With Every Heartbeat

Caroline let out a breath and slowly turned to look up at him. “What?”

He nodded, his eyes serious. I couldn’t help it; I reached for Quinn’s hand and bit my lip to keep from smiling as he squeezed my fingers in return.

“You are so amazing,” Ten kept talking. “And I don’t want to see something like what he did to you slow you down like it has. I want to watch you get over it and keep on living an amazing life that you deserve.”

“Oren,” Caroline murmured, the awe in her voice making it obvious how much his words had affected her. Heck, they affected me and he hadn’t even said them to me. She reached up slowly and cupped his cheek. He closed his eyes and she lifted her other hand to his other cheek.

I held my breath for that moment when their lips would touch, but Ten wrenched back and grabbed Caroline’s wrists, tugging her hands from his face. Shaking his head, he said, “No. This isn’t going to happen.”

“But...but you left me all those drawings.”

When Ten didn’t deny it, Quinn glanced at me for confirmation. I nodded, and his eyes grew big with shock.

“Noel’s been worried about you,” Ten said. “He said you hid away in your room all summer, and he wasn’t going to stop worrying until you finally started to live again. Those stupid pictures made you smile. They made you—”

“So...what? You made them to cheer me up just so Noel could feel better. It had nothing to do with me whatsoever?”

“Caroline.” He groaned, closing his eyes. “I am sorry, but nothing—nothing—is ever going to happen between you and me.”

“You got that right,” she growled before spinning away and marching off. The fire and anger in her eyes made me smile, though. Their story was far from over.

I leaned up toward Quinn. “Is it just me, or is it kind of fun to watch them fight?” It felt like...foreplay.

When he didn’t immediately answer, I lifted my gaze to him. The seriousness in his expression made my stomach drop. When he took my elbow and drew me into a quiet empty classroom, my heart started to pound hard.

“Is it just me, or did that feel...right?”

“Right?” I repeated slowly, not sure how to answer, because I wasn’t too sure what he was even talking about.

“Spying on them together,” he said. “You and I...we’re watchers. We worry about our friends and keep silent tabs on them, waiting to step in when they need us. That’s just...it’s us. Doing that together felt right.”

“I...” I shook my head, completely discombobulated because he was dead-on. It had felt right to stand there with him and listen in on Caroline and Ten’s conversation.

He shifted closer to me, the closeness of his huge, hard body making my head spin with delicious memories. “You know I didn’t use you for revenge, right? Cora had nothing to do with what happened between us.”

Not expecting him to say that, I sniffed and shook my head. “Of course I know that. When Ten said that about you going after one of her friends for revenge, I just kind of classified it under the ninety percent of stupid stuff he says.”

“Good.” Quinn’s lips tipped in a smile, but his face remained serious. “I can’t stop thinking about it. About us. That night. It was just so...I want more.” His pleading eyes lifted to mine. “Don’t you?”

I was tempted. So tempted. But the obstacles in our path were so ginormous.

I groaned. “Quinn, you’re still on the rebound from Cora.”

He shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m really not. I know that sounds insane since a week ago we were picking out a ring for her, but...there is something between you and me. You can’t deny that. There’s been something growing between us since the moment we met.”

No, I couldn’t deny it. But I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes. “If you have felt something for me this entire time, then why...why did you stay with her? Why buy her a ring? Why ask me to help you pick it out?”

When I opened my eyes, I could see on his face that he finally knew exactly what he’d put me through when he’d asked me help him choose that ring. Realization puffed from his breath as he took a step back.

“I...I...I’m so sorry, Zoey. I...” He shook his head. “I thought it was just me. I thought I could control it.”

“Control what?” His feelings?

“M-m-my attraction to you. I thought I could ignore how much I wanted you, and we could just be friends. I like being your friend. But after Friday night, I realized I want both. From dating Cora, I didn’t think being friends with my girlfriend was necessary. But Noel, and Mason, and Pick...they’re best friends with their women. Maybe that’s how it supposed to be. Friends and lovers.”