With Every Heartbeat(29)

Spinning away, he stalked off without explaining himself.

I stood there a moment longer. This was definitely turning out to be one of the strangest days of my life. But for some reason, I felt exhilarated. It was so far and beyond anything my father would approve of. I secretly relished having been a minor part in it.

I turned in the direction Caroline had run, but no sooner did I get a few steps than Cora, hand-in-hand with Quinn, veered around the corner.

“Zoey?” Cora asked in surprise. “What’re you doing out here?”

Concern knit Quinn’s brow. “Everything okay?”

I nodded, though I had no idea if anything was okay at all. I motioned vaguely toward the entrance of the pizzeria. “Everyone left. Except Caroline. She ran that way, upset, and Noel asked if we could make sure she got home.”

While Cora scowled at the idea, Quinn immediately nodded. “Sure. No problem.”

“What?” Cora glowered at him. “I don’t want to babysit Noel Gamble’s little sister.” As she sniffed in disgust, both Quinn and I gaped at her.

“Cora!” he scolded, as I gasped out, “We can’t just leave her here by herself.”

She scowled between the two of us. When she must’ve realized she was outnumbered, she sniffed. “Whatever.” Folding her arms over her chest, Cora spun away and started off. “I’m going to wait in the car.”

I stared after her, wondering where all the attitude had come from and why she’d been so snotty. The Cora I knew never acted that way.

“She’s mad at me because I didn’t tell her about Noel and Aspen before,” Quinn said, answering my silent question.

I looked up at him and instantly felt awful. He looked guilty and crushed. So I shook my head. “It wasn’t your secret to tell.”

Just as it wasn’t my secret to tell him what was happening to his girlfriend...even if I thought he should know.

He shook his head as if brushing aside his issues with his girlfriend and lifted his gaze, his blue eyes full of pain. “Do we know where Caroline is?”

I made a face. “Kind of. She ran that way after she tried to kiss Ten.”

When Quinn’s eyes widened, I slapped my hand over my mouth. “Oh, no! I can’t believe I told you that. I promised Ten I wouldn’t tell anyone what I saw.”

I blinked, but he waved his hand. “It’s okay. I won’t let him know you told me.” Then he winced “Did he kiss her back?”

“No. He stepped back, warding her off, and said, ‘don’t,’ so she ran away, crying.”

He blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “Wow. I can’t believe he restrained himself. That’s so…not like him. But it’s good that he had some self-control. Noel’s warned him away from Caroline more times than I can count.” He released his hair and glanced around. “What a mess.”

When I nodded in agreement, he sent me a small smile. “How about I go this way, looking for her, and you go that way?”

I agreed and we set off in our different directions. I found Caroline a few minutes later, sitting on a bench across the street from the pizza parlor under a streetlight. She didn’t say anything or acknowledge me as I approached, but I knew she knew I was there. Silently, I sat beside her and waited.

She stopped hugging her knees and set her feet slowly back on the ground. “I tried to kiss Oren, but he pushed me away.”

I swallowed, almost wishing I wasn’t her confidante because I wasn’t sure just how many secrets I could contain for other people. “I saw,” I said.

She glanced at me. “You did? Does he know that?”

I nodded. “Yeah. He didn’t want me to tell anyone about it.”

“Well...I guess that was nice of him to help me keep my mortification private.” Tucking her hands under her thighs until she was sitting on them, she waited another few seconds before she looked at me again. “You probably think I’m pretty pathetic, huh?”

With a shake of my head, I said, “No. Not at all. I...actually, I thought you were really brave.” Across the street, I caught sight of Quinn as he spotted us. Instead of crossing the street to us, though, he slowed to a stop and respectfully let me have a moment alone with Caroline. “Having the courage to go after something you want…I’ve never had that kind of strength before. I’d think it’d be amazing, though.”

She sniffed as tears filled her eyes. “I’m pretty messed up right now, is what I am.”

I smiled. “Then I guess I’m pretty pathetic, because I was just wishing I could be more like you.”