Matter of Fact: A Hockey Romance (The Hart Series Book 7)

by M. E. Carter

  “Right.” Having been given his marching orders by two different people, Kevin stands up, looks at me, and whispers, “Right.” Then he turns and walks out of my life. Hopefully for good this time.

  She waits until Kevin is truly gone before eyeing me suspiciously. “Are Kevin’s upcoming nuptials going to be a problem for you?”

  “Of course not,” I say quickly. “Like I was just telling him, I’m dating someone too so it’s nice to see we’ve both moved on.”

  “Hmm.” She doesn’t sound convinced but I can’t find it in me to care. I’m tired of her treatment. She’s been beyond disrespectful lately, likely because she knows how sensitive I am and she loves having the upper hand. But no more. From now on, I have no interest in making nice with her. I’ll be professional and do my job well, but that’s all she’ll get from me. No more, no less.

  Realizing that’s all I have to say, she finally turns tail and walks out, leaving me to stew.

  At least I stew for a few minutes. The more I listen to the party down the hall, the one I’m not invited to and wouldn’t go to even if I was, the more my bravado falls and the more disregarded I feel. It takes everything in me to make it through the day hoping I don’t make any mistakes.

  Chapter Twenty

  Liam

  Pulling into the bar parking lot, I barely have time to put my truck into park because I’m out of it and racing to the front. Swinging the door open, Paul tilts his chin in greeting. I go straight to him to get the low down.

  “Sorry for calling you, man. I cut her off already and Lauren’s been trying to get her to go home with her but she refuses. Something about having the right to her opinions and right now her opinions say she needs to be at a bar.”

  I furrow my brow as I try and figure out what she’s talking about. “That makes no sense.”

  “Nope. The only thing I’ve been able to decipher is that there is a man involved but I don’t know in what capacity.” His eyes narrow. “You didn’t do anything to her, did you? I really don’t feel like kicking your ass tonight.”

  While I appreciate Paul’s protective nature over the women in his bar, it’s unnecessary. “No. We left my place together this morning, well, closer to this afternoon, and things were fine. Great even.”

  Paul smirks in understanding. “I knew you were the right person to call. Kiersten told me things have gotten serious with you two lately.”

  “Obviously not as much as I thought if she’s trying to get alcohol poisoning over some guy.”

  “Good point. Maybe I shouldn’t have called you.”

  “No, it’s fine. I’m glad you thought of me first, actually. I have a feeling I know exactly who this involves. Where is she anyway?”

  I start to scan the room, trying to find the woman in question. Paul points to the other side of the bar where Ellery is looking drunker than the first night we met. Unfortunately, some of that sadness seems to be back as well. I suspect whatever happened took place at her job, which is why she’s so shaken.

  “Jaxon happened to swing by to talk to Kade about something so he’s been hanging with her, keeping her out of trouble until you could get here.”

  “Appreciate it, man.”

  Paul nods and gets back to work filling an empty tray with drinks.

  As I come around the bar, I realize Ellery doesn’t even notice me. That’s how hammered she is.

  Coming up behind her, I wrap my arms around her waist. “I hear you’re three sheets to the wind, sweets.”

  She spins around in my embrace, throwing her arms around my neck. “Liam! I’m so happy you’re here! You like my hair right? And nibbling on this spot right here?”

  She points to the spot on her neck that always gets her turned on.

  I chuckle at how cute she is. “I do.”

  Leaning back in my arms, she stares right at Jaxon like he’s offended her. “See? I told you.”

  “Yes, you did,” he says with a nod and more nonchalance than most men would have under these circumstances. “Several times.”

  “Sorry,” I mouth. He raises his beer to me, the universal sign of acceptance for my apology when a girlfriend gets drunk and obnoxious. “Hey sweets, I love this song. Why don’t we go dance?”

  I don’t actually know what’s playing, but if it gets her metabolism moving so she sobers up faster, she’ll thank me in the morning.

  She doesn’t put up a fight, just follows me to the dance floor with a huge smile on her face.

