Taking Shots (Assassins) (71 page)

The whole truck ride to the arena, he was ready, even after parking the car and going in the back way to the locker room. He was ready. When he enter the locker room, some of the team were getting ready, one being Phillip Anderson. Shea and Phillip had always butted heads, especially after him hitting on Elli when they were in Tampa, but being in the mood he was, he smiled at Phillip, and when Phillip looked behind him, Shea guessed to see if anyone else was there, he said, “Ready for tonight, Anderson?”

“
Yeah Adler, you?”

“
Always ready,” Shea said confidently as he walked towards his locker, throwing off his clothes. As he dressed he kept telling himself that Elli wasn’t over him, and that she missed him. That had to mean she still loved him. It took forever for her to say she loved him, so he knew that she wasn’t over it. She couldn’t be. After being fully dressed, he stood putting on his shoes. Members of the team were starting to fill up the locker room and Shea smiled and nodded towards each of them as he left the locker room heading for the elevator that took him up to the company boxes.

Shea walked with all the confidence in the world as he made him way to Bryan Fisher’s box, but when he got closer, he became nervous, jerky even with every step. He saw the door to the box, and took a deep breath, before walking in unannounced. What he didn’t expect was to have fourteen pairs of eyes gawking at him. Shea was expecting just Elli and Bryan, not the whole family. Shea took a deep breath, swallowing loudly as he moved from each face, trying to find Elli.

But she wasn’t there.

“
Adler, everything okay?”

Disappointment raked through Shea’s body. Where was she?

“
Yeah, um, is Elli here?” Shea found himself asking even though he knew the answer.

“
No and if she was, you wouldn’t be seeing her. What in God’s name are you doing here anyways?” Olivia sneered, “You are not welcome anywhere near my family.”

“
Livi, please,” Michael said, moving in front of her, “Shea, son, she isn’t here.”

Which meant Shea wouldn’t be able to see her till the end of the game, if he could even find her. Last time he went to her house, she wouldn’t even answer the door.

Shea nodded slowly, “Well, thank you, you guys enjoy the game.”

Shea turned, going for towards the door when he met eyes with Victoria. Anger filled him as he stared her down, but she wouldn’t look him in the eyes. “You have a lot of gall sitting up here, Victoria.”

“
Don’t you talk to her!” Olivia yelled as Victoria looked up at him.

“
Do you know what I’ve been through? Do you know how much I ache for her and she won’t even speak to me? You did this to me, and because of that, I will always hate you.”

Victoria had tears well up in her eyes as she looked up at him; she started shaking her head, her mouth trying to form words.

“
Leave my daughter alone!” Olivia dug her nails into Shea’s jersey pulling him back, he turned looking down at the Elli’s mother, and held back the rage that was filling him as she screamed up at him, “You are a low life, nothing but a piece of crap! You would never deserve my daughter and the fact that y’all aren’t together is not my baby’s fault, it’s your own! You’re a playboy, the man that sleeps with anything that has legs.”

“
Olivia, stop!” Michael said, trying to pull Olivia back, but she kept screaming.

“
You are nothing, even if Eleanor was here, what did you expect? For her to take you back? My daughter has more class than that, you thug! Get out of here and never come back.”

“
Jesus, woman, shut the hell up, Mike, please get this woman!” Bryan said standing in front of her, and looking up at Shea.

“
Son, please just go.”

Shea nodded, sending one more enraged look at Victoria before leaving.

Well that sure did blow Shea’s confidence all to hell.

Olivia Fisher’s words played over and over again as Shea made his way down to the locker room. Why did she think he was a thug? Or a piece of shit? He was a good guy, he always treated Elli with all the respect in the world, and he loved her. It was like he was a zombie, going through the motions of putting on his skates. How was he supposed to play game seven of the semifinals when he was just told he was a low life, no good, piece of shit, thug? Oh, and that he would never get Elli back?

“
Shea, I know that look. Get it together man.”

“
I got it, Jakob,” he said, looking up at the ceiling before taking a deep breath. He followed his team mates down the hall to the entrance to the ice still in a daze as his confidence continued to break with every word Olivia Fisher said. This was not going to be his best game and he knew it, which was extremely bad since this was the damn finals! What he needed was to see Grace, she would know what to say, what to do. Or better yet, he needed Elli. Elli would make this all better.

When he stepped on the ice, like always his eyes went straight to Elli’s seats. There were people sitting there, so he looked always but then jerked his head back, because it was Elli.

With some guy.

The rage from earlier filled Shea from the inside out. He knew that if his gloves weren’t on, his nails would be biting into his palm, he was clenching his fist so hard. With every glance at her, his body tensed. When she would lean into the dude, he felt his nostrils flare as his temper rose with every lap he did around the ice. His face was hot, his heartbeat hammering against his chest. He wanted to beat the living fuck out of the guy, tear him limb from limb; smash his face into the ice.

Oh, Shea wanted to kill him.

Elli was his damn girl…will be his damn girl.

Shea moved the puck back and forth with his stick, watching as Elli laughed, acting as if he wasn’t ten fucking feet from her! He wasn’t thinking straight, he didn’t even feel his self set up, he just pulled back, and the only thing he heard was the crack of his stick.

And then the shattering of the glass.

When Elli stood with glass falling from her lap, she glared at him as if she was about to come on the ice and kick his ass.

But all he could do was think was,
Hey, at least I got her attention.

“
Are you freaking crazy!? You could have killed me!” Elli screamed, shaking off the glass. She was wearing them naughty wool shorts that drove Shea crazy. Not only were they unpractical in a hockey rink, they were too hot. Elli was so pretty, skinny, but pretty. God, he had missed her.

