Chapter 16
sixteen
. . .
Riley
She has a cold. A stinking cold.
“She’ll be fine,” Cari says, from where she’s sitting on the closed toilet-seat lid.
“Maybe I should stay home…”
“No, you need to go out with Al,” my sister-in-law says. I still can’t believe I have a sister-in-law, much less that she’s interested in me and my problems. “His coach already said you have to go. You don’t have to be there long, just enough to get photographed.”
I make a face in the mirror. “I hate pictures.”
“Should have thought of that before you married my stupid brother,” she sings.
“I married him for Emmy.”
“For better or for worse, right?” She smirks at me. “This is the worse.”
“If going to a charity gala is the worst part of being married to him, I think I can get used to this,” I admit.
“I’m so glad I don’t have to do that anymore.”
“What do you mean?” I rake my fingers through my hair, then lift a chunk and wrap it around the curling wand.
“Before you came on the scene, I was Al’s date to all the team events.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize.” Does she want to go in my place?
“He didn’t want to lead anyone on,” Cari says. “It was kind of fun for a little while, but it got old, fast. I love the other wives and partners. Hailey MacGregor is one of my best friends. But I never really fit in. I’m a sibling, not a wife.”
“I would hate for you to think now that I’m around, you can’t hang out with the team.” My eyes meet hers in the mirror. “You are always welcome.”
“I know. I would have been at the game yesterday if I didn’t have practice. I can’t believe I missed my niece’s first hockey game!” She laughs. “There will be plenty more of them if Al has his way.”
“He’s already talking about ways we can make it to more games. Maybe he’d get a hat trick every game if we were in the stands.”
“So? Are you going to?”
I’m not sure how I feel about it. As much as I want to support him, I don’t really want to be in the public eye, and every time I go to a hockey game, I’ll be there as Gonzo’s wife and not me, Riley.
The other wives and partners are nice enough, but aside from Vanessa and Audrey, they aren’t my friends.
More like colleagues; our husbands work together, so in a way, so do we.
Even though they added me to the group chat, I still feel like I don’t belong there.
Like any second now, they’ll realize it’s all fake and I’m an imposter and they’ll kick me out.
On the other hand…
“The games start right at Emmy’s bedtime. Maybe when she’s bigger and can stay up later.” Right now, keeping her on her routine is the priority. She needs stability.
A grin stretches Cari’s lips wide, and I’m nearly bowled over by her resemblance to her brother. “Don’t let the fans hear you say that.”
And just like that, the dread curdles in my stomach again, and I groan.
“What?”
“The fans. They’re going to be everywhere tonight.”
If tonight is anything like our walk in the park, I’ll be standing awkwardly on the sidelines as Al schmoozes with the guests. I know it’s part of his job, but I don’t want to be relegated to a piece of arm candy.
“Just smile and nod,” she states. “They don’t care about you. Essentially you’re there as window dressing. It’s not like you’ll actually spend quality time with him.”
Blowing out a breath, I grab the last chunk of hair to curl. “This sounds like so much fun.”
Maybe Vanessa, Audrey, and I can form our own little party with some of the other partners. We can hide out in the corner while the guys do their thing.
She laughs. “It’s not. But it is a night out, and you guys haven’t had very many of those.”
“None, actually.”
“See? You need this.”
“But Emmy—”
“Will be fine,” she says again. “She needs to get used to being around other adults. Besides, I’ve barely gotten to spend any time with my niece with fall conditioning taking up all my time. It’ll be good for us to bond a bit.”
“If you’re sure…”
“You aren’t going to scare me off.” Cari stands, dusting off her hands. “Now come on. I want to see the dresses he picked out.”
“He picked out? Or the boutique?”
She grins. “Oh, this was all him.”
Al said not to worry about finding something to wear, but I wasn’t expecting a rack of gowns to be delivered yesterday while we were at the game. I took one look at the contents and immediately walked away, overwhelmed.
Now, as I flick through the hangers, I find myself wishing I could wear my wedding dress again. I loved the way it made me feel, the way I looked in it.
There are eight dresses on the rack, all in various jewel-toned shades. Maybe he recognized that I typically wear the color profile, or maybe it’s just coincidence. They’re all boho-chic, upscale versions of the dress I wore to the courthouse.
My hand stops on a lilac dress with a rose-gold overlay. It’s nothing like anything I would ever pick out for myself, sleeveless with a very deep V and a high slit, and a heavy material with a tulle overlay. The fabric is frilly and fussy. It looks itchy.