  Some fast-paced new hit is playing, but it’s not smart for her to bounce around. Neither does seeing her vomit, nor seeing her face plant sounds appealing. So, I hold her close while we sway to our own music.

  “Where’s Lauren?”

  Ellery throws her arm backward, waving it aimlessly. “She went to the bathroom. Or the office. Something. I don’t know.”

  I hold back a smile. Drunk Ellery has always been entertaining Ellery. But something is bothering her and I want to know what.

  “Wanna tell me what’s on your mind?”

  “Sure.” She tries to waggle her eyebrows but it looks more like she has to sneeze. “I am thinking about you being naked and on top of me with your penis inside my vagina.”

  Her terrible attempt at dirty talk has me laughing out loud. “I think we’re going to table that discussion for another night.”

  “You don’t want me either.” Her voice wobbles and I pull back enough to see tears stinging her eyes. The last time I saw her look like this was when that idiot broke up with her.

  “Why wouldn’t I want you? You’re wonderful.”

  “No one does,” she says sullenly. “I’m just a placeholder until someone else comes along.”

  I feel like I’m missing something significant.

  “Is this about Kevin?”

  “No.” Her automatic defensiveness makes me know she’s bullshitting me. “Kevin doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care about him or his new girlfriend who is blonde and beautiful and sent him nude pictures. They can get married all they want.”

  I think I’m starting to understand what’s happening here. “Ellery, is Kevin getting married to someone else?”

  She sighs deeply and drops her head on my chest. “Yeah.”

  If I was a better man, my concern would only be about her heartbreak. She loved Kevin for a lot of years, so it has to sting that he’s moved on so quickly. But I’m not a better man and I feel a streak of jealousy run through me. Why is she dating me and hanging out at my house most nights if she’s still hung up on him? And will she ever love me the way she loved Kevin?

  For the most part, I feel pretty stable with this relationship, but now I’m starting to question Ellery’s feelings for me. Even though I know there’s still more to this story.

  “Is that why you decided to come here and get drunk?”

  It takes a few seconds for her to respond, and it occurs to me that she may have passed out and is only upright because I’m still holding her. I look down to see if her eyes are closed when she finally gives me an answer. “I don’t want Kevin. I don’t think I like him that much. Especially now that he cheated on me.”

  Suddenly it makes more sense. The boyfriend of so many years, the one she gave up a dream job for, the one who ran the show, was playing the field behind her back, only keeping her around until he found something better.

  Jokes on him, though. No one is better than Ellery.

  I kiss her on the top of the head and try to pull her closer. It’s hard with our height difference. “You just found out he was cheating today?”

  I feel her nod. “I found out everything today. They were having a giant staff meeting when I came in, telling everybody they were getting married because his mom had been praying for Mallory for years.”

  I don’t know who Mallory is or why Kevin’s mom was praying for her, but I can get the gist of what Ellery is saying. And I don’t like the massive amount of disrespect that was thrown her way today.

  I’m toyin
g with leaving to go find that asshole and punch his face in for how fucking self-absorbed he is but Ellery starts talking more before I can move.

  “Am I just a placeholder to you, Liam?”

  My heart breaks as the root of the issue finally surfaces.

  “No, baby. Not even close.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she slurs. “I don’t even know if I’m the only girl you’re having sex with. I never said I had to be your girlfriend first. Did I buy the milk and give away the cow for free?”

  This time I don’t bother stopping my chuckle. “I think it’s the other way around.”

  “Around where?” She pulls away and begins looking over her shoulder. “Over there?”

  “No, not that. Never mind.” I pull her back to my chest, steadying her as she wobbles. “Just stay here and dance with me.”

  “Okay.” She drops her head back on my chest.

  “Ellery.”

  “Hmm.” I don’t think she even opens her eyes so I know I don’t have long until she’s done for the night.

  “There is no one else in the world I want in my bed at night.”

  “Really? You mean me?”

