6. Layken
CHAPTER SIX
LAYKEN
G riffin hands me the paper he lifted from the table. At the top in bold print it clearly reads MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE – State of California.
Both of our signatures are written at the bottom plain as day.
I swallow back the instant nausea as Griffin says, “I think this might be the real deal, Layken.”
Oh God.
I think he might be right.
He clears his throat. “And there was, um, this article that went out this morning…”
I snap my head toward him. “Article? What article?”
“In Sports News Now,” he tells me, lifting his phone and showing me the headline. “August sent this over.”
HOCKEY STAR MARRIES IN SHOCKING PRIVATE CEREMONY.
“Fuuuuuuck,” I whisper loudly.
What do we do now?
How do we reverse this?
How can I make this go away?
Can’t I just sign another paper and poof? Gone?
Wait…
Shit. I can’t sign divorce papers!
My dad…
Shit…my parents…
“Don’t come crawling back to us when you inevitably fuck up your life.”
“If you think we’re going to help you out of every fucked-up situation you get yourself into…”
“If you so much as think of doing something that will embarrass your father…”
My pulse races as a sudden dizziness starts to set in. My skin is clammy and my hands are shaky.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Griffin says softly, noticing me about to have a panic attack. “Breathe. Breathe, Layken. In…and out.” He does it with me.
“In…and out.”
I follow his instructions focusing on his sapphire blue eyes.
“In…and out.”
“Griffin?” His name is a squeak out of my mouth.
“Yeah.”
“If we do anything to reverse this…problem,” I say, referring to our newest nuptials, “the paperwork will go right across my father’s desk and he’ll know everything.”
“What? Why? What do you mean?”
“My dad. He’s a…a…a family court judge in Anaheim and because that’s where we live that’s where the paperwork will go and he’ll be the one to have to sign off on it and I can’t…” I try to breathe but the air in my lungs feels heavy. “I can’t…” I shake my head patting my chest as if that will give me the extra air I need to breathe. “I can’t…”
Griffin’s hands cup my face and his eyes pierce mine. “Breathe, Layken. I need you to breathe.”
Nodding adamantly, I inhale a deep breath, remaining focused on Griffin’s expression as he tries to calm me down and then we exhale together. My phone dings on the nightstand next to where I slept but I don’t stand up to answer it. Mainly because Griffin hasn’t let go of my face just yet.
“I need to say something to you and I need you to hear me and not panic, okay?”
Oh God.
Nobody says that and expects you not to really panic, right?
I nod anyway.
“Our picture is in the article I showed you. That means by now, every sports fan in the world who reads Sports News Now knows I got married last night.”
“Yeah.”
“Right. So, if I turn around and file for divorce immediately, this could make those in the front office very angry. My career with the Stars could be on the line and I can’t let that happen. I have people who depend on me. Family who depends on me.”
“This is bad,” I whisper to him. “Griffin, I am so sorry.”
His brows furrow as he swipes his thumb across my cheek, as if he’s drying my tears, his movement soft and tender. “You have nothing to apologize for, Layken. I was an equal partner last night. This is just as much my fault as it is yours, so I’m sorry too. I’m sorry I got you into a potential mess with your family.”
Sighing, I drop my gaze to my fingers fiddling with the blanket still wrapped around my naked body. “Trust me, it won’t be anything knew. Especially when they find out I lost my job and ran off and got married.”
“They don’t know about your job yet?”
I shake my head. “Hell no. They’re the kind of people you go to with a solution. Not a problem. I figured I would wait until I absolutely had to tell them.”
Fuck.
Mom was right.
This is going to embarrass the hell out of my father.
Because no matter how hard I try I’m nothing but an embarrassment.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” My eyes find his again. “We’ll get through this. There has to be a way through this. We can figure it out.”
Griffin cringes slightly, his brows folding in. “What if I have an idea?”
“Let’s hear it,” I tell him with a renewed sense of hope.
“It’s not the best idea, but it could work for the both of us for now.”
“Alright.”
“What if we uh…stay married?”
“What?” I rise up from the bed, my head still throbbing. “Are you crazy?”
He nods. “Yeah probably, but look, neither of us are in the position to simply end what we did without major repercussions. So why can’t we just, you know, fake it for a while. Stay married. Tell people our plan was always to elope. At least that would give us time to figure out what the hell we do next.”
“Fake it.” I repeat his words, willing myself to comprehend what he’s saying.
“Yeah.”
“You’re serious?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
Fuck.
He’s right.
I know he’s right.
And I don’t have a better idea.
“And you’re really okay with this? Being married to me?”
He shrugs haphazardly. “Yeah. Sure. I guess. Better you than some stranger I don’t know, right?”
“Oh, and you know me?”
“I know you’re obsessed with me, remember?” he teases with a half-smile trying to make our situation a little lighter.
I roll my eyes. “Right. How could I forget.”
