Unforeseen Heartbeat

Unforeseen Heartbeat By Maureen Mayer




To my boyfriend, Michael, for all of your love and support as I continue to follow my dreams. And to my wonderful readers, who gave an unknown author a chance. None of this would be possible without you.



I sat across from him, watching the golden flames of the bonfire flicker in his eyes and lick across his handsome features, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to kiss him. He tilted his beer back, finishing it off, and licked his lips as his piercing gaze slowly perused my body from head to toe. At that point, I had a pretty good buzz going, and if it weren’t for my tipsy state, I never would have mustered up the courage to walk over to him and ask him to dance. Having only spoken to him on a few occasions, I didn’t know him very well, other than the fact that he and my brother had once been really close friends. A few years back, they had a falling out over some skanky whore who cheated on my brother with him, but I wasn’t bothered by the details at the moment. I just knew that if I sat there any longer while he continued to devour me with those sultry emerald eyes, I was going to combust!

I made my way around the bonfire until I was practically nose-to-nose with him. I could smell the beer on his breath as I leaned in to whisper in his ear, “Do you want to dance?”

I stepped back, waiting for his response, but when he wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest, that was all the answer I needed. “Damn, Maddie. You sure have grown up.” He licked his lips again. God, what I wouldn’t give to feel his tongue on me. “How old are you now?”

“Sixteen.” I tried to stand up a little straighter and pushed out my chest. I definitely wasn’t lacking when it came to the size of my breasts, and I used that to my advantage.

He gave me a seductive smile, showing his approval. He pulled me over to a spot that was closer to the water, and luckily further away from my brother who was laughing and goofing off with some off his friends. If he saw us together, I knew he would flip his shit.

My hips swayed to the beat of Lady Gaga’s “So Happy I Could Die” blaring over the speakers, and I closed my eyes, getting lost in the sounds surrounding us: the music, the crashing waves, and Shayne’s heavy breaths as they brushed over the back of my neck, causing my whole body to shudder. His grip on me tightened, his fingertips digging into my flesh so hard it was actually beginning to hurt, and yet, somehow it turned me on even more. I let out a soft moan, and he ground his hips against me with more urgency.

Shayne spun me around, pulling me into his hips, and I could feel his erection growing harder against my stomach. Just before he descended and captured my lips, I caught a glimpse of his deep emerald eyes, burning with so much desire that they looked as though they were aflame. My God, his kiss was hot as sin! His lips moved synchronously with mine as he forcefully plunged his tongue into my mouth. The way his tongue swirled around, tasting every last inch of me, had my head spinning, and I could feel warmth pooling in my belly, slowly making its way further south. His hands slipped behind me, giving my ass a firm squeeze, just before he pulled away from my now swollen lips.

“Do you want to go lie down somewhere and talk? I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to manage on my feet.” I knew exactly how he felt. My body was still swaying even after we had finished dancing, and I knew pretty soon I’d end up flat on my ass.

“Yeah, sure.” I smiled sweetly up at him, and he laced his fingers with mine, practically dragging me toward the cottage that my brother had rented for their graduation shindig.

When we stepped inside, the entire place was dark and empty. Everyone was still enjoying themselves, dancing and getting wasted on the beach, so it was obvious we had both gone unnoticed. Our fingers were still interlaced as he led me toward the back of the cottage where the bedrooms were tucked away. I could barely see where we were going, but I heard something creak open, and soon he had me pushed up against the back of the door. I tried to wrap my legs around his waist but felt as though I had lost all control of my body. He carried me effortlessly over to the bed, capturing my lips again as he hovered over my tiny frame. In a matter of seconds, our clothes had been shed and scattered around the floor. His fingers traced over the slit of my sex, and my hips bucked the moment he passed over my *. F*ck, it felt good. Too good.

“Shit, baby, you are so f*cking wet. I can’t wait to slide into this sweet, little pink p-ssy.”

Without any warning, he thrust into me. Hard.

“F*ck!” I cried out.