  “Really. And there’s no one else I want to watch movies with or cook dinner with than you.” I hug her tightly hoping she understands the gravity of what I’m saying. “And I already consider you my girlfriend even if I never said it.”

  “You do?”

  “I do. And I’m sorry I made you feel like a placeholder.”

  She sucks in a deep, drunk breath. “You didn’t. Kevin did. But he’s a jerk face. And you’re a… nice face.”

  “Oh well, that’s very kind of you.”

  “If I’m your girlfriend, can I stay at your house tonight so you can big spoon me?”

  “Absolutely. And if you’re still awake for a while, I’ll finish making the chicken pesto pasta I was working on before I came here.”

  “Ooh… chicken…”

  Aaand we’ve officially moved onto the munchies portion of tonight’s drunk fest.

  I keep one arm around my newly official girlfriend so she doesn’t fall down as we leave the dance floor and head back to the bar to close out her tab.

  “You’re such a good cook, Liam. You should start a YouTube channel for people who eat big meals. All those cooking shows have tiny little pieces of food. Who fills up on that? Do you have queso?”

  I know what she just said was the result of a drunken rant, but it’s like a lightbulb goes off in my brain.

  I haven’t been back on the ice yet and while that’s the goal, retirement is probably coming in the next few years either way. What if I could make a living teaching other athletes how to cook?

  “Huh,” I say out loud as the idea rolls around in my brain a bit.

  Turns out Drunk Ellery isn’t just fun and entertaining, she’s got some kick-ass ideas on how to make my future work, too.

  Have to say, I didn’t see that coming.

  Just then she turns and pukes all over my shoes.

  Didn’t see that coming either.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ellery

  “Ohmygod I think I’m going to barf from all the cheese in this movie like Ellery barfs on shoes,” Lauren complains making me blush. That was not my finest moment. “I don’t care if she’s an undercover reporter. You don’t know that and you’re a teacher. STOP FLIRTING WITH YOUR STUDENT, PEDOPHILE!!” she yells at the big screen and shoves another spoonful of Rocky Road in her mouth.

  “It was your idea to binge-watch a bunch of romantic comedies,” Kiersten pops off and drops an almost empty pint of Chunky Monkey on the coffee table. She blows out a breath and sits back, rubbing her stomach. “I don’t think it’s the movie that’s making me queasy. I think it’s all the ice cream.”

  Annika sticks out her tongue in a gagging gesture and drops her ice cream on the table, too. “I can’t eat this much dairy anymore. We’re at the age now where I need a salad to offset all this sugar.”

  “Booo…” Lauren jeers. “You’re all a bunch of lightweights. How are you doing over there, Ellery? Are you hanging with me or have you turned into a big baby like these two?”

  I’m not sure how to answer her. I’m as nauseous as the others but I suspect mine is of the hangover kind and not sugar or movie related.

  “To be honest, I could probably use more grease to balance out all the vodka from last night.”

  They laugh and Annika hands me almost all of her fried cheese sticks. She may have eaten half of one but that’s all. Come to think of it, she hasn’t drunk much at all today.

  I was so embarrassed when I woke up this morning and realized I didn’t just get drunk last night, I had a random emotional breakdown all over Lauren, Jaxon… Liam. And that was before I had all kinds of random vomit all over him, too. Word vomit and the regular kind.

  Liam seemed completely unphased by the whole night, but I’m sure he thinks I’m a fruit loop now. I would. I’d prefer having no memory of blathering on about being Kevin’s placeholder and putting Liam on the spot with his feelings. Unfortunately, I don’t have that much luck. I guess purging my guts meant keeping my memories. Of all the nights to remember the things I said when I was drunk.

  Liam swears he didn’t take anything I said personally, but I don’t know. I can’t shake the feeling that I did some weird irreparable damage to our easy-going relationship.

  Fortunately, I didn’t have long to stew on it in front of him. Lauren showed up at his place with a large Irish coffee in hand for me calling it hair of the dog, and practically forced me into her car and to her place for what she called a mandatory girls’ day.

