Chapter 13 Natalie
Chapter thirteen
Natalie
"You married him and didn’t tell us the good parts," Mia says, sliding a margarita across the table toward me.
"There are good parts," I say, taking a sip. "I just don't kiss and tell."
Harper leans forward immediately. "Wait… you kissed? What else did you do?"
"New marriage clause," Mia agrees. "We need details."
Annabelle rolls her eyes. "C'mon, girl. We need some juicy details."
Robin's eyes light up. "Ohhh, we’re talking after-hours highlights."
Annabelle lifts her drink. "For the sake of female curiosity everywhere."
I shake my head, laughing. "You guys are ridiculous."
"Natalie," Mia says patiently, "your husband is a six-foot-something NHL winger who could make half this club forget their own names. You're not escaping this conversation."
"Fine," I say, pretending to think about it. "He's tall. He cooks dinner. He's very good with Maddie."
"Those are husband points," Harper says. "We need spicy points."
"I said I don't kiss and tell," I remind them.
Annabelle leans closer anyway. "So the answer is yes."
"The answer," I say carefully, "is that I'm not complaining."
Five women stare at me.
Robin lifts her drink slowly. "Your eyes just sparkled."
"That’s the lighting," I say.
"That’s denial," Mia says.
I take another sip of my drink, letting them keep going.
Because the truth is… they’re not wrong.
I don’t remember when I stopped going back to my room.
Just that I did.
And somewhere along the way… it started to feel natural.
Music thumps through the club and the DJ shifts to something louder. Colored lights sweep across the dance floor and the whole place feels like a glittery hurricane of people.
"Enough interrogation," Lila says, grabbing my hand. "Girl's night means dancing."
"I was promised snacks," I protest.
"Dancing first," Mia says. "Snacks later."
They drag me onto the dance floor.
Within seconds we’re laughing and yelling over the music. Mia spins Harper in a circle. Annabelle attempts a dramatic hair flip and nearly knocks over a guy carrying drinks.
"Sorry!" she shouts, then turns back to us. "Worth it."
Lila is the only one dancing with any rhythm at all.
"You guys are embarrassing," she says.
"That’s the point," Harper says.
It feels good to be out with my friends, laughing and carefree for a while.
Just dancing.
A few minutes later Annabelle grabs my arm and points toward the bar.
"Incoming hockey players."
Dex Miller strolls over first with Gregory Mills and Bobby McDermott behind him.
Dex spreads his arms. "Ladies." Then he immediately pushes into the middle of our dance circle and starts shamelessly shaking his ass like he just won the Stanley Cup.
Mia howls with laughter. Annabelle nearly drops her drink.
Gregory covers his face and Bobby loses it laughing as the two of them retreat toward the bar like they want no part of whatever spectacle Dex has decided to become.
Annabelle laughs and points at Dex now gyrating in the middle of our circle. "Dex Miller, what exactly is happening right now?"
"Public service," Dex says, exaggerating the move. "My dancing is for the benefit of all the ladies in attendance."
"By humiliating yourself in public?" Mia asks.
"You're welcome," Dex says, still gyrating. "The people deserve a show."
Annabelle shakes her head. "Okay, you can go now."
Dex stops dancing long enough to grin at us. "Rude. I came to say hello."
"Hello," Mia says sweetly. "You may now return to whatever bad decisions you were making before you came over here."
Dex points at me. "Natalie. Married life treating you okay?"
"Thriving," I say.
"Blink twice if you need help," Dex says.
"Goodbye Dex," Annabelle says.
"Have fun, ladies. We'll be over there," he says cheerfully. "We have puck bunnies to disappoint."
We all burst out laughing.
"He’s ridiculous," Lila says.
"He’s harmless," Mia says. "Mostly."
The music shifts again and we start dancing.
At some point a couple of guys drift over from the bar. It’s a club. Eventually circles overlap.