Oh God, it hurt. Like, it really hurt. I expected my first time to be a little painful, but damn! He didn’t stop either. He just kept going, pumping in and out of me, fast and hard. He wouldn’t even look at me. He kept his eyes closed the entire time as he smeared his sweaty body all over me. A few seconds later, I heard him bellow out a low, husky grunt, and that was when I felt him spill into me. It never even occurred to me whether he’d put a condom on or not, but at the time, it had been the least of my worries. I was so caught up with trying to ignore the pain that was shooting through my nether regions.

His body collapsed on top of me while he attempted to catch his breath, and the next thing I knew, he was dressed and leaving the room.

He left me there.

He f*cking left me there… naked, alone and feeling disgusted with myself.

I winced as I climbed off of the bed. There were a few spots of blood on the sheets, and I started to panic, but then I remembered my friend, KeeLynn, told me that the same thing happened to her the first time she had sex. I slowly made my way over to the bathroom and cleaned up before putting my clothes back on and heading back out to the party.

Just as I stepped outside, beginning my walk of shame, I saw Shayne standing with a group of his friends. They were all whooping and hollering, slapping him on the back and telling him he was “the man”. One a*shole even had the nerve to ask him how he scored so much p-ssy. I could feel the bile rising in my throat. Hearing them talk about what we had just done made my stomach turn, and my hand flew over my mouth, struggling to stifle my vomit. He looked over in my direction with a cocky grin on his face and winked. F*cking winked!

I had to get out of there. I had to get as far away from him as possible. God, I was such a fool for ever thinking he could want more from me.

Was this how it always was when it came to sex? Two people using one another’s bodies for nothing more than physical pleasure?

No love.

No emotion.

No ties.

Little did I know, this was just the beginning of an interminable pattern for me, a shameless path of self-destruction, and I had one person and one person only to thank for that…

Shayne.





I awoke in a foggy haze, shook off the memory of a night that had plagued me for the last four years, and thanked my lucky stars it was only a dream… well, more like a nightmare.

I snuggled back under the blankets, hoping to grab a few more hours of sleep, but the instant I felt a hand slide over my bare hip and splay across my stomach, my eyes flew open and my body froze. Ah f*ck me! It wasn’t a dream after all! The arm tightened around me, tugging me into a warm, hard body, and lips feathered over my shoulder and across my back. It wasn’t until his soft chest hair tickled the center of my back that my nerves began to settle.

It was only Jeremy.

“Mornin’, babe,” he mumbled groggily into my ear before pressing a kiss against my neck.

“Mmm, mornin’. You want some breakfast?”

“Nah, I think I’m just gonna grab a quick shower before I head out.” He leaned over and gave me a peck on the lips before untangling his arms and legs from mine and tossing the blankets off of his gloriously naked body. Knowing how I felt about morning breath, he never pushed for more than a quick kiss. He never stayed long enough for breakfast either, but I always offered out of habit. That’s just how things were with us. Simple. Laid back. No expectations. We got what we wanted from one another and that was that.

No need to complicate things.

I curled up under the blankets while Jeremy threw on a pair of boxers and headed into my bathroom, and after a few minutes, the sound of water pelting against the shower tiles had lulled me back into a peaceful slumber. When I finally peeled my eyes back open, it was quickly approaching noon, and I knew that Jeremy was long gone. There was a note propped up on my nightstand, but I didn’t need to read it to know what it said.

Thanks for last night, babe. I’ll call you next week. - Jer

Jeremy was a man of very few words, but I liked that about him.

I met him my freshman year at Savannah State University. We had partnered up for a group project that required us to spend time together outside of class. Somehow we had managed to get an A on the project, but I was pretty sure we spent more time exploring ways to avoid getting caught while having sex in the library… and the student union    … and the locker room of the athletic center. It soon became a challenge to find places we hadn’t christened, and by the time we were convinced that we’d f*cked on every surface of our lovely campus, we finally ended up in bed together. Over time, the spontaneity of our sexcapades had dissolved, but we still managed to hook up on occasion. There was no commitment or exclusivity when it came to our “relationship”, and we both continued to sleep with other people, but somehow we always found ourselves gravitating toward one another. What could I say? The sex was out of this world, and I was never left unsatisfied. I guess if I was forced to put a title on it, I would say we were f*ck buddies, but let’s be real… we weren’t even remotely friends. We just liked to get down and dirty. End of story.


