breaking the ice | j. drysdale

[ 32 ]

【 eliana's pov 】

technically jamie didn't start anything. it started when luka high sticked trevor during the faceoff after jamie's goal. jamie was standing up for one of his closest friends and teammate.

it still doesn't make her very happy as she watches jamie drop the gloves and jump luka from behind as he's headed to the penalty box. some of the rangers jump in to get jamie off luka but the ducks immediately jump to jamie's defense. especially trevor.

eliana rises to her feet for the second time in about two minutes as the crowd at the honda center cheers the scrum on. she can't believe that jamie actually decided to fight luka despite him being nearly six inches taller than jamie and having at least thirty pounds on him.

honestly, if she wasn't so mad she'd probably find it hot that her kind of boyfriend fought her ex in front of thousands of people.

the referees are on jamie and luka immediately after jamie jumps him. it takes two of them to get jamie off and another one to hold luka back while the two of them shout at each other.

"holy shit," harper breathes out as the refs send jamie and luka to their respective locker rooms. "i can't believe he did that. that was probably for you, el."

she looks over at her best friend. "he did exactly what i told him not to do," eliana replies. "he got kicked out of the game for doing that."

river laughs and shakes his head. "that boy is so head over heels for you," he says. "he just jumped your ex-boyfriend in front of thousands of people for you and you sound mad about it."

"i mean, yeah," she scoffs. "yeah i'm mad about it. i told him not to get into a fight and what did he do? he got into a fight."

harper raises her eyebrows as the refs finally calm things down on the ice. "come on, el," she says. "you didn't find that a little bit ... you know."

she does know. the more her anger subsides, the hotter it gets that jamie did that. eliana has to bite her lip to keep quiet before she says something very out of pocket.

her cheeks are a dead giveaway as to what she's thinking because they are so hot and probably bright red. redder than they were when jamie blew her a kiss after his goal.

"yeah," harper laughs. "she finds it hot that her new boy toy beat up her ex."

"shut up, harper."

eliana's phone buzzes with a text and she looks at it while the referee explains that both jamie and luka got a game misconduct and that multiple players on both teams have two minute penalties for roughing or fighting. there are parties going on in both penalty boxes.

she can't help but smile at the text she got.

jamie 🩵
i had to do something after he high
sticked trevor. i didn't mean to get
into a fight with him. sorry

eliana
where are you ?

jamie 🩵
getting changed since i got kicked
out of the game. probably watch the
rest of it in the lounge down here

wanna come watch the rest of the
game with me?

eliana
where am i meeting you ?

jamie explains where to go to get to the lounge downstairs. he tells her that he'll be waiting for her so she can get past security.

"okay, i'm going to meet up with jamie," eliana tells her brother and best friend. "don't bother waiting for me after the game because i'm most likely going to jamie's when it's over."

harper smirks and river says, "alright. text me when you get to jamie's."

"she will be doing no such thing," harper tells him. "i think eliana will be a little busy when she gets to jamie's. leave her alone for the night." harper looks right at her. "use protection please. we aren't ready to be an aunt and uncle."

she punches harper's shoulder before walking off to meet up with jamie. she loves hockey, but she only came to the game for jamie. she doesn't give two shits about the new york rangers and would rather not watch them play a game.

with jamie's directions, eliana finds her way down to the hallway that contains the home locker room, equipment rooms, and the player lounge that's connected to the locker room. jamie assures her that the door will be shut and locked so she doesn't see something she doesn't want to inside the locker room. the last thing she wants to see is a team of sweaty hockey players in various points of undress when she gets into the room.

jamie waits for her outside the hallway. there is a sign on the door that says "players and staff only" but she guesses a player can invite whoever he wants down here.

when she approaches him, he puts a lanyard around her neck that tells her she's allowed to be in the hallway. she looks at his face and sees the bruises that have already started to form on his cheek and on his jaw.

"jamie," she gasps. "oh my god." she reaches up to touch his face. eliana brushes her fingers over his new bruises. "i can't believe he did that to you."

he shrugs and grabs eliana's hands. "it comes with the job," he says as he laces his fingers with hers. "i'm okay. just a little bruised."

she frowns and jamie pulls her into the hallway so they can have a little privacy. he wraps his arms around eliana and she presses her face into his chest. "i'm sorry he did that to you," she whispers.

"i'd fight him a thousand times if he meant he would leave you alone and stop making comments about you," jamie tells her. "the things he was saying pissed me off but i held back until he high sticked trevor. i knew it was retaliation for me scoring and i couldn't let my teammates take the fall for me. i needed him to stop making comments about you too so i figured i could kill two birds with one stone."

eliana looks up at him with her arms wrapped around his torso.

his eyes look brighter against the bruise that formed under his eye. his hair is wet like he just got out of the shower. the first few buttons of his shirt are undone and she can see the chain around his neck.

she gets an unfamiliar feeling in her stomach as she looks at him. it's nothing like she's ever felt before, and all she's doing is looking at him. maybe it's the fact that jamie jumped her ex on the ice at a professional hockey game.

who knows at this point.

all she knows is that maybe an actual relationship where she can call jamie her boyfriend isn't so scary anymore after today. he's proved that he isn't like luka or any of the guys she's dated in the past.