Page 42 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

The bathroom door opened and steam billowed out as I lifted my head to look up at Nico. He stood there, his body still damp with a towel wrapped around his waist. I watched him, my mouth dry as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway.

“What’s wrong?”

I swallowed hard and shook my head. “Phillip wants me to go on the road with you guys and shoot your next away game.”

Nico’s face lit up. “That’s fucking awesome, Harper! You can come travel with me, we can check out the city. It will be like a little getaway, kind of.”

I tried to match his enthusiasm, but I couldn’t. My smile didn't quite reach for the sky like his did. I watched as his fell and his eyebrows pulled together.

“You don’t seem excited.”

I ran my hand over my forehead and looked back at him. “My ex plays for the Bruisers.”

Nico’s face transformed between a mixture of rage and relaxation. “Wait… you didn’t tell me your ex played in the NHL too. Who is it?”

I let out a sigh and muttered his name, “Connor Davenport.” My heart pounded in my chest. “I’m over him, he doesn’t matter to me, but he’s a fucking asshole and I don’t want to have to see him again. At least not there.”

“So, it would be different for you if he was playing here?”

I nodded. “This is my home. My territory.”

The corners of Nico’s lips twitched. “I like that.” He pushed away from the doorway and closed the distance between us until he was caging me in with his hands on the wall on either side of my head. “Fuck him. Come with me anyways.”

I tilted my head to the side. “You know I’m not actually coming with you, though, right? I have to stay in my own room away from you.”

Nico laughed softly. “That’s just a formality, love. You know I’ll come find you when it’s safe.”

Ecstasy surged through my system as he dropped his hand to cup the side of my face. Like a hit to my veins, he was racing through my body and I couldn’t get enough of him. There was no rehab to help get over my addiction to Nico Cirone. I was completely fucked and there was no way I would ever recover from him.

“I don’t want to see him.”

Nico stared down at me as a shadow passed through his expression. “You let me worry about him.”

My lips pursed and I gave him a knowing look. “Promise me you won’t start anything with him. Just let it go. If he were to find out about the two of us, I wouldn’t put it past him to try and effectively ruin my life.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Why are you afraid of him, love? What did he really do to you?”

I swallowed hard over the emotion that welled in my throat. “He was just really controlling. He wasn’t happy when I refused to move cities with him and he made it known. He tracked my every movement and didn’t say the nicest things to me about it. When he finally gave me an ultimatum and I declined, it was like watching a volcano erupt. He was usually kind, although I had seen his ugly side a time or two before. When things got bad, they got really bad.”

Nico’s eyes grew dark. “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head. “Not really.”

“What did he do to you, Harper?”

I closed my eyes as the memories flooded my mind. “He never laid a finger on me. He was unkind with his words and our fights were never pretty. It was a messy relationship and a messy breakup. He threw a glass at me one night.” I sucked in a deep breath as I lifted the hair away from my forehead to show him the small scar. “That was the last fight we ever had.”

Nico fell silent and he moved my hand out of the way as he replaced it with his own. I opened my eyes to look at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. His attention was solely focused on the scar on my forehead. He gently rubbed his thumb across it as his eyes found mine. A storm was brewing in his eyes, yet there was a tenderness reserved just for me.

He cupped both sides of my face and pressed his lips against my scar. “I want to snap his fucking neck,” he growled against my skin. “He’s going to pay for hurting you.”

“Nico, please,” I pleaded with him as my voice caught in my throat. “I’ve already closed that chapter of my life. Just let it go.”

Nico pulled away and looked down at me. His stormy eyes pierced mine. “I can’t let it go, Harper. He hurt you. You, of all fucking people.” He took a breath, his chest rising as his nostrils flared.

I shook my head at him. “It’s in the past. Please, just leave it there.” My eyes searched his with desperation. “He’s insignificant in my life, Nico. I’d like to leave things like that.”

His jaw clenched and his eyes fell shut. I watched him carefully as he sucked in a deep breath, his chest puffing out as his lungs expanded. He held it in for a beat before slowly exhaling and opening his eyes back up to look at me. “I will let it go, but only because you asked me to.”

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