Page 30 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

Wes ended the call and I sighed. I didn’t feel like entertaining him, but he was also really good at entertaining himself. This was typical of him and sometimes I wondered if he just didn’t enjoy his own company. He was my best friend, though, so who was I to tell him no?

Plus, maybe he and his bullshit would distract me from my own thoughts.

I needed to get Harper out of my mind.

And I was beginning to question whether or not that was even possible.

CHAPTERELEVEN

HARPER

Ihad successfully been managing to avoid any run-ins with Nico after leaving his apartment the other morning. Phillip switched up our assignments so I only saw Nico while he was playing. We’d been talking, but I had been able to avoid hanging out with him, even though he had asked a few times.

The other night scared me. The way he was with me—the way he made me feel. I never had an experience with anyone else like I did with him, and it confused the hell out of me. I shouldn’t have been involving myself with him in the first place. Not with my job at stake. Yet I couldn’t help myself.

And it was really hard turning him down every time he tried to see me this week.

I knew there needed to be some distance between us. I couldn’t let myself get involved with him on a personal level and I felt like we were already toeing that line. If we kept things superficial and at face value, there was no reason to go forming any attachments.

Phillip assigned me at the players’ entrance again and I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of excitement and dread. There was no way of avoiding Nico if I saw him while walking in. I tried to get Ava to switch with me, but she told me it wasn’t allowed. Once we had our assignments, they were ours. Do or die, I had to get the shots, and unfortunately for me, I had gotten some that the organization really liked.

It was a true compliment but I didn’t want to come face to face with Nico. He had kept things pleasant when we talked through texts the past few days, but seeing him in person was a completely different story. He had a way of drawing things out of me. And I had a feeling he wasn’t going to let me go until he got what he wanted… whatever that might be this time.

My phone vibrated as an email came through and I quickly checked it as I had a few minutes before anyone would be walking in. It was someone Ava put me in contact with that was looking for a wedding photographer. They were highly impressed with my work and wanted to hire me. A smile pulled on my lips as I sent them a quick response back with the promise of connecting and going over details next week.

As the guys came rolling in, I was already sitting on the floor with my camera in position. I got a few of the guys laughing and talking as they walked together. Some were very serious, some had headphones or earbuds in and were working on their mental game. It was an experience in itself, just getting to witness their own habits as they got prepared to go out on the ice.

In typical fashion, Nico and Wes came walking in and were toward the back of the pack. They were never late, but they were always one of the last ones here. Wes had another wrinkled outfit on and I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh as I took a few shots of the two of them. Wes was talking on the phone this time and Nico already had his eyes on me.

I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole so I could avoid his piercing blue eyes. He stopped in front of me and Wes nodded as he walked past. He didn’t glance back at Nico, which was unusual. The two of them were stuck together like glue. Nico’s eyes were on mine and he waited until the door closed behind the guys before parting his perfect lips.

Lips I’d already touched and tasted.

My mouth went dry and my tongue darted out in an attempt to wet my own lips. Nico’s gaze dropped down to my mouth, lingering for a moment. I watched his throat move as he swallowed and he slid his hands into the front pockets of his suit jacket before bringing his eyes back to mine.

“You’ve been avoiding me, love,” he said, his voice low yet soft. “I think I have an idea why, but I want to hear it from you.”

I slowly set my camera down in my bag and rose to my feet to face him head-on. “You could have asked me this before today. You knew that if you had me cornered here, there was no way I could avoid answering you.”

Nico stood perfectly still and simply smiled. He didn't need to answer me as we both knew it was the truth. He wasn’t an erratic, uncalculated person. Everything he did was thought out and planned. I didn’t know if I would want to see what an unhinged Nico Cirone looked like. I saw him on the ice in fights, but even those looked like he had run through a game plan in his own mind of how he was going to conduct himself.

He was always controlled and never out of line.

“Tell me why, Harper.”

I stared back at him for a moment. “If you already think you know the reason, then there’s no reason for me to say it.”

“I need you to confirm it. That way I can chase away your fears.”

His words spread a warmth through my body and my heart did that stupid little thing it did when he was around. “I can’t get attached to you, Nico. I need things simple with no strings. I just got out of a bad relationship a few months ago and I’m not looking for a rebound.”

“I would never be your rebound, love,” he said as his eyes stared directly into mine. “There wouldn’t be anyone after me.”

My heart did that damn thing again and skipped at least four beats in my chest. I couldn’t let myself feel anything with him and I needed him to give me the same in return.

“It wouldn’t ever work, Nico. You know we can never be anything.” I paused for a moment, watching a shadow pass over his expression. “We’re friends, but nothing more. We might do things we probably shouldn’t, but that’s all it can ever be. You already know the risks we are running by doing that.”

Nico was silent as he stared at me with ice sliding over his eyes. “You’re right. We’re nothing.”

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