With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men #4)(72)

“That’s actually not too bad.”

Ten rolled his eyes. “I am a bartender, you know. I can tell which drinks will agree with which people.”

“Well, thank you.” I smiled at him and took another sip. Then I turned to Quinn. “I just realized you’re a bartender who’s never drank before. That’s so cool. In my writing class, they would consider you a rounded character instead of flat and clichéd because of that kind of contradiction.”

I could tell by the change in his blue eyes that my compliment pleased Quinn. Proud of myself, I took another sip. Maybe tonight wouldn’t suck quite so much after all.

“What kind of character would I be?” Ten asked, leaning forward with interest.

I lifted my chin and announced, “I believe they would call you quite a character.”

Ten snorted out a small laugh and murmured, “Keep drinking, Blondie.”

For a couple minutes, both guys just watched me nurse my Long Island Iced Tea. Quinn still had yet to touch his, but at least Ten had stopped trying to egg him on.

“So, I don’t think I know what your major is?” I turned to Ten expectantly, since he was supposed to be my date for the evening and all. A girl was supposed to talk to her date, wasn’t she?

“Architecture,” he answered and spun his soda glass in a puddle of its own sweat stain.

Just as I frowned, Quinn lifted his face. “You told me your major was construction.”

Ten just shrugged. “Pretty much the same thing; they both create buildings, right?”

“Actually, no.” I shook my head. “They’re not the same at all.”

“So, which one is really your major?” Quinn pressed.

“Architecture,” Ten repeated.

Quinn and I glanced at each other and frowned. He immediately turned back to his roommate. “Then why did you lie to me?”

After another shrug, Ten took a long drink. “I don’t know. Architecture seems like a pansy-assed, artsy-fartsy major. Construction’s more...you know, manly. I didn’t want you thinking I was a * when we met.”

Quinn pulled back, his eyes wide with shock. “You were worried what I would think of you?”

“Fuck, yes. You were a big-ass dude who really rocked it on your first day of practice your freshman year.” Then he waved both of his hands as if fake apologizing. “Excuse me for wanting to impress you.”

“Weird,” Quinn murmured, staring as if he’d just met Ten for the first time. Then he shook his head and glanced at me. “He wanted to impress me.”

“So I heard.” Wanting to hug Ten for making Quinn feel better, I turned to him. “Aren’t you a senior?”

“Yeah. Why?” He glanced at me and narrowed his eyes as if commanding me not to follow my own path of logic. But I did anyway.

“Then shouldn’t you have taken a lot of art classes by now?”

Quinn finally caught on. “Wait. Why are you in a beginning art class with us?”

Ten drew in a deep breath. I could tell he was getting uncomfortable when he glanced away. “Because I knew you still needed to take one, so I badgered my advisor into letting me take it again, to keep you and Gamble company.” His negligent shrug was a little too careless though. He was putting on an act. “Wasn’t my fault I saw the wrong class schedule sitting on Gam’s table and thought it was his instead of his sister’s. The three of us would’ve owned that class.”

Quinn shook his head. “No,” he murmured softly, studying Ten intently. “I don’t think you mistook that schedule at all. I think you knew it was hers all along. I think you just wanted a reason to be close to her and get to know her more.”

Ten sent him a frown and snorted. “Whatever, man. You’re on crack.”

“And you wanted me there, not Noel, to act as a buffer, because you knew you couldn’t cross the line if I was around, but you still wanted to get as close as you could because you were curious what she was like.”

“That’s it,” Ten muttered, reaching for Quinn’s glass. “If you’re not drinking, then I am. This f*cking karaoke is killing me.”

But Quinn snatched the cup away from him and quickly tipped it up, starting to gulp.

My mouth fell open as I watched.

Ten’s did too. Then he shook his head. “Bastard,” he muttered.

Quinn grinned as he set the cup down. “Sorry, but I guess you’re going to have to DD after all.” Then he arched an eyebrow and lifted a threatening finger. “And don’t ever lie to me again.”

The two men had a mini stare down that seemed to end in some kind of draw because they both loosened their stances in the same moment and turned to me in unison. I sank lower in my chair, not sure what to expect from them.

Ten snickered. “Aren’t you going to ask Hamilton what his major is?”

I shook my head. Quinn wasn’t my date for the evening. I shouldn’t be talking to him at all. But what I said was, “I already know his major.”

“Really?” Ten lifted his eyebrows and glanced to Quinn before turning back to me. “And how’s that?”

“Uh...he told me.” I shook my head, wondering why that was such a big deal.

But Ten only seemed more intrigued. “That’s funny. You guys seem to talk a lot for people who generally...don’t talk.”