From Your Heart

by Shannyn Schroeder

“Have somewhere to be?”

  “Not really, but I’m tired and ready to head out.” She peered behind him at Kevin, who was still standing at the bar. “My boyfriend, however, still doesn’t look ready to go.”

  “I’m leaving in a few minutes. I could give you a ride if you want.”

  “Thanks, but I have my car. I told Kevin I’d wait a half hour. Just feels like a long thirty minutes.”

  “Can I at least get you a drink since you’re stuck here?”

  She shook her head. “I already tried a margarita, and it about killed me.”

  Craig laughed. “Someone should’ve warned you that beer and whiskey are the only safe options here.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” She laughed.

  “Let me know if you change your mind.”

  She watched Kevin make his rounds and tamped down her jealousy when two young women stopped him near the bar and were standing much too close for a simple conversation. They were obviously flirting with him.

  He smiled, said something, and they laughed. One stroked his arm. He didn’t brush them away or step out of reach. It didn’t look like he was pointing her out to them as his girlfriend either. Kathy took a deep breath. She couldn’t control the actions of other people. Kevin was coming home with her.

  He loved her. She had no doubt.

  But when one of the women leaned over to whisper in Kevin’s ear, Kathy lost whatever patience she had. She slid from her stool and walked to Kevin and the women. Taking a page from his book, she stepped next to him and simply said, “Hey, babe. Care to introduce me to your friends?”

  Her words were sharp enough that even if the women were drunk or stupid, they’d understand her meaning. Kevin leaned back and put an arm around her shoulder. “Hey, sweetheart.” He pointed to the women and said, “This is Tiffany and Sam. This is my girlfriend, Kathy.”

  At least he had the decency to introduce her as his girlfriend. “Hi,” she said.

  The women looked her up and down with a smile. “See you later, Kevin,” one of them said before flouncing off.

  He turned to Kathy. “Please tell me you weren’t jealous of some puck bunnies.”

  “Jealous? Hardly. I’m tired of being here. I’m not having a good time.”

  “You looked like you were having a good time with that hockey player.” He took a swig of his beer.

  “What?” She thought back and realized that he was talking about Craig. “Craig sat down and we talked. I immediately told him I was here with you. Can you say the same?” She didn’t wait for a response because she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer. She was being bitchy and it was uncalled for. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then said, “Look. You’re having a good time. I don’t want to ruin that. Have fun hanging out with your brothers and their teammates. Come over later. I’ll be at home.”

  He looked from her face to the crowded bar. “You sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. I’ll be over in a while.” He kissed her cheek.

  When she pulled away, a pit settled in her stomach. He hadn’t bothered to offer to walk her out. He hadn’t even given her a real kiss. It shouldn’t have bothered her, but something nagged. By the time she got home, she’d worked herself into a frenzy with thoughts about why Kevin wanted to stay at the bar and what the hell he’d meant by puck bunnies.

  She parked in front of her apartment and tried to calm herself, but nothing seemed to work. She knew she was being irrational, so she changed into running gear, tied on her gym shoes, and went for a run.

  The moment her shoes slapped the pavement, her head started to clear. She filled her lungs with the cool early fall breeze in the late afternoon sun. She told herself she was seeing the dark side to everything.

  Kevin was a good-looking guy and women would flirt with him. Men flirted with her too. She dismissed it because it didn’t mean anything. She loved Kevin.

  The thought rang out as clear as light blue sky above her. She loved Kevin.

  Which was why she got pissed when he flirted with other women. She turned the corner and crossed the street without waiting for the signal. Traffic was light, so she had no cars to dodge. Her momentum felt too good to slow.

  She was irritated by his actions at the bar. Her irritation fueled her pace. It wasn’t about whether or not he would cheat or even if she trusted him not to. She didn’t like the way he’d treated her. They were supposed to be on a date. He’d said he wanted to spend time with her, but he hung out with everyone but her.

