With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men 4)

I’d grabbed her hand and clutched it hard. “Do your parents hit you too?”

She’d wrenched back in surprise and blinked at me as if I was insane. “No. Why? Does your dad hit you?” She sounded so intrigued by the idea, I lowered my face in shame and buried my hands into my lap.

“No.”

But she knew I was lying. She made me look her in the eye before she quietly asked, “Zoey. Does your dad hit you?”

“Sometimes,” I whispered. “But only when I’m bad.”

After that, she questioned every little bruise I had, and yes, most of them came from his brutal touch. The abuse became easier to take after Cora found out about it, though. I don’t know why; maybe just sharing it with someone took off some of the stress.

She was loyal and never told anyone about it because I begged her not to. And she never made me feel bad about what happened to me.

I know those times I sat with her before school, and the fewer times I’d talked to her on the phone or visited her

house, probably wouldn’t seem like much of a friendship to someone else. But it was all I’d ever had, so it was everything to me. Enough to get me here.

But here I was, and now...now the friend I’d once known was gone.

Maybe the transplant would bring her back. I don’t know. Or maybe I was still deluding myself.

I was probably being selfish for wanting her time and attention, but she hadn’t stuck around the apartment a single night since I’d moved in. She was either out, visiting friends or with Quinn. I knew I didn’t have to stay home alone—I was free now—but I didn’t know what else to do. Homework and television kept me company most nights. Or sometimes I’d wander the apartment and try to acclimate myself to my new living space.

School kept me busy during the days, but the evenings still left me lonely.

By Friday of the second school week, I was debating whether I had the courage to take myself to a movie that evening when I entered art class. Cora would probably let me tag along with her if I asked, but I’d seen the kind of parties she preferred, and they were so not my thing.

“Morning, Zoey,” Reese greeted as I found a seat next to her. She was sipping from a Starbucks cup and flipping through another bridal magazine.

I smiled as I dug into my bag for my notebook and pen. This hour every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday was the highlight of my week. I loved sitting with Reese, Caroline, Quinn, and Ten. They never failed to entertain me. And they made me feel included.

And not-at-all lonely.

“I thought you’d found a dress last week,” I asked, noticing which advertisements she examined as she slowly flipped through pages.

“Oh, I have,” she said, sliding me a wink. “But my cousin just got engaged yesterday, so I’m looking for her now.”

“How exciting.” She talked about Eva quite a bit, so I felt as if I already knew her cousin without having even met her. “Tell her congratulations for me.”

“Sure. She’s anxious to meet you, you know.”

That caught me off guard. “What?”

Reese paused in her page flipping and looked up. “Eva. Yeah. I’ve told her all about you, and she can’t wait to meet you for herself.”

I totally wasn’t expecting that. With a blink, I slowly shook my confused head. “Really?”

“Yep. You’ll have to come with us when we hang out at the club some night.”

By club, I knew she meant Forbidden. Just thinking about the place where Quinn worked got my blood pumping faster. He hadn’t come by the apartment to pick up Cora for a date since the night he’d helped me acclimate myself to biology. But I still saw him in art class. Still sat by him in art class. Still had an unrelenting crush on him in and out of art class.

We didn’t have assigned seats, but since day one, our group had continued to sit in the exact same spots every day with Reese in the middle, Caroline to her left, me to her right and Ten and Quinn taking up the ends.

“Since Eva’s engaged to the owner, we can get in free,” Reese nudged her elbow into mine and winked, “and underage without any hassle.”

“Hey, guys,” Caroline greeted as she trudged up the steps to our desks. Smiling warmly at me, she squealed happily when she saw Reese. “Noel told me about Eva and Pick! That’s so exciting. Are you guys going to have a double wedding?”

“God, no.” Reese rolled her eyes. “Mason and I are being slowpokes and waiting until we graduate. Pick and Eva need to hurry their nuptials along to help with the adoption process for Julian.”