Page 51 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

Nico smiled and shook his head. “I just wanted the chance to hold your hand for a little while longer. For us to be out like this without anyone knowing anything about either of us.” He paused for a moment as he raked his teeth over his bottom lip. “It’s almost like we’re free to be together here.”

My heart crawled into my throat as he turned to face me. People moved past us on the sidewalk but neither of us paid them any mind. They didn’t exist. It was just the two of us as the world stopped spinning. His fingers were soft as he brushed the hair from my face and tucked the strands behind my ears.

“I need to tell you something,” he said softly, his voice tentative and hoarse with emotion. His eyes searched mine and he folded his lips between his teeth.

I swallowed and nodded. “Okay…”

His chest rose as he sucked in a deep breath. “I’m in love with you, Harper,” he said slowly as he exhaled. “You’re all I think about, day and night. You’re the only person I want to spend my time with. I tried to fight it, but I can’t anymore. I can’t keep up this charade. I love you.”

My eyes widened as I stared back at him. His words slid across my eardrums and seeped into my veins. My heart picked up its pace as it began to race in my chest and I was lost in the depths of his ocean eyes.

He was never supposed to love me, but we didn’t have a say when it came to love. It made its own rules and we had to play by them. Neither of our hearts ever stood a chance and he was spreading through my system like an addiction I never wanted to recover from.

My lips parted and a ragged breath escaped me as Nico smiled the smile that was only reserved for me. “You don’t have to say anything, love,” he assured me as he pressed his lips to my forehead. “I just need you to know my feelings for you and the intensity behind them.”

I wanted to say it back to him, but I found myself struggling to form the words. If I spoke it out loud, then that made it true. And if my feelings were true, that made whatever this was between us real. And if it were real then he would have the power to break my heart.

Who was I kidding?

He has had the power.

“I love you too, Nico,” I admitted softly as I reached into my own chest and pulled out my own heart as I handed it over to him. “I’ve been in love with you longer than I’ve wanted to admit because it scares me more than anything.”

“I know you’ve been hurt in the past, Harper,” he said with hesitation as his eyes searched mine. “I can promise you I’ll never hurt you.”

I stared back at him. “That’s the thing… the way he hurt me comes nowhere close to what you could do to me.” I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. “You would ruin me completely.”

His face dipped down to mine. “Never, Harper. You’re it for me.”

He sealed his promise with a kiss as his lips melted into mine. He was tender and attentive as he stole the air from my lungs and I willingly let him.

Nico could take whatever he wanted from me until there was nothing left.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

NICO

As much as I loved traveling, I was tired of doing it without Harper. It was getting old having to travel to different cities and leaving her behind. With her job, it wasn’t guaranteed that she would be sent along as the photographer for the game. It seemed like they rotated through their people and her time would be coming again soon, but not soon enough.

Instead, I was stuck on the road for a week without her and I was a fiend for her like an addict looking for their next fix. I was tired of only being able to see her face through the screen on my phone. It just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I needed to feel her skin beneath my fingertips. I wanted her voice in my ears as she surrounded and consumed me.

She had her first newborn shoot while I was away and the excitement that lit up her face when we talked was contagious. She and Ava went out to get different props and things she would need at her client’s home where she did the shoot.

I wanted to buy her a fucking building with her own office. One where she could open up her own studio. Getting her to allow me to buy her a damn camera was a feat in itself. I would have to take baby steps and work up to getting Harper her own studio. Harper wasn’t exactly one who liked to let others try and take care of her.

I pulled up out in front of her apartment building and sent her a text to let her know I was there. I got out of my car and stood by the side as I waited for her. It didn't take her long to come down and a smile danced across my lips as I saw my girl.

We were caught in a weird place. We both admitted our feelings for one another, yet there was no real definition between us. A part of me cared while the other part of me didn't give two shits. At the end of the day, she was my girl and that was all that fucking mattered.

“There you are.” I smiled as I stepped away from my car and met her by the door. Instead of pulling it open for her, I pulled her flush against me.

She looked up at me, her eyes dancing under the moonlight. “I missed you,” she breathed.

“Not as much as I missed you,” I countered as I swiftly claimed her mouth with mine. It was a hasty kiss, but I couldn’t wait to taste her. She was mine and I planned on reminding her of that every time I saw her.

“Come on,” I told her as I broke apart from her and ushered her to the car as I opened the door for her. “I made reservations and I don’t want us to be late.” I paused for a moment as I leaned down to look at her with a devious smirk pulling on my lips. “That is, unless you wanted to skip out on dinner completely and do something else instead…”

Harper laughed softly and shook her head as she pulled the seat belt across her body. “Let’s eat first. We have a history of not eating if we tend to other needs first.”

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