With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men, #4)(4)

“I heard that,” Ten said, setting his hands on his hips. “If you leave now, who’s going to talk me out of kicking Belcher’s ass?”

Quinn frowned and glanced at me before turning his attention to Ten. “Can’t you talk yourself out it?”

“Probably not.”

Quinn motioned me with a tip of his head to go ahead and enter the house. “Don’t worry. He’ll talk himself out of it,” he assured me with a sigh.





After I reassured Zoey Blakeland that Ten wouldn’t start any fights without me, her lips loosened with a relieved smile. My stomach followed suit, loosening with its own relief.

I had desperately wanted Cora’s friend to like me. Cora had told me about Zoey’s past, her strict, abusive father, her shielded homeschooled upbringing, her shy demeanor. I had felt like a kindred soul to her the moment I’d learned of her because I could too easily relate to a lot of words Cora had used to describe her. I’d actually been hoping I could maybe, possibly, I don’t know...finally talk to someone else who understood some of the things I’d been through.

But then stupid, idiot Belcher had shown me that picture of my friend Noel’s girlfriend topless, and yeah...Zoey Blakeland’s first impression of me was shoving him against a wall.

Awesome.

She probably thought I was exactly like her father. She’d certainly shied away from me quickly enough when I’d merely walked toward her. Now I was going to have to work double-time to convince her that was the first time I’d ever shoved anyone anywhere. I was the least violent person I knew. I mean, I had been...until tonight.

My hands were still shaking, surprised by how quickly I’d manhandled the baseball player. But Noel was one of the few friends I had. I couldn’t handle anyone disrespecting his girlfriend by showing off topless pictures of her.

Realizing I was actually capable of such violence messed with my head, though. Made me worry what I might be truly capable of doing.

“So, uh...” I didn’t know what to say to Cora’s new roommate. The first thing to pop into my mind was that she was early. We weren’t planning for her to make it into town until Sunday evening. But I thought mentioning that would make her feel as if I didn’t want her here, when the idea of Cora having her best friend on hand was actually nice.

Unprepared for this, I scratched the back of my head. “Cora’s this way,” I said and started for a back hall I used a lot to avoid running into too many people, but then I wondered if I’d freak her out by taking her into a long, dark hallway alone. So I changed directions, except she’d already been following me to go the other way, and we collided into each other.

“Sorry.” I grabbed her shoulders to keep her from toppling over.

She might be tall for a girl, but she was still a dainty thing. I was like a big, bumbling buffoon next to her sleek, willowy frame. Feeling her all soft and pliable under my hands made her seem extra feminine and sweet, which in turn made me more aware of how male I was, which was...awkward.

Really awkward.

She smelled good, too. I caught myself leaning in to catch another whiff so I could figure out what the heck that scent was. I stopped cold when she looked up at me with big seafoam green eyes.

And oh...wow.

I totally didn’t mean to freeze, but I was thunderstruck, and I paused for way too long of a second.

Great, now she was going to think I was coming on to her or something. She’d have Cora talked out of dating me within the hour.

My hands jerked off her as if she’d scalded me. My ears burned with humiliation while I cleared my throat. “You okay?” When she nodded, I did too, motioning us back toward the crowded part of the frat house. “We, uh, we should probably take this way.”

I was trying too hard. I always flubbed things up whenever I wanted to impress someone. My stress levels rose, I paid too much attention to every little thing I did and said, and I became so self-conscious my stutter usually returned.

Refusing to say a word so I could at least keep that little embarrassment under control, I led Zoey into the next room where noise and the bustling activity of a college party assaulted us. She inched closer to me, which was nice, since it meant she wasn’t flat-out afraid of me, but I told myself she did it because the place was cramped; there was honestly nowhere else for her to go.

When some drunkard stumbled backward into her, she gasped and grabbed my wrist, smashing her side into mine. I curled a protective arm around her and used my free hand to nudge the drunk away. She didn’t pull away from me, so I kept her flush against me and led her to my girlfriend.

Cora was exactly where I’d last seen her, dancing to some hip-hop song with two guys who were laughing and talking with her above the music between all the Jell-O shots they were downing. Eyes closed, she lifted her hands above her head, swished her hair around her face and rotated her hips in a way that reminded me of the first night we’d met. The night I’d lost my virginity.

“There,” I said, pointing her out. I freed Zoey so she could go to Cora. But she didn’t leave my side.

Her mouth fell open as she gawked openly, moving her face forward as if she didn’t believe her own eyes. “Is...” Her mouth moved a few more times before she looked up at me. “Is she drunk?”

I froze, not sure how to answer. But, oh, boy.