“Look, I know you’re a great person and from the handful of times we’ve met and worked together you’ve been remarkably professional and extremely impressive. So…yeah. I’m okay with it. You were planning to stay at my place anyway for the next week at least so this will give us time to talk things out and figure out a solid plan. And besides,” he says gesturing to me, “I’ve already seen you naked so…”
“Oh, my God!” I scoff, wrapping myself tighter in my blanket. My cheeks heat from embarrassment.
“Relax, Lake.” He cocks his head. “Can I call you Lake? Seems like a nickname I’d give my wife. For what it’s worth, you’re a beautiful woman. You have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of. And though we find ourselves in a bit of a pickle now, I don’t regret having a great time with you last night. Every minute was fun and light-hearted and maybe I needed the downtime as much as you did. So, what do you say?” He stands and faces me. “Will you do me the honor of being my wife for a yet to be determined length of time at which point we’ll figure out a way to amicably split?”
For as ridiculous as this morning has become, I can’t help but take note of the professional hockey player standing before me in nothing but a pair of bright blue boxer briefs asking me to be his wife.
“You know my parents are going to insist on meeting you,” I tell him with an ornery grin.
His smile mirrors mine. “Good. I’m great with parents.”
“Not my parents.”
“Ooh, challenge accepted. Don’t worry. I can play the part of the love-sick husband who is head over heels for his new wife. Do you think you can pretend to like me enough to pull this off?”
I huff out a quiet laugh and roll my eyes for the second time this morning. “Oh please. Twist my arm and tell me I have to be in love with the hot hockey player.”
“See?” He winks. “I knew you were obsessed with me.”
“What are we going to tell everyone back at the chateau. They know this will all be fake.”
He shrugs. “I think we tell them the truth and beg them to play along until we come up with a better answer. I can’t lie to the guys. They’re like family to me. Speaking of which, we should get over there. They’re worried enough that we didn’t come back last night and now that they’ve seen the article, I’m sure they’re chomping at the bit to find out what’s going on.”
“Walk of shame, here we come, I guess.”
“Hey.” He steps up to me and places his hands on my shoulders. Even through the blanket I can feel his strength and warmth. “Are you okay? I know this is a lot and I want to be here for you. Whatever you need.”
“Yeah. Thank you. I’m fine. I promise I’ll be okay.”
“I know you will.” He smiles. “Because your super-hot sexy husband will make sure of it.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I smirk. “Who the hell said anything about sexy? Or super?”
“Meh, don’t worry. I’ll change your mind.”
The minute we walk in the door, we’re bombarded with questions shooting at us from all over the living room.
“Oh, my God, Layken! What the hell did you do?”
“Yeah, Griff, what the fuck man?”
“Are you okay?”
“Tell us this is not true.”
“Oh my God, you even have a ring?”
“Did you seriously get married? Like married, married?”
“Did someone force this decision upon you guys?”
“Is that thing real?”
“Yeah are we talking a blackmail situation here or what?”
“Do we need to get a couple lawyers involved here?”
“A lawsuit?”
“Has front office reached out yet? How mad are they?”
“It’s reversible right?”
“How are you going to get out of this?”
Griffin removes his arm from around my waist, the faint protective feel of his hold vanishing by the second and holds his hands up. “Whoa, stop. First of all, let us explain and then we can…you know,” he gestures with a roll of his hand, “answer questions.”
The entire group takes a seat around the long dinner table off to the side of the kitchen and listens as Griffin and I talk about last night.
“We were just having fun,” Griffin starts to explain. “We were knocking things off of this imaginary bucket list I created for Layken. Just wanted to get her mind off of her job and have some fun. But we drank. A lot. At the nightclub and while walking through the markets last night. Eventually we stopped in front of this little chapel type place…”
Free flowers with purchase.
Yep. That memory just popped into my head.
I wanted to go into that place because they offered free flowers with purchase.
And what do you know? We walked out married.
“Anyway, one thing led to another and…” I notice Griffin leaves out the parts about my twerking down the aisle to “Tainted Love”—yep, remembered that too—as well as us waking up naked in bed together. He takes a deep breath and releases an even deeper sigh. “And now here we are.”
Most of the group is staring at us in absolute shock.
But not Scarlett.
That girl is wide-eyed and smiling, shaking her head in complete fascination. “Awe, man, if only you guys had live-streamed that shit! You would’ve had epic views and your wedding would’ve certainly been the viral talk of the world!”
I stop myself from rolling my eyes because the very last thing we needed to do last night was live stream our drunk-ass selves giggling through our marriage vows in a place called Marry Me Manor. But I forget sometimes that Scarlett makes a living going live for her followers to watch her every move. Viral numbers are what she lives for.
I mean besides Oliver, of course.
Good for her.
Me?
I’d rather be wrapped in a blanket on the couch with a book in my hands than twerking for all the world to see.
“So, this is real then?” August finally asks.
Griffin and I nod.
Ella is up grabbing bottles of water for everyone, passing them out around the table. When she reaches Griffin and me, she also hands us each a few Advil. “Does Coach Hicks know?”
