Pierce

Chapter Thirty One

Natalie ~

Two days later Natalie and Lexi sat by the pool at Claire's house, gossiping and discussing the plans for Claire's birthday that evening.

"So you and Pierce are okay?" Claire asked Natalie as they sipped on some mimosas by the pool.

"Yeah, we really are. After we got home we talked all night. I explained to him that I knew he couldn't control when women come on to him, that wasn't the problem. I told him that he betrayed my trust the second he tried to hide it. That concealing her from me looked like an admission of guilt and leaves too much room for miscommunication."

"What did he say to that?" Lexi asked.

"He completely agreed. He fell all over himself apologizing and promised to never hide things from me again. We agreed on total and complete honesty from here on out."

"He knew how bad he screwed up after you left. When we were outside of Luxe I told him the exact same thing and jumped his ass for taking Sara into that dark corner. I asked him what the hell he was thinking and if he understood how bad it looked. He beat himself up over it the whole time you were inside and admitted that he acted out of panic. That he was so scared of losing you that he quit thinking all together." Lexi said.

"He loves you Natalie, this relationship stuff is new to him, but I know he's learning with the help of the rest of the team as well. They all wanted to wring his neck the other night. You had everyone's full support." Claire added.

Natalie smiled and sipped at her mimosa, perfectly content and happy. Yes the relationship she had built with Pierce was unlike anything she'd ever experienced, but the friendships that had blossomed because of it over the past few months were so near and dear to her heart. She had never had time to build true deep friendships, just surface level bullshit that didn't get much past small talk, but these women had her heart and she considered herself the luckiest woman on earth.

"Enough about my drama from the other night. Let's talk about you, birthday girl." Natalie said to Claire who instantly perked up at the suggestion.

"This is your night, tell us how you envision it." Lexi said knowing how important birthday celebrations were to her friend.

"I pulled out all the stops for us tonight at Luxe, complete VIP treatment, private suite, bottle service. The works. I even slipped the DJ your favorite songs that he will play at your request. Is there anything else you can think of that would make this night perfect?" Natalie asked.

"I just want this to be the best girls night we've ever had, which got me thinking...what if we flip the script on the boys tonight..." Claire's mischievous smile was contagious and both women leaned in to hear her plan.

"Oh I like the sound of that, what do you have in mind?" Lexi said eagerly.

"They are so used to being in control and calling the shots...what if the queens of the castles make the rules tonight?"

All three women grinned with delight at Claire's suggestion.

"What kind of rules are you thinking?" Natalie asked.

"Well first rule would obviously be - no boys allowed." Claire said with a laugh.

"They'd never agree to that. You know as well as I do that they would never let the three of us go out alone. Not after everything that has happened."

"Oh I know that, I'm just saying none of our boys allowed, not until they are invited. They tend to just show up whenever they want and crash our girls nights. Let's make this one by invite only." Claire corrected herself with a sly grin.