breaking the ice | j. drysdale

[ 45 ]

【 eliana's pov 】

morning sex has become one of eliana's favorite things that she's recently discovered. every touch and kiss is so soft in the morning. she has to look past jamie's stinky morning breath but she loves it.

today is a little rushed though, and she doesn't mind because she knows how excited jamie is to play hockey again. he has to be at the rink at ten for morning skate, then they have a team meeting at twelve, then he and trevor are grabbing lunch.

since jamie is going to be out all day until he has to go back to the honda center for the game, eliana is going to the apartment she shares with river.

he's apologized multiple times about what he said the other day so she hopes that he's had an attitude change. jamie doesn't know that's the reason she's been staying in his apartment, but it is.

eliana grabs her suitcase and heads to the place she shares with her brother as soon as jamie and trevor are out the door for practice. she texts river to let him know she's on the way and when she's two minutes away.

using her key, she gets into the apartment. river is sitting on the couch when she walks through the door. he's watching something on tv. "hey," she says as she shuts the door behind her.

"hey, little sister," river replies with a smile. "glad to see you're still alive. haven't seen you in a few days."

she rolls her eyes and plops down beside her brother with a sigh. "shut up," she retorts. "that's your fault. i could've come home right after i got home from mexico but someone decided to be an asshole instead.

"you're right," river says. "how was mexico? it looked like a lot of fun."

with a nod, she pulls out her phone to show river some pictures. "it was beautiful," she tells him as she scrolls through her camera roll. "it was nice getting to know some of jamie's teammates a little better and just hang out with them. the anaheim ducks are a very interesting group of guys, by the way."

her brother laughs. "i'm glad you had a good time," he says after she's done scrolling through all the pictures from the trip. "i'm really sorry for being an ass when you got back."

"what's going on with you and harper?" she finally asks. harper won't say anything about what happened while eliana was away. she knows she's been a little distant but she didn't think she was so distant that she couldn't see the problems that her brother and best friend were having.

it's a long silence before river explains, "i think she's getting tired of the fact that i'm holding you on such a tight leech. after luka and you being in the hospital before we left, i've been so protective of you and you don't even know it. harper has seen everything and has scolded me for it. i didn't want you going on the trip and i was so tempted to message jamie and tell him you couldn't go. i think that was her last straw. she doesn't talk to me anymore unless it's in the group chat with the three of us."

eliana frowns. she didn't know that river was so protective of her. she had no idea that he was so close to telling jamie that she wasn't allowed to go on the trip to mexico.

she understands, but she doesn't at the same time.

"look," she sighs. "i understand you are just trying to make sure i am safe, but jamie is the last thing that makes me feel unsafe. he never raises his voice when he's annoyed with me and he has never raised a hand. jamie is amazing. you have nothing to worry about when it comes to him. it took me a while to admit that it was okay to be with him because i was scared after luka, but he makes me so happy. this is probably the happiest i have ever been. he's just as protective of me as you are. i promise."

a look of relief falls over river's face. he nods and hugs his sister. she hugs him back, happy that they talked about what's going on.

now she just has to talk to harper tonight to get her side of things.

river pulls back from the hug and looks at his sister. "um, as harper's best friend, you'd know what kind of rings she likes, right?" he questions.

"i'd like to think s- wait a second," she says as she finally processes the question. "are you planning to propose to her?"

a smile pulls at river's lips. "yeah, i am," he tells his sister. "i mean, as long as we don't break up. i wanted to go ring shopping this week if you're not busy."

eliana smiles. "i am never busy to help you look for my best friend's engagement ring."