Page 46 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

I fell silent as Nico released my hands and rose to his feet beside the bed. My heart crawled into my throat as I watched him strip down to his boxers. “What are you doing?”

“Shh,” he murmured softly as he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the top of the bed and moved the covers away. “I’m not here for anything but to be close to you. I need to feel you in my arms tonight.”

“You can’t sleep in here,” I told him as he laid down on the bed and pulled me into his arms. “Someone will catch us if they see you leaving my room in the morning.”

He reached past me, pulling the blankets up over both of us. “I already planned on leaving before everyone else wakes up. Don’t make me leave, love. Please just let me be here with you.”

There was no possible way I could deny him. Not with the way he was asking me. Not with the way he rushed to my room as soon as he was able to. We were both forming an attachment when there were never supposed to be strings. It was far too late to go back now and that scared me more than anything.

The thought of getting closer to Nico Cirone scared me more than the thought of losing my job. If there was one person in this world who had the power to destroy me, it was him. It wasn’t my ex, who may have hurt me physically. It was the person who held my heart, but I was terrified to speak the words out loud.

“I want you to stay,” I whispered as he tucked me under his arm and I rested my cheek against his chest.

Nico turned his head and his lips were soft as he pressed them against my forehead. “I’m so sorry he hurt you, love. Fuck. I can’t get it out of my head.”

“I’m okay, Nico. I promise.” I circled my arm around his waist and pulled myself flush against him. I fell silent for a moment, listening to the sound of his heart beating in his chest. “You’re all I need. You make everything better.”

He was quiet and his fingers were soft as he gently stroked the length of my arm. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me, Harper, but I don’t want you to stop. I don’t want whatever this is between us to end.”

His words caught me by surprise and I couldn’t help the words that escaped me next. “I don’t want this to end either.”

“And you still don’t want a label?” His voice was soft and tender.

I shook my head against him. “We can’t. Not with the way things are.”

“I won’t wait forever, love.” A declaration. “I’ll give you the time to let this be what it is, but you’re already mine. If you take too long, I’ll be the one to slap a label on it without any more hesitation.”

“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.

---