November Foxtrot (Rhythm of the Heart Book 2) by Scarlett Jade Page A

can't help it, Zoe. Being here on this swing with you just reminds me of how we used to be.”
    “Before or after you had sex with both of my best friends?”
    “Zoe...the past is in the past...please.” His arm snaked tighter around her and she pulled back slightly.
    “I'm not doing this, Derek.”
    “Fine, honey, I'll do it for both of us.” His mouth crushed against hers and she struggled against his grip. As she gasped, his tongue snaked into her mouth, daring hers to tangle with his. Instead, she bit down, eliciting a squawk of pain from him. “What the hell, Zoe!”
    “I said I don't want to do this, Derek. Just because I'm upset and vulnerable doesn't make it okay. Don't you remember that no means no?” She stood abruptly and stalked across the porch. “I want to go home.”
    “Get there on your own, you bitch. I was just trying to make us work.” He brushed past her and hurried to the truck. “Call your precious husband to come get you.”
    “What us Derek? There never WAS an us.”
    “Then why did you call me, Zoe? Huh? Why? Because you know that you have no one else? Because as much as you don't want to admit it, you still have feelings for me? And because you know there is a chance this baby is mine so you want to keep this avenue open?” He threw the door of the truck open. “Answer me, Zoe!”
    “I called you because...” Her voice caught on a sob. “Because I knew you'd come get me.”
    “Why!”
    “Because I know you care.”
    “And you don't, right, Zoe? You don't care. You're a cold, heartless bitch and the thought never crossed your mind that this kid could be mine and Calvin won't want you. Right?” He spat on the ground and crawled in the truck, starting it and pausing for a moment before saying, “Well, Zoe, I know you. Don't forget that. I know you almost as well as you know yourself. Find your own way home.”
    He threw the truck in reverse and peeled out of the driveway, the roar of his engine deafening as he tore down the two-lane road.
    Zoe stumbled back to the swing and fell on the wooden seat as she sobbed. The taste of his kiss was still branded across her mouth and it threw her emotions into overdrive. Tears flowed and her thoughts ran amok. What if he's right? Am I really keeping both pathways open for them? Am I really that selfish?
    The baby rolled and she blew out a soft breath. “I'm sorry, baby. I need to stop stressing. I may as well get this over with, huh?” She pulled her phone out and called Calvin. He answered on the second ring.
    “Zoe!”
    “Hey.” Her brain could think of nothing else to say.
    “Where are you? Are you okay?” She closed her eyes against the tide of emotion that poured through her at his panic.
    “At my old house. On the swing.” She rocked slowly in the seat again, back and forth, forth and back again.
    “Are you okay? I'm coming to get you. Don't move.”
    “Where am I gonna go? Remember, everything I have, you gave to me.”
    His voice was soft, pleading with her. “I'm on my way.”
    She hung up the phone and watched all the little lights in the sky as she waited. The little rental car pulled into the drive minutes later and Calvin killed the engine as he stepped out. “Zoe?” he called.
    “I'm on the swing.”
    He ran up the stairs and came to stand a few feet in front of her. “Come on.”
    “Why? For you to yell at me again? I've had quite enough of that tonight, thank you,” she muttered with an acerbic tone.
    “I'm sorry. I can't say it enough. I could say it a hundred times and it won't make it better or the words hurt less. But I am. I am sorry. I had no right to yell at you and get mad at you for doing what you thought was right.” He stepped closer and she didn't stop the slow rocking of the swing. “Can I sit down?”
    “Sure. Keep your hands to yourself. I've already bitten one guy tonight, I have no issues with biting another.” A shiver coursed through her as she paused and Calvin sat beside