Hart of the Matter (A Love of the Game Novella) Read Free Page A

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.”
    Turning back to Hart, she met his eyes and saw his pain. 
    Bailey didn’t give a fuck about his pain.
    “You sacrificed your little sister’s emotional and physical well-being for the sake of a man who was sticking his dick in anything with a pulse and high all the fucking time.  Over and over, I tried to warn her.  Did you know that?”  Hart shook his head.  “I was hearing too many rumors about the three of you for them not to be true.” 
    Bumping the car door closed with her hip, she stared at them. 
    “Do you know what she told me?  She said none of you would ever do that to her.  That you’d never hurt her in such a way so the people who came to me must be wrong.” 
    Stepping closer to Hart, she whispered, “One word from you or Dex would have been enough.  You didn’t even have to give details.  We fucking trusted you – all of you – and it turns out you’re no different from anybody else with a cock.  Fucking useless.” 
    “Bailey, please don’t hate me.”  Hart rubbed his hand over his chest. 
    “Harley will bring you back into her life one day, Hart.  You’re her older brother and you’ve always been close.  When that happens, I will do my best to forgive you.  Today is not that day.   Until then, Harley gets my loyalty and my love.  Your tears don’t mean shit in comparison to hers.”
    Walking past them to the front