Page 14 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

Are you always so sure of yourself?

A smile pulled on my lips and I stared down at my phone as the pilot drove the jet onto the runway. I had approximately a minute before we would be in the air and needed to put my phone on airplane mode.

Nico

How else do you think I stay on top?

Harper

You’re a top all right…

Damn. She made my dick hard with one sentence.

Her response was not what I had expected. I had definitely underestimated her and now I didn’t feel as badly about coming on as strongly as I did. I wasn’t here to fuck around. Not in the sense of leaving things open to her interpretation. I knew what I wanted and was simply making sure she knew it too.

Nico

You want to play, love? I can show you how good it feels to win.

Three small bubbles popped up and disappeared as she typed and deleted a response. My heart pounded against my rib cage and excitement rattled my system as I waited in limbo for her response.

“Cirone, we’re about to take off. Phone.”

Our coach made me feel like I was back in high school all over again as he scolded me for having my phone out. A sigh escaped me as I closed out of the message thread. I quickly switched it over to airplane mode and slid it back into my pocket.

I caught Wes looking at me from where he was sitting. A smirk played on his lips and he cocked an eyebrow.

I shook my head at him. “Just don’t.”

I had half a hard-on and felt awkward as hell as I attempted to adjust myself in my seat with my best friend staring at me the way he was.

“I didn’t say anything,” Wes said as he feigned innocence and held up the novel he was reading. “I’m just over here minding my own business.”

“Sure you are,” I threw back at him as a laugh escaped me. “You have a habit of making everyone’s business your own.”

Wes gave me the middle finger as he laughed along before he got back to whatever the hell it was he was reading. Shaking my head, I settled back in my seat, feeling the plane lift into the air as I rested my head against the window.

I hated that I would have to wait until we touched down to read Harper’s response, but good things took time.

And I planned on having the best fucking time with her.

CHAPTERFIVE

HARPER

“You’re quiet today,” Ava said as we both sat down at the table in the coffee shop. It had become our little thing before work. We would meet here, if neither of us had anything going on, and grab some coffee before we had to head to the arena.

I hadn’t told Ava anything about Nico. All she knew was about some random guy at the club, but I never told her the truth about who it really was. I also never disclosed the fact that he played professional hockey for the same team that we worked for.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Ava. She was the only friend I really made since moving to Orchid Beach. She hadn’t given me a reason not to trust her, but at the same time, I still found myself hesitant. If I let her in on anything that had to do with Nico, how would I know that she wouldn’t end up saying something to someone?

It was really hard to make that judgment when you didn’t know someone completely.

And on the other hand—it’s not like there was anything real going on between Nico and I. Some harmless flirting and whatnot after our run-in at the club. He had propositioned me and I didn’t take the bait. No harm, no foul. Neither of us could realistically get in trouble for what had happened between us so far.

I knew the limitations and knew where it had to be cut off. It could never progress any further than it already had and I planned on telling Nico that… eventually. I never responded to his last text two nights ago. Part of me knew that I should have shut that down immediately, yet I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Chances were, I would end up seeing him tonight, whether it was on or off the ice.

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