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He didn’t wait for her to try again, and his bag of flour was on the wrong side to hit her.
So, he slide tackled her.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t ready for his attack and went down hard; her wind knocked out.
Noah’s face was red as he ran up yelling, “Foul! Disqualified!”
“She’s fine,” Williams said, standing up, unused flour in hand. “It’s a rough and dirty game.”
“I’m fine.” Erin held her breath to control the sudden change in her air. This was her forte, she wouldn’t be out long.
“It’s only a game,” Noah protested, kneeling next to Erin.
“She set the rules, she can face the consequences of failing to take other tactics into account. You didn’t object before.”
“No one should risk life or limb over this. You outweigh her by almost a hundred pounds.”
“Or maybe the referee shouldn’t have interfered. You can’t protect her from every bump and bruise.” Williams’ voice got louder with every word.
Erin tried not to choke. Williams and Noah were entering dangerous territory for the two of them. This argument was well on it’s way to being less about Erin and more about the untimely death of Williams’s wife years ago in a robbery. Williams blamed Noah for waiting until the scene was clear to send in the medics and was purposely giving Noah a taste of his own medicine.
“Bump and bruise? I said you’re disqualified,” Noah shouted from Erin’s side, checking her arms and legs for injuries.
“Hmm, sore loser? Then you should have been more prepared for what other people will do to win. This is what it feels like when you can’t protect your wife.”
And Williams upended his entire bag of flour on Noah and Erin.
Thus ended the good-natured team building and answered Erin’s question about where Noah and Williams stood on their on-again-off-again friendship.
Noah sprang to his feet and lunged toward Williams, who danced back. They circled each other, shooting fire from their eyes.
“Try it, Shake and Bake,” Williams called.
“Where there’s Will, there’s a way, Jordan,” Noah feigned a punch, and Williams started to dodge.
“Stop! Captain! Chief!” Theo yelled, running toward the two men, despite being out and covered with flour and water. Both teams were right behind him, except Luna and Vanessa.
“Cool it!” Luna shouted from the sideline and doused the two with a strong stream from the garden hose.
Sadly, she got Erin too in the slipstream, but it was damn successful at defusing the situation.
“You hit the ref!” Aiden protested.
“Can we disqualify the ref for unnecessary roughness?” Vanessa asked, the only member unscathed from the finish line.
Noah had assumed what Erin considered the ‘nice’ Noah demeanor. He shrugged, covered head to toe in flour and water, and pulled Erin to her feet.
Erin followed the momentum, trying to read his face. Her head was spinning on how fast the game had turned from friendly to fighting. Ever the consummate professional, he was masking his current emotions by putting on a full-frontal assault of charm for her team.
Whatever, she’d have to run with it.
He brushed some of the flour off her nose. “I think she’s okay, but, Rodriguez, a word.”
“Oh no, sir?” Luna asked.
“She needs mouth to mouth,” Noah announced.
And her husband leaned her back dramatically and gave his best theatrical kiss.
