With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men, #4)(10)

She rolled her eyes. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last few months it’s that life is short, and I’m going to spend it doing whatever the hell I want. So just get off my f*cking back about what I eat or drink. Okay?”

I blinked, startled to hear such language. She ignored me as she ripped off her clothes until she was down to a matching bra and panty set. I just sat there, stunned. She’d turned so angry and defiant since the last time I’d seen her. It made my heart ache.

As she crawled off the bed and pulled on a loose top and shorts, I shook my head.

“You’ve really changed,” I murmured. I didn’t know the woman before me anymore. What was worse, I didn’t know how to help her, either.

Being nine months older than me, she’d left home for college last year, while I’d been stuck there to suffer through my senior year of high school without her. It had been difficult, but we’d always been able to talk online. And through all our messages, I hadn’t been able to tell just how much she’d altered.

I was curious if college, her declining health, a mixture of both, or something else entirely was the cause of it.

She sniffed. “Changed for the better.” Turning away, she started for the door. “You go ahead and eat that crap. I’m having Cocoa Pebbles.”

I don’t know why—maybe it was stress—but I followed her orders and shoved the bland egg whites into my mouth, chewing robotically, as I trailed her into the kitchen.

“Damn, I wish it was Saturday morning,” she grumbled without explaining why.

I stood in the doorway, silently polishing off her eggs while she prepared herself a bowl of cereal and then seated herself at the table and propped her feet up until she could balance the bowl on her knees. Catching sight of me hovering, she rolled her eyes. “Sit.”

I sat, upset that I seemed to be such an annoyance to her. After drawing in a deep breath, I asked, “So, are we going to see your doctor today about the kidney transplant?”

She made a disgusted sound, letting me know she still didn’t want to discuss any of that. But then she swallowed her mouthful and shook her head. “I have a consultation set up for us on Wednesday. Today is car wash day.”

I paused chewing. “Car what day?”

A wicked gleam entered her eyes as she laughed. “The football team’s annual charity car wash,” she explained. “They have it every year on the Friday afternoon before the first day of class. But this year, they’re inviting a bunch of girls to help, so we’re having a competition of sorts. Girls against the guys to see who can draw in more business. And since you showed up early, you get to go, too. Which means...we have to dress you up sexy.”

I swallowed the last piece of egg white wrong. My eyes watered as I pounded on my chest to clear my airway. “Wait...what?”



Half an hour later, I was fresh from a shower and pulling on my swimsuit with great reservation. My best friend’s life was in grave danger, yet we were preparing for a car wash as if nothing whatsoever was wrong? This just didn’t feel...right.

Thinking I could talk my way out of wearing this thing—unlike the way I’d been unable to talk my way out of attending the car wash with Cora—I marched from my room to hers.

“Cor—”

She wore nothing but a towel around her head and one wrapped around her body, but I could see her patting something onto the inside of her forearm. She whirled around, and we both contorted our faces into horror the moment we saw each other.

“What the hell are you wearing?” she squawked as my gaze widened on all the bruises she was concealing with makeup.

“Wha...where...? Who did this to you? Quinn?” I hurried to her and grasped her arm to examine all the ugly purple, blue and green marks trailing up her arm.

Even though Cora tried to pull away, she threw her head back and laughed. “Quinn? You think Quinn would hurt me? Oh my God. You are so far off track. Quinn wouldn’t hurt a freaking ant. Instead of killing spiders in the bathtub, he catches them and sets them free outside. He’s the most harmless guy I’ve ever met.”

I bit my lip and gently ran my fingers over her bruises, hoping she was telling the truth. “I saw him push someone against a wall last night.”

Cora merely shook her head. “Um, no, honey. There’s no way you saw Quinn push anyone anywhere. He’s not the least bit violent; he’s just not capable of it.”

I decided not to argue that point with her, even though I was a hundred percent certain I had seen him doing exactly that. Instead, I focused on her arm. “Then...where did those come from? Cora, if someone is—”

“Oh my God,” she groaned, cutting me off. “Just shut up already. It’s from the dialysis, okay?”

My eyes widened. “The...? Wow, it really tears you up, doesn’t it?”

Cora’s jaw tensed as she continued to dab concealer over each bruise. “If you saw how many times they stick things in you, you’d think this was mild.”

I winced as I kept watching. “You don’t have to hide it,” I said quietly. “People will understand.” She should be proud of how strong and resilient she was. She was surviving kidney failure, for crying out loud.

But she cut me off with a snarl. “No, they won’t. Because no one knows.”