Page 23 of Center Ice

I fell into my chair and sighed. She was right. He’d basically said the core of who I was didn’t matter. I loved weddings and marriage and love. Without all of that, what was life? What was it all for? Why did we get up every morning, go to work, and endure the misery that accompanied our existence without the promise of love and happiness?

“Don’t let him get to you. There’s too much going on this week, and you don’t need the distraction,” she reminded me.

“I know.” She was right. I needed to push him out of my mind. Especially after last night, but I couldn't. What was it about him?

There was a vulnerability to him that drew me in, a softness I didn’t usually see in men. And the sadness I saw in his eyes when he wasn’t putting on a smile. I saw the shadow. Recognized it as loss, just not the kind I’d ever experienced.

Had that made him bitter? And what if he was right? Statistics didn’t lie. A good portion of marriages didn’t make it to death do you part.

No, if I allowed myself to think like that, then what was the point? My work had a purpose. I made people happy. I worked to create their perfect day. I made dreams come true.

That mattered whether or not Jake agreed. So why did I care? Why did I want to prove him wrong?

“Do you have any spare time today?” I asked Maggie.

She picked up her notebook. “Just double-checking some vendors for the Wells-Malkin wedding.”

“After you do that, could you go back through our weddings and see how many of the couples are still together?”

She laughed. “We’ve done hundreds of weddings.”

“I know, and I don’t want you to call them or anything. Just a quick search on social media to see if they’re still together. If you can’t tell within a minute or two just move on.”

She let out a sigh. “Yeah, I can do that.”

I nearly reminded her she was an intern, and spending time on social media wasn’t exactly asking her to do manual labor in the desert.

“Thanks. Let me know what you find.” I stood and smoothed my clothes before heading out to the front office. The receptionist was notorious for writing down messages and never passing them along, so I had to go to her desk a few times throughout the day to collect them myself.

She wasn’t there, so I searched for any sticky notes with my name on them. The doors swung open, and I glanced up and paused. One of the gorgeous couples from the hockey group was walking in.

“Hi.” I wracked my brain for their names. She had the perfect blond curls I was incredibly jealous of. “Kendall, right? And …” He was the captain. I remembered that much.

“Wyatt,” the guy finished for me.

“Sorry, it’s good to see you guys. Are you wanting to book an excursion? Our receptionist is out right now, but I can leave her a note to call you.”

“We’re actually here to see you,” Kendall said with a small smile.

“What can I do for you guys?”

They shared a look before Wyatt met my eyes. “We want to elope.”

I blinked. I wasn’t normally one to be at a loss for words, but I was shocked. They were here for their friends’ wedding and they wanted to hijack it for their own? That felt like a violation, and I wasn’t comfortable taking over my bride’s time to get them hitched as well.

“You do?”

Kendall nodded. “We’ve been talking about getting married for a while, but it never felt like the right time.”

“We realized this is one of the last opportunities we’ll have with everyone together, so we want to take advantage of it,” he finished.

How was I going to tell them no? It didn’t feel right.

“When were you thinking?”

“Tomorrow night.” Kendall cringed.

Two days before the wedding they were here for. At least it wasn’t the night before.