I yawned as I stretched my arms up over my head, and the blanket slipped away from my still naked body. My dress from the night before was lying scattered on the floor next to my bra and panties, and I smiled at the thought of how quickly Jeremy had peeled them off of me the moment we returned from the club. I grabbed a clean oversized SSU shirt from the laundry basket and slipped it on before heading to the kitchen to make some coffee.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes as my feet slapped across the cold kitchen floor, I smacked right into the fridge door. Jesus, what the…

And that’s when I saw it. All six-foot-four of Robbie’s boyfriend, Lance, was standing there naked as a jaybird… and at full attention. It was one of those moments where I knew I should look away; divert my attention to anything but the rigid appendage pointing directly at me like an English Setter. He slowly brought the carton of orange juice up to his mouth, but not before I saw a smirk tug at the corner of his lips. And then I saw it move…

“Eww, eww, eww!” I squeezed my eyes shut and continued yelling until Robbie came running out his room. I opened my eyes just enough to see that he was rocking his birthday suit just as proudly as Lance. Oh, for Pete’s sake…

“Not you, too!” I turned around so I wasn’t tempted to look.

“What’s wrong, baby girl? What’s with all the shouting?” Robbie walked over to Lance, snaking the carton of juice out of his hands to take a swig for himself.

“Will y’all put some damn clothes on!? Since when do we walk around the apartment with everything hanging out and flapping in the breeze?”

Robbie chuckled, somehow managing not to sputter juice everywhere. “Hmm, I don’t remember reading anything about required attire in your little roommate agreement.”

I spun around and rolled my eyes at him before turning my attention back up to the ceiling. “Seriously? I didn’t think it was necessary to include that, since we’re civilized human beings and all. Or at least I thought we were.”

“Sorry about that, Maddie. I didn’t think you’d catch me out here. I’ll make sure to at least put boxers on next time.” Lance winked and pulled me into an awkward side hug that almost resulted in it touching my leg.

“Hey, you know this is my apartment, too. I should be able to walk around with my Johnson sprung free if I want to. You’re more than welcome to join me. It’s no secret that I’m not offended by the female anatomy.”

“That’s because you’re gay, dipshit! My lady bits don’t get you all hot and bothered. Me, on the other hand… it’s just… ughh! It’s just weird, okay!”

“Baby girl, are you trying to tell me that my sexy ass gives you lady boners?” I could hear Lance chuckling at Robbie’s comment, and I turned to glare at him. At least he had his boxers on now.

“Both of you, please, just keep some clothes on when you’re outside of the bedroom. Seriously, what if I had company over?” I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling extremely awkward the longer our conversation went on. It was becoming more difficult to keep eye contact with Robbie, considering the current state he was in.

“Is Jeremy still here?” Robbie wasn’t exactly his biggest fan, and I could hear it in his tone.

“No. He left hours ago. Don’t try to change the subject. Just promise me you’ll keep your… member… covered from now on. Okay?”

Robbie smiled and grabbed a dishtowel, covering himself as he crossed the kitchen in my direction. My body stiffened in response to his close proximity, but he leaned in just close enough to press a kiss against my forehead. “I promise, baby girl. It won’t happen again.”

He took off toward his bedroom with Lance in tow. They were sickeningly sweet together, but I really was happy that they had each other. When Robbie first moved in, I was a little apprehensive about living with a guy. Just one look at him and I knew it would be impossible to avoid falling into bed with him. He was six-foot-two-inches of delicious eye candy: jet black hair, ice-blue eyes and a killer smile. When he told me he was gay, I was both relieved and disappointed. Why was it the hot ones were always gay? I swore it was like the universe was plotting against me every time I came across a decent, good-looking guy.

