“Coast is clear,” he told me as he held his hand out to me. I slid my fingers through his and he broke out into a jog, pulling me along with him. His stride was much longer than mine but I ran along with him until we were finally outside of the building.
Giggles escaped us like little children from the adrenaline rush we had just experienced running from the stadium. Hell, the entire night was a fucking rush like I had never felt before. Sneaking around like that so we wouldn’t get caught. Skating for my first time with him. Having sex in the locker room.
I looked over at him as we sat in his car, getting ready to leave to go back to my place for the night. “Have you ever done that before?”
Nico looked over at me with his eyebrows drawn together. “Done what?”
“All of it,” I said in a rush. “Snuck into the stadium to take another girl there to skate and then fucked her in the locker room.”
His facial expression relaxed and his mouth twitched as he raised an eyebrow. “Would you be mad if I did?”
Yes. “No.”
He smirked. “You’re a terrible liar, Harper. But the answer is no. I’ve never done any of that with anyone but you.”
“Good,” I told him with a smile as I slid my hand into his. “I want some of your firsts too.”
Nico pulled his car from the parking spot as he looked over at me with his ocean eyes.
“I can’t promise you all of my firsts, but I can promise you every single one of my lasts.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
NICO
Harper was still in my room getting dressed when I heard the elevator doors ding and slide open. I started walking toward the doors when my sister stepped into view with her suitcase in tow. She was only here for the weekend, but Giana never traveled lightly.
Her face lit up when she saw me and she ran over, jumping up to give me a hug. She was only two years younger than me, but the size difference was definitely noticeable. Giana stood just below my shoulder and I lifted her up into the air in silence.
As I set her back on her feet, she took a step back and her eyes pierced mine. “Is she here?” she signed as she attempted to look around me
“Jesus, G. You can’t even pretend like you’re happy to see your brother?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head as a smile blossomed across her lips. “I’ve known you my whole life. I’m excited to meet the woman who has finally stolen my brother’s heart.”
I smiled back at my sister as I felt the depth of her words. She had heard enough about Harper and as soon as she had a free weekend, she was practically begging me to come visit. We usually tried to get together whenever we could, but both of our schedules had been so busy lately, neither of us were at fault.
Harper was nervous as hell to meet my sister. It was a big thing for both of us and she talked about it all night. She was relatively quiet this morning and I didn’t press the issue. Instead, I tried to just make the day easier for her to try and help with her anxiety.
“She is getting changed, but wait out here while I go check on her,” I signed back to G.
She nodded. “I’ll go make myself at home with Ballsy in the guest room.”
Giana pushed past me and just as she was stepping into the hallway, Harper came out of my room. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, her face free of makeup. She was wearing a coral-colored sweater and a pair of black leggings. Her eyes widened for a moment as she was standing face to face with my sister and I watched her expression grow soft. Her eyes were warm as she smiled.
Giana lifted her hand to wave and I watched Harper do the same as she softly said hi and introduced herself. She knew G wasn’t able to hear the words she spoke, but she could read her lips.
Harper looked over to me and back at Giana who was now turning around to look at me. “Tell her to come with me while I unpack my things.”
I swallowed hard and shook my head. I was suddenly self-conscious of the massive ball of tape I had stored away in my guest room that Harper didn’t know about. “She doesn’t know about Ballsy.”
Giana’s eyes widened. “Are you seriously going to be weird about it now?” She huffed and waved for Harper while pulling out a notepad from her purse. She wrote something on it and showed it to Harper. Harper glanced back at me with a smile before she followed my sister down the hall.
I lingered for a moment, not sure if I should follow after them or not. Harper told me she didn’t really know ASL which wasn’t unusual for most people. Unless you had someone who had hearing difficulties in your life or had a passion for the language, many people didn’t know how to communicate using it.
Giana had adjusted through life by carrying around a small notebook or using her phone to get messages across to people who couldn’t communicate with her via sign language. A part of me wanted to go in and see what they were talking about. G wasn’t overbearing, but I had a feeling she would be asking Harper as many questions as she could get out.
And then there was Ballsy. I wasn't necessarily ashamed of him by any means. I just wasn't sure if Harper would understand his significance or if she would think I was completely fucking weird and something was seriously wrong with me.
Which I supposed could be debatable.
I moved into the living room and sat down on the couch, kicking my feet up as I turned on the TV and flipped to ESPN. There was a talk show on and I just let it take my attention instead of worrying about my sister and my girl in the other room. I stared at the screen and it wasn’t long before they were coming down the hall.
G had a smirk on her face and she walked past the living room and into the kitchen instead of talking to me. Harper came in and sat down on the couch beside me. I slung my arm around the tops of her shoulders.
“So, I’m supposed to ask you about that ball of tape you keep in your guest room.”
I knew this was coming.
“Yeah, that’s Ballsy,” I said with a shrug of indifference.
Harper angled her head to the side with a smile. “It has a name?”
A chuckle rumbled in my chest as the nervousness I previously felt quickly dissipated. “Yep. When I was a kid, I used to leave balls of tape all over the place. My mom would get so annoyed as she collected them and when she gave them to me, I started to build a bigger ball by combining them all.”
I watched Harper’s expression transform. There was nothing but warmth and softness in her gaze as she waited for me to continue.
“It became a tradition. Every season, I would start a new ball of tape and collect it the entire season.” I paused as the memory of my mother drifted into my mind. “My mom was the one who came up with the name Ballsy. I have no idea where, but it stuck. And then we’ve had multiple generations of Ballsy since then.”
Harper smiled. “I love it. I mean, sure, it’s not like everyone has a massive ball of tape sitting in their guest room… but I like it. It’s a part of you and who you are.”
I stared at her for a moment in disbelief. “You’re really not weirded out by it? I mean, it is like a good luck kind of thing in a way.”
“I don’t judge you for Ballsy,” she said with a soft laughter and it was like music to my ears. “It’s actually rather impressive and I love the symbolism behind it.”