Managed Hearts (Players of Marycliff University, #3)

by Jerica MacMillan

  “So what’s the occasion?” Matt lifted his chin in the direction of the table, catching Megan’s attention while she passed him to get the soy sauce and silverware to put on the table.

  She froze for a second, then continued back to the table, not answering while she placed forks on precisely folded napkins. “What do you mean?” Her dark brown curls were hanging down, covering her face. Huh. Megan was pretty up front and didn’t usually hide from him.

  “Are we celebrating something? You made dinner and are setting the table all nice. You haven’t even asked me to help. So what’s going on? You don’t go all out like this for no reason.”

  She straightened up and looked at him then, tugging down the hem of her sweater in back where it had ridden up while she was bent over the table. “I have a favor to ask both of you.”

  “Oh, buttering us up, huh?”

  She grinned in answer to his teasing tone. “Something like that.”

  “What’s the favor?”

  She shook her head, eyes twinkling. “Nope. We’re waiting for Chris. And he’s starving, so you’ll have to wait until we’ve eaten some.”

  Matt let out a put-upon sigh. Megan just laughed at him, and he grinned back.

  Chris walked in a few minutes later, rubbing his hands through his short, wet hair. He wrapped Megan in a hug, kissing her thoroughly until Matt cleared his throat. Chris looked up at him and just grinned, completely unrepentant. This was why he sometimes couldn’t wait to get his own place. Especially now that seeing Hannah again had him all tied up in knots, wanting something he couldn’t have. Having it rubbed in his face like this didn’t help anything.

  Chris’s smile slid off his face. “Dude. Who pissed in your corn flakes?”

  Matt schooled his grimace into a neutral expression. “What? I’m fine. Megan made dinner to bribe us into doing something for her. Let’s eat.”

  Megan shot him a look that was equal parts confusion and concern, but didn’t say anything. Her attention was diverted when Chris squeezed her ass. “Babe, you know there are better ways to convince me to do something for you than making me dinner.”

  Sweet Jesus, could he not catch a break? “On second thought, I might be losing my appetite.”

  Megan pushed Chris’s hands away and glared at him before turning to Matt. “Come on. Eat dinner with us. You should be used to Chris acting like that by now.”

  Matt ran a hand over his face. She was right. This wasn’t anything new. He was just getting kinda sick of it. “Fine. I’ll eat.” He pointed at Chris, “But seriously, dude, keep your hands to yourself until you guys are alone, got it?”

  Chris held up his hands, a “who me?” look on his face. “Whatever you say, man. No need to get your panties in a twist.”

  Matt flipped him off, and Chris laughed.

  Silence descended as they settled in their seats, passed around the food, and started eating. Matt enjoyed it when Megan cooked. She made good food, and it was nice not to have to figure out what to eat after getting home from work. Their schedules were much more erratic than they had been the semester before, so they were rarely all three home at the same time anyway. He had a lot more time to himself when he was home, which probably contributed to why he got so annoyed with Chris’s constant displays of affection when they were around.

  It didn’t help that he was done with school and working now, while they were still living the carefree student life. At least, that’s how it seemed to him. Yeah, Megan was working on getting more of her art in local shows and Chris was going to the Regional Combines, but no one else was working the same schedule day in and day out like he was. He wouldn’t say it to them, but he kind of felt like he was the serious one of the three of them, working a boring job while they pursued their pie-in-the-sky dreams. It irritated him. And made him a little jealous. He tried to suppress that. His dream job was too far out of his reach to even bother trying. He’d accepted that a long time ago.

  They passed around the food, digging in. Matt waited until Megan had taken a few bites before he asked again. “So, what favor are you needing?” He sat back, taking a drink of his water while he waited for her answer. Chris turned his head in her direction as well, but didn’t stop eating.

  She sat up straighter, set her fork down, and finished chewing before answering. “Well, you know how I’m trying to set up a show for later this year, right?”

