With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men #4)

We didn’t have assigned seats, but since day one, our group had continued to sit in the exact same spots every day with Reese in the middle, Caroline to her left, me to her right and Ten and Quinn taking up the ends.

“Since Eva’s engaged to the owner, we can get in free,” Reese nudged her elbow into mine and winked, “and underage without any hassle.”

“Hey, guys,” Caroline greeted as she trudged up the steps to our desks. Smiling warmly at me, she squealed happily when she saw Reese. “Noel told me about Eva and Pick! That’s so exciting. Are you guys going to have a double wedding?”

“God, no.” Reese rolled her eyes. “Mason and I are being slowpokes and waiting until we graduate. Pick and Eva need to hurry their nuptials along to help with the adoption process for Julian.”

Eva and her boyfriend took care of two children: Eva’s daughter Skylar, and Pick’s stepson Julian. They’d been working toward permission to adopt Julian for a few months.

“Oh, can they finally adopt him? That’s great.” Caroline gasped happily as she started to sit. But when she glanced down at her chair before lowering herself, she frowned. “What’s this?”

She picked up a sheet of paper that had been in her chair and flipped it over. As her mouth fell open, she looked up at us. Her face was wreathed in awe.

“Oh, wow, you guys. Check this out.”

When she turned the sheet around to show us the drawing that had been sitting there, my mouth fell open. “Wow,” was all I could think to say. It was a pencil sketch, like an exact replica of Caroline. And not just her face, but her entire body.

“Oh my God, that’s you.” Reese leaned forward to examine every perfect detail. She looked up at Caroline’s face and then back at the picture. “I mean, that’s really you.”

“I know. Isn’t it amazing?” Caroline looked shocked speechless. Her gaze was dazed as she met my stare.

“Do...do you think I have a secret admirer or something?” She stepped closer to us and glanced suspiciously around the room, lowering her voice. “I don’t know if that’s creepy or flattering.

“Well, he put clothes on you, so...I’m going to go with flattering.” Reese snagged the sheet out of Caroline’s hand and made a giddy sound as she studied the picture some more. “You have a secret admirer! This is so wicked awesome. I want someone to draw me like this.”

“Wait? How do we know the artist is a he?” I asked, frowning slightly.

Reese and Caroline looked at me as if I’d just spoken a foreign language. “What?” I asked, clueless and feeling really stupid.

Turning the page to show me the picture again, Reese lifted an eyebrow. “Someone drew her barefoot in a dress and curled up on the grass, sleeping under a tree.”

“Yeah,” I said slowly, totally not catching on.

“Seriously,” Reese cried jabbing her finger into the page. “Don’t you feel how sensual it is from the way the wind is blowing stray pieces of hair into her face, how the skirt of her dress is riding just the slightest bit high on her thigh. I mean, damn, I look at this and even I want her a little bit right now.”

Caroline snorted out a laugh and covered her face. “I cannot believe you just said that.”

“Well, really.” Reese shrugged. “Can’t you tell that whoever drew it likes her? Like, likes her.” She sang out the last two words for emphasis.

“Oh.” I said, finally getting it. It made perfect sense when Reese explained it that way. Then I tipped my face to the side. “Unless it was drawn by a lesbian.”

Both Reese and Caroline burst out laughing. I started to grin, tickled that I’d managed to entertain them, but Caroline immediately sobered and ripped the sheet out of Reese’s hand.

“Damn, I hope it’s a guy and not a lesbian who likes me. I like beard scruff, six-pack abs, tight buns of steel, and that bulge in the pants way too much to go gay right now.”

“Amen,” Reese murmured with a dreamy sigh.

Suddenly, Caroline cleared her throat and turned away, tucking the sheet into her art book. I glanced over my shoulder to see what had caused her to hide the drawing so quickly. Quinn and Ten were absorbed in whatever they were discussing as they entered class. They paid us no attention, but we couldn’t stop staring at them.

Both Reese and Caroline were right. Slight beard scruff, six-pack abs, tight buns of steel and that bulge really were powerful enhancements to the masculine race. They were definitely helping to keep me straight!