Page 58 of Broken Romeo

“Okay!” Professor McCay’s loud voice broke the moment between us. “I think that’s a good stopping point.”

I released my hold on Kate as the curtain dropped between us, shattering the moment. Applause broