With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men #4)(121)

We were so obvious, Reese leaned toward us and winked, “It’s about time you two finally figured it out.”

I looked at Zoey. She looked up at me. And we just started smiling all over again.

I didn’t want to leave her after first hour. But she had biology and I had history. I took history class with Cora, except she hadn’t showed up to it since I’d broken up with her, which was a godsend. Her friend Rachel still showed up, though. She approached me before the professor arrived.

I was completely suspicious.

“Hi, Quinn.” She sat beside me, in the spot where Cora usually sat. When I sent her a guarded glance, she smiled and fluttered her lashes. “So, you and Cora are really over, huh?”

I gave a single, stony nod. “Yep.”

“That’s too bad. You were the best boyfriend she ever had.” She set her hand on my desk, inches away from where I was resting my elbow. Then her smile widened. “The cutest, too.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“I bet you’re getting pretty lonely without her.” When she leaned in, moving her hand to rest it on the back of my chair, I leaned away. “You know, I could help you with that,” she said into my ear. “I’ve heard I keep pretty good company.”

The look I sent her told her just how insane I thought she was. “No, thanks.”

Rachel wasn’t deterred. She flipped her hair and kept talking. “She said you were the biggest she’d ever seen. I’d like to find that out for myself.”

“Well, you’re just going to have to keep wondering, because it’ll be a cold day in hell before I take on a carbon copy of her.”

Shock ricocheted across her face before she sat back in her seat away from me. As a blush stole up her cheeks, I continued to stare dryly at her. Finally, she cleared her throat. “I guess you’re still bitter.”

“I guess,” I said. “So you can go back to wherever you came from now and leave me alone.”

She stood with a sniff and couldn’t seem to get away from me fast enough. I watched her go and let out a shudder of relief. Then I smiled to myself. It’d felt kind of good to stand up for myself and send her away like that.

I reached behind me for my backpack to pull out my phone, so I could text Zoey. Feeling this good always made me want to talk to her. Plus, I wanted to wash my conversation with Rachel out of my head with a pure, sweet one with my girl. But I couldn’t find my phone anywhere in my bag’s front pocket where I usually kept it while I was in class.

I was still frowning and searching for it when the professor started class. Damn. I hoped I hadn’t left it at home. I didn’t want to suffer through an entire day without even being able to text Zoey.

After history, I had a free hour—an hour where I usually found Zoey in the library—so I hiked over there, hoping to catch her. I checked our spot first. My cock twitched when I stood in the place where she’d gone down on me between the book stacks. But Zoey wasn’t there.

I had a couple papers to work on and tests to study for, so I found a table out in the front and pulled out my calculus book. I hadn’t even studied for five minutes when a shadow fell over the page I was writing on. My breath caught in my chest, thinking it was Zoey. But when I looked up, Cora smiled at me.

“Hey, baby.” She pulled out the chair next to me and sat down. “I heard Rachel hit on you in history class. I’m sorry about her. She has no control over her ovaries.”

I smirked at her. “Must be why you two are so close.”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise before she murmured, “Well, look who’s turned into a smart-ass,” as if impressed with my verve.

I sighed and glanced away from her. “What’re you doing here, Cora? You have to know you’re not getting anything from me.”

She slid her arm around the back of my seat, much the same way Rachel had last hour. I glared at her, but she just smiled back, refusing to move away. “I just want to make amends between us, Quinn. You’re the sweetest, most forgiving person I know. And I hate thinking you might hold a grudge.”

A nasty flavor flooded my mouth. I shook my head. “You’re just going to have to learn to adjust, then, because I am still holding a grudge against you, and I don’t feel like getting over it any time soon.” I glanced distastefully at her proximity. “Do you mind leaving me alone now? I really, honestly want nothing to do with you.”

She drew in a breath and slid her arm off my chair as she straightened. “Well, I’m sorry you feel that way.”

I wasn’t. I kept giving her a hard stare until she stood up, lifted her chin and strode away. I blew out a breath, glad to be rid of her, even though I was pretty sure I wasn’t done with her for good. People like Cora didn’t just fade off into the woodwork. And her being Zoey’s roommate was going to make it real ugly in the future when she found out about us. With a sigh, I buried my face in my hands and tried not the think about what would happen when all that went down.

A chime from my book bag had me lifting my face.

What the…?

I twisted and unzipped the pocket where I hadn’t been able to find my phone earlier. After digging my hand inside, I jolted when my fingers almost immediately wrapped around it.

Pulling it free, I found a new text from Zoey. I can’t stop thinking about what we did in the library.