  As she reached her block, she slowed to a walk to catch her breath. Nearing her building, she saw Kevin leaning against the gate leading into her courtyard. Hands tucked into his jeans pockets, he watched her walk.

  Most guys would’ve waited in the car or at least played with their phone while waiting, but Kevin had been looking for her.

  Of course, she liked that, but she had something to say to him before she would let that knowledge warm her.

  * * *

  Kevin had been watching up and down the block for the last ten minutes. When Kathy hadn’t answered her phone or her door, he began to worry that things weren’t okay between them. Over the past two weeks, their relationship had been working, but at McGinty’s this afternoon, something was off.

  “Hey,” she said, the breeze blowing her ponytail forward.

  “Well, I’m glad my guess was right and you went running and weren’t ignoring me.”

  “I didn’t expect to see you for hours.” She reached down to her ankle and snagged her key. When she straightened, she looked him in the eye. “We need to talk.”

  Ah, fuck. Like every man he knew, he hated those words. He followed her into the building and into her apartment without saying a word. Once inside, he asked, “Is this a sit-on-the-couch kind of talk or yelling-in-the-living-room kind of talk?” He tried for levity he wasn’t feeling.

  She turned to face him. “Closer to the latter.”

  She toed off her shoes and kicked them aside. Then she crossed her arms and huffed out a breath.

  Before she could launch into yelling at him, he raised his hands and said, “I’m sorry you weren’t having a good time at the bar. I wanted to spend some time together. When I got there, I just wanted to let loose. I can’t remember the last time I went out just to drink with my brothers.”

  “I don’t care about that.”

  Now he was truly baffled.

  “I’m pissed because of the way you treated me. You had me tag along to this dive bar and then you abandoned me so you could flirt with—what did you call them?—puck bunnies.”

  He stepped forward and reached for her hand. “I told you, you don’t have anything to be jealous of.”

  “I’m not jealous!”

  Her harsh yell startled Kevin into releasing her hand. Her light brown eyes, the color of cool whiskey, were now burning hot. He’d never seen such a fierce look on her face. He stood in stunned silence.

  “I get that you are charming and you’re a talker. You talk to everyone in that friendly let-me-get-to-know-you way. It’s who you are. In fact, it’s one of the things I like about you. But I didn’t like you charming those women when I was in the room, waiting to hang out with you. You said yourself that you wanted to spend time with me.”

  As sick as it made him, seeing her pissed off and yelling at him was a turn-on. “I wasn’t trying to charm them. Yeah, they were flirting, and I’m a guy, so I enjoy it. But they meant nothing. Harmless conversation. Why do we have to keep talking about this? You either trust that I’m going to be faithful or not.”

  “God, would you listen to yourself? I don’t think you were making plans to fuck them. I’m trying to tell you that I don’t like the way I felt when I was in the bar with you. At first, I recognized that my reaction was a little irrational. And if you’d called me on that, I’d understand. But I went for a run to clear my head and it did wonders. You asked me to come to that bar with you.” She came close, pointi
ng a finger. “You should’ve spent time with me. Even if it meant ignoring your fans.”

  He smiled, even though it might’ve caused her to physically hurt him.

  She shoved his chest. “This isn’t funny, asshole. I felt like you were testing me at the bar and that was a dick move.”

  “What?” She’d lost him again. Sometimes he wished he’d spent more time with his sister because then he might have a shot at understanding the female mind.

  “I think you wanted this.” There went her arms flailing again.

  “You think I intentionally pissed you off? Why the hell would I do that?”

  “To make me fight with you. That’s what you’ve been pushing for, isn’t it? To make me prove that I love you? It’s a crappy way to treat me.”

  He was so mesmerized by her body, her fluid movements as she yelled, that he almost missed the words. “What’d you say?”

  She crossed her arms again and clenched her jaw. “I said it’s a crappy way to treat me.”

  “Before that.”

  Her brow furrowed and instead of waiting for her to retrace her thoughts, he said, “You said I wanted you to prove that you love me.”

  She shook her head, waiting for more.

