“Okay, well why do you have to say you moved in? Why can’t y’all just go the way you’ve been going?”

“I think he wants it to be official.”

“Oh, well I don’t know, babe.”

Elli let out a frustrated breath, and dropped her face into her hands.

“I mean, Elli, do you even love him?”

“Huh?” she asked lifting her head to look at Harper’s profile, since she was looking down at an order form.

“You heard me, do you love him?”

“Why?”

“Because I thought you did, but now I don’t know. If Jakob asked me to move in, I would because I want to be with him all the time.”

“You would move in with Jakob?”

“In a New York minute. That man drives me nuts. In a good way, of course.”

Elli kept staring at Harper in total astonishment.

“Who the hell are you? And where is my best friend?”

Harper giggled, still not looking at Elli as she packaged up some pictures.

“He said he would change me, I guess he was right. It takes the right person to change you.”

“I’m speechless.”

“You’ll be alright,” Harper said, standing up and walking around the desk to put the picture packages in piles.

“But really, Elli, do you love him?”

Elli thought for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders, “I don’t know, how did you know?”

“I don’t know? This is new to me! All I know is that Jakob is the only man I want. So, hell, that must be love,” Harper giggled as the most beautiful smile went over her face. It had to be love, because Elli had never seen Harper smile like that.

“He’s the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing before I go to sleep. I want him, always, and the thought of being with anyone else actually hurts my heart.”

Elli felt the exact same way about Shea, so did that mean she loved him? Wasn’t it too early for that? Of course, she cared for him deeply, but did she love him? She must not if moving in with him scared the living shit out of her. But that didn’t feel right, because sometime she felt the words right on her tongue, ready to say them to him, he made her feel so good, so special. So she had to, but then why did moving in with him scare her so bad?

Because she was crazy, that was the only logical answer.

Chapter 19

Elli was in her living room eating her favorite hockey food, nachos, when it happened. It had been a good day. She had talked to Shea that morning when he had arrived in St Louis. She had even gone and bought a beautiful black sweater dress to go with the studded black Christian Louboutin heels she had bought the day before for the dinner with Shea’s parents the following day. Harper had declined coming over to watch the game because she was cramping and wanted to watch the game in her bed. Elli didn’t think anyone saw it coming. But with hockey, no one ever does. She was out the door and in the truck driving to Harper’s because she knew Harper was going to need her. She just wished she had put on some pants first, because it was colder than the North Pole out with only her little plaid shorts on.

When Elli pulled into Harper’s apartment complex, she saw Harper in the window on the phone. Shit, she had forgotten her phone at home. She ran up the stairs after locking the truck, and pounded on Harper’s door. Harper threw the door open, tears streaking her face, snot running down from her nose.

“I can’t get ahold of anyone!” she cried as she threw herself into Elli’s arms.

Elli held her close, even though she was freezing, and moved her hands up and down Harper’s back.

“I’ll call Papa, let’s go in,” Elli said soothingly as she moved Harper inside.

“It looked bad Elli, so stinkin’ bad.”

“I know,” Elli said with a shake of her head, as she locked the door, and sat Harper on the couch before taking her phone from her.

The hit that Jakob took was honestly the worst Elli had ever seen. Elli wasn’t even sure who the guy was who took Jakob out. All she knew was that Jakob had done a full flip before hitting the ice, face first.

And Jakob doesn’t wear a face guard.

“Did they get him off the ice?”

“Yeah, about ten minutes ago. Shea isn’t in the game anymore, either.”

“He isn’t?” Elli asked looking at the screen to see if she could catch Shea’s number as she dialed her Papa’s number. Bryan answered on the third ring.

“Eleanor, I can’t talk right now.”

“Is he okay?”

“We don’t know, they are taking him to the ER now.”

“Is Shea with him?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, I’ll call him.”

“Okay.” Elli hung up, dialing Shea’s number, but he didn’t answer. She looked over at Harper to see her still crying her heart out, which who could blame her? Elli would be a wreck, too, if her boyfriend was the one who had gotten hit.

She went over to the computer, looking up the number for the hospital by the arena. After talking to four nurses and waiting for over ten minutes, Elli hung up the phone in complete frustration. No one would tell her anything.

“Anything?” Harper asked as she hiccupped before wiping her face with her shirt.

“No, babe, but someone will-” The phone rang, and it was Shea. “Shea, is he okay?”

“No, not right now, but he will be. He took a bad hit to the knee, and broke his nose. They are running x-rays right now. We’ll know more in a few, but I wanted to call and tell you guys that he’s going to be okay.”