“I like having sex with him.”

“Well, there’s a start to admitting your feelings.”

“You like Shea?”

“I do.” Harper seemed to think it over, and then she looked Elli right in the eyes.

“Then you better not let your insecurities get in the damn way. You're amazing El, amazing. Any man, even dudes of Shea Adler’s caliber, would be lucky to be with you. Don’t forget that and don’t let your family f**k it up.”

She turned to walk away, and then stopped to look over her shoulder at Elli.

“And don’t let past shit with Justin f**k it up, either.”

Harper was gone after that, leaving Elli alone to lean against her truck.

How the hell did she do that? Totally call her on everything that Elli was feeling scared of and then walk away like it was nothing. She smiled as she got into her truck; she guessed that’s why she loved Harper so much. Harper knew her inside and out.

Once she got near the interstate, she stopped at a red light. She looked at the clock, it was well past midnight, so she texted Shea to see if he was awake. She pulled onto the interstate just as her phone rang.

“Hey, did I wake you?”

“No,” his voice was all groggy.

“Liar. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“No, I want to talk to you, make sure you get home okay.” She smiled. “How was the wedding?”

“Beautiful, tiring. I’m ready to go to bed.”

“Are you on the interstate?”

“I am, I have about 30 minutes until I get there.”

“Okay, so did you hear about the Potter trade?” he asked, and that threw them into an awesome conversation about hockey. She loved talking hockey with Shea. He actually knew what he was talking about, unlike her brothers. They were idiots, and they only liked the fights. Elli was home before she knew it; she pulled into her drive and smiled at Adler, who was in the window, wagging his little pug tail.

“I’m home,” she said after a moment of silence.

“Okay, so I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yup, seven right?”

“Right.”

“Do you still want to pick me up? I’m cool with driving into town.”

“I’ll be there at seven. I want to see your house.”

“Okay, well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, babe. Bye, sweet dreams.”

“You, too. Bye.”

Elli hung up the phone with a grin on her face as she walked up the sidewalk to her house. She hugged and kissed Adler as she came in, and then let him out as she moved through the house. After hanging her dress up and taking her shoes off, she went to let Adler back in. She stood in the doorway waiting, and looked behind her to her Assassins wall. There was a fathead of the team’s emblem and then pictures from the game, mostly of Shea, since he was her favorite player.

There was also a signed jersey that her uncle had gotten her that year to go with her season tickets. Shea’s signature was in the middle, right beside his number. She loved her little entry way, it was a shrine to the Assassins.

“Oh, shit!”

She looked around in horror. She was dating an Assassin and when Shea saw this, he would think she was a freak!

“Oh my God, and he’s coming here tomorrow!”

Chapter 6

Shea thought he looked great as he drove to Elli’s house. The suit he had chosen for tonight fit him perfectly, and he was having a great hair day. He was going to put his contacts in, but he couldn’t find them. Not that he really looked that hard for them. He was extremely too excited about seeing Elli, even after the conversation he had with Jakob that day.

“Dude, you’re making yourself too available!” Jakob bitched at him as he texted Elli back, “You’re always talking to her and she’s going to think you’re desperate.”

“No, she won’t. I just like talking to her,” Shea said defensively, “So shut up.”

“You’ve seen her every day since Sunday. You are smothering her!”

“I am not! I just want to get to know her,” Shea glared at him, “and this coming from the guy that’s stalking what’s her name.”

“Harper, but I love her.”

“Oh my God, really dude? It’s been a week!”

“I know the one when I see her.” Shea stood up, wrapping a towel around his waist.

“You know what? Before you try giving me advice on how to date girls, get your own love life squared away.”

Shea shook his head now, remembering Jakob declaring his love for Elli’s friend. It made no sense at all, but it really didn’t matter right now. He was going out with Elli in a matter of minutes.

Her house was not hard to find. It was one of six on the road where she lived. He saw her truck before he saw the house. The truck looked like a man should drive it, not a girl. He shook his head as he pulled in behind the truck and got out. He was so mesmerized by her truck that he didn’t notice Elli sitting on the porch in a rocking chair. She stood up, looking as beautiful as ever in a light colored dress.

“Hey,” she said with a wave, crossing her legs. She was also wearing some naughty looking boots with chains on them.

Hot.

“Hey, I was going to come to the door,” he said as he walked towards her. She looked nervous as she came down the stairs.

“Yeah, my dog jumps on people.”

“How high can a 40 pound pug jump?” he asked with a laugh.