The first night I heard his screams piercing through my bedroom walls, though, my heart nearly split in two for him. I did end up falling into bed with him, but for completely different reasons. I spent the few nights holding him in my arms until the nightmares subsided and his tears faded away. Soon, I’d become accustomed to hearing his soft whimpers, and that was the trigger to let me know another nightmare was approaching. Something terrible from his past continued to haunt him, but I never pressed him to open up about the details of what had caused him to become so broken.

When Robbie started dating Lance, I was no longer needed as his protector from the nightmares. Lance spent nearly every night here, and although Robbie’s cries still seeped through my paper-thin walls, Lance was there to hold him and whisper in his ear that everything would be okay; that no one could hurt him anymore and he was safe. My love grew ten-fold for both of them from that point on.

Robbie shut the door behind him, and I sighed softly as I started up the Keurig. I looked around our messy apartment and decided it was probably a good idea to thoroughly clean the place up before I had to go in to work that night. School was starting up the next week, and every semester I tended to put off anything that didn’t involve classes, work, parties or boys. Liberty was always the one to pick up my slack when it came to chores around the apartment, and not once had she ever complained, but now that she was shacked up with the enemy… ugh. I shuddered at the thought of it. I still couldn’t believe she actually accepted a proposal from that cocksucker. What the hell was she thinking?

I was surprised to see that she had returned to Savannah after her father’s heart attack, but I was even more surprised to see Shayne by her side. The moment I saw the huge rock sparkling on her finger from across the restaurant, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. After everything I disclosed to her about him, revealing the monster that he truly was, I was shocked. I poured my heart out to her, and she held me in her arms as I relived the whole story. But now…

Now she was going to marry him.

I promised her I would stand by her side no matter what happened, but seeing them together, happy and acting like nothing had ever happened, was almost too much to bear. It just went to show how little Shayne thought of me, even after knowing I had once carried his child.



When I arrived at AJ’s Oceanside Restaurant to start my shift, Liberty’s car was already in the parking lot, and I was so happy to finally spend some time alone with her. I missed my best friend. Shayne consumed every freaking moment of her time, and what did I get? Zilch!

Speak of the devil…

As I walked up the path to the restaurant, Shayne was just exiting, and Liberty was still standing in the doorway grinning from ear to ear. When they both caught sight of me, Shayne stopped dead in his tracks, and Liberty’s smile fell. Shit. I knew this was how things were going to be any time the three of us shared the same breathing space. I closed my eyes and composed myself before putting on a ridiculously fake smile and brushing past Shayne, making sure to bump into his shoulder as I passed. A breathy “oomph” passed through his lips, and I turned to see him giving me a perturbed look, his lips parting as though he were about to say something, but he must have taken a hint from the evil glare I bore into him and quickly snapped his mouth shut. His eyes shot back to Liberty, and he gave her a weak smile. I shook my head and kept on walking until the door slammed behind me.

“What the hell was that?” Liberty followed close behind until we reached the lockers in the break room.

“What are you talking about?” I tried to play innocent. I was usually pretty good at it; that or everyone else is just really gullible, but as per usual, Liberty wasn’t buying into it.

“That little stunt back there with Shayne. I understand if you want nothing to do with him, but you’re not helping the situation by starting shit with him.”

“I’m not the one starting shit, Liberty. He did that all on his own, and now he’s taking my best friend away from me. So yeah, I think I have every right to hold a grudge against him.” I slammed my locker shut and made my way back out to the dining area.

“So that’s what this is about? You think he’s stealing me away from you? Maddie, it’s not like I’ve been ignoring you. I’ve been trying to make plans with you every week for the past three months, and every time you make up lame excuses, like you have to get your hair done or clean the apartment. And let’s face it, we all know you’re definitely not cleaning the apartment,” Liberty chuckled to herself under her breath.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I cleaned the apartment top to bottom before I came here. Come over and see for yourself. You could lick the toilet seat, it’s so clean!”

