Page 65 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

“Maybe text him and see if he wants to get together.”

I stared at my sister for a moment. Knowing Malakai, he would probably blow me off. With him, there was always a darkness that crept just beneath the surface. I was happy for him that he was doing well in life, but Malakai had the type of demons you couldn’t outrun. I could only hope for his sake that he had learned how to fight them instead.

“I’ll have to do that.”

As I pulled out my phone, I unlocked the screen and went to my messages to send Malakai a text. It was short and to the point and I was surprised when he responded almost immediately.

Nico

Hey man, I heard you were back in town. Let’s catch up sometime.

Malakai

Drinks tonight at The Lounge? Meet me there around eight.

Nico

Sounds good. I’ll see you then.

“He wants to meet up tonight at The Lounge,”I signed to my sister.

Giana smiled at me just as Harper wandered into the kitchen with us. She paused in the doorway and I turned back to look at her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said apologetically with a small smile.

I held out my hand, extending my arm for her as I smiled back at her and shook my head. Harper stepped close to me and I hooked my arm around the tops of her shoulders as she slid against my side. “Absolutely not, love. Giana was just telling me her plans about wanting to move here. She’s going to stay with me until she can find a job and get her own place.”

Harper’s smile was bright and she looked over to my sister. “This is amazing news!” She genuinely looked happy as she continued to smile at Giana.

Giana nodded and smiled back at her while she began to sign in response as I translated for her. “I can’t wait to get to know you better and spend more time with you guys.”

“I can’t wait either. I’m actually still relatively new here to the city, so it will be nice to have another friend.”

Listening to the two of them had my heart feeling like it was going to burst from my chest. Giana wasn't a mean person, but we were both similar in the way that we were protective about the people who meant the most to us—and I was one of those people to her. When I was in high school and college dating other girls, G never approved of any of them. She knew none of them were going, so she didn’t really give those girls the time of day.

Seeing how she was with Harper made me realize that she knew how serious this was too. She knew Harper was it for me. There had never been anyone else quite like her in my life before. Giana knew she was the real deal.

I turned my attention back to Harper. “Was everything okay with whoever you were talking to on the phone?”

Harper’s shoulders sagged a bit and she shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She paused for a moment as she stepped out from under my arm and grabbed herself a cup of coffee. “It was Phillip, the head of media. He wants to have a meeting on Tuesday before the game to discuss things.”

Dread rolled in the pit of my stomach and Harper leaned against the counter as she sipped from her mug. Giana looked between the two of us and I spoke the words she signed out loud for her.

“G wants to know what there is to discuss.”

Harper shrugged and faced my sister as she spoke, even though she was talking to the two of us. “He knows about the accident and that the two of us were together. I’m assuming he’s probably going to either fire me or make me resign and go away quietly.”

“Shit,” I mumbled as I hung my head. I only let myself feel the blow from reality before looking back to her. “I’m coming to the meeting with you.”

Harper’s eyes widened. “No. There’s no reason for you to go. This is about my job, and I’m sure you’ll have to answer to your coach and everyone already.”

Her words reminded me that I needed to call Coach Anderson to talk to him and see who else I needed to deal with. What a fucking mess. It wasn’t like either of us were a threat to each other’s jobs. Hell, while we were both working, there was no way we could really even bother each other. There was always a sheet of glass separating us. Harper didn’t distract me from playing hockey.

“This is all just fucking bullshit,” I growled as I planted my hands on the counter. “Let me talk to them and explain things. Maybe if I come along and say something it will save your job.”

Harper stared back at me for a moment. “What is it that you think you could possibly do? How are you going to save my job?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, feeling absolutely helpless at that moment. “There has to be something I can do. I told you I would protect you, love. Please let me do that.”

Giana tapped on the counter to get both of our attention before signing, “I don’t think there’s anything you can do to help her, Nico. I know you think that being a player on the team that it will make a difference, but they’re not going to listen to you.”

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