With Every Heartbeat(89)

“Where do you have to go?” I asked, bewildered.

“Rachel demanded we go shopping.” She popped out of bed, but I just sat there, stumped, as I watched her slip on her underwear.

Then I sat up, running my hand through my hair, wondering how shopping with Rachel could be more important than me...after she’d just had the best night of her life with me and was mentioning proposals.

But she’d given me plenty to think about as she scooted me out the door ten minutes later. Marriage and proposals skipped through my brain.

Even as I thought about all that, I glanced around the apartment before leaving, hoping I’d catch a glimpse of Zoey. I wanted to ask how her night had gone and if her head was killing her as much as mine was killing me. But she was nowhere in sight. So I left without getting to talk to her.





I hid out in my bedroom for the rest of the weekend. After listening to Cora moaning Quinn’s name Saturday morning when I woke, I curled into a ball and cried.

My head was pounding, my mouth was beyond dry, and I needed to pee. But I refused to venture from my room until I’d heard both Quinn and Cora leave.

Once I was alone, I tried watching a little Psych on Netflix. But it reminded me too much of Quinn. When Shawn and Jules finally had their first kiss on the show, I started bawling all over again.

So, I did some homework to distract myself, but biology was what I needed to work on the most. Remembering when he’d helped me study, I, yep...cried even more.

I couldn’t believe I’d almost kissed him. I couldn’t believe he’d turned around and spent the entire rest of night and into the next morning with Cora. I couldn’t believe...well, there was a lot I couldn’t believe, and it was giving me a headache.

When Monday rolled around, I considered skipping art class. What if I burst into tears the moment he walked in?

I knew I couldn’t hide from this forever, though, so I attended. I even arrived early so I could already be in my chair and prepared before I saw him. Except Caroline was chewing on her bottom lip and anxiously waiting for me outside the building.

She leapt forward and grabbed my arm, making me jump. “So how was Saturday night?”

I groaned and closed my eyes, covering my face with both my hands. “I almost kissed him,” I admitted, needing to confess it to someone.

“What?” Caroline gasped. “You...oh my God. I can’t...” She sounded like she was going to start crying, so I dropped my hands and opened my eyes.

Blinking rapidly, she asked, “Did he push you away too?”

I shook my head, confused. “Huh?”

“Oren,” she pressed.

“Oren?”

“Oh my God, Zoey.” She snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Keep up. You just said you almost kissed him.”

What? “No, I didn’t. Why would I kiss him?”

“Because you just said you did...Saturday night...on the date you went on with him.”

I groaned and buried my face back into my hands. “Oh my God, I totally forgot about the date part. I am the worst person ever. Not only did I almost betray my oldest friend, but I almost kissed one guy while I was on a date with another one.”

“Wait. What?” Caroline gripped my arm. Hard. “If you didn’t kiss Oren, then who....” Her eyes shot open wide. “You did not,” she whispered and glanced around before hissing, “You almost kissed Quinn?!” Then she gave a happy squeal and literally jumped up and down. “Ohmigod, cool!”

“Shh.” I yanked on her arm to hush her. “It was...we were...drunk. And talking...and we leaned in toward each other, but no...you know what? I don’t think we almost kissed at all. We just moved in closer to each other to hear each other better over all the noise. Yeah. I would never kiss another woman’s boyfriend. It just...no...”

Caroline arched an eyebrow. “I know you like him, Zoey,” she said softly. “You don’t have to lie to me.”

Tears filled my eyes, but I quickly swallowed them back down. I hadn’t meant to lie to her. I’d just been in denial.

“Damn, what a pair we make,” she said, taking my hand and squeezing my fingers, “liking guys we can’t have. Or won’t have us.” She started to lead me into the art room but stopped when she saw someone loitering in the back, where our chairs were located.

Jerking me to a halt at her side, she pointed and whispered, “Look.”

Someone wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up was placing something in Caroline’s chair.

I elbowed her. “Oh my God. It’s your secret admirer! Can you see his face?” No one had turned the lights on in the room yet and he was sheathed in shadow.