Home Is Where the Heart Break Is Read Online Free PDF Page A

shirt. He slid off.
    I hugged myself. “I think I’m frozen to the bike.”
    Before I could swing my numb leg over the seat, Nico leaned forward and lifted me into his arms. I tucked my body and face against his chest, and he carried me to the pool house. We reached the door.
    “Turn the knob, Duchess. My hands are filled.”
    A sweet sense of nostalgia hit me when we stepped inside the pool house. Not much had changed. A pool table took up most of the floor, and a small corner bar glittered with wine glasses and expensive liquor bottles. Whenever Nico’s dad had worked late or left on business, the three of us would sneak into the pool house to play pool and video games on the giant television. We never hung out there when his dad was home though. Chase and I were scared to death of the man.
    Nico dropped me onto the sofa, turned on the dim light over the bar, and flicked a switch on the thermostat. “I’ll crank it and we should have one defrosted girl in a few minutes.” He motioned to the bottles on the bar. “Want a drink?”
    “Not unless you have a cup of hot coffee that I can sit in.”
    He returned to the couch and sat down. The skinny boy I’d grown up with had morphed into a muscular, almost formidable looking man. The tattoos added to the look.
    “When did you get the ink?” I asked
    He looked down at his arms. “I started getting them at around fourteen. My mom was living with a tattoo artist for awhile. She gave me permission to get them. I think she knew it would piss off my dad.”
    “Did it?” I removed my shoes. My feet were numb and I crossed my legs like we used to do on the reading rug at school.
    “Hell, I can’t sneeze without that ass criticizing me.” Nico combed his fingers through his hair and it stood up in every direction.
    “Is it still really bad?” I asked. I reached over and pulled his hand into my lap. It was still cold. I rubbed the callused skin of his fingers.
    He shook his head and glanced down at the hand I held. “Not as bad. He’s afraid of me now. He wouldn’t dare hit me anymore. He had a girlfriend for a year. I think he actually cared for her, as much as a guy with a steel heart could care for someone. She finally got sick of his temper and left. He started drinking more. I think he knows that for as successful as he is in business, he’s a complete failure with people. We just avoid each other.” Nico pulled his large hand from between mine, reached up, and tucked my hair behind my ear. “You and Chase kept me from going crazy back then. I don’t think I would have survived otherwise.” He pressed his back against the seat of the sofa, slouched down, and splayed his long legs out in front of him. “You don’t know how often I’d wanted to climb to the top of Crystal Falls and dive off just to get away from that bastard.” He looked over at me and swallowed hard. “Then I’d get to school and you guys would be there to make me laugh, and I knew you both cared about me.”
    I fought back tears. “I think we were all there for each other,” I said, my voice cracking. “I’m not saying that Chase and I had anything like what you had at home, but we both needed you too. I think that’s why I’m determined to rekindle that friendship you two had when we were kids. That way when I’m gone again--”
    He looked down at me. “Gone? How long are you here for?”
    “Just for summer, I think.”
    He pushed off the couch abruptly and walked over to the bar to open a soda. He chugged it down, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and sat on the bar stool. “Damn, Duchess, you can’t just pop in like this and then plan to leave after a few months. The last time you left . . .” He stared down at the can in his hands wearing that sad, sweet expression he often wore as a boy, but now it looked completely different on him. It tugged at my heart.
    I walked over to him. “I never wanted to leave, Nico, but I never had much say in the matter. It