Chapter 221 Chapter 220
Chapter 221 Chapter 220
Harper POV
There are two kinds of silence.
The first is peaceful.
It’s the kind you find sitting beside a lake while the sun disappears behind the trees.
The second…
The second only exists right before something you’ve worked months for finally begins.
That was the silence I stood in now.
The ballroom was empty.
Not completely empty.
The tables had already been dressed in crisp white linens, each centerpiece sitting perfectly in place. Tiny strands of warm lights stretched across the ceiling exactly the way I’d imagined them on countless nights while sketching ideas in the margins of my notebooks. The dance floor gleamed beneath the chandeliers, and the silent auction tables were lined with neatly wrapped baskets waiting for tomorrow night’s guests.
Everything was finished.
For the first time in months…
There wasn’t another checklist.
No emergency phone call.
No last-minute disaster.
No one needed my opinion about table placements or floral arrangements or whether navy-blue ribbons looked better than silver ones.
Everything was done.
And somehow…
That terrified me.
“You’ve walked around this room six times.”
I looked over my shoulder.
Lila stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and an amused smile tugging at her lips.
“I have not.”
“You absolutely have.”
She held up six fingers.
“I counted.”
“I was inspecting.”
“You were pacing.”
“They’re basically the same thing.”
She laughed.
“They really aren’t.”
I smiled despite myself.
“I just…”
I slowly turned another circle, taking in the room one more time.
“…I can’t believe it’s over.”
She walked over until she was standing beside me.
“It isn’t over.”
“The event hasn’t even started.”
“You know what I mean.”
She nodded.
“I do.”
Her voice softened.
“You’ve spent almost an entire school year planning this.”
“I know.”
“You’ve lived and breathed this fundraiser.”
She nudged my shoulder.
“You forgot to eat twice.”
“It was only twice.”
“It was at least seven times.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
She wasn’t exaggerating.
There had been weeks where classes blurred into Alpha Chi meetings, which blurred into fundraising events, which blurred into late-night emails with vendors.
Somewhere in the middle of all of it…
Life had happened.
I fell in love.
Logan almost lost himself.
We found our way back.
Somehow…
The formal had quietly become part of our story too.
“You okay?”
Lila’s question pulled me back.
I nodded.
“I think so.”
“You don’t sound convincing.”
I looked across the ballroom again.
“My mom always says that when something matters…”
“…it’s normal to be afraid.”
Lila smiled.
“Your mom is smart.”
“She usually is.”
A comfortable silence settled between us.
Then Lila tilted her head.
“So…”
“So?”
“What are you wearing tomorrow?”
I looked at her.
“You’ve seen the dress.”
“I have.”
“But I enjoy hearing you describe it.”
I laughed.
“You are ridiculous.”
“I know.”
I couldn’t help smiling as I thought about it.
“It’s midnight blue.”
“The skirt flows.”
“The back is open…”
I stopped.
Lila immediately grinned.
“Oh?”
“What?”
“You stopped talking.”
“I did not.”
“You got to the open-back part and suddenly remembered Logan exists.”
Heat rushed into my cheeks.
“Lila.”
“What?”
She looked entirely too innocent.
“I’m just saying…”
She shrugged dramatically.
“The poor man may forget his own name.”
I covered my face with both hands.
“You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been told.”
She linked her arm through mine.
“I also think you’re going to be the prettiest woman in that ballroom.”
I looked at her.
“Thank you.”
She squeezed my arm.
“You deserve one night where you aren’t worrying about everyone else.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed.
My heart automatically skipped.
Logan.
I smiled before I even opened the message.
Hockey Boy:
Busy?
I laughed softly.
Lila peeked over my shoulder.
“Oh.”
She grinned.
“Someone misses Miss President.”
I typed back.
Always. What’s up?
The reply came almost instantly.
Need your opinion.
I frowned.
On?
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Finally…
Something important.
I looked up from my phone.
“That’s… strange.”
Lila nodded.
“Very.”
“He never asks for opinions like that.”
“No.”
“He just says, ‘Looks good.’”
“Exactly.”
Another message appeared.
Can you meet me outside the arena in thirty minutes?
I stared at the screen.
Outside the arena?
Not the coffee shop.
Not the Ice House.
Not campus.
The arena.
Curiosity immediately took over.
Me:
You’re being mysterious.
Logan:
Trying.
I laughed.
Me:
You’re terrible at it.
His answer made me smile even wider.
Logan:
Probably.
Thirty minutes?
I looked at Lila.
“I have to go.”
She smirked knowingly.
“I figured.”
“You don’t even know why.”
“No.”
She laughed.
“But judging by that smile…”
“…whatever it is…”
“…it’s wearing hockey skates.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You know…”
“What?”
“You’re really annoying.”
She wrapped me in a quick hug.
“And yet…”
“…I’m still your favorite.”
I hugged her back.
“Barely.”
“Liar.”
Thirty-five minutes later…
The arena parking lot was nearly empty.
Practice had ended almost an hour ago, and most of the players had already gone home.
I climbed out of my car, pulling my jacket a little tighter against the cool evening breeze.
The sun hung low in the sky, painting everything in soft shades of gold and orange.
“Harper.”
I turned toward the familiar voice.
Logan was standing near the front entrance.
His hands were shoved into the pockets of his hoodie.
The second our eyes met…
He smiled.
Not the smile he’d worn for cameras.
Not the confident grin everyone else knew.
This one belonged only to me.
I walked over.
“What was so important?”
Instead of answering…
He held something behind his back.
My eyebrows lifted.
“Logan.”
“What?”
“You’re smiling.”
“I know.”
“What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“I learned from the best.”
I folded my arms.
“You’ve got exactly five seconds.”
He laughed.
“Okay.”
Slowly…
He brought one hand forward.
Not flowers.
Not chocolates.
Not jewelry.
A simple navy-blue tie.
He looked down at it.
Then back at me.
“I need help.”
I blinked.
“…With a tie?”
He nodded very seriously.
“I’ve never been good at matching colors.”
I stared at him for a second.
Then burst out laughing.
“You dragged me all the way here…”
“…for a tie?”
“It’s an important tie.”
I laughed even harder.
“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“I thought something was wrong.”
His smile faded just enough for sincerity to replace it.
“I know.”
He stepped closer.
“So I wanted to make sure the next time I asked you to meet me…”
“…it was because something was right.”
The laughter caught in my throat.
I looked at the tie in his hand.
Then back at him.
He wasn’t asking about colors.
He was asking something much bigger.
He was asking if tomorrow…
He could stand beside me.
Not as the captain of the hockey team.
Not as the future NHL prospect.
Not as the guy everyone on campus knew.
Just…
As my boyfriend.
The man who wanted to be there for me the same way I’d always been there for him.
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
I took the tie from his hand and held it against his chest.
Then I smiled.
“It matches perfectly.”
His shoulders relaxed as if he’d been holding his breath.
“Good.”
I looked into his eyes.
“You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow…”
I straightened the tie against his hoodie.
“…you’re not dressing to impress anyone else.”
I smiled.
“You’re dressing to dance with me.”
For the first time in a very long time…
I watched every ounce of pressure disappear from Logan’s face.
And standing there in the fading evening light…
I realized something.
Tomorrow wasn’t just my charity formal.
Tomorrow…
Was the beginning of the rest of our story.