Hart of the Matter (A Love of the Game Novella) (2 page)

Most telling was that she didn’t look either of them in the eye.  Bailey suspected that something had happened to freak her friend out.  Harley just shook her head when their eyes met. 

The hair prickled on the back of her neck and Bailey knew Beck must have cornered his girlfriend in the garage…within
feet
of her family…for sex.  Again. 

Watching Harley with a small frown, she kept her mouth shut but determined to get the information one way or another. 

The elder Jamisons said they needed to drop off Easter care packages at one of the charities they were involved in and their daughter asked to join them.  Though Bailey was invited, she declined, interested in seeing what she could find out from the three friends. 

Regina and Peter kissed her cheeks.  “You don’t have to do the dishes, honey.  I’ll take care of it when we get back in a few hours.”

“Dinner was wonderful.  It’s the least I can do, Miss Jamison.”

Stroking her hand over Bailey’s hair, she smiled.  “You’re eighteen now, isn’t it about time you called me Regina?” 

Grinning, she nodded.  “Have fun, Regina.”

“We will and don’t let those boys irritate you.”

“Fat chance.”  The older woman she was closer to than to her own mother laughed and told her they’d be back in a few hours.

A few minutes after she heard their car drive away, the boys arrived to raid the fridge. 

“You
just
ate!”

They blinked at her.  Hart asked in confusion, “What’s your
point
?”

She sighed and shook her head.  “No point.  Stuff yourselves again, gluttons.”  They weren’t in the least offended as they piled their plates with leftovers put away less than an hour before. 

From the corner of her eye, she saw them carry in a cooler and head up to the rec room over the garage.  Their personal hangout for almost two decades.

“Excellent,” she murmured to herself. 

Bailey took her time washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen, and straightening the Jamison’s downstairs living areas.  She’d spent many nights and eaten hundreds of meals in this home.  They always made her feel welcome, part of their family. 

She never took that for granted.

As part of a huge family herself, she was lost in the crowd.  Being the youngest of seven, by the time Bailey came along, her parents were ready to retire, tired of raising children, and had no problem leaning on their neighbors to help with their unexpected daughter. 

Her sister Diana was the closest to her in age.  Almost thirty and licensed as a physician’s assistant, she decided to return to school and become a doctor.  The oldest of their large brood was forty-two, out of the house for six years when Bailey was born.  All her siblings had spouses and most had children of their own. 

With her parents spending the majority of the year in Costa Rica, her siblings all grown and living out of state, without the Jamisons, Bailey would spend most of her time in an empty house.

When she walked the rooms and determined everything was set to rights, she went upstairs to check on the boys.  She even took them a tray of cookies. 

They were already wasted.

Chapter Three

“How many have you
had
?  You’ve only been up here for an hour!”  Glancing at the wastebasket, Bailey realized they’d already gone through two six-packs and each held another in their hands. 

“Holy shit, you guys know I don’t do vomit so…be forewarned.”

Dex sat in the corner of the room on an overstuffed chair.  He appeared introspective as he stared through the window to the street below.  She walked over to offer him a cookie. 

Concerned at the way he’d sat away from his friends, she asked, “You feeling alright, Dex?”

“No pain.  For the first time in a while, I’m feeling
no
pain.”

“What hurts?”

“Lies, Bailey.  Lies are fucking agonizing.” 

As if suddenly realizing what he’d said, he met her eyes.  She stared deeply into his black ones, the ones Harley could talk about for an hour, and saw that he was truly hurting. 

Softly, she told him, “You can talk to me if you need to, Dex.”

“I can’t, Bailey.”  He pressed his finger and thumb into the bridge of his nose.  “No matter how much I should, no matter how much I want to, I can’t.”  Trying to smile, he added, “Thank you though.  It means a lot.”

“Sure, Dex.  Anytime.” 

Bailey walked away and knew
exactly
what was tearing the gentlest of the three friends apart on the inside.  So many things passed through her mind at the same moment and she wondered
how the fuck
she was going to tell Harley.

Approaching Beck with a blanked expression, he looked up with his usual grin.  “Miss Verreos.  Looking lovely as ever.  Where is my girl?”

