Page 41 of Broken Romeo

With every ounce of self-discipline I had, I untangled her arms from behind my neck. “Kate, no. Not like this.”

Pushing her away in that moment was quite possibly the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever done. And I was damn proud of myself for it.

Pain registered in her eyes, and I swore they darkened at that moment.

“You called me Kate,” she whispered. “The dumb freshman who tries to kiss guys out of her league.”

Shit. I winced and shook my head. “It’s not like that. That’s not what I meant.”

She swayed on her feet and I caught her around the waist, scooping her into my arms before she fell again.

“Put me down,” she shrieked.

Jesus, she was loud. “Not a chance,” I grumbled back to her.

She quit fighting me, her body going limp in my arms. “I’m definitely not giving you the link to my panties for sale now.”

I snort. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.” I was getting those panties. One way or another.

Duncan popped up beside us, coming out of nowhere. “Whoa, what’s wrong with the freshman?”

Dammit. Under normal circumstances, Duncan rearing his head wouldn’t have phased me, even if I had just been about to kiss a girl. I would’ve just punched his arm and told him to take a fucking hike. But this was different.

Kate was different.

And he couldn’t have picked a worse time to call her ‘freshman.’

Pushing off my body, she smiled up at Duncan with a grin that I’d wished was only reserved for me. “I chased a Benadryl with the punch and now Holden’s freaking out.”

Duncan’s eyes widened before they found mine. “No way. She drank the Panty Dropper?”

Kate giggled. “Panty Dropper?”

“Yeah, that’s what we call it.” Duncan looked at me from over top of her head. “Dave spiked that shit heavily tonight.”

“I noticed,” I said. I tucked her against my side and guided her toward the hallway. From across the room, Addison watched us, face red and expression seething.

I ignored her and lifted Kate into my arms. “I’m going to lay her down in my bedroom—”

“Yeah, you are!” Duncan interrupted, wiggling his brows and holding up his hand for me to high five.

I gaped at it, suspended in the air between us and shook my head. “Jesus Christ, dude. She’s practically comatose.”

Or at least she would be soon.

He had the decency to look ashamed as he lowered his hand. “I know. I was kidding. I obviously didn’t mean it.”

I glared at him. “Well, I’m not laughing.”

“I’ll bring you both some water, okay?”He turned, heading to the refrigerator.

I appreciated that he was trying to make up for his douchebag comment, so I let it go. And I had more pressing matters—taking care of Kate.

* * *

I spent almost an hour and a half, watching Simpsons reruns on my iPad and eating a plate of food that Duncan brought in for me.

I finished most of the sushi on my plate, being careful to keep it far from the bed where Kate was still sleeping. After seeing what her skin looked like after just touching sushi, I sure as hell didn’t want to find out what happened if she got it near her mouth and throat.

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