Page 48 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

“Smart of you not to,” he agreed with a smirk. “Although, I’m not stupid. I see shit.”

“I’m sure you do,” I told him as I grabbed my stuff. “Meet me over at my place. We can play Call of Duty or something.”

“Deal.”

* * *

Wes and I were both sitting on my couch, each of us drinking a beer while we waited for our pizza to be delivered. We were playing video games, just talking about mindless shit. We went over the shit show of our game until it started to shift into a territory that I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to him about.

“So, things are getting pretty serious between the two of you?”

I lifted my beer to my mouth and took a swig as we waited to join another match on Call of Duty. “Yeah, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Wes glanced over at me as he leaned forward to be closer to the TV. “What do you mean? I mean, I know shit between the two of you is different since there’s a lot at stake with her job and everything.”

“I tried to get her to quit. I told her to just move in with me and let me take care of her.”

A string of laughter escaped Wes as he threw his head backward. He leaned against the back of the couch just as the game started and he instantly got shot. “Fuck,” he grumbled as he sat upright again. His focus was on the game, but he wasn’t going to let the conversation go. “Bro. You’re such a liar saying that you aren’t obsessed with her. I’m assuming she declined your proposition?”

“Oh, of course,” I told him with a laugh. “I didn’t think she would actually agree. She’s too independent to do something like that, but I figured it was worth a shot. She’s been working on shooting weddings and other things to try and get away from sports. Her dream is to have her own business doing that kind of stuff instead.”

Wes was silent for a moment. “You want my honest opinion?”

I stared at the TV as I ducked around some objects in the game. “No, but I’m thinking you’re going to give it to me anyways.”

“I think you need to tell her how you really feel. You know how short life is and I don’t know what the hell you’re waiting for anymore.”

Our round ended and I looked over at him just as the bell rang. “I did tell her how I feel.” I rose to my feet and grabbed my wallet before disappearing from my apartment to go get our pizza from the lobby. As I reached my floor again and brought the box back into the living room, Wes took a sip of his beer and stared at me.

“Did you tell her that you’re in love with her?”

I froze in place just as I flipped open the pizza box. “What? No. Why the fuck would I do that?”

“Because that’s how you really feel,” he said matter-of-factly while he grabbed a piece of pizza. “You’re only lying to yourself if you think you’re not in love with her.”

The heaviness of his words settled in my bones and I sat there for a moment as I stared at the TV. My eyes weren’t focused on what was happening on the screen as my mind ran wild with possibilities. I swallowed hard over the lump that had lodged itself in my throat. Were my feelings for her that obvious?

“Don’t worry,” Wes cut through my thoughts as he chewed a mouthful of pizza. “I won’t tell anyone your secret. I’m like a vault.”

I let out an exasperated sigh as I finally grabbed a slice for myself. “Am I that obvious?”

Wes shrugged. “Nah, not really. I just know you well enough that I can tell.”

“I can’t tell her.”

His brow furrowed. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to complicate things any more than I already have. It will only make things messier.”

Wes took another sip of his beer. “I don’t know, bro. Things are always complicated. There’s nothing you can do to change it, but I think it’s worth telling her.” He set his beer down on the coffee table. “You might be surprised when you find out she feels the same way.”

“How could you possibly know that?” I questioned him as I sank back into the couch.

“If you can’t tell then you really are in fucking denial,” Wes told me as he rolled his eyes. “She looks at you like you’re the only thing that matters, Nico. I think you’ll be surprised when you finally tell her how you feel.”

I mulled over his words as I sipped on my beer. Wes directed his attention away from me as he typed something out on his phone. My mind drifted to my mother and how quickly she slipped away from us. Life was unpredictable. Things could change in the blink of an eye. Wes was right. I needed to come clean with Harper and tell her how I actually felt about her, but it terrified me.

There was something about being that vulnerable with someone that was frightening. She already had the power to destroy me, she just didn’t know it yet.

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