With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men 4)

Ten sent him a bland glance. “Why do you feel the need to say that to me in that exact tone every time you see me?”

“Probably because you’re a horny little ass who can’t keep it in his pants and hits on anything and everything with tits and a vagina.”

“Have you ever seen me hit on her?” When Noel didn’t readily answer, Ten sniffed and shook his head. “That’s what I thought, fucker. I do have some sense of honor, you know.” Spinning away, he stalked off.

As I stared after my ticked-off roommate, Noel scratched his head. “What the hell is his problem?”

I glanced at Noel. If he seriously didn’t notice how obviously out-of-character Ten acted whenever Caroline was around, then I wasn’t going to be the person to clue him in. I just hoped to God Ten hadn’t been lying when he’d said he had more sense than to hit on Caroline, because if he ever did, the outcome with his and Noel’s friendship would not be pretty.

“I’m going to go ask Zoey and Cora if pizza’s okay with them,” I said instead, moving away before a scowling Noel could question me further.

Eating with the Gambles turned out to be more than okay with Cora...and Caroline too. I don’t think Zoey had much choice in the matter.

As soon as I mentioned the invite to them, Cora’s eyes had gone huge. “You mean, Noel Gamble, the quarterback, wants us to eat with him?”

I blinked, wondering why she was so impressed. She knew Noel and I were friends, but...hmmm. Maybe she just didn’t realize how close we were.

Maybe I needed to talk a little more about myself around her.

Caroline had still been talking to Zoey when I’d mentioned it to her. Before Zoey could answer, Caroline gripped her arm and started jumping up and down. “Oh, you have to. It’ll be so much fun. Please, please, please.”

With a laugh, Zoey nodded. “Okay, I guess. I’d love to.”

So we ended up following Noel to the nearest pizza parlor. On the way, Cora bragged to Zoey about how fortunate we were to spend the evening in Noel Gamble’s company.

“He’s, like, the football icon around here. Hell, the entire university might as well pin his face up as their new logo because he’s such a legendary quarterback. We haven’t seen talent like his in...well, a long time.”

My eyebrows furrowed as she kept gushing. Yeah, Noel was good. But he wasn’t the entire team. If Ten wasn’t such a great receiver, Noel never would’ve made as many awesome passes as he had. If the entire defensive line hadn’t held back our opponents as much as they had, Noel wouldn’t even have time on the field to make impressive plays. And—

“What position do you play?” Zoey asked from the backseat.

It took me a second to realize she was talking to me. I lifted my face to the rearview mirror, and a shock of awareness spread through me when our gazes met.

Seriously. Why did she have to have such pretty eyes?

Cora laughed and waved a hand. “Oh, Quinn’s only a third-string quarterback.”

I glanced at her sharply. She was still chuckling over her dismissive reply. “I’m also a first-string tight end,” I felt the need to add. And a sophomore first-string tight end at that. There were seniors who still hadn’t made a first-string position yet. I’d been kind of proud of how well I’d risen in the ranks.

My girlfriend rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but the only position that matters is quarterback.”

I didn’t even know how to respond to that. But learning my own girlfriend thought the main position I played was meaningless didn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Why had I never heard her say anything like this before?

“If the other players were useless, then wouldn’t it just be a game of one-on-one out on the field?” Zoey asked thoughtfully.

I shot her a grateful glance in the rearview mirror, but yeah, looking at her was still a bit too overwhelming, so I quickly returned my attention to the road and pulled into the pizza place’s parking lot.

“Well, thank God there’s more,” Cora went on. “Watching a bunch of hot men in tight pants is a lot more fun than just watching two.” Nudging her elbow into mine, she grinned across the car and wiggled her eyebrows.

I sent her a tight smile, trying not to let her see how much her words hurt...and ticked me off. But didn’t she realize how much she was belittling me? Did she really see me as so insignificant? As I found a parking spot, I blew out a long, steadying breath, telling myself not to obsess over her thoughtless words. My grandmother had always told me it only hurt me—no one else—when I kept a grudge against someone for an unintentional hurt they’d caused.

“Keeping a grudge is like swallowing poison and hoping somebody else dies from it,” she’d always told me.

But still...my stung pride continued to smart as I killed the engine. What was worse than realizing my girlfriend thought so lowly of me was that Zoey was there to witness it.

I cast her a quick glance as we got out of the car. She darted an apologetic smile to me before looking away, and I wondered what she was so sorry about. She’d actually defended me. Or maybe she was trying to apologize for Cora’s sake, since Cora obviously had no idea what she was putting me through.