Page 10 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

As I walked alone, I spotted my car where I had left it in its spot and parked right next to it was Nico’s sleek Mercedes Benz. He was leaning against the front of his car wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a black Vipers hoodie. His phone illuminated his face and as I neared closer, he lifted his head as he spotted me.

Nico dropped his phone and tucked it into the front pocket of his sweatpants as he pushed away from the front of his car. My stomach did a somersault as I approached him and the nervousness was swirling around in my veins again.

“Hey,” he said, his voice soft and warm as he smiled at me. “How did your night go?”

His question caught me off guard with the simplicity of it. I shifted my weight nervously. “It went well. It was pretty intense and exhilarating at the same time.”

Nico flashed his white teeth at me and my stomach did a weird flutter thing that I instantly wanted to shut off. This man almost had me naked a few days ago and his tongue was inside my mouth. What the hell was this life I was living?

“I’m really glad to hear that.” He paused for a breath. “I would apologize for blocking your view during warm-ups, but it would be a lie. I needed to see you again and it worked out in my favor.”

I almost choked on my breath as he spoke the words. His arrogance wasn’t as evident the first night I met him. He definitely exuded confidence, but goddamn. This was a different side of him and I wasn’t sure if I was turned on or wanted to slap him.

“Ah, so you’re all about yourself and getting what you want?”

Mischief danced in his irises and he shrugged. “I’m used to getting what I want.”

I tilted my head to the side as I set my camera and laptop bags on the hood of my car. “Is that why you didn’t tell me that you were a professional hockey player?”

Nico raised an eyebrow at me. “Quite the contrary. If I tell women that, it’s usually a done deal that they’re coming home with me.” His tongue slid out as he wet his lips. “I wanted you to want me for me, not because of my status.”

“Are you always this forward with people?”

A chuckle vibrated from his chest and I swear I felt it in between my legs. Heat crept up my neck and quickly made its way across my cheeks as I clenched my thighs together.

His lips twitched. “You’re blushing.”

“No, I’m not,” I retorted as I ducked my head and grabbed my bags.

As I lifted them into the air, Nico wrapped his hand around mine and took them from me. My gaze collided with his and he stared down at me with a fire burning in his irises.

“I like how you look when you blush, knowing I’m the one who put that color in your cheeks.”

My breath caught in my throat and my heart pounded erratically against my rib cage as I tried to regain my composure. There was no reason for him to be having this effect on me. We hooked up one night, if you even want to call it that.

If his friend hadn’t interrupted us that night, we would have definitely had sex. That was in the exact direction we were heading, but it didn’t happen. We had a moment and it should be left at just that.

Nico walks himself over to the passenger’s side of my car and sets my bags inside before making his way back over to me. Part of me knows I should have stopped him but his forwardness has me feeling like I have vertigo.

“What did you want to meet up to talk about?” I asked him as he stopped in front of me.

The look in his eyes was indistinguishable and the tension between us was palpable. The air was electric and I was afraid I was going to get shocked if I dared to reach out and touch it between my fingertips.

“I wanted to see you again.”

The words fell from his lips with no hesitation. He didn’t say it with a question, he wasn’t asking if he could see me again. He was telling me what he wanted and Nico already made it clear that Nico Cirone gets what he wants.

“Well, I’m here, and honestly, I’m exhausted,” I told him as I attempted to brush away the effect he was having on me. It could be my own little secret and not one that I needed him to know about. “So, if you wanted to talk, I’d get to it now.”

He tucked his hands in the front pockets of his pants and his expression softened as his eyes searched mine. “I was surprised to see you when I got here today. You’ve been on my mind since the night at the club and I was literally going to give you another day or two to call me before I called you.”

“I was equally surprised,” I reminded him. “I suppose we both could have told each other more about our jobs, but we didn’t really leave a lot of room for conversation.”

This earned a smirk from him. “No, we didn’t, did we?” His wavy dark hair poked out from the top of his hood that was pulled up around his head and I remember how soft it was. How it felt like silk between my fingers. “I meant what I said that night.”

I swallowed roughly as his words from that night played over in my head. His gaze was glued to mine and the way he was staring at me had me ready to climb into the back seat of his car.

“I wasn’t done with you that night and I’m not done with you now.”

---