With Every Heartbeat

Ten snorted and waved out a hand. “What the fuck ever. That woman did not have his—”

“You know what.” Quinn sat up in his chair and slashed out his arm to motion for Ten to shut up. “I don’t want to listen to this conversation anymore. I’m not going with you to find any woman. And I don’t want to talk about what happened. End of discussion.”

“Damn it, man.” Ten’s shoulder’s fell. “This is not healthy. I’m trying to save your ass here. Guys need to sow wild oats and test the waters or they’re going to end up having a midlife crisis before they’re thirty, blow all their money on some cherry red convertible and turn into a cheating asshole. And knowing you, now that you’re over with her, you’ll try to rebound right back into some meaningful, monogamous relationship. Which is worse than worse because if the whore hadn’t fucked around on you, you probably would’ve ended up asking her to marry you.”

Cheeks flushing, Quinn briefly darted his gaze my way. I sucked in a breath, surprised he’d never told Ten about the ring he’d bought Cora.

“And no stupid-ass motherfucker should marry the first girl he fucks. That’s all there is to it. She was your first, she absolutely cannot be your last.”

Oh my...Cora had been the first girl Quinn had ever slept with? That meant she and I were the only two people he’d ever slept with. My cheeks burned with that knowledge as Quinn’s gaze bore hard into Ten.

Next to me, Caroline lurched unsteadily to her feet. I glanced up to find her face pale and eyes devastated. “Excuse me,” she mumbled, rushing away.

The three of us still sitting gaped dumbly after her as she fled the classroom, bumping into and dodging around students still entering.

“What the fuck?” Ten finally said, sounding dumbfounded.

He glanced at me, then Quinn. Quinn shook his head and looked my way.

“I...maybe I should go check on her,” I offered, reaching out to gather Caroline’s books she’d left on her desk.

Ten stood. “No. It was my big mouth. I’ll go.” Scowling, he swiped his hand over the top of his hair in an angry, distressed gesture. He looked as if he’d rather have his testicles removed than seek out Caroline, but he slapped her textbook closed, tucked it under his arm and jogged down the steps toward the front of the lecture hall.

Quinn and I exchanged a glance. His mouth opened again. I knew he wanted to say something about everything Ten had just blurted out. I could tell by looking at him, it had left him humiliated and yet worried about me.

Wanting to put off this particular conversation because I was still a little too bowled over by what I’d just learned, I quickly said, “Should we follow them? I mean...” I flailed out a hand. “Ten and Caroline.”

“Uh...” He glanced after Ten, then rolled his eyes and ground his teeth. “Yeah, probably.”

Together, we gathered our things and without saying a word, we left the classroom.

“Which way do you think they went?” I asked just as I heard Ten saying, “Hey.”

Quinn nodded his head that way, and we moved together to peek around a corner and into a quiet hall, where Ten was catching Caroline’s hand and whirling her around.

Obviously not expecting the move, Caroline yelped and nearly tripped into him before she pulled away. “What the hell?” she exploded. “Why did you follow me?”

Ten opened his mouth. Then he shrugged and scratched his head. “Fuck, I don’t know.” He motioned vaguely at her and shoved her textbook at her. “Why did you leave?”

When she didn’t answer, just stared at him, he shifted from one foot to the other and asked, “So what stupid shit thing did I say this time to set you off?”

“This time,” she muttered, and sent him a snarl. “You know what? Never mind. Just...forget about it.”

When she began to walk away again, he snagged her wrist one more time. “Oh, hell no. I made the effort to follow you and find out what was wrong. You’re talking.”

“Uh, no. I’m not. Not when you’re being an asshole.”

Ten snorted. “I’m always an asshole, and it’s never stopped you from speaking to me before. What difference does that make, anyway? You can talk to an asshole just as well as you can a nice guy. Now, spill it.”

“Fine.” Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him. “You know that crack you made to Quinn about no guy ever marrying the first girl he screws?”

“Yeah.” Confusion reigned on his face. “What about it?”