“Beck, she went with her parents.  Remember?”

“Oh, yeah.  Cool.  Do you know when she’ll be back?”

Bailey stared at the young man who lived in every memory since her first ones alongside the other two men in the room.  He was sweating, flushed, and she thought his pulse might be too high.  Staring at him, his bright blue eyes were dilated. 

“Beck…are you okay?”

“Sure, Bailey.  Just missing Harley.  When did you say she was coming back?”

His hands were shaking.

Bailey took a step back and turned her head slowly to look at Hart.  He returned her gaze with grief and stress written clearly on his face. 

“Hart…?”  He shook his head sharply and she looked at Beck.  He guzzled an entire beer and reached for another.  “Hey, Beck.  Have a cookie.  Harley and I made them for you.”

“You guys did?  You’re the best, the fucking best two girls on the planet.”  He took several cookies and ate them in fast bites that were barely chewed. 

As she moved to perch on the cushion beside him on the couch, she noticed Hart sit forward on the chair a few feet away. 

No way was he letting his sister date a man he didn’t trust with Bailey.  No fucking way…

She sat slowly and Beck’s eyes landed on her.  He looked feverish.  Placing her palm on his forehead, he leaned into the touch in a way that could only be perceived as sensual. 

“Beck, I think you’re sick.  You’re really hot.”

“You’re really hot, too, Bai…”

“
Beck!
”  Hart yelled and stood unsteadily.  Walking toward them, he gently grasped Bailey’s upper arm and tugged her to her feet.  “Sleep it off, dude.  Don’t leave the house.  Do you understand me, Beck?  Don’t leave the house for any reason.”

Focusing on Hart’s face with effort, he swallowed hard.  “Where’s Harley?”

“She’s with my folks.  She’ll be back but you need to
sober up
before she gets here.”  He held his hand out for the beer.  “Sober up, Beck.  She’s my little sister.”  Beck handed him the bottle.

“Hart…I
love
Harley.  She’s beautiful and perfect and I love her so
much
.”

“I know you do.  I know you love her, Beck.  Sober up.”  Looking in Dex’s direction, he said, “Will you sit with him for a little while?”

Dex scrubbed his big hands over his head and nodded.  “Sure, Hart.”

Bailey held her tongue until they were in the hallway in front of Hart’s bedroom.  Then she yanked her arm out of his hand and turned on him. 

“What
the fuck
is going on, Hartman?  He’s fucking tweaking!  What is he on?” 

Crossing her arms over her chest, she waited for the man in front of her to explain how he could leave his sister vulnerable to a man who was obviously a drug addict. 

For a long moment, he simply stared at her.  She opened her mouth to chew him out and he kissed her. 

Hart Jamison, the man she’d loved for years, kissed the fuck out of her.  He tasted a little like beer but beneath that was the flavor she’d always imagined he would have…specific to him.

Bailey’s brain short-circuited. 

The feel of his firm, full lips on hers was incredible.  His arms wrapped around her waist and he walked her backwards into his bedroom.  Her palms slid up his chest and around his neck. 

Touching him like this, at last, was surreal.  Big hands moved over her lower back and gripped her ass, causing her to moan into his mouth. 

Then he was lowering her to his bed and all she could think was, “
Yes, yes, yes.
”

His hips settled into the cradle of her body and he was so hard along her folds through their clothes.  Slowly rocking his hips, he teased his length over her, scraping against her clit with each thrust. 

Greedily, she touched him anywhere she could reach, squeezing muscles, scratching over warm skin she’d only dreamed about for so long. 

Breaking the kiss, he moved over her jaw.  “Fuck, Bailey….you feel so damn good.”

“So do you, Hart.”

Lifting his hand, supporting himself on the other forearm, he massaged her scalp, down her neck, lightly kneading over her shoulder.  As he palmed her breast, she sighed and he smiled. 

“Just as perfect as I knew they’d be.”  Nuzzling against her face, he whispered, “Smell so good.  Your smell drives me fucking crazy.  Watching you move.  Listening to your voice.”

