Matters to Me: A Football Romance (The Hart Series Book 4)

by M. E. Carter

  She rolls her eyes. Hard. I’m not terribly surprised. She’s been really moody lately, her outburst a few minutes ago proof of that. I chalked it up to finals and shark week. Not a good combination.

  “Okay, well you’re irritating the shit out of me so I’m changing it to a girls’ night before I smother you with a pillow in your sleep.” Turning to me and ignoring the fact that her boyfriend’s jaw just dropped, she asks, “Where are we going?”

  “Um…” Kiersten stumbles over her words, as stunned as we are over Annika’s behavior. “This way.”

  Heath allows Kiersten past him so she can take over wheelchair duty. Without saying a word, the three of us make our way through the maze of workstations before ending up off to the side. Our station has regular sized counters, but the end has been modified so a wheelchair can roll right up to it. I won’t be able to put anything in the oven or use the cooktop, but at least I can help chop and prep.

  The guys are on the other side of the room. Heath is looking through all the supplies while Jaxon has made himself comfortable on a stool, sulking.

  “Annika, what was that about?” I finally ask, because we all want to know. It might as well be me who gets it out of her.

  She peeks inside the oven for whatever reason as she nonchalantly answers me. “What was what about?”

  I look at Kiersten, who has the same confused expression on her face. She shrugs at me.

  “Do you not see your boyfriend pouting over there?”

  Annika takes a quick glance before continuing her inspection. “Oh that. He’s fine.”

  Now I’m even more confused. Jaxon and Annika are the most lovey-dovey couple I’ve ever known. For them to be at odds is, well, odd.

  “Uh oh,” Kiersten says more to me than Annika. “Sounds like there’s trouble in paradise.”

  That seems to snap Annika back to reality as we see it. “What do you mean? There’s no trouble.”

  “You sure about that?” I ask. “You just threatened to kill your boyfriend in his sleep because he’s making you crazy. That’s a little dramatic, even for you.”

  Annika sighs and sags down onto a stool. “You’re right. I blame the drama on Auntie Flo.” Kiersten’s expression changes briefly, but it happens so fast I barely notice. “Plus, I’m overly tired.”

  The guilt hits me like a slap to the face as I see the dark circles under her eyes that I hadn’t noticed before. “God Annika, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about how hard this would be for you when I told my mom not to come. Maybe I can call her, and she can get a long-term hotel room or something…”

  Annika holds up her hand to stop me. “I’m not tired because of you, Lauren. I mean, I haven’t gotten to sleep in or anything lately. But no. That’s Jaxon’s fault, too. I spent a lot of weeks sleeping like shit because I was worried about his health and he wouldn’t do a damn thing about it. And I’m more stressed about finals because of my degree, and you know how hard it is to get into the kind of physical therapy I want to work in.” She sinks down even further on her chair. “I’ll be fine, I’m just cranky today.”

  “You may want to go explain all that to your boy toy.” She huffs at my term of endearment. “He’s probably as exhausted as you with how low his iron is.”

  “And whose fault is that?” she grumbles. Then she looks at my eyebrow which is clearly indicating my lack of agreement at her unnecessarily cold attitude toward him. She lets her head fall back while she groans. “Fine. I’ll go make up with the big baby.”

  Sauntering over as Annika stomps off, Kiersten crosses her arms and leans against the counter. “Wow. Look at you playing therapist.”

  I puff a small laugh through my lips. “Hardly. I just feel bad for Heath. He doesn’t need whiny Jaxon in his dorm room tonight. He’s got enough on his plate.”

  My evil plan is already working. Annika has her arms around Jaxon’s neck, his around her waist as they talk quietly, Heath ignoring them.

  “Yeah about that.” My attention reverts back to Kiersten, a grin on her face. “What’s the story with Heath?”

  “What do you mean? I already told you about him.”

  “Sure. You told me what you thought I wanted to hear. But the last few times I’ve been here, you guys were at each other’s throats. Now, suddenly, you’re dating. How did that happen and no bullshit this time?”

