"Team chat," I say.
"Bad?"
"Loud," I answer.
She studies me for a second. "You're not going to look?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
I slide my arm around her waist and pull her closer against my chest.
"Because whatever they're saying," I say quietly, "can wait until morning."
She tilts her head slightly, searching my face.
"That confident, huh?"
"No," I admit.
I pause, realizing the truth of it even as the words leave my mouth.
"Just not interested in pretending this isn't real anymore."
Chapter seventeen
Natalie
"Look at him," Dex calls across the ice. "Man walks in smiling like he solved world peace."
I glance up from the stands just in time to see Gabriel glide past the blue line, pushing a puck ahead of him during warm-ups.
He is, in fact, smiling.
Colby skates by him and shakes his head. "Nope. Worse."
Dex slows beside him dramatically. "Oh no. That's married man glow."
Half the team bursts out laughing.
Gabriel flicks the puck toward the net and rolls his eyes. "You guys are exhausting."
"You love us," Dex says immediately.
"That is highly debatable," Gabriel mutters.
Beside me, Maddie presses her hands against the glass and shouts, "GO DADDY!"
A couple of the other team kids giggle. One of them tries to copy her.
"GO DADDY!" the little boy yells toward the ice.
His actual father is standing twenty feet away, staring at him like he just got replaced.
The Nashville Outlaws practice facility smells like cold air, rubber, and coffee. Pucks slap against boards. Skates carve sharp lines into fresh ice. Music thumps faintly from somewhere behind the benches.
It’s lively.