One of them lifts his glass toward our group. "You ladies mind if we join the dance floor or is this a private party?"
"Depends," Mia says. "Are you good dancers or are you about to embarrass yourselves?"
The guy laughs. "Moderately embarrassing at worst."
His friend nods toward the bar. "First round’s on us if that helps our case."
Annabelle tilts her head. "Free drinks are a compelling argument."
"See?" the first guy says. "We’re already winning."
"That’s a strong word," Harper says.
They disappear toward the bar and return a minute later with drinks for everyone.
"Peace offering," Sunglasses Guy says, handing one to me.
"Thank you," I say.
"I’m Tyler," he says. "And this is Jake."
"Natalie," I say. "These are my friends."
"The intimidating committee," Mia adds.
"We prefer quality control," Robin says.
Tyler laughs easily. "Fair enough."
The music shifts and the DJ slides into a song everyone seems to know. The crowd surges back toward the dance floor.
"Round two," Annabelle declares, grabbing my hand again.
We pull the guys with us.
For a while it’s just a big messy group. Dancing, laughing, yelling over the music. Tyler spins Annabelle once and she mock glares at him like he violated a union rule. Lila drags Jake into an exaggerated spin that almost takes out a guy walking past.
"This is chaos," Robin shouts happily.
"Good chaos," Mia says.
Tyler ends up next to me again as the circle shifts.
"Your friends are intense," he says.
"You have no idea," I say.
"I like it," he says.
Another song starts. The lights flash red and blue and the dance floor gets tighter.
Tyler leans closer so I can hear him.
"So how do you all know each other?"
"Hockey world," Mia answers before I can.
"Ah," Tyler says. "That explains the confidence."
"Confidence?" Annabelle says. "You should see us at brunch."
We all laugh.
The next forty-five minutes blur together in pieces.
More dancing.
More drinks.
Lila and Jake attempting a ridiculous coordinated move that ends with both of them laughing too hard to stand straight.
Tyler stays mostly near me. Not pushy. Just… attentive.
"So Natalie," he says at one point during a break in the music. "You always this fun or is this a special occasion?"
"Special occasion," Mia says from behind me. "She escaped her responsible life for the night."
"That sounds mysterious," Tyler says.
"It’s really not," I say.
"You’re holding out," he says.
"She does that," Annabelle says.
Another song starts and the whole group heads back onto the floor again.
Suddenly a hand lands on my waist.
Warm. Solid. Familiar.
"Evening," Gabriel says behind me, calm and smooth. "Mind if I steal my wife for a minute?"
The guy turns.
Freezes.
Gabriel Shelly is standing there looking calm in the way confident men look calm when they know they already own the room.
The guy raises both hands.
"All yours," he says.
Dex appears beside him with Gregory and Bobby like they just teleported.
"Yep," Dex says cheerfully. "That’s the husband."
The guy nods once and disappears into the crowd at record speed.
I turn slowly toward Gabriel.
"What are you doing here?"
"Dex said you were here," he says.
"You weren’t invited," I say.
"Dex invited me," he says.
Dex raises his glass. "You’re welcome."
"Did you summon my husband?" I ask.
"I alerted him," Dex says.
"You called him," I say.
"I provided a situation report," Dex says proudly.
Gabriel pulls out his phone and shows me the messages.
Dex: Situation report.
Dex: Your wife is being flirted with.
Dex: Sunglasses indoors guy.
Dex: Confidence level extremely high.
Dex: This feels like a husband's job.
I stare at the phone.
"You're unbelievable," I say.
Annabelle tilts her head and grins. "This is exactly how these guys operate," she says. "The team sticks together. Total family energy." She nudges me. "Remember when Dex, Gabriel, Colby and Eli practically staged an intervention for Bryce and me on stage? Same vibe. Honestly, it’s kind of cute."
Mia leans over my shoulder. "And the dramatic entrance was hot."
Harper nods. "Very husbandly energy."