  He and Chris both nodded, waiting for her to continue.

  She took a deep breath, almost like she was steeling herself. “I want to do a study in skin tone contrasts. So, I need a bunch of models with varying skin colors. And I want to pose people in groups and pairs to show the variations in comparison to one another.”

  Matt glanced at Chris, who’d stopped mid-chew to study his girlfriend. Chris swallowed and took a drink of water. “So you want us to pose naked for you or something?”

  “Not us together, though, right?” Matt couldn’t help interjecting. No way did he want to pose naked with another dude, even if the dude was one of his closest friends. Not gonna happen.

  Megan laughed. “No and no. I mean, yes, I’d love to have you guys model for me if you will, but you won’t have to be completely naked, just shirtless, or maybe in a speedo.” Matt’s eyes widened, but Megan kept going before he could say anything. “But not you two together. While your skin is different colors, you don’t contrast enough for what I’m wanting.”

  Chris visibly relaxed, and Matt felt his initial negative reaction soften some, too. “So what are you wanting from us?”

  She shrugged, pushing the food around on her plate. “I was hoping you might be willing to get some of the guys from the football team to help me out.”

  Matt sat stunned for a second. Chris’s loud bark of laughter broke the silence. “Babe. You want Matt and me to ask the guys if they’ll come pose together in speedos so you can paint them? I know you haven’t spent a lot of time around the team, but you have to know that that’s not likely to go over real well.”

  Megan kept her eyes on her plate and her hair mostly hid her face from view, but Matt thought he could make out her chinks pinking just a little. Shit. Now he felt bad. “Dude. Don’t be a dick to your girlfriend.” Chris glanced at him but kept chuckling.

  She finally lifted her head. “You don’t have to ask for me. Just give me the numbers of the guys you think might go for it. But they can’t be white guys if you two are going to help.”

  Chris just shook his head as he shoveled more food in his mouth. Matt sighed. “Yeah, sure. I can think of a few guys that might agree to help.” He pointed his fork at her. “You’ll have to promise them they’ll only pose alone or with a chick, though. None of them are going to agree to be all up close and personal with another guy.”

  Megan smirked at him. “Don’t you guys all shower together and slap each other’s asses when you’re playing football? What’s the big deal? I’m not asking anyone to get naked and rub up against each other. It’ll be tasteful. But I need live models to get what I need. If I can get a few pieces in the series done my painting professor is going to show them to her friend that owns a gallery downtown. If he likes it, I could get my own show, not just be part of a group showing. This could be a big deal for me.”

  Matt found himself nodding. “Yeah, I’ll help. Whatever you need, I’m in. I already let you sketch me last semester, so it can’t be that bad, right?”

  “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Matt.” She shot him a sardonic look.

  Before he could respond, Chris interjected. “Sorry, babe. I’m not trying to be an asshole. Of course I’ll help. You know you just have to ask, and I’ll help with whatever. I’ll even ask a few guys for you.”

  Megan gave Chris a genuine smile, her face lit up. Matt buried his attention in his food, not wanting to witness more PDA between the happy couple. Speaking of assholes, he needed to get his head out of his. He should be happy for them, happy that Chris wasn’t going to get syphilis or something and
had quit screwing anything with perky boobs that smiled in his direction. He’d never understood how Chris and Lance could treat women so casually like that. Yeah, okay, he’d taken advantage of the jersey chasers too. They threw themselves at him. He’d be stupid to turn that down, and he’d never have heard the end of it from the guys.

  But in reality he preferred to be in a relationship. Not that any of those had worked out well for him. The last good relationship he’d had was ... Hannah. Everything since then had been a disaster. And with how he’d ghosted his way out of her life, he wasn’t sure that qualified as less than a disaster either. At least she didn’t seem to hate his guts like the other chicks he’d dated for a while. Hell, he’d even had to convince Megan to tutor him last semester so he didn’t have to meet with his assigned tutor, who was also his ex. After the way he’d ended things with her, he didn’t think she’d help him pass anything. Thank God he’d found an alternative and Coach had agreed to it.

