Twenty-One and Invincible

Christmas came and went. I wasn’t trying to avoid Patrick, but because of the holidays and the New Year celebrations with my coworkers and family, and also the fact that Patrick and his team were back to playing games practically every other day, we just didn’t have time for each other. We texted back and forth a few times, but otherwise, that was it.

We were already halfway into January and I was still behind on some filing that had accumulated over the past month. I’d been distracted. For obvious reasons.

I didn’t tell Gabie about what happened between me and Patrick after Adam’s Christmas party. She asked me almost every single day, whether it was at work, over the phone, through emails, through text messages--any form of communication you could possibly think of, she tried it. But I remained tight-lipped and I could only hope that Patrick wasn’t saying anything to his teammates about me.

But then again, I realized that they were guys and guys like to talk too. Every time I thought about it I let out an unintentional groan. It happened on the phone once with a customer and she sounded so confused. She asked me if I had gotten food poisoning or something and was asking if I needed to leave the phone for a minute.

Nope. Just embarrassed is all.

Grandma and Grandpa were doing well. Grandma as always spent her time cleaning the house and cooking the food. Grandpa stayed sort of stationary on the couch, just flipping through channels and watching game shows or whatever was on and yelling at the TV.

“Hey, you,” Gabie appeared in front of me, snapping her fingers in front of my face. Apparently I’d spaced out.

“Huh? Yeah?”

“Can you proofread this article for me before I hand it in to Marie?” Marie was our editor-in-chief. Not like the one from the movie The Devil Wears Prada, though. Much nicer.

“Sure,” I said, yawning and taking the article from Gabie’s hands and putting it aside for the time being. “Is it okay if I proofread it tonight and get it back to you by tomorrow morning?”

“Tomorrow is Saturday, sweetness,” she chuckled, giving me a wink. “Someone’s been working too hard. We should go out tonight.”

“Go out?” I repeated. “Gabie, I’m exhausted. And it’s cold outside! I don’t know if I want to go clubbing or something when it’s subzero.”

“It’ll be fun!” she pressed. “And besides, we haven’t really gotten to hang out together since...what, that day we went to the Blackhawks game? Remember how awesome that was?”

I laughed out loud. “I do. Whatever happened to you and that police officer guy?”

She shrugged. “We ended up going on a few dates but it didn’t amount to anything. God, has it really been that long since we’ve had a real conversation? I dumped him in mid-December.”

I bit my lip. “Maybe going out together would be a good idea. I guess I could use a drink or two.”

“That’s my girl!” Gabie high-fived me. “When you get home, if you’re tired, take a nap. I’ll swing by to get you at around ten o’clock.”

* * * *

I ate dinner with Grandma and Grandpa before opting to get ready for when Gabie came to pick me up. I put on my trusty little black dress and did my hair and makeup before slipping into a pair of nice heels as Gabie knocked on the front door. Grandma and Grandpa were getting ready to turn in for the night, so I gave them both a kiss on the cheek before heading out.

“I’m excited,” Gabie grinned, gripping the steering wheel. “I can’t remember the last time we had an actual girls’ night out.”

“Me neither,” I laughed, running a hand through my hair. “I hope you picked a good club. And that we can get in.”

“Oh, we’ll be able to get in,” she winked. “Don’t you worry.”

We got to a club in downtown Chicago that I’d never heard of before and Gabie parked her car in a pretty vacant lot. We walked across the street to the club and I noticed the long line of people waiting to get in. If I were alone, I’d immediately gravitate towards the back of the line, but since Gabie was with me, we walked straight to the front door.

“Hey, Gabie,” the bouncer at the front greeted her. “Good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too, Chris,” she winked. “Can we come in?”

“Wouldn’t be a party without you,” he chuckled, moving aside and getting the door for us both. We thanked him and walked in.

It looked just like any other club. The lights were low, there were people dressed up everywhere, and an illuminated bar. Gabie and I immediately went to it and ordered ourselves a drink.

“What’ll you have?” the bartender asked us.

“I’ll have a Cosmo,” Gabie shouted over the music. The bartender looked at me expectantly.

“A strawberry daiquiri, please,” I told him. He nodded and went off to make our drinks.

I was about to reach into my clutch to grab some cash when someone literally nudged me aside and gave the barkeep a twenty dollar bill to cover both mine and Gabie’s drinks. I looked up at who it was. Guess who.

Patrick.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, genuinely bewildered. “Don’t you have a game or practice or something tomorrow?”

“My next game isn’t ‘til Monday,” he answered, getting right up close to my ear. “I’ve got a day or two of free time.” He placed a hand on my hip. “Besides, you kind of owe me after avoiding me since Christmas.”

I swatted his chest. “I have not been avoiding you! I’ve just been busy!” I said defensively. Patrick wore that same signature smirk on his face. Gabie watched on in amusement, sipping her Cosmo and watching us bicker back and forth like it was a tennis match.

Gabie then got a look in her eyes. “I’m going to go find me a man,” she declared loudly, eyeing the dance floor. She made eye contact with someone who looked like he was a GQ model and went over to him, taking her drink with her. I rolled my eyes and Patrick laughed.

“When she sees something she wants, she just takes it, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I kinda wish I could be more like that.”

Patrick smiled. “I think I’m like that.”

“You’re a hockey player,” I reminded him. “You have to be like that.”

“I’ll prove it,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “How?”

Without another word, he leaned down and kissed me, dragging the tip of his tongue across my bottom lip. The kiss deepened from there and I had to keep a hand on the bar to stop myself from toppling over as his grip on my waist tightened and he pulled me closer. I was starting to feel dizzy, but not from the alcohol.

He pulled away. “Carmen, I really like you. A lot.”

I let out a small, airy laugh, still trying to catch my breath. “I kinda figured.”

“I don’t want this to go anywhere if you don’t feel the same way about me,” he said. “But I just wanted you to know. I think about you a lot. I think you’re beautiful. You’re quirky. You’re funny. You’re everything a guy could possibly want and I’m afraid that by telling you this, I’m going to lose you.”

I was speechless.

“I just...I need to know if you feel the same way or not.”

So I gave him the best answer I could give. I tugged him down by the collar and pressed a firm, sure kiss on his lips. My fingers crept up to play with the curled locks of his hair and he dipped me back just slightly, holding me even closer to his body. So close, in fact, I could feel him start to physically respond to it.

We pulled away and I bit my lip, glancing down for just a millisecond at his pants. “Want to take this somewhere else?”

He grinned. “Gabie won’t get mad?”

We both looked over to where she was, dancing with Mr. GQ and not having a care in the world.

I looked back and Patrick and grabbed his hand. “I don’t think she’ll miss us much.”