"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 wholemy wifemoment? 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.