  Hannah didn’t look like she wanted to rip his guts out, though, so that was good. Of course she also didn’t look like she remembered him, which rankled, but he supposed that was better than outright hatred. He could work with indifference. Wait. No. He couldn’t. He was one of her managers. The last thing he should care about was whether she remembered him or if she wanted to pick up where they’d left off. Even if the thought of doing just that wouldn’t get out of his head.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hannah felt the thumping bass like a punch to the gut over and over and over again. She tried to ignore the unpleasant feeling and allow her body to move with the beat instead of fighting it. She and Elena had gone to a crowded club downtown with overpriced drinks. They danced together, cocktails held high to try to avoid the jostling bodies surrounding them.

  Hannah drained the last of her lemon drop and then fanned her hand in front of her face to indicate to Elena that she was getting too hot and needed a break. She leaned close and shouted in Elena’s ear, “I’m going to get some water and take a break for a minute!”

  Elena gave her a thumbs up and waved her off. Hannah wove her way through the dancing bodies, twisting and sliding to avoid groping hands, the flashing lights on the dance floor making her job that much more difficult. She finally made it to the edge of the dance floor and deposited her empty glass on a table near the bar before heading for the women’s restroom. Even in there the throb of the music could be felt, if a little muffled, the feeling in her body more of an echo than the hard hit she felt on the dance floor.

  Hannah took the time to wipe the smudges from under her eyes where her makeup had run from sweating so much on the dance floor before heading back out, shaking her head at the giggling drunk girls that stumbled in as she opened the door. The club was getting more crowded, and she had a hard time getting to the bar so she could order some water. When she did finally shove her way to the front, she couldn’t get the bartender’s attention. She was too busy flirting with some frat boys for tips, bending low so they could get a good view of the cleavage threatening to spill out of her low-cut and too-tight shirt, and couldn’t be bothered with other women further down.

  Finally the bartender’s eyes turned her direction and Hannah raised her hand to indicate that she wanted to order. The way the woman’s eyes lit up made Hannah confused but hopeful for a second before she realized the bartender’s gaze was focused over her shoulder. Hannah glanced behind her to see a tall, dark-haired guy looming over her. He grinned down at her, straight white teeth flashing in the dim light. She offered him a closed mouth smile in return.

  The bartender finished with the frat boys and sauntered over, a predatory grin on her face directed at the guy behind Hannah, while her eyes traveled over what she could see of him over the bar. She leaned onto the bar, flipping back her bottle-blonde hair, her arms pushing her breasts up further, and Hannah could see the lace from the woman’s bra peeking out of the low scoop neck of her tight, black top. “What can I get you, sweetie?”

  Hannah bit her upper lip to keep herself from laughing at the woman’s over-the-top flirting. The guy leaned forward, placing a hand around Hannah’s waist. Hannah stiffened at his touch, but he just squeezed his fingers, not removing his hand. She twisted to look up at him, but he started ordering before she could say anything. “I’ll have a Widmer Hefeweizen and whatever my girl here needs.” He tilted his head at Hannah, facing her with a smile pulling at his mouth, and an eyebrow raised.

  Hannah was stunned for a second at his forwardness and didn’t respond.

  “What did you want, sweetness?” He tilted his head toward the waiting bartender, who’d lost her smile and straightened up so that her boobs weren’t about to pop out of her top anymore. Not quite, anyway.

  Hannah finally found her voice. “Just water.”

  The bartender nodded, filled a glass with ice and water, and slid it to Hannah before filling a frosted glass from a tap and shoving an orange slice on the rim. She set the glass on the bar, took the guy’s money and moved on to flirt with the next group of guys who’d sidled up to the bar while she helped them.

  Hannah gulped her water and moved away from the hand on her waist. He let it drop without protest and followed her away from the bar.