  “Do you?”

  “Of course, I love you. You know that.”

  “But you’ve never said it.” He moved in again, pulling her body into his embrace. Her arms were trapped between their bodies. “I don’t need you to prove a damn thing, Kathy. I love you.”

  She sighed and relaxed in his arms, wiggling her own free. “This wasn’t exactly how I thought I’d say it to you the first time.”

  “I’m sorry I ignored you at the bar. You’re right. I should’ve been with you.”

  “Or next time, you can go alone. I don’t need to be with you all the time. I’m okay with you hanging out without me. That was way more your thing than mine.”

  His smile broadened.

  “What are you smiling at?”

  He walked her backward until she was against the door, and he was flush against her body. “First, you fought with me. Like really fought, no shutting down and running away. With a little practice, you’ll be able to give the O’Malleys a run for their money. Second, you fucking love me.”

  She tilted her head up. “Why does the fight get top billing?”

  “Because you know what happens after a fight?”

  “What?”

  “Makeup sex.”

  Her laugh filled the room, and it was the best sound in the world. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down for a kiss.

  “I love you, Kevin O’Malley. You taught me that I don’t have to be afraid to fight with you or for you. Now I’m really looking forward to you teaching me all about makeup sex.”

  “I love the sound of that.”

  Epilogue

  Two months later

  Kathy stood in her new kitchen washing glasses and putting them in her cabinet. Correction—their cabinet. Kevin had spent every day wearing her down to convince her they should live together. While she argued and held out for a while, she couldn’t ignore his excellent points.

  She loved waking up next to him. She loved being in his arms and sharing news about their day before falling asleep.

  Bottom line—she loved him.

  It made no sense to wait. He’d done the obligatory dinner with the parents. Twice, since she couldn’t have her parents in the same room. And she’d spent tons more time with the O’Malleys. They were a loud, lovable bunch.

  With that thought, her second favorite O’Malley came bounding in the kitchen. Moira had her hair pulled high on her head.

  “You know, having access to a group of able-bodied men certainly comes in handy when you have to move,” Moira said as she grabbed a glass and dried it.

  “Lucky me, I have access to two families’ worth. I can’t believe Liam, Carmen, Maggie, and Shane all came to help me move.”

  “Why not? If you have a big family, use them.”

  “They’re not really my family.”

  “Sure they are. Plus, now you have the O’Malleys.”

  Kathy opened the fridge. “Speaking of, do you think this is enough beer? They should be here with the truck any minute.”

  She grabbed a bottle and handed it to Moira.

  “That’ll be plenty.” She put the bottle back in the fridge.

  “You’re not drinking beer? I have wine if you want.”

  Moira’s gaze shifted. “No. I’m good with a glass of water.”

  Kathy narrowed her eyes at her best friend. Moira’s lips were pressed together and Kathy could see she was bursting to talk. Then it hit Kathy. “Oh, my God. You’re pregnant.”

  Moira’s eyes got wide, almost big enough to match her smile. She nodded, but said, “Shh. We’re not supposed to be telling anyone yet. It’s still early.”

  “I thought you guys were going to wait.”

  Moira shrugged. “I thought so too. Nature has its own plan.”

  Kathy hugged her tight. “I’m so happy for you. You’re happy, right? And Jimmy?”

  Moira laughed. “Jimmy’s thrilled, but if you thought he was controlling before . . . whew. It’s a fight every day.”

  Kathy pulled away, still smiling. “I think you can handle him.”

  “You know it.” Noise from the other end of the condo caught their attention.

  Tommy came into the kitchen carrying two boxes. “Hey, Kathy, where do you want these?”

  Based on the black marker on the side in Kevin’s scrawl, she said, “Put them over there on the table. Kevin wasn’t too meticulous in how he packed, but that says ‘kitchen’ on it.”

  She and Kevin had made trips in their cars throughout the week to bring most of her stuff over. Kevin had still been packing last night.

