Meet Me in the Penalty Box (Orchid City, #1)(44)

“I want to be with you, Nico. You weren’t a part of my plan when I moved here, but I can’t get away from you and I don’t want to.” I fell silent as I collected my thoughts and chose my next words carefully. “Putting a label on it makes it real.”

He rested his chin against the top of my head as he held me tightly. “And you don’t want it to be real.”

I shook my head. “That’s the problem… I do want it to be real.”

“You’re contradicting yourself, Harper.”

I lifted my head and turned my body to look at him. “I want it to be real, but I’m terrified of what will happen. Look at my last relationship.”

Nico scowled. “I am nothing like him.” He stared directly into my soul. “I am not him, Harper. I will never, ever fucking hurt you.”

I swallowed over the emotion that was thick in my throat. “I know, you’re the complete opposite of him. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before and I’m not afraid that you’ll hurt me the same way he did.”

“So, what are you afraid of?”

I stared back at him. “What happens when you grow tired of me? When you decide you want something else or someone different?” I raked my teeth over my bottom lip. “I don’t know that I would survive the ways you could destroy me.”

Nico’s eyes pierced mine. “You are it for me, Harper. You are everything. I don’t give a fuck about anyone else. And growing tired of you is impossible. If anything, I will always want more of you.”

“You can say that, but there’s no way for you to guarantee it.”

“Then let me show you, Harper,” he said softly as he stroked the side of my face. “Take a chance and fall with me.”

“You say it like it’s so simple.”

He smirked. “Because it is, love. I know you’ve been hurt in the past and it’s hard for you to trust. All I’m asking for is a chance to show you that I mean every fucking word I say to you.”

“Okay,” I whispered as my heart pounded erratically against my rib cage. I slowly lowered my head back to his chest and listened to the thrumming sound underneath.

“Thank you,” he whispered into my hair as he held me close again.

We both fell silent for a moment, lost in our own thoughts, but he was consuming mine. He plagued my mind, but in the best way possible. I wanted to believe him, I wanted to trust him. I wanted to fall with him so he could catch me before I crashed into the ground. There was a hesitation on my end and I knew it was because of my ex, along with the fact that we were breaking the rules of the organization we both worked for.

“We were never supposed to get in this deep,” I murmured against his bare chest as I ran my hand across his chiseled torso.

Nico chuckled lightly as he traced invisible patterns along my back.

“Too late, love,” he said as he pressed his lips to my forehead once more. “We’re already in deep and there’s no way out now.”

He was right.

I could feel myself sinking deeper into the depths of Nico Cirone and I wasn’t sure that I ever wanted to come up for air again.





CHAPTER TWENTY





NICO





Our flight left early the next morning and I made sure I was back in my room before everyone else was up. Wes didn’t even stir when I snuck in and got into my bed. I laid there, still thinking about her as Wes’s alarm went off. Those damn bruises on her face—I fucking hated them. I wanted to wash them all away.

I wanted to take her pain and give it all to him, but I couldn’t. She was right. It was over and I had to let it go… for now, until I saw him on the ice again.

We all boarded onto the jet and flew back to the city with the weight of our loss hanging heavily over our heads. Our coach wasn’t particularly thrilled about it and he wanted us on the ice as soon as we touched down in Orchid Beach.

I didn’t even get to say anything to Harper because she disappeared as soon as we got off the jet. Wes and I both walked to our cars in silence before heading back to the training facility. It was a brutal practice, one that we had to do without pucks. Those were always the worst and as if we didn’t work our asses off last night… we were all fucking exhausted after practice.

As I sat in the locker room after getting a shower, I pulled out my phone and sent Harper a message. I was able to clear my mind while out on the ice because of the intensity of the drills we were forced to do, but as soon as I was back in the locker room, I couldn’t help myself as my thoughts drifting back to her.

Nico



Did you get home all right? I didn’t even see you leave.





She responded almost instantly, sending me a selfie of her lying on her couch. My eyebrows pinched together in disapproval as I saw the bruises that were deepening in color under her eyes. The tip of her nose was scraped from the camera and my jaw clenched.

Harper



I did. I was exhausted after traveling and haven’t left my couch since.





Nico



Good. You need to rest. Call me later?





Wes walked over to me and stopped in front of me. His hair was damp from his shower and he was wearing a sweat suit. “You want to hang out?”