  He leaned down so he could speak into her ear. “Sorry about that. I saw the way she was completely ignoring you and figured I’d help you out. There wasn’t time to explain before she came over. I wasn’t trying to creep on you or anything.” He smiled again, and Hannah smiled back, a full smile this time.

  “I guess I should say thank you then.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m Evan, by the way.”

  “Hannah.” She moved toward an open table that she spotted, wanting to sit down and get off her feet. She and Elena had been here for over an hour and her feet were starting to hurt. It wasn’t too bad when she was dancing and moving, but just standing made her feet throb in time with the music. Evan followed, pulling the other chair around the table next to hers.

  Hannah watched as he squeezed the orange slice into his beer before taking a drink. He leaned in close to her. “Are you here alone?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m here with a friend.” She waved a hand toward the dance floor. “She’s dancing. I needed a break and some water.”

  He nodded, and Hannah looked him over. It was hard to tell in the colorful flashing lights of the club, but he looked attractive enough. Tall, broad, his t-shirt clinging to muscular shoulders, hinting at more muscles beneath without being overly tight all over. She couldn’t tell what color his short hair or his eyes were, but he had a nice smile. Since she was here with Elena to try to meet guys in a bid to move on from whatever hold Matt had had on her the last few years, she figured she should make more of an effort here.

  She smiled at him, leaning closer now. “What about you? Are you here with anyone?”

  He smiled back, nodding. “Yeah. My friend Duncan turned twenty-one this week, so we’re all here partying with him.” He pointed to a group of guys standing around a high-top table laughing and drinking, a few of them with girls in skimpy club wear hanging off of them.

  One of the guys saw Evan pointing and stumbled in their direction. “Coop! There you are!”

  Hannah wrinkled her brows, looking at the guy next to her. “I thought you said your name is Evan.”

  He shrugged, taking a drink of his beer. “It is. My last name’s Coopman. The guys on the team call me Coop for short.”

  “The team?”

  “Football.”

  Hannah nodded, gulping down the rest of her water. Since Evan was here celebrating a friend’s twenty-first birthday, it seemed reasonable to assume that he was at least as old. It was likely that he knew Matt. Hannah set her glass on the table, biting her upper lip to keep herself from asking about Matt. She was supposed to be forgetting about him, not fishing for more information about him. And Evan was supposed to be her ticket to forgetfulness.

  Her distracted thoughts were interrupted by Evan
’s friend barging over to their table and clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Dude! I thought you were just getting a refill. What are you doing sitting here? Come back to the party!”

  Evan looked at Hannah. “This is Duncan.” He turned to Duncan and inclined his head toward her. “Duncan, meet Hannah. We were just hanging out for a second. She needed to sit, and I was waiting for her to feel up to dancing and mingling again before inviting her to join us.”

  “If you’re worried about sitting, you both obviously need more to drink! Come on! Bottoms up!” Duncan seemed to notice that Hannah’s glass was empty. “What’re you drinking. Never mind. Come over to our table, we’ll get you sorted. We’ve got plenty.” He gestured at Evan. “This one’s too snobby for our pitchers of beer, but I’m sure you won’t mind.”

  Hannah opened her mouth to respond, but Duncan was off, lurching back to the table he’d come from, raising his glass high in the air and shouting. “Whoo! Happy birthday to me!”

  Duncan grinned at her. “What do you say? Wanna come hang out for a while? I won’t insist you get drunk, but you might have more fun over there if you do.”

  Hannah pretended to think it over for a minute, but really she’d already made up her mind. Matt wasn’t a student anymore, so he wasn’t on the team. Even if these guys knew him, she doubted it would matter. Here was a cute guy who seemed nice and interested in her. This was the exact opportunity she was here to explore. Elena would kill her if she turned the guy down, and she actually did want to go hang out with a group of people having fun. And the feel of his arm around her had been nice, even if it had startled her at first. A couple more drinks, some dancing, what was the harm?