Corrigan shakes her head. “If he does, he hasn’t said a word to me about it yet this morning.”
“Nobody has called me yet, either,” Griffin states at the same time that his phone dings in his pocket. He pulls it out and glances at the screen.
“My agent.” He pushes his phone back into his pocket. “I’ll call him later.”
Ledger takes a bottle of water from Ella and twists off the cap. “So, what are you going to tell him? What are you going to tell Coach? Or Scott Foley?”
“Who’s Scott Foley?” I ask the room.
All the guys answer in tandem. “General Manager.”
“Ah. Right.” I glance at Griffin, worry etching my forehead. “Will they really fire you? For getting married on a whim?”
“They very well could if I turn around and divorce you right away like this is all just a game. If I admit that I made a huge drunken mistake, they could tell me they don’t trust my professionalism and that I’m not reflecting the image of the team.”
“Yeah but we’ve all done stupid shit before,” August reminds me. He gestures to Bodhi. “I mean this asshat slept with Coach’s daughter and didn’t even fucking know it and he’s still around to live another day.”
Bodhi smirks and lifts Corrigan’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss across her knuckles. “We might have to call that extenuating circumstances though.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because although I was ready and willing to fight for her, I imagine it was Corrigan talking to Coach before the day he pulled me into his office that made him reconsider removing me from the team. He could’ve easily come to a different decision.”
“Exactly.” Corrigan nods. “But he knew damn well I would’ve walked right out of his life and he didn’t want that.”
“Alright,” Harrison says, his arms outstretched on the table. “So, you guys need to stay married. At least short term.”
Griffin nods. “Yes. That’s the resolution we came to as well.”
Corrigan gasps and points at me. “Oh, my gosh, Layken your dad.”
“Right.” I nod too. “He’ll be furious.”
Ledger’s brows furrow. “What’s up with your dad?”
“He’s the family law judge in Anaheim,” I explain, cringing. “If we divorce, our papers go right across his desk for signature.”
Ledger grins. “Oh shit.”
“Right,” Griffin adds. “Look I don’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble for Layken and her family and she doesn’t want to be the cause of my potential removal from the team.”
“Like we would fucking let that happen,” Ledger resolves.
“Yeah.” Corrigan shrugs, giving me a somewhat helpless expression.” I could probably talk to my dad and?—”
I shake my head. “No. We don’t want any of you trying to clean up our mess,” I tell them. “This was our fault and ours alone. We don’t want to bring anyone else into this. I promise we’ll figure something out.”
The last one to say anything, Oliver finally speaks up. “So, what do you two need from us.”
Griffin sits up and pulls his shoulders back as if he’s being interviewed by the press. “We need you to play along. For now. And not out us to the press or to anyone in the front office. Layken is staying with me anyway thanks to the water main break outside her building so we’ve agreed the best thing for us right now is to stay married until we can figure out a way to amicably split that doesn’t hurt either one of us.”
“Easy enough,” August says with a shrug. “So, the story is you’ve been together for a while now?”
“Ooh!” Ella’s smile grows. “Secretly seeing each other like Bodhi and Corri.”
“Right.” I nod.
“Yes,” Griffin says. “And we planned to elope this entire time since we were going to be in Napa surrounded by those we love anyway.”
“Dude, Griff…” August tilts his head, cringing slightly when he says, “What about Gage? How’s he going to react?”
Griffin bows his head. “He’ll be devastated, I know. They all will be, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I’ll have to talk to him.”
I lean over and quietly ask, “Who’s Gage?”
“My younger brother,” he tells me.
“Oh.” I sit back feeling a little caught off guard. There’s an uncomfortable heaviness in my chest that wasn’t there a moment ago. “I’m so sorry, Griffin. I didn’t know you had a brother.”
Are they close?
He said his brother will be devastated.
Because of me?
God, I don’t want to fuck things up for him and his family too.
He leans his forearm on the table and turns to me. “You know for someone who’s obsessed with me, it’s disappointing that you don’t know every detail about me.” He tsks. “You’re not very good at this obsession thing Layken Hobbs.”
I catch Corrigan’s surprised eye and nearly burst out laughing because we’ve talked now and again about the small crush I’ve had on Griffin Ollenberg since he joined the Stars. Somehow though, I manage to drop my jaw and scoff at him once again. “You know what? I was beginning to feel really bad about whatever this thing is about your brother, but just for that, I don’t. And I’m not obsessed with you, you narcissistic butthole.”
He laughs for the first time this morning, which eases the tension around the table. His genuine smile makes me smile, though I bite my bottom lip to hide it as best I can. “I know. I was only?—”
“Oh, and another thing.” I place a finger over his mouth to shush him. “If you’re going to use my name, at least get it right. It’s Mrs. Ollenberg now.”
Everyone around the table joins in our laughter and Harrison, seated on the other side of me, pats my hand as it rests on the table. “I think you’re going to fit in with this group just fine. Welcome to the family, Layken.”