Chapter 10 Gabriel
Chapter ten
Gabriel
The steakhouse is loud enough to hear from halfway down the sidewalk.
Natalie pauses beside me outside the entrance and tilts her head toward the windows.
"That sounds… energetic," she says.
Energetic is one word for it.
Inside that private room are about ten professional hockey players who just found out I secretly got married.
I glance at her. "You ready?"
She smooths a hand down her dress and gives me a small smile. "I survived Mason growing up. How bad can it be?"
I huff out a quiet laugh.
"That’s a dangerous level of confidence."
She nudges my arm. "You married me. You're stuck with it."
Something warm hits me inside when she says that.
Before I can respond, someone inside yells my name.
"SHELLY!"
Natalie blinks and looks up toward the second-floor windows. "Did someone just shout your name from upstairs?"
"Yep."
"That's normal?"
"Unfortunately."
We step inside and walk through the busy restaurant toward the back. A narrow staircase leads upstairs to the private room the Outlaws reserve whenever the team comes here.
I push open the door.
The room explodes.
Chairs scrape. Someone pounds the table. A chorus of voices erupts all at once.
"HE brOUGHT HER!"
"SHELLY ACTUALLY DID IT!"
"LOOK ALIVE, BOYS!"
Dex jumps to his feet like he just won the lottery. "Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom have entered the building!"
Natalie freezes for half a second beside me.
Then she laughs.
And just like that, I begin to relax.
Bryce claps loudly. "I gotta say, man, I didn't think you'd pull it off."
"Pull what off?" I ask.
"Marriage," Gregory says dryly. "Statistically improbable again."
Mason groans from the end of the table. "Can we not start this immediately?"
Dex points at Natalie. "Well look who voluntarily married into this circus."
Natalie tilts her head. "I was told there would be emotional support animals. So far I only see hockey players."
Dex presses a hand to his chest. "Dex Miller," he says solemnly. "Team humanitarian and occasional life coach."
Gregory snorts. "He means menace."
"Details," Dex says.
Natalie grins. “Dex, you know that I know exactly who you are. Don’t pretend I haven’t seen it.”
And just like that she's holding her own.
God help them all.
I guide her toward the table.
That's when she notices the cake.
It's sitting in the center like a neon warning sign.
White frosting.
Black lettering.
CONGRATS SHELLY – THAT WAS FAST.
Natalie stops walking.
"You’ve got to be kidding me," she says.
"I swear I had nothing to do with that," I tell her.
Colby raises his glass from the head of the table. "You're welcome."
"You planned this?" I ask.
"We felt the moment deserved recognition," he says solemnly.
Dex points to the cake. "There's also champagne."
"And steaks," Bryce adds.
Gregory lifts a menu. "Mostly steaks."
Natalie laughs again.
The sound cuts through the noise like sunlight.
Mia and Harper stand from their seats near the middle of the table. Natalie already knows them well from games and team events, but tonight their smiles carry a new kind of welcome.
"There she is," Mia says, pulling Natalie into a quick hug. "So how's married life treating you so far?"
Harper smiles and squeezes Natalie's arm. "Blink twice if you need help escaping."
Natalie laughs. "It's been... eventful. But honestly? I'm kind of liking it so far."
Erwin Hacker stands from the far end of the room, dignified even in a steakhouse. "Natalie, good to see you again."
Annabelle nudges him. "Dad, she's known half this room for years. Don't start sounding like you're giving a press conference."
Erwin exhales. "Old habits."
Dex whispers loudly, "He's terrifying."
Erwin ignores him and shakes Natalie's hand.
"Anyone who marries Gabriel Shelly is clearly a person of excellent judgment," he says.
Dex chokes on his drink.
"That's a bold statement," Gregory says.
"Give her time," Bryce adds.
Natalie looks up at me with amused disbelief.
"This is your team," she says quietly.
"Yep."
"They're insane."
"Also correct."
Colby taps his glass with a fork.
The room quiets instantly.
Captain effect.
He stands and raises his glass.
"Alright," he says. "Let's do this properly."
Dex mutters, "Speech time."
"We've given Shelly a lot of crap over the years," Colby continues.
"Deserved," Gregory says.
"Mostly," Colby agrees. "But somehow, in the middle of a hockey season, he managed to secretly marry a woman who appears significantly more competent than the rest of us."
Laughter ripples around the table.
Colby looks at Natalie.
"Natalie Shelly," he says.
The name lands in the room.
"Welcome to the Outlaws."
Everyone lifts their glasses.
"Welcome," Bryce echoes.
"Welcome," Mia says.
"Welcome," Harper adds.
Natalie's cheeks flush slightly as she raises her glass.
"Thank you," she says.
Dex jumps up immediately.
"My turn."
"Sit down," Mason says.
"Absolutely not." Dex raises his drink. "To Gabriel Shelly. The only man in professional hockey who managed to get married without anyone noticing."
"Relax," Gregory says. "Give it a day and half the league will know."
Dex waves a hand. "Yeah but right now it's still our secret."
Bryce lifts his glass next. "To Natalie, for dramatically improving the team's decision-making statistics."
"Low bar," Gregory says.
"Very low," Bryce agrees.
Gregory raises his glass last.
"To Mason," he says calmly. "For somehow allowing this to happen."
Mason flips him off.
