Meet Me in the Penalty Box: A Small Town Hockey Romance (Orchid City Book 1)

The entire night flew by faster than I had expected. It was a complete whirlwind and I would be lying if I said that it didn’t leave me feeling completely exhausted. During the periods, I was busy trying to capture as many shots as possible and during the intermissions, I was swamped with editing hundreds of images to send off to the media team.

They liked to have images to share on social media and the various websites during the game, so it was essential that we had them edited and sent over while the action was happening. We got our assignments for the rest of the game after the first period and they had me positioned on the glass for everything.

It was hard to ignore Nico Cirone and his presence. He dominated the game and made his place on the ice well known. It was impossible to deny that he was an extremely talented player and he skated with purpose. He still had a lot to lose and couldn’t miss a beat with proving himself.

Between him and Weston Cole, they ran most of the plays. It was exhilarating to watch, but I also had to be mindful while shooting that I couldn’t just have a million pictures of the two of them. They weren’t the only players who mattered on the team and even though Nico had infiltrated my mind and shook things up, I had to push him from my thoughts as much as possible during the game.

I was closing my laptop and packing my things away when Ava found me by my station. She strode over with a huge smile on her face.

“Girl, you killed it tonight!” She adjusted her bag on her shoulder. “Did you check the Instagram account? They used your shot from the game-winning goal on it.”

My eyes widened and my heart pounded erratically in my chest. With it being my first day on the job, it was not what I was expecting to hear at all. “Are you serious?”

Ava showed me her phone and, lo and behold, there was the photo I took of Mac O’Reilly scoring on the Firebird’s goalie during the last ten seconds of the game. “This calls for a celebration, girl. Let’s go out!”

I gave her a small smile. “I have something else that I have to do tonight, but can we celebrate tomorrow night instead?”

“Absolutely,” Ava said with a smile as she nodded. “Tomorrow night. I’ll text you in the morning after I figure out what trouble we can get into.”

I laughed softly and shrugged. “I’m not usually one for trouble but fuck it. I need some excitement in my life.”

“Good answer.”

Ava pulled me in for a quick hug with a promise of talking in the morning before we parted ways. She disappeared from the media room before I did and part of that was because I was so nervous to walk out to my car.

I knew that Nico would be out there waiting for me and I wasn’t sure I was ready to face him yet.

I couldn’t hang out in here forever and after giving myself a ten-minute long pep talk in the bathroom, I finally sucked it up and headed out to the parking lot. Most of the members from the media team had already left and there were only a handful of cars remaining.

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.”

Cue melting into a puddle on the ground around his feet.

My chest expanded as I inhaled deeply and slowly let out the breath in my lungs. “This changes things now, Nico. We both work for the same organization. You know how their policies are regarding fraternizing with other staff.”

His jaw tightened and he glowered at me. “Fuck the policies, Harper. You don’t strike me as someone who follows the rules.”

“Maybe not, but I need this job.”

His face relaxed and he took a step toward me. “Can I tell you a secret?”

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth like I had a mouthful of peanut butter. He was so close I could smell the scent of his body wash from the showers inside the locker rooms. I didn’t dare speak a word, but stupidly nodded instead.

“Tonight was literally the best game I played since they moved me up from the farm team.” He paused for a beat and I counted two erratic heartbeats in my chest before his beautiful lips parted again. “I think I found my good luck charm for the season and I’m not giving that up.”

I stare at him for a moment in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”

Hockey players were known for their superstitions and ritualistic behavior. If something worked for one game as a good luck charm, that was the be-all and end-all until it didn’t work anymore.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” he said with a dead serious look on his face. “I need you around, Harper. And I think I can help you too. Kind of like a mutual trade-off.”

My brows pinched together and I eyed him skeptically. “What are you proposing, Cirone?”

“You wanted me to erase the memories of your ex,” he reminded me from the night in the club, and I instantly blushed again. “Let me replace every bad fucking memory of him. I’m not going to be your rebound, but more like your stepping stone to getting back into the game.”

“Did you not hear a single word I said about the policy against fraternizing?” I argued with a frustrated sigh. “If we get caught doing anything together, I would most likely lose my job.”

Nico stared at me. “So, we don’t get caught.”

“I’m not in the habit of sleeping around.”

He smirked and shrugged. “It’s not sleeping around if you’re sleeping with the same person.”

“I cannot believe we’re seriously having this conversation right now,” I muttered under my breath as I shook my head. “Look, I’m flattered and appreciate your forwardness, I guess?” I shook my head again. “This is beyond bizarre and I think I’m just going to go home now.”

Nico stepped out of my way without arguing. Something lingered in his gaze as he watched me walk to the driver’s side door and pull it open. “Think about it, but don’t take too long.” He fell silent for a second, his gaze colliding with mine just as I was about to lower myself into my seat. “Have a good night, Harper.”

My stomach was in my throat as I dropped down and quickly closed the door behind me. I didn’t bother looking at him again, but I could feel his eyes watching me from where he stood by his car.

And as I pulled out of the parking lot, my phone vibrated in my bag. I paused at the exit, pulling it out as I unlocked my phone and read the message that had come through.

NICO

Don’t forget, Harper… I get what I want.

I quickly locked my screen and tossed it onto the seat beside me as a rush of adrenaline raced through my veins. There was no way I could get away from him now. My mind couldn’t even fully process what just happened, but there was one thing I knew for sure.

I was officially fucked by Nico Cirone and he hadn’t even fully touched me yet.