"He drove here because someone tried to spin me on the dance floor," I say.
"Correct," Dex says.
Gabriel looks down at me.
I fold my arms. "You interrupted girls' night."
"Dex made it sound urgent," he says calmly.
"Dex thinks refilling the chip bowl is urgent," Mia says.
I glance at Gabriel. "For the record, I can be trusted in public."
"I know," he says.
That answer takes a little of the edge off my irritation.
"Also," I add, "I was having fun."
"Good," he says. "You should."
I study him for a second. "Where's Maddie?"
"Home," he says. "My mom stopped by tonight. She's still home with her."
"So you didn't abandon your child at a drive-through?" I ask.
"Not tonight," he says.
Annabelle leans in between us. "Great. Then no one has to leave."
Mia nods immediately. "Exactly. Gabriel can buy the next round and then we all keep dancing."
Harper lifts her drink. "Problem solved."
Gabriel glances around at the group of women staring at him expectantly.
"That sounds suspiciously like a trap," he says.
"It absolutely is," Mia says.
I shrug at him. "You started it."
Annabelle claps her hands. "And you can drive us all home so we don't have to get a car service."
"Fair enough," Gabriel says.
"Perfect," Mia says. "Now go buy another round and let us have girls' night."
A few minutes later Gabriel returns with a server who is holding a tray of drinks, setting them down on the edge of our table like a peace offering.
"For the ladies," he says. He gives me a small nod, then disappears toward the other end of the club where Bobby is leaning against the bar.
I can see the two of them watching with clear amusement as Dex and Gregory attempt to charm a group of women near the DJ booth.
"By the way," Harper says, fanning herself dramatically, "that entrance was very hot."
"Debatable," I say, trying to sound unimpressed.
Robin grins at me. "Please. That was at least eighty percent hot."
"Minimum," Mia says.
Lila nods. "The calm confidence? The whole my wife moment? Very strong."
"He handled it well," Robin adds. "Protective without being a jerk. That’s a rare skill."
I roll my eyes even though I can feel my cheeks warming. "You’re all being dramatic."
"We're being accurate," Mia says.
After a few more dances and another hour of laughing, sweating, and terrible choreography, the night finally winds down and we’re all piling into Gabriel’s SUV.
Annabelle claims the front seat immediately.
"Navigator," she says.
"You’re not navigating," Gabriel says.
"Moral support," she corrects.
The back seat is rambunctious.
Music. Laughter. Mia telling the story of the sunglasses guy like it was a full action movie.
"Then Gabriel just appears," she says dramatically. "Like Superman showed up."
I glance at Gabriel in the driver’s seat.
He’s focused on the road but I can see the corner of his mouth twitch like he’s trying not to smile.
The car quiets a little as we drop the girls off one by one.
Finally it’s just the two of us.
Gabriel glances at me.
"You have fun?"
"Yes," I say.
"Good."
A small silence settles between us.
"You didn’t have to come," I say.
"Dex said a guy tried to spin you," he says.
"That’s not a crime," I say.
"It felt like one," he says.
I laugh.
Then I look out the window for a second.
"You drove across town," I say quietly.
"Yeah," he says.
"Why?"
He shrugs one shoulder.
"You’re my wife," he says.
My stomach does a small, inconvenient flip.
He pulls into the driveway a few minutes later.
The house lights glow softly through the windows.
Home.
Gabriel turns off the engine.
For a moment neither of us moves.
"Thanks for the rescue I didn't exactly need," I say.
"Anytime," he says.
I open the door and step out.
As we walk toward the house I realize something that probably should have been obvious earlier.
Gabriel Shelly didn’t show up tonight just because Dex texted him.
He showed up because he wanted to.
And the more I think about it, the more I realize something that makes my heart beat a little faster.
Maybe Gabriel Shelly didn’t come to rescue me.
Maybe he came because he wants me to know...he really wants me.