  Yelling in the living room had Kathy abandoning the dishes to see what the problem was. Sean and Kevin stood over Kevin’s overturned coffee table and three boxes.

  “You should’ve told me to slow down,” Sean was yelling.

  “Why the fuck were you moving so fast?” Kevin yelled back.

  Sean’s arms flew up. “So sorry, old man, I didn’t know you wouldn’t be able to keep up.”

  Kathy’s heart picked up pace, but her stomach didn’t churn. Definitely a good sign. O’Malley conflict wasn’t bothering her the way it used to. Weird.

  Jimmy burst into the room. “What the hell is going on? I heard your big mouths all the way downstairs.”

  Moira stood beside Kathy with her hands on her hips. “The boys are arguing over who the bigger idiot is.” She bent over and righted a box that sounded like it contained a baby’s rattle.

  Kathy winced and then checked the side of the box. Kevin’s writing stared back at her. She shouldn’t have felt relief, but she did. It was another box marked KITCHEN, so it was probably his dishes.

  Moira hefted the box, but Jimmy immediately snatched it from her. Moira rolled her eyes. “I’ll check the damage.”

  Kathy looked at Sean and then Kevin. “It’s not a big deal.”

  Kevin crossed his arms.

  “I’m sure Sean wasn’t trying to break anything any more than you were. Accidents happen.” She went to Kevin and kissed his cheek. “Your brothers are doing us a huge favor by helping.”

  “It’s not a help if they break all my shit.”

  He sounded like a mopey kid.

  Kathy stroked his back as her arms circled him. “And if you’d taken more time to pack things properly, they would’ve been better protected.”

  “Ooo, she owned you,” Sean called. “Tell him, Kathy.”

  Then Sean left the room and they were alone for a moment.

  “Yeah, tell me, Kathy.”

  “Tell you what? How I own you?” she teased.

  “You know you do. I’m glad you finally came to your senses and realized what a good idea this is.”

  She held him tighter. “So am I.”

  They had app
roximately two minutes of quiet before Liam, Carmen, Maggie, and Shane came into the room carrying boxes.

  Liam said, “If we all make one more trip, I think we can get it all done.”

  Kathy stepped back. “That’s my cue to order the pizza then.” She swatted Kevin. “Go get our stuff so we can settle in.”

  “Our stuff. I like the way that sounds.”

  She smiled at him and called for pizza.

  * * *

  Kevin sat on the floor of their living room surrounded by his family and friends. And yeah, he could look at Moira and actually think of her as a friend now. They’d all pitched in to get him and Kathy moved into their condo. The truck had been returned and now they all sat around eating pizza and drinking beer. Jimmy was already hooking up the TV and stereo, as if Kevin couldn’t figure out how to do it correctly on his own.

  But if his big brother wanted to step in, Kevin wasn’t about to stop him. He looked across to Kathy, who was laughing with Maggie and Emma. She sipped on a glass of wine—obviously a glass she’d owned because he’d never thought to buy wineglasses. Even in jeans and a ratty T-shirt smeared with dust and dirt from the move, she was beautiful. He couldn’t imagine being any happier.

  Kathy called Carmen to sit closer and Liam’s girlfriend flashed a diamond on her left hand. The women all oohed and ahhed over the jewelry. Carmen’s face brightened with a smile as she looked at her fiancé.

  Just then, Jimmy got the stereo turned on, filling the room with music. Moira stood and began a hip-wiggling dance. The other women soon followed suit, kicking empty boxes out of the way. The men sat back and watched, until Emma crooked her finger at Sean, who made a face but stood and went to her.

  Without a word, Tommy followed suit, wrapping his arms around his wife. Kevin didn’t wait for an invitation. He stepped behind Kathy and gripped her hips to pull her to his body. He kissed her exposed neck, loving the way her body pressed into his in reaction.

  She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hi.”

  “Still okay with everything?” he whispered.

  “Way more than okay. I’m so happy we’re doing this.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  He held her close as they moved to the beat. With his lips on the shell of her ear, he said, “I love you.”