  So far all we’ve done is stuff junk food in our faces, sipped on mimosas, and critiqued a bunch of chick flicks. And I’ve silently run through last night over and over in my brain.

  “You were so toasted last night.” I don’t need the reminder from Lauren. It’s all I can think about.

  “Yeah, well it was a hard day.”

  I can’t make eye contact, still embarrassed about my behavior. I keep my eyes trained on the screen and shove cold, fried cheese in my mouth, giving myself an excuse not to have to explain anymore.

  Lauren doesn’t take the bait, of course.

  “Wanna tell us what Kevin did?”

  No. I really don’t. But considering she was one of the recipients of my hot mess last night, I feel like I owe her some kind of explanation.

  I finally pull on my big girl panties and look at my oldest friend. She’s normally tough as nails and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. Right now, though, she has such a compassionate look on her face. This is the Lauren I know who has been through the emotional wringer herself and holds no judgment on anyone else because of it. Suddenly unloading my thoughts doesn’t seem so bad.

  “He didn’t really do anything I guess. Just got engaged.”

  All three of my friends have various reactions of disbelief. None of them surprising. Not even Lauren’s muttering that he’s a donkey balls piece of shit.

  “Hasn’t he only been dating her for a couple of months?” I’m only slightly surprised Annika has been filled in on my life drama. These women have always been tight friends. It’s part of why I like them.

  “Supposedly they were friends in high school who reconnected online a few months ago.” I shove another cheese stick in my mouth, hoping it shoves the sting of emotional pain down too.

  Kiersten’s eyebrows raise. “He had an emotional affair behind your back?”

  I shrug, attempting at nonchalance but failing. “He swears nothing happened until we broke up.”

  “That’s not how that works,” Kiersten says. “I don’t care if they didn’t touch until three days ago. He’s still a cheater. And none of that has to do with you. That’s all about him and his small penis.”

  I wasn’t expecting her to go there, so a much-needed laugh bursts out of me. I wouldn’t call Kevin’s penis small but compared to Liam, well, I suppos
e they’re both proportional to their body types and Kevin was a competitive gymnast. They’re not known for being large.

  “Don’t you work for his mom?” Annika asks. I haven’t seen her at Frui Vita since this whole crappy situation began so I’m not surprised she has a few questions for me. “How is that going now that you guys aren’t together?”

  I huff out a breath. “Well, I’ve been passed over for a promotion I was promised without even being interviewed, and I walked into an engagement party yesterday where my boss announced to my entire office she was so glad Kevin finally found someone worthy of the Welch family name.”

  “Oh, fuck that shit,” Lauren blurts out. “Kevin has always been a follower and I guarantee his mom picked this bitch out for him because she can push them both around. You’re so much better than that.”

  “I know.” I don’t really know. At least I don’t feel like it yet. But I’m hoping the more times I say it the sooner I’ll believe it.

  “You need a new job,” Annika remarks and takes a sip of her water even though she has a full mimosa sitting right in front of her. Is that still the first one from three hours ago?

  “She’s right,” Kiersten says with a nod. “You’re in accounting, right? Have you put out any feelers yet?”

  “I have.” I feel my face begin to blush. “Actually, Liam tipped me off to an opening in his team’s corporate office.”

  “What?” Lauren’s face lights up and she bounces lightly on the couch. “Did you send it?”

  “A few weeks ago. I haven’t heard anything back though.”

  “That’s totally normal,” Kiersten says. “Paul has only had to hire people at the bar a couple of times, but when he does it takes forever. He has to post about it, then gather resumes and sort through them. And he has to keep doing all the other stuff to keep the bar running at the same time. It takes a while for him to get through it all.”

  Annika gives her a quizzical look. “Hasn’t he only hired friends and family lately?”

  “Why do you think that is?” Kiersten replies. “It’s a pain in the ass trying to find the right person from an employment website. Word of mouth works best for us. Maybe word of mouth will work for you too, Ellery.”