  For a split second, I consider telling her the truth—he was my fake boyfriend until suddenly, he wasn’t. But I realize how shady it sounds, and I don’t want her to think Heath is anything like the other dickheads I’ve gotten involved with. I think in a subconscious way, that’s part of why I never told her in the first place. That, and the fact that it wasn’t a big deal. We were helping each other out. It didn’t turn into anything more than a relationship of convenience until recently.

  So, I take the coward’s way out and stick with a partial truth. “The more we got to know each other, the more we liked each other. Simple as that.”

  Not really and by the look on her face, I’m positive she doesn’t buy my crappy answer. But she doesn’t have time to question it with the instructor calling the class to order.

  “Good evening, everyone. My name is Lisa.” She’s wearing a white chef’s coat and matching chef hat, a polite smile on her face like she’s indifferent about being here. “Tonight, we’re going to make a high-protein dish that’s as tasty as it is healthy. To get started on our corned beef and cabbage, I want one of you from each station to go get a Tupperware out of the fridge.”

  “This isn’t over,” Kiersten whispers harshly and heads toward the wall of appliances while Annika finally returns from her lovefest.

  “Is he all better now?”

  Annika shrugs one shoulder sheepishly. “Yeah. I apologized for being a huge bitch. He’s fine.”

  “And you’re fine, too?”

  “Yeah. I’m kind of looking forward to spending the night in my bed alone.”

  “Annika!”

  “What? I can’t starfish in a twin with him next to me.”

  I shake my head in amusement. Just a few months ago, she was complaining about how much she missed sleeping next to him. Now she’s excited about sleeping on her own. Can’t say I blame her. I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping next to Heath when he was on the other side of our makeshift bed.

  “Does this smell rancid to you?” Kiersten drops the container on the counter. From this vantage point, all I can see is meat, but I assume there are vegetables or something in there, too.

  Annika leans over to take a quick sniff. “No. Smells like raw beef.”

  “Are you sure?” Kiersten barely leans in to take a whiff before popping up, ramrod straight. “Ohmygod, that’s going to make me sick.”

  Confused, Annika picks up the bowl and sniffs again. “I don’t smell it. Maybe it’s me?” She hands it over to me and I warily take it, not wanting to smell but also not wanting to get food poisoning from cooking bad meat either. Best to sort this out now.

  Quickly, I inhale but smell nothing. I do it again, but for longer. Still nothing. Feeling confident, I lean in and take a giant whiff before giving my verdict.

  “I wouldn’t want to eat it raw, but it smells pretty fresh to me,” I say with a shrug and hand it back to my roommate. Kiersten gets that weird look on her face again. “What? What are you thinking?”

  As soon as I ask, she schools her features and smiles, waving me off. “No, nothing. Maybe it’s because it’s already been brined.”

  “It has?” I ask, trying to look back in the bowl, but Annika’s too busy doing her own inspection.

  “You may have noticed our corned beef has already been seasoned,” Lisa announces to the class confirming Kiersten’s assessment. “That’s because it takes five to seven days to brine. ‘Corned’ literally means preserved. That’s where the flavor comes from.” Who knew we’d be getting a vocabulary lesson along with our cooking?

  “We’re still going to learn how to make the brine, though,” Li
sa continues. “You’ll be able to take it home to use the next time you make this dish. So, to begin, let’s pull out the smallest frying pan from the drawer at your station.”

  I can’t help with anything on the stove, so I take a moment to look over at the guys. Jaxon is smiling as he claps Heath on the back, chattering away about something while Heath pulls out the supplies as Lisa calls them out. It’s not necessarily an unusual scene. I’ve been hanging out with them for long enough that I’ve seen them interact before. But for whatever reason, I’m struck by how perfect it seems, watching these two best friends as they work together.

  Or maybe it’s because I’m only watching Heath.

  He’s just beautiful. His dark skin in contrast with the red t-shirt he’s wearing, the sleeves tight around his biceps as he involuntarily flexes when he moves. The way he bites his plump bottom lip as he tries to mimic the instructor’s actions. The quirk of his smile when Jaxon makes a mistake and curses.

