, firm and unyielding.
“You are fucking kidding me?” He half laughs and half gasps as if in disbelief.
“No,” I reply, my one word strong enough to stop anyone in their tracks.
“So, after just one week together, you’ve just decided that you want to spend the rest of your lives together?”
“Yes,” Leon jumps in.
“I can’t deal with this.” Ash scratches at his beard, and I can tell he’s doing his best not to lose it.
I put him in his place. “Ash, you don’t get to tell me or Leon what to do. This is our life, and whether you like it or not, I’m a grown woman who makes her own decisions. I don’t need you to babysit me all the time.”
Leon loops his arms around my waist and pulls me into his side. “She’s right, and you know how I feel about your sister. I’ve loved her since I was old enough to understand what that felt like.”
“You two knuckleheads should stop drinking together. It fucks up your brain cells,” Ash replies, thinking he knows everything.
“Oh, shut up, Ash,” I snap like an angry crocodile.
Lily’s voice then appears. “Ash, what the hell are you doing? I hope you didn’t tell them to release a press announcement.
I told you it was none of your business.
” Loud footsteps grow closer to the phone as she stomps toward Ash, my brother’s face turning sheepish and embarrassed.
“And I thought I told you to leave them alone. Give me that phone.” Lily’s voice gets louder, then there’s a scuffle before she bosses my brother around.
“Make yourself useful. Blaze needs a shower; he got into my purse and has covered himself in my lipstick, and Grace just ate a worm and now feels sick.” Her tone changes as her face fills the screen, looking younger than when my brother first met her.
I think the aging process is skipping her.
“You two have fun, enjoy the honeymoon, and have the best time consummating the marriage. That’s if you haven’t already done that. ” She giggles.
“Lily,” Ash barks from somewhere we can’t see.
“Oh, shut up, Ash. Your sister’s not a nun. Congratulations, guys. I want to hear all about Bora Bora when you get back. See you in two weeks,” Lily says brightly before blowing us a kiss. “And Leon, in case Ash forgot to say it. Welcome to the family.” She taps the screen, ending the call.
“I love my sister-in-law.” I admire all five foot four of her and how she keeps my foot taller than her brother in check.
“She’s my sister-in-law now too,” Leon says, smiling.
This is crazy, and I can already picture us all together this Christmas.
“I love you and your family, Erika.” Leon reinforces how much he’s committed to me, enveloping me in the warmest of hugs and caressing me in the best way possible. He’s already woven into our everyday lives like embroidery on the finest silk.
“You’re one of us now.” It’s endorsed by the Clark County Recorder’s Office.
Leon takes a minute as if thinking about what to say next. “I’ll contact Kali and ask her to release a statement from us both, or not, whatever you want.”
If we keep quiet for long enough, people will move on to something new, but I have a better idea. “I think I want everyone to know you’re mine just with a social media post though, not a press release. That seems too formal.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, or I wouldn’t have suggested it. I want the world to know that Leon Hill, former Eagles’ wingman, top sports agent in all of North America, and all-round good guy, who brings the calm to my stressful days, who is kind, generous, and more than I could have dreamed of, is my husband.”
“The public can be cruel. They’ll say nasty things about me and my past.”
“I don’t care about your past. I only care about our future, Leon.”
“You should have said those words as your wedding vows,” he says, his wide smile telling me how happy he is. It’s so dazzling, it makes me melt in my seat.
“Did we even do vows?” I ask, sifting through my memory for any hint of a clue, and come up with nothing.
“And did we dance to “Let’s Get Married” by Jagged Edge?
” A faint whisper of the past flashes through my mind, but it disappears as soon as I try to catch it.
Maybe that song made us decide to tie the knot.
His shoulders bounce up and down with laughter. “I have no fucking idea. We could always do it all over again, properly this time, when we return to Canada,” he suggests.
“It’s what our moms would want. But I think we should have a party instead. We’re already married. I want to celebrate.”
His eyebrows fly into his hairline. “Which reminds me. We need to call your mom. Then my mom and dad.”
“I think we should have a couple of J?ger Bombs before we tackle those conversations.” I lay my hand over my stomach. The very thought makes me feel squeamish. What the hell will our parents say? Will they be happy or upset? I guess there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to call them.
“I’ve decided to go alcohol free for the next two weeks. My head is fucking killing me,” he says, digging his fingertips into his temples.
“Oh, I don’t know. I thought we could squeeze a few more shots in before we catch our flight. What could go wrong?”
“Hell no, we might try to fly it to Bora Bora ourselves?”
It’s a bold idea, but given how ballsy we were last night, anything is possible.
“Let’s call your mom,” Leon presses a chaste kiss on my lips as if he’s trying to distract me from the inevitable.
“Oh, no.” I shake my head quickly, dismissing him.
“Oh, yes. Ladies first.”