“
Do you really think I would do something that could hurt someone I love!” Shea yelled back, the guy that sat beside Elli, stood up also shaking off some glass. That guy he would kill, but not Elli. “Whats up with this guy!”

“
Why does it matter to you, you crazy ass!”

“
Damn right I’m a crazy ass, you’re trying to make me jealous!”

“
Oh, please! Like I care if I make you jealous!”

“
You know you do!”

Elli gave him a “whatever” kind of look before saying, “You’re acting like an idiot!”

“
Damn right, love does this to a person!” She shook her head, throwing her arms up in the air.

“
I ain’t going around breaking glass!”

“
No, but you aren’t eating, why the hell are you so skinny!”

Elli’s eye brows drew together before she yelled, “Why the hell you drinking so much!”

Touché.

“
Yeah, that’s what I thought; don’t give in less you can take, Shea Adler,” she said as she put her hands on her skinny little hips defiantly, “Now, what in God’s name made you break that glass? I know you did it on purpose!”

“
You are right, I did! I wanted to get your attention!”

“
Well you freaking got it! What do you want!”

Shea paused.

When he had planned to do this it was supposed to be in front of Elli and Bryan, not the whole damn arena. People stood all around Elli with wide eyes, Shea swore that he could hear a pin drop if he was to drop one. Everyone was zoned in on him and Elli, and for the first time while wearing his hockey jersey, he felt self conscious.

“
Um, well, you see-”

“
For the love of God! The next time you wanna go breaking some glass, at least be ready to say what you were gonna say!”

“
Will you shut up for a minute, damn!” Shea yelled back at her, damn she was a feisty little thing. Elli shook her head and pushed the guy that stood beside her down into his seat as she went to go by him.

“
Elli, wait!” She turned, with an exasperated look on her face.

“
What, Shea?” Elli said, he could tell she was pissed, but she brought this onto herself, if she would have listen to him a long time ago, then he wouldn’t have to resort to damaging property to get her attention. So excuse him if he didn’t give two shits if she was pissed, he had something to say, damn it.

“
I love you!” Shea blurted out, even though that wasn’t what he wanted to say, not yet at least. Everyone around them ‘awed’ at the same time and his eyes fell shut. Damn it, he had this all planned. He was ready for this, he knew what he wanted to say but why wasn’t it coming back to him? “I just love you Elli, so much. I’ve missed you so much these past two months. I’ve tried so hard to get you to listen to me because I know you still love me Elli. I know. If you didn’t you wouldn’t have came to the ball last night-”

“
Lot of good that did me, seeing you with your new girlfriend and all.”

Some people around her gasp, while others said ‘oooo’, God, how Shea wished they could be doing this somewhere private.

“
She isn’t my girlfriend, her name is Alexi Lynn, Damon asked her to go with me since I didn’t want to go alone.”

Elli rolled her eyes, “Whatever.”

“
No, not whatever. I can’t be with anyone else, I’ve tried, I won’t lie to you, you know that, but I have tried to be with other women, and I can’t.”

“
Is that supposed to make me feel better Shea? Knowing that you have been with other women?”

“
I said I haven’t! And you’re with some dude right now!”

“
He’s my assistant you idiot! Come on! Unlike some people I don’t even have the desire to be with anyone else!”

“
I was trying to get over you! And it didn’t work. I was meant to walk on this earth with only you, I was meant to give only you every piece of me. I don’t want anyone but you. I love you. I had this whole speech baby, I did, but just looking into them beautiful green eyes that make me think of when we laid in the fresh green grass for lunch so long ago, I can’t think of anything but the fact that I love you.”

Elli shook her head, looking down at the floor before looking up at him, “Shea, I used to believe them things, because I had felt the same way you do, but you made a fool of me. When I saw you with Victoria, it felt like a knife going into my heart, you knew I’m self conscious and seeing you kiss her, my sister, my extremely beautiful skinny sister! How am I supposed to move on from that?”

“
I didn’t kiss her! She kissed me, I don’t want her. I want you.” Elli rolled her eyes, looking towards the ice as he went on, “You know what, for five years you were with a ball-less son of a bitch that was terrible to you, and you believe every single wrong thing he put in that pretty little head of yours, then you go six years believing them things, not trusting anyone and then I come along. I have done nothing but love you to the fullest of my abilities. I have never cheated on you, I have never lied to you, I have been completely and utterly devoted to you and only you.” Elli looked over to him, looking deep in his eyes as he went on, “But you can’t believe me when I say that your sister set me up. That I didn’t want her then, and I don’t want her now. I want you, and only you. I don’t know how many times I gotta tell you, but baby believe me. Please.”

Elli’s eyes filled with tears as she looked down at him, he closed his eyes, willing his self not to fall to his knees and beg, because the way she was looking at him, it wasn’t looking as if it was going to go the way Shea wanted it too. Which would be Elli leaping into his arms and them skating off the ice wrapped in each other arms.

“
I saw you,” Elli said so quietly Shea almost missed it.

“
She set me up, baby, I promise you. Ask anyone, I love you.”

Elli blinked once, causing a large tear to run over her cheek. He begged her with his eyes for her to come to him, he just needed her lips to touch his, she would know then, she had too.

“
If you don’t want him honey, I’ll take him,” someone said, but Elli and Shea didn’t look anywhere but at each other. When she took a step forward, his heart jump into his throat, she believed him!

But when she turned abruptly and took off up the stairs, he felt like Grace had kicked him all over again.

People were yelling at Elli to go back as she ran up the stairs into the lobby of the arena. Running in three inch heels was a feat, but Elli was bound and determined as she ran towards Papa’s box. Of course, she had forgotten her purse, but luckily the security guard that was guarding the floor of Papa’s box was the same guy she had brought some brownies to the week before.