The Hockey Girl

Chapter 8

I couldn’t reign in my laughter. “You did not!” I exclaimed. Nate ducked his head, sheepish.

“I did. Ploughed straight through the cake.”

My laughter was certainly not at any risk of dying down anytime soon.

We were sitting in a beautiful restaurant named La Porchetta in the town next to our own. I’d never been here before and I found that I thoroughly loved it. It was a small Italian restaurant with the options of eating either inside or out – we’d decided to eat inside due to the unusual chill in the spring air.

The restaurant was small, cozy. There were vibrant colours of red and green – the same colours as the restaurants logo – surrounding us. There were elegantly carved dark wooden tables and chairs arranged neatly around the restaurant and beautiful artworks covered the walls.

Nate played the role of the perfect gentleman that his mother had raised him to be perfectly. He’d opened doors for me, pulled out my chair and smiled as I took my seat. We’d ordered five minutes ago and were currently discussing Nate and Alexei’s escapades at Alexei’s brother, Tom’s wedding last year.

I was still laughing a good thirty seconds later – picturing Nate ploughing through a wedding cake.

“Lucky for us, it was a day before the actual wedding when it happened. They were able to get another cake in time although I thought Tom’s fiancé was going to kill us.” Nate explained.

I made an effort to stifle my laughter, “Why on earth were you attempting to fly-kick each other?” I could imagine the two of them doing this and I smiled fondly at the imagining. I was glad that Nate had been his old care-free self in that moment.

He awarded me with his signature devilish smile, “I honestly can’t remember.” He laughed lightly, “I remember him making contact with my chest. I fell and twisted when trying o regain my footing. I heard Alexei hooting with laughter as my face landed straight in the cake.”

More laughter ensued. “I just want to know one more thing…” I said as I fiddled with the straw placed in my tall glass of water.

He smiled, “Anything.” The singular word that he uttered sounded like a promise.

“Did the cake taste good?”

Nate’s handsome features were alight with his laughter. “Trust you to ask that.” He manages to speak through his laughter.

“What?” I shoot him an innocent look, “I love cake, sue me.”

“Don’t we all?” He asks rhetorically but I nod regardless.

“Excuse me?” I looked up toward the inviting voice to see a waiter who I presumed would be around twenty. I couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was.

“I am Jack and I will be your waiter for tonight. Your orders; the Alla Matriciana with fettuccine pasta and the Pollo e Avocado with penne pasta.” He announced.

Nate indicated to Jack which dishes belonged to whom and I smiled as I looked down at my Alla Matriciana - delicious. I glanced up from my dish and was struck by the sight of Jack smiling invitingly at Nate. I quickly lifted a hand to cover the smirk that I was sure was clear as day on my face.

Trust me to stray from a regular cliché. Nate was talking casually with the waiter about the merits of the dish he had chosen, the waiter giving a gorgeous smile.

“Well, please let me know if either you or your sister needs anything. I’ll be more than happy to help.” The handsome waiter said this with a single-minded attention focussed on Nate who hadn’t seemed to clue in yet.