Natalie bursts out laughing.
Coach Hale finally stands.
The room settles again.
"This team talks a lot," Coach says.
"Understatement," Annabelle murmurs.
Coach smiles slightly.
"But one thing we do well is look after our own."
His gaze moves to Natalie.
"Gabriel is one of our best leaders."
I shift slightly in my seat.
"If he chose you," Coach continues, "that's all I need to know."
Natalie looks genuinely touched.
Erwin stands next.
"The Outlaws organization prides itself on the character of the men who wear our jersey," he says.
Dex whispers, "This feels formal."
"Be quiet," Mia whispers back.
Erwin smiles slightly.
"Natalie, welcome to the family."
Glasses clink again.
Annabelle pops up immediately.
"Okay," she says, pointing her fork toward Natalie. "Just so we're clear, Mason might be your brother, but tonight you officially inherited the rest of us."
Natalie glances slowly around the table at the loud, grinning collection of hockey players.
"This entire crazy army?" she asks.
Dex raises his glass. "We're a lifestyle."
Natalie smiles and lifts her own glass slightly. "Well… if this is the family I married into, I think I'm the lucky one."
Dex nods his head. "Good answer," he says approvingly. "Very good answer."
Laughter rolls around the table.
And just like that something makes my heart skip a beat.
She doesn't just survive this room.
She charms the hell out of it.
Mia raises her glass next.
"Welcome to the WAG survival club," she says.
Harper lifts hers.
"Wine helps," she adds.
Dinner finally begins.
Steaks arrive. Plates move. Conversation explodes in every direction.
Natalie is laughing with Mia when her knee brushes mine under the table.
Neither of us moves.
My entire focus shifts instantly.
Her knee presses lightly against my leg.
My brain forgets how conversation works.
Across the table Mason notices.
His eyes narrow.
Dex notices Mason noticing.
Dex grins like a shark.
"So," Dex says loudly. "Shelly."
"No," I say immediately.
"Just curious," he continues. "Remind me again whose brilliant idea this whole marriage thing was?"
I lean back in my chair and look straight at him. "Yours," I say. "You said I should get married."
Dex pauses for half a second. Then he points at Natalie. "Yeah but I didn't say how to do it so successfully."
I shrug and take a sip of my drink. "When I see something worth committing to, I don't half-ass it."
Natalie squeezes my hand under the table.
Later someone jokes from the far end of the table.
"Shelly better behave now that his wife is watching."
A few guys chuckle.
Another voice adds,
"Yeah, his reputation just got expensive."
The tone shifts slightly.
Natalie stays calm.
But something in my chest tightens.
I set down my fork.
"Watch it," I say evenly.
The table goes quiet for half a second.
Bryce immediately jumps in.
"Anyway," he says loudly. "Who ordered the steak the size of a steering wheel?"
Dex raises his hand.
"Athletic necessity," he says.
Conversation restarts.
Natalie glances at me.
Her eyes soften.
Later Mason leans over.
"You're doing alright," he says quietly.
"I know," I reply.
Across the table Natalie is laughing at something Mia said.
For a second I just watch her.
And realize something dangerous.
She fits here.
The team is loud.
Ridiculous.
Completely loyal.
And somehow she fits right in the middle of it.
Dex suddenly claps his hands once. "Alright, hold on. Nobody move."
A few of the guys groan.
"Oh no," Mason mutters. "This is going to be stupid."
"It’s not stupid," Dex says indignantly. "It's tradition."
"Since when do we have traditions?" Gregory asks.
Dex gestures dramatically toward the cake in the center of the table. "Since five minutes ago."
Bryce slides the cake closer and someone produces a knife from the side table.
"Cake ceremony," Colby announces like it's a formal event.
Natalie looks at me. "Is that a real thing?"
"Apparently it is now," I say.
"Bride and groom," Dex says, pointing at us. "Get over here."
The room starts clapping and pounding the table again.
Natalie laughs and stands. "This feels suspicious."
"Everything about this team is suspicious," I tell her.
We step toward the cake while the guys keep cheering like we're about to win the Cup instead of cut dessert.
Dex lifts his phone. "Hold on. Evidence."
"Put the phone down," Mason says.
"Never," Dex replies.
Natalie takes the knife and glances at me. "Do we know how to do this?"
"Pretty sure the strategy is just cut it," I say.
She rolls her eyes but smiles and slices into the cake while the room erupts again.
"SHELLY! SHELLY! SHELLY!"
Natalie feeds me the first bite.
"Congratulations," she says softly.
I look at her for a second longer than I should before taking the plate.
Around us the team is laughing, grabbing forks, and stealing frosting like a pack of overgrown children.
And somehow it feels exactly right.
Bryce suddenly shouts across the room.
"Shelly!"
"What," I sigh.
"If you mess this up," he says, pointing at Natalie, "we're taking her in the divorce."
The table erupts again.
Natalie grins.
"Good luck," she says. "Mason would kill you all."
"Worth it," Dex says.
Dinner finally winds down.
Natalie thanks everyone as we head for the door.
Dex calls after us.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do!"
Gregory adds, "That narrows it to almost nothing!"
Outside the restaurant the night air is quiet.
Natalie exhales.
"This team is insane," she says.
"They like you in a new way, now that you’re part of the inner circle," I tell her.
She smiles softly.
"I like them too."