  And then he glances over and catches me staring and his expression changes to one that is definitely more sexually charged. What I wouldn’t give to be able to jump out of this wheelchair and into his arms so he could sweep his counter of cooking supplies and ravage me.

  There may be a good chance that all the making out we’ve done lately is making me horny.

  I startle when a small stone bowl is plunked down right in front of me. “Jesus, Annika you scared the shit out of me.”

  “I wouldn’t have if you weren’t having sex fantasies about your new boyfriend during class.” I gape at her. How did she know that? She rolls her eyes. “It was written all over your face, friend. Just a few more weeks until you get that cast off and you can make good on it.” She pats me on the shoulder and turns back to the meat, which is now being put in water or oil or something. I have no idea. She’s right. I was way too distracted.

  Paying attention again, I begin pouring the now cooked spices into the stone bowl to mash into a finer powder. Annika is working with the meat on the stove and Kiersten…. Actually, Kiersten doesn’t look very good.

  “Kiersten?” She looks at me, eyes wide and breathing heavily.

  She begins looking around frantically, and I know instinctively what’s about to happen.

  Finding what she needs next to me, I thank my lucky stars for my flexibility so I can grab the trash can off the floor and hold it out to her.

  “Here!”

  Kiersten grabs it and pulls it to her face just as she begins to throw up. Her heaves can be heard by everyone, and the room goes silent except for some sizzling pans and her sickness.

  “Sorry, Annika,” I say absentmindedly. “You may want to bunk with Jaxon after all.”

  My roommate just nods as she carefully removes the pan from the stove and turns the burner off. Girls’ night is officially over.

  TWENTY

  Heath

  Squeezing us all in my truck seemed like a good idea at the beginning of the night. The three women are all small enough they can sit in the back. Lauren just has to sit sideways to get her cast in the right position, but with three of them, it also makes it harder to jostle her around, so it works to her benefit.

  What I didn’t count on was Kiersten, who is driving me up the wall anyway, to start hurling during our double date plus one. Now I feel like I’m trapped in this small cab while she breathes flu germs or whatever all over.

  Like I said. It seemed like a good idea a couple of hours ago.

  “I’m so, so sorry,” Kiersten says for the millionth time since we were kicked out of our cooking class. “I swear that meat smelled rancid, and there was so much of it.”

  “Just fifty bucks down the drain. No big deal,” I say under my breath. Jaxon punches me on the shoulder to get me to shut up. He’s as pissed as I am, probably because that food smelled good. But he’s got the good sense to not piss off his girlfriend any more tonight.

  “It’s okay, Kiersten. You didn’t know you were going to be sick.” Leave it to Lauren to be the voice of reason. I like her no-nonsense attitude normally, but tonight my frustration level is topped out. “Let’s just stop at a pharmacy on our way home. I’m almost out of ibuprofen anyway.”

  This is news to me, but I’m more than happy to take the hint. If I’m being relegated back to my own room for a couple more days, I want to make sure Lauren’s stocked up on everything she needs.

  Pulling into the parking lot of the first place I see, I quickly park and turn around. “Okay ladies, Lauren needs ibuprofen. Kiersten, what do I need to get you? Something for your stomach?”

  Kiersten sniffs like she’s about to cry. Recognizing her best friend is about to start blubbering again, Lauren reaches over and grabs her hand. “It’s okay, Kiersten. No one’s mad. I promise. We’ll get you some Pepto and maybe some cold and flu medicine in case it gets worse overnight, okay?”

  Kiersten sniffs again and I feel like this whole night has been one dramatic emotion after another. It actually kind of reminds me of living with my sisters at home.

  And isn’t that just a great way to think about my new girlfriend. Rubbing my hand down my face, I shake my head to get back on track.

  “So Pepto and cold medicine?”

  Lauren nods while Kiersten shakes her head. As if I’m having a psychic premonition, my stomach drops. It’s like I know something big is coming. Something that will change everything.

  “Um…” Kiersten says with another sniffle. “I uh, can you get me a pregnancy test?”

  Yup. Get me a 1-800 number and call me Psychic Heath. I knew something was up.