Liberty cringed. “I’ll take your word for it.”


“And I know you haven’t been ignoring me. It’s the fact that lover boy is always around. You’re practically attached at the hip. Can’t you guys spend one freakin’ day away from each other? I mean seriously, Liberty, even our bi-weekly pampering sessions took a nosedive, because y’all are around each other twenty-four-seven!”

I grabbed some clean silverware that had just been brought out from the kitchen and began rolling them in napkins, trying to distract myself from where this conversation was going.

“Well, why didn’t you just say something?”

“I would have if I could pull you away from him for two seconds. I can’t even call you without him picking up your phone.” I shook my head, letting out a deep breath. “Look, I get it. I do. You guys are in love and all of that bullshit, but you know how I feel about him. God, I can’t even stand being in the same room as him.”

Liberty pulled up a stool next to the bar, while I continued to wrap silverware. “You’re right, Maddie, and I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a little distant lately. It’s just… it’s hard to be away from him sometimes. Before he came into my life, I was a freakin’ mess, just barely staying afloat. You and Brett both saw it firsthand. Shayne helped bring me back up to the surface, and now, when we’re apart, it literally hurts. I feel like I’m drowning all over again. I know you might not understand it now, but one day, when you find Mr. Right…”

“Yeah, fat chance. Love and I don’t mix. I prefer to have a buffet of men at my disposal.”

“Ha! Just you wait, Maddie. It’ll hit you square in the face when you least expect it. I guarantee it.” She winked at me before heading over to a table of customers that had just been seated. Dammit, now even that wink of his was rubbing off on her.

Work had slowed down since the tourist season was coming to an end, so when Liberty was finished waiting on the only table of customers in the restaurant, she came back to the bar and joined in on wrapping silverware. I figured I’d change the subject before she could smother me with more talk about love and Shayne… two things that should never mix.

“So are you excited to start school?”

Liberty propped her arm up on the bar and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “Surprisingly, I am. I thought I’d be more nervous since it’s a new school and all, but I’m just eager to get my life back on track. It still sucks that I’m a year behind, though.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. Hopefully we’ll still see each other around campus. We can meet up for lunch, too!” I could already feel my mood lifting, knowing that we would be going to the same school together. Savannah State University was a decent sized campus, but luckily the psychology department was close enough to the natural sciences department that we were bound to run into each other at some point.

“Do you want to get together the weekend before classes start? Maybe we could go out for sushi Friday night.”

I slowly spun around on my stool and eyed her curiously. “Sushi? What the… Liberty, you hate seafood.”

“Well, Shayne took me out to a sushi bar the other night, and I kind of, maybe, sort of liked it.” She shrugged.

“Seriously? He’s even pushing seafood on you now? God, does that man have to corrupt every woman he touches?!”

“Maddie…”

“All right, all right, but seriously? Sushi? No. We have better things to do on a Friday night than choke down disgusting raw fish. Hasn’t anyone explained to you what goes down the first weekend at SSU?”

“Well, considering that Brett has graduated, and you’re the only one I know there… no.”

I cracked my knuckles and stretched my neck from side to side before delving into the details of Welcome Weekend, also known as “Let’s-Get-F*cked-Up-And-Make-Bad-Decisions-Weekend”. “Okay, let me educate you, so you don’t make a complete fool of yourself during our weekend of debauchery.”

“Wait… oh shit. What are you planning on making me do, Maddie?”

“Why do you sound so worried? We’re just going to a frat party.” Not just any frat party. THE frat party. I was well acquainted with SSU’s soccer team, and most players on the team were brothers in Delta Mu. It was common knowledge around campus that they always threw the best parties. You were only admitted if you knew someone on the team, and well… I knew the whole team!

“There is no way in hell you are dragging me to a frat party, Maddie. No. Way.”

“Oh come on! It’s the perfect way for you to get to know everybody before you start classes.”

