Page 19 of Forbidden Heart

“It’s for you,” Tate adds.

“Don’t you need it?” I ask.

“It’s a spare,” JJ explains. “I went to get it from the office. As long as you’re staying with us, you’re going to need a key so you can get in and out.”

I freeze. Did they...? Did they just give me the key to their place?

“That’s for the main door of the dorm building as well as for the door to our suite,” Tate adds.

“Are you sure?” I ask. I’m still stunned that they would trust me with a key to their place.

“We don’t want you to be cooped up inside all day,” JJ says. “Or locked out.”

“Yeah,” Tate adds. “You live with us. You should have a key.”

“Live with you?” I whisper. Does he actually mean it? That he doesn’t see me as someone who’s crashing at their place temporarily, but as someone who lives there? Or is this still temporary, for as long as I’m writing their competition song?

I tuck the key card into my pocket where it will be safe. We refocus our attention on our pizza, and Tate and JJ share tales of their snobby singing coach.

By the time we finish lunch, Tate and JJ are in a hurry to get to class. I didn’t notice the minutes passing, but they slipped by all too quickly. I feel like Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight. One minute, everything is going great, and then the next—poof—the spell is broken.

“You think you’ll be okay getting back to the dorms?” Tate asks.

I nod, and he places a quick kiss on my cheek and gets to his feet.

“You should take the laptop.” I eye the box nervously, but Tate shakes his head.

“It’s yours.”

“We’ll see you tonight,” JJ adds, giving my hair a parting tug.

I start to hum about a lost glass slipper and a pumpkin carriage as I watch the two of them walk away. My song disappears into the dull white noise of a dozen student conversations, and I startle when a girl with strawberry blonde hair drops into the seat across from mine.

She sets her steaming cup of coffee down on the table and grins at me. “Three guys, huh?”

“What?” I frown as I try to figure out what she’s talking about. Maybe she’s mistaken me for someone else?

“I saw the way you were looking at those two.” She tilts her chin in the direction Tate and JJ went.

“I wasn’t—”

“I don’t blame you. They’re hot. And that big guy who left earlier? Wowie.” The girl fans herself.

My cheeks flush at the sudden wave of jealousy that courses through me.

“Hey, I’m not judging. I’d flirt with all three if I could.” She raises her hands as though in surrender, clearly mistaking my flushed cheeks for embarrassment. Which I suddenly feel in waves.

“I wasn’t flirting!” I tell her. It’s bad enough that I kissed all three guys in the short time I’ve been here. I definitely wasn’t flirting with all three of them.

“Like I said, not judging.” She grins. “Good to keep your options open.”

“I’m not—”

“No need to explain.” She grins. “I’m Keri.”

“I—”

“This is where you tell me your name and offer me a slice of pizza.”