Still he ground his cock over her and she knew an orgasm was embarrassingly close.  Then it was
there
and she gasped as her body arched from the bed into his chest. 

He lifted his face to stare into her eyes and she saw the
moment
second thoughts of being with her entered his mind. 

“Bailey…”

“Fuck you, Hart.  Get off me.”  She shoved hard at his shoulders and he looked stricken. 

As he rolled away, he tried to grab her hand.  “Let me ex…”

“Save your bullshit speech about honor.  Go fuck a groupie…as usual.”  She stood and straightened the gorgeous outfit she’d worn just for him.  Pushing her hair back, Bailey shook her head.  “I’m beginning to see that I will never be enough of a whore for you.  Just like Harley will never be enough of a whore for Beck.”

“No.  Fuck…that’s not it at all, Bailey.”

Glancing over her shoulder, she added with a shrug, “I’ll work on that, Hart. 
Real hard.
  Your fucking loss.”

She left him staring at her in shock and walked out of the house that had always felt more welcoming than hers had, until tonight.  Letting herself through her front door, she locked it, turned off the lights, and went to shower. 

Staring at the ceiling an hour later, she cried for him. 

“Fucking men.  I’m so
sick
of this bullshit.”

In just a couple of months, she’d be graduating and she was anxious to
get on with it
already.  Her future was lined out and she didn’t discuss it with anyone.  It was her policy not to make a big deal out of something until it was reality. 

Until then, she was going to keep her head down and work Hart Jamison out of her head. 

She would never cry over a fucking
man
again.  Bailey Verreos might be a fool but she was also a bitch…and this bitch was done.

Chapter Four

Three months later…

Bailey was heartsick after her week in North Carolina with Harley.  So many tears and all she wanted to do, was fix everything.  She didn’t know how and that made her feel powerless.

Life was about to get much harder for her best friend and the people she blamed for that were waiting on the sidewalk when she pulled into her driveway after dropping Regina off.  She opened the door and stood beside the car, taking them in one by one.

All of them looked like shit and she was glad. 

She didn’t mince words.  “What do you douchebags want?”

“Bailey…,” Hart began.

“Shut the fuck up, Hart.”

Beck walked up the drive, approaching her carefully.  “I didn’t mean to hurt Harley.  I didn’t mean it, Bailey.  I love her and I’m so sorry.”

For almost a minute, she stared at the man who had wounded her friend so deeply, Bailey wasn’t certain it would ever fully heal.  She saw the boy she’d always known and adored…but it wasn’t that
boy
who’d crushed Harley’s dreams. 

It was the fucking man.

She slapped him as hard as she could across the face and he
let
her.  Instant pain in her wrist made her grab it but she ignored it and leaned closer to him. 

“You have fucking
destroyed
her innocence, Beck.  Stomped on her beautiful heart.  You have no right to speak my best friend’s fucking
name
.  She was too good for your whoring ass two years ago and she’s damn well too good for you now.” 

The tears that tracked down his cheeks didn’t affect her.  He’d made his choices and he could damn well live with the consequences. 

What choices had he given Harley?

Glancing past him, she met Dex’s eyes.  “You were always the kindest of the three of you, Dex.  I’m sure your moral compass ate you alive the entire time this swinging dick was dragging Harley’s heart over broken glass…and you goddamn well should have listened to it.”

To his credit, he closed his eyes and nodded. 

Leaning into her car, she had to use her left hand to grab her purse.  The other she kept close to her body to avoid bumping it. 

Hart said gently, “Bailey, I think you really hurt your wrist.  Let me take you to the hospital.”

Staring in the direction of the setting sun, Bailey took the time she needed to calm her thoughts.  It wasn’t easy to speak to him.  He’d caused his own share of wounds.  With a deep breath, she faced him, steeling her heart against the man she loved in spite of his flaws.

“Hart, I’m sure one day your sister will forgive you.  She is beautiful and kind in ways you’ve always taken for granted.  She will overlook your particular sin of leaving her vulnerable to a drug and sex addict.”  Beck gasped softly beside her and she gave him a mocking smile.  “It wasn’t all that hard to figure out.”