It Matters To Me (The Wandering Hearts Book 2)
Read It Matters To Me (The Wandering Hearts Book 2) Online
Authors: Wendy Owens
Tags: #The Wandering Hearts Series
*companion series can be read as stand alones or series
Adult/NA Romance
The Wandering Hearts Series (companions)
It Matters To Me
Stubborn Love Series (companions)
YA
Romance
Clean YA
Paranormal
The Sacred Guardians Series (completed):
NA
Paranormal
The Tynder Crown Chronicles
Burning Destiny (coming 2016)
Blazing Moon (coming 2016)
Blood Spark (coming tbd)
It Matters to Me
Copyright 2016 by Wendy Owens
Cover design by Regina Wamba of
Mae I Design,
www.maeidesign.com
Interior book design by Stacey Blake of
Champagne Formats
Editing services by Amy Donnelly
Proofreading services provided by Jessica Nelson of
Rare Bird Editing
All Rights Reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted, in any form without the prior written permission of the author of this book.
This book is a pure work of fiction. The names, characters, or any other content within is a product of the author’s imagination. Any similar names to reality are purely coincidence and should not be taken as factual.
License Notes
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Table of Contents
For my husband, Josh -
Thank you for never letting me give up. Oh yeah, and for letting me break up with you, kill you, and many naughtier and dirtier things over and over again in my stories. You’re the best book boyfriend inspiration of all time.
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” –
Ralph Waldo Emerson
M
Y HEART ACHES, TIRED OF
being closed up like a fist. I wrinkle my nose, contemplating the questions that have been on my mind since the airport.
If this is love, then why is it so hard? Why does it feel like I’m swimming against the current, only to fight my way to the place I will drown?
“I’m begging you Kenz, don’t start,” he says, making my face flush hot.
“Don’t start?” The words growl from deep inside of me.
His eyes roll back in his head briefly before he returns his focus to the video game glaring from the screen in the dimly lit room. He’s choosing to ignore me, rather than respond. I move my body between him and the TV, my arms crossed tightly over my chest.
“This was why you couldn’t pick me up at the airport?” I wave a hand at the controller in his hand, but I know this isn’t the real reason I’m angry with him.
His body slumps and his head drops back, resting against the back of the tattered couch that has been in his parents’ basement since he was in junior high school.
“I told you, I got off late, there was no way I could have made it there in time,” he explains again, clearly frustrated.
“Come on, that’s such bull and you know it,” I snap back.
“It’s not. We had a VIP come in last min—“
I interrupt him with my laughter.
The controller slips out of his hand, his hard brow narrowing as he growls, “What’s so funny?”
“VIP? You’re a freaking grease monkey, Ben.” I wish I hadn’t called him that. I’m actually quite proud of how hard he works.
“Jesus Kenz, why do you have to talk such shit to me?”
I release a sigh. “I’m just saying, let’s not pretend you’re changing the world or something.” I want to hurt him with my words. I want to cut him as deep as his incessant voluntary obliviousness cuts me. It seems like he doesn’t care about anything.
He’s biting his lip and I can tell this is him trying not to yell. I wish he would yell. Then maybe it would look like he gave a damn about us. “It was one of my dad’s best customers.”
“And you were the only one who could what—change his oil?”
His head snaps up. “He owns a fleet of Town Cars. When he needs taken care of, someone has to do it. I’m sorry if that meant you had to take a cab home, but the world can’t always revolve around you.”
I bite my lip for a moment, then squeeze the flesh of my arms to resist wrapping my slender fingers around his thick throat. “I never claimed the world revolved around me.”
“You don’t have to!” He interjects. I’m pleased I’ve at least gotten a rise out of him. “Everyone knows, Kenzie snaps her fingers, and the world is expected to jump.”
“Screw you! It doesn’t make me needy because I want to feel important once in a while.” I argue.
He blows a puff of air through his lips. “Really? I can’t believe you’re even saying this stuff to me right now.”
“I’m so over—” I stop myself. There’s so much more I want to say. So many more things I thought of on the way here from the airport. I can’t remember what life was like before Ben, but I can’t help feeling like we’re getting further and further away from our happily ever after. The dreams we once shared have turned into broken promises, and I have trouble pretending things are okay anymore. He doesn’t understand; it’s not a matter of not loving him… it’s a matter of not loving him enough. Or maybe it’s not being loved enough in return. Hell, I’m not even sure I know.