Page 110 of The Beat of My Heart

Smirking like the devil himself, he says, “You mean besides turning him into Loki’s guy at the FBI?”

“Oh, no, Trevor. What did you do?”

“Julia said I wasn’t allowed to go near him, so I did the next best thing,” he says.

“Which is?” I hate it when he draws stuff out like this.

“I buried him in shit just like he did to my Angel.”

“Funny, Trevor, seriously, what did you do?” I say, annoyed.

Laughing now, he says, “I literally buried him in shit. As we speak, there are fourteen dump trucks headed to his house to dump pig feces. I paid more to make sure they got it all the way to the front door.”

I stare at him in disbelief before laughing right alongside him.

“I don’t understand, though, why fourteen?” I ask.

“That dickwad took out fourteen loans in Julia’s name, I figured the symbolism was a nice touch,” he says.

“Yeah,” I say, still laughing. “Fuck, Trevor, that’s messed up.”

“I know,” he says as he watches our group of friends.

“Listen, I’m going to get us a drink, I’ll meet you over there,” I tell Trevor, encouraging him to go with Julia.

“Thanks, Pres. I didn’t realize wedding planning would be such a big freaking ordeal,” he says, looking uncomfortable.

Laughing, I clap him on the back, “I’ll be over in a minute.”

Crossing the lawn, I glance around to make sure no one is nearby. “Hey,” I lean in, reading the guy’s name tag, “Mark, listen, I’ve got a minor problem.”

“He sure does, it’s called being an arrogant prick,” Lexi’s voice grates from behind me.

How the hell did she sneak up on me so quickly?

“Seriously, Lex? You don’t get enough of me at home, you have to nag me here too?” I say.

“I do not nag,” she exclaims. “If you wouldn’t be such a stuck-up man-whore, I wouldn’t have to remind you to do shit all the time.”

The fact that she thinks I’m a man-whore is comical considering the truth. But, since I’m the one letting her believe that I do, in fact, have a woman over every night who only stays for a couple of hours, I can’t really argue with her.

You could try telling someone the fucking truth, I hear in my head.

“You’re in my home, sweet tits. My home, my rules,” I say, knowing I’ll piss her off enough to go storming back to our group. It worked, but now I have to figure out how I will get out of tasting these drinks. With everyone eyeing me, I leave the bartender and go to join my friends.

“Do you have to set her off every time you two speak?” Dexter asks.

“She started it,” I sulk.

I know with all the secrets that came to light in the last few months, I should just come clean. I won’t, but I should.

My secret will only ruin whatever time I have left with them. I’d prefer to spend the rest of my days having fun with my friends, my crazy ass brothers, and my loving mother. I worry about her most of all. I know when they find out about my broken heart, it just might be the end to hers as well.