  “What?” Lauren whispers at the same time Jaxon breathes, “Jesus Christ.” He’s promptly rewarded with a smack on the back of the head by his own girlfriend.

  “I… um… it wasn’t until Annika mentioned her being on her cycle that I realized I’ve missed a couple of periods.”

  “Oh honey,” one of the girls says, but I have no idea who. I’m too busy fist-bumping Jaxon for it not to be one of our girlfriends who is knocked up. Insensitive? Absolutely. But considering I’ve been avoiding hearing these words anywhere near me for years, it feels oddly victorious. Part of me wants to jump out of the cab and do a victory dance while singing, “My swimmers didn’t do it! My swimmers didn’t do it!”

  I control myself, however, instead turning to face the back seat. Pulling myself together, I school my features and bring out supportive Heath. “Any particular kind? I can get whatever you need.”

  Kiersten shrugs and begins to cry lightly. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

  The girls immediately start hugging and discussing the merits of a plus sign versus pink lines versus blue lines. I zone them out, instead watching Jaxon as his emotions play all over his face. He is freaking. The fuck. Out.

  I can practically hear the calendar of all their sexual escapades flipping in his brain as he tries to nail down dates.

  Catching his gaze, I mouth Shark Week. He nods vigorously, understanding exactly what I’m saying, but it’s not changing how he feels. This one is too close for comfort. Way too close. Less than two feet away from us close.

  Finally, someone is patting my arm to make sure I’m listening. “Okay, see if you can get one that actually says the words pregnant or not pregnant on the stick,” Lauren instructs. “It’ll probably cost a little more, but it’s better to be able to read it one way or the other so we know for sure right away.”

  I nod in understanding. “Annika, you need me to get you any girly supplies while I’m in there?”

  She smirks, probably knowing I’m offering more for Jaxon’s mental wellbeing than hers. “No, I’m good. But thank you.”

  “Cool. Come on dude.” I whack Jaxon on the shoulder. “Let’s go. You need some air.”

  Climbing out of the truck, we leave it running, Annika leaning over to lock them in while we go spend money we don’t have on supplies we never thought we’d need.

  “You okay, man?” I ask once we make it through the sliding doors i
nto the building. It’s too hot in here, but I’m not sure if it’s the temperature or if my body is having a physical reaction to Kiersten’s news.

  “Too close man. I know she’s not my girlfriend, but there better not be something in the water.”

  “I thought you couldn’t have kids because of the chemo. Did I make that up in my head?”

  Jaxon shakes his head, still shaken but starting to calm down now that we’re away from the source of his stress. “I don’t know if I can have kids or not but hearing someone say the words ‘pregnancy test’ that close to my girlfriend reminds me that I don’t know. I might be able to.”

  “And you would be that upset if you got Annika knocked up?”

  He shoots a glare at me. “I didn’t think so. Until suddenly it’s right in front of me. Oh hey. It’s this aisle.”

  Jaxon makes a quick backpedal so we can find what we’re looking for as fast as possible. Unfortunately, nothing about this is fast. We peruse all kinds of items I’ve never had to worry about before to even find the pregnancy tests. I’m suddenly grateful we seem to be the only ones in the store.

  “Okay we’ve got a blue box, a pink box, a white box—holy shit, there are so many boxes.” Jaxon wipes a hand down his face, as overwhelmed as I am. “How are there so many brands? And why the hell does anyone need a—what is this called? A multipack?”

  “Hell, if I know,” I grumble, grabbing it off the shelf to inspect the picture. “It’s got little lines on it anyway so it’s not what we need.”

  I put the box back and we continue staring at all the choices before us, completely bewildered as to what the girls want. It doesn’t help that Jaxon practically had a meltdown a few minutes ago. His brain isn’t firing on all cylinders yet, so I’m basically going it alone.

  Thankfully, the lone employee must have figured out how useless we are when it comes to this kind of thing. Walking down the aisle, he heads straight for us, a giant smile on his face.

  “Hey, you’re Jaxon Hart, right?” I glance at Jax who grumbles, “Oh shit,” before pulling himself back together. This situation just went from bad to worse.