With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men #4)

I clenched my jaw, upset he was getting so close to some of the things I hadn’t been able to stop my brain from thinking. “Yes, I remembered practice.” I folded my arms over my chest and glared him down, silently commanding him to make another crack about me being here with both girls. “And my truck is right outside. I can drive myself.”

Ten dropped his arms from the doorframe. “Fine. Then I’m here for the pancakes, I guess.” He sauntered into the kitchen and winked at Zoey. “Morning, Blondie. These two didn’t keep you up all night, did they? You know, if they ever get too loud and rowdy, you’re always welcome to come back to my place to get away from them.”

“Ten,” I growled. I was tempted to break his face.

Something must be seriously wrong with me. Friday night, I’d pushed Cane Belcher against a wall? Last night, I could’ve easily taken out K.C. for the way he’d talked about Zoey. And this morning, I wanted to break Ten’s face. It was enough aggression in three days to freak me out. I never, ever wanted to take up any of my mother’s abusive qualities. But here I was, feeling violent all over again.

“What?” Ten glanced at me with his eyebrows lifted. “It was a perfectly polite invitation.” He smiled at Zoey again. “I honestly don’t know how they are together, you see. I don’t let her stay over at our place.” He returned his attention to me. “Sit back down and relax already, pretty boy. Practice isn’t for another forty-five minutes.”

My jaw bunched. I was about to order him from the apartment when Zoey surged to her feet. “Let me get you a plate. The pancakes are amazing.”

Wait? What? Zoey actually wanted him here? I couldn’t even feel smug about her praise of my pancakes. She looked too happy that he was staying. Even her shoulders weren’t as tense as they’d been since she’d entered the kitchen this morning. When she sent him a warm smile, I froze.

Oh, no. What if she liked him? What if... Nausea swirled up my throat. I have no idea why, but I didn’t like the idea of her liking Ten. At all.

Ten seemed surprised by her generous offer. He lifted his eyebrows and shot a glance my way. I wanted to wipe that smug smirk off his face with my fist. And Cora was no help whatsoever. She just groaned and stuffed more pancake into her mouth.

“Well, hot damn. I like you, Blondie,” Ten finally announced. He smiled charmingly as he seated himself.

I was still standing, glaring at him when I noticed Zoey was having trouble finding which cabinet the plates were in.

“They’re in here,” I told her, brushing past her to open a door to her left. When Zoey let out a quiet inhalation, I turned back wondering what was wrong.

I hadn’t realized quite how close I’d moved to her until our gazes met and her green eyes, so pale they almost looked blue, were right there. A hitch in my breathing made me clench my teeth. Why did I keep noticing things about her, like how soft her cheeks looked, or how pretty her eyes were? I never noticed things about other girls. Cora was my it, everything I wanted and more. I didn’t like how my blood went hot every time I simply looked at her roommate.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, hastily grabbing a plate and shoving it at her before I backed off and returned to the safety of Cora’s side, where my core temperature thankfully once again lowered to normal.

I accidentally met Ten’s gaze as I slid into my seat. He lifted his eyebrows with a knowing smirk. I scowled back but quickly wiped it off my face when Zoey offered him the plate I’d handed her.

Ten winked at her as he took it. “Thanks, Blondie.”

She blushed and played with a piece of her hair. “Oh, it’s Zoey, actually.”

“Yeah.” Ten didn’t seem concerned as he promptly filled his plate, piling on a good half a dozen pancakes. “But I probably won’t remember that.”

As soon as Cora kissed Quinn goodbye, telling him to have fun at football practice, she turned to me, suddenly serious. “So, my next dialysis treatment starts in forty-five minutes. It takes half an hour to get there. You want to come with me or not?”

The emotionless, matter-of-fact way she asked flabbergasted me at first. When I finally got my bearings straight, I nodded my head vigorously. “Y-yes, of course, I want to come.”

“Then hurry up. We leave in ten.” She strode past me and down the hall toward her room. “Don’t worry about dressing up. It’s not exactly glamorous there.”

I was ready in five, yanking on the first shirt and jean shorts I came across. After tugging my hair into a ponytail, I hurried to the front room, worried Cora might leave without me. She just seemed so stoic and unresponsive about the entire thing.