But when I put the hanger up to my chin, imagining myself in this dress, I know I won’t be happy until I at least try it on. It will probably be awful. It’ll be too tight, or too long, or just… not right.
I step into the dress, and to my surprise, the tulle isn’t nearly as scratchy as I thought it would be. The hem skims the floor, and when Cari passes me my heels and I slip them on, the gown is the perfect length for my five-foot-four height.
“You look gorgeous,” she says, from where she’s sitting on the bed behind me.
“I don’t know…”
“Gorgeous,” she says again.
“It’s missing something.” I wish I had a necklace, or maybe a bracelet. Something to add a little sparkle. We hired someone to pack up my apartment in Phoenix, and half my things are still in boxes. Including my jewelry and accessories.
Cari vaults off the bed, opening my door and bellowing, “Oye, pendejo!”
I jump at the loud, unexpected noise. Since most of my Spanish consists of ordering off a menu and dirty words, I know she’s calling him an asshole, and I grin at the fondness of her tone beneath the volume.
Heavy footsteps sound on the stairs as Al joins us upstairs, Emmy in his arms. He’s already wearing his tux, and if I thought I was immune to my husband, I’m quickly corrected. Al is hot. Al in a tuxedo is holy fuck hot.
“What do you want, pinche hermanita?” He stops in the doorway, his mouth going slack. His eyes widen and he swallows, hard. “Wow.”
I can’t deny his reaction sends warmth flooding through me, but it’s a bit weird for my platonic husband to be looking at me like he wants to strip me bare and eat me for dinner.
She smacks him on the arm. “Do you have the thing?”
He blinks at her. “The thing?”
“You know, the thing.” She raises her eyebrows.
“Right. Here, hold the baby.”
He thrusts Emmy into her arms, and she coos at her niece, who immediately grabs hold of her hair and tugs. Wincing, Cari settles on the edge of the bed.
“Now, now, be nice to your Tia Cari,” she says, extracting her ponytail from the baby’s grip. “We’re going to have so much fun together, you and me. Aren’t we?”
She tickles Emmy’s tummy, and the baby lets out a loud, wet fart.
I laugh. “Don’t worry. We’ll change her before we go.”
Al returns in the doorway, a long black velvet box in his hands. Cari lets out a quiet squeal, and he glares at her. “Do you mind?”
“Come on, Emmy, I know when we’re not wanted,” she teases the baby. She hip-checks her brother on her way out the door.
He shakes his head, a smile twisting his lips, but when I sit to fasten the buckle of my shoe, his smile fades, and he adjusts himself in his pants.
I don’t know if he’s aware of it, or if he’s simply not trying to hide it.
Knowing he’s having a reaction, even if it’s purely physical and not emotional, has my heart fluttering a little faster.
“You look… I have no words,” he says.
“That bad?”
“That good.” The thick column of his throat works, and the bob of his Adam’s apple sends heat radiating through me. Why is that so sexy? “I got this for you. I thought you might want to wear it?”
“Is that a question?”
Seeing my big, strong hockey player so unbalanced, so off his game, makes my stomach flutter. Maybe I’m not the only one in this thing.
Al takes my hand, pulling me upright. His hand feels right in mine, warm and solid. Even with the help of my heels, I only come up to his chin.
He opens the jewelry box, revealing a large square amethyst on a delicate white-gold chain.
My eyes dart up to his, and he swallows again.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful. I—I can’t wear this.” Deep in my soul, I know this isn’t costume jewelry like everything else I own. This is the real deal.
“It matches your wedding dress.” He pulls the necklace out of the box, opening the clasp and drawing it around my neck.
Bowing toward me, he fastens it while holding my hair out of the way. I catch a whiff of his cologne, cedar and firewood, and inhale deeply. Something settles deep within me. The base level of anxiety I didn’t even realize was plaguing me soothes into abeyance.
“You ready for this?” His eyes search mine. “Last chance to back out.”
As much as I don’t want to leave Emmy, especially while she’s sick, I know Cari is right; we need to go out together.
This is a command performance, and there will be repercussions if we’re not in attendance.
Al needs me by his side for these types of things.
The way he’s supported me the last two months, the last thing I want is to make him think I don’t have his back, too.
I shake my head. “We’re going.”
We can do this.