Noel scowled at her. “I’m being serious. Nick and I have been in each other’s lives since birth. Losing him would be like losing a kidney. Getting involved romantically is out of the question. Besides, he just got out of an eight-year relationship with your buddy Amber. Shouldn’t you be telling me to stay away?”
“No, because Amber made the decision to dump Nick. I told her not to. Guys like Nick and my Drew come around so seldom that we need to snatch them up. If Nick had done the dumping, I may suggest you wait until after my wedding to make a move just to save me the drama, but eh.”
Noel tapped her fingers against the dashboard nervously. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“Why are you still friends with her? I never understood what it was about her in high school. I know she couldn’t stand me, but…” Noel trailed off, not wanting to make this about her. “She’s left you hanging so many times. You’re about to be married and she is talking you into wild bachelorette parties with strippers and—”
“Hey now, why are you bagging on strippers so much? Don’t act like we didn’t watch Magic Mike on repeat for years.”
“Whoa, wait a second. First of all, we are talking about a movie with Channing Tatum. Real-life strippers are sweaty, probably stinky, all up in your personal space putting their head in your crotch, their G-string-covered dick in your face, and throwing you around like a rag doll.”
“You say the last part like it’s a bad thing.” Gabby giggled, poking Noel in the side. “Seriously, you’re not usually a judgmental sour puss. Is it just because it was Amber’s idea? To be honest, I would have loved to head to Vegas for the weekend and seen the Thunder Down Under show, but we are in a bit of a time crunch.”
Noel cracked a smile at Gabby’s terrible Australian accent. “Okay, I may be a little harsher about the idea because it came from her. But, ugh, she bugs me. Before you showed up at brunch, she was giving me a bad time about Nick. Insinuating that I wasn’t good enough for him.”
“What?” Gabby put her hand on Noel’s knee and squeezed, keeping the other on the wheel. “I’ll talk to her. No one makes my Noelie feel less than amazing.”
“I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to talk to her. I appreciated you stepping in while we were in school, but I am a grown woman. I can fight my battles. I would just like to understand how someone so…” Heinous? Spoiled? Bitchy? “Difficult could win over awesome people like you and Nick.”
Gabby shrugged. “I mean…Amber has her flaws and we don’t hang like we used to, but she’d also had a lot going on in her personal life. If you’d seen some of the knock-down drag-outs her parents get into, you’d feel bad for her. Her dad is a total douche and tears her self-esteem to shreds, then turns around and buys her everything she wants to make up for it. I’m not excusing her being a shit to you and you can bet I will talk to her, but besides you, she’s my oldest friend. Has our relationship always been perfect, hell no. But I still want her standing up with me on my wedding day. Could you try to get along with her?”
Noel leaned across the middle and laid her head on Gabby’s shoulder, sighing loudly. “Yes, I can be nice. For you.”
“And the strippers?”
“Sounds like fun.”
Gabby kissed the top of her head with gusto. “There’s my girlie! Now, back to your love life.”
“No. No to Nick. Not going there.” At least, I’m going to do my best not to.
Gabby grunted. “All right, no Nick. Still, you should open yourself up to the possibility of love and commitment.” Using one hand to frame her own face, Gabby beamed and fluttered her eyelashes. “It’s done wonders for me.”
Sadness rushed through Noel as she thought about joyful times from her childhood. Dreams of happily ever after, like the love her parents shared, had died with them. Now, the thought of caring that much sent her into a blind panic.
There was a time when she’d dreamed about marriage and kids. The man she loved would ask her father’s permission and after a bit of teasing, he’d give it. They’d spend months planning it and the day of, her dad would walk her down the aisle. Her mother would stand up at the ceremony and read the poem that Noel’s grandmother read when her parents got married. She’d dance with her dad to some cheesy song and he’d pretend he wasn’t crying even as he wiped his eyes…