“By getting sloshed and introducing myself to a bunch of people who will forget my name by the next morning? I don’t think so. That’s not really my scene.”

“Please?” I clasped my hands together and batted my eyelashes at her. “Just one party, and I promise I won’t drag you to any more.”

Liberty sat there pondering the idea. “I will under one condition.”

“Anything. You name it.”

She stared at me for a few seconds before answering, “Shayne has to come, too.”

“Okay, anything but that.”

“Nope. Those are my terms. Either he goes with us, or I’m not going. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m engaged.” She flashed her ring at me as a reminder. Like I could forget. “I don’t want any horny frat guys thinking they can get their scummy paws on me.”

“Fine. It looks like I don’t have much say in the matter. Can I at least pick out your outfit? You know how much I love to dress up my Libby Poo,” I said with a wide, cheesy grin.

Liberty chuckled at that. Finally, I got a laugh out of her! “As long as it’s nothing too skanky. No ass or boobs hanging out.”

Ha! She had so little faith in me. “Deal.”

Liberty and I both turned to find Bob standing next to us with a forced stern expression on his face. “Are you ladies planning on actually working tonight? I’d really hate to have to fire my two favorite girls.”

“We are working.” I held up the pile of napkin-rolled silverware. “This is hard manual labor, Bob. God, you’re such a slave driver.”

I couldn’t help giggling, and Liberty joined in on the fun.

“Yeah, Bob. We work our asses off every night, and this is the thanks we get? I think we should go on strike, Maddie. What do you say?”

“Hell yeah! Let’s make signs, and we can start picketing in front of the restaurant! Bob, we’re going to need markers, glitter and glue! Stat!”

Bob was either getting really frustrated with our antics or trying his best to hold back a laugh as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Girls, this isn’t a union    . You can’t go on strike. I don’t know what ever possessed me to schedule you girls on the same shift. You never get any work done when y’all are together.”

“Seriously, Bob, take a look around. There’s one table of customers. They’re still eating, and from what I can see,” I stretched my neck to look over at their table, “they don’t need any refills either. We have everything under control. Quit worrying so much. You’re going to give yourself a stroke.”

Bob shook his head at the two of us and chuckled heartily. “What am I going to do with you girls?”

“Give us a raise? We’re starving college students here!”

“Don’t push your luck, girls. I can easily replace you,” he said pointedly.

“You would never! Oh, by the way… Liberty and I need Friday off. Thanks, Bob!” I bounced up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

Bob’s face softened, and the corner of his mouth turned up, showing off his adorable, aged dimples. “All right, now get back to work.” He turned and headed off toward his office, his shoulders bouncing up and down in silent laughter.

Liberty turned toward me with a look of disbelief on her face. “How the hell do you always manage to get your way? He’s such a stickler when I try to ask for days off.”

“It’s just my natural charm. Works on men of all ages.” I whipped my sun-kissed, blonde hair over my shoulder. “So we’re on for Friday?”

“Well, I guess now that I have the day off, I don’t have an excuse not to go.”

“Hey, don’t pout. It’ll give you wrinkles. God, have I taught you nothing?”

Liberty threw her head back laughing and almost fell off of her stool. “I really missed this.”

“What, me pointing out your wrinkles? I’m serious, Liberty, I think you’re getting one right there.” I poked her cheek before she could swat my hand away.

“No… this.” Liberty moved her hand back and forth between us. “Our playful banter, where you tell me what not to wear and encourage me to make bad decisions.”

“Ha! Yeah, I’m sure.”

“No, I really do. We might not live together anymore, or see each other every day, but you’re still my best friend, Maddie. I don’t want our friendship torn apart by a guy. I know this whole situation sucks, but if you just give Shayne a chance, you’ll see that he’s changed. He’s not the same guy that you knew when you were sixteen. And I promise he’ll be on his best behavior Friday.”


Ugh, I still didn’t want him to go, but for Liberty, I would suck it up for just one night and put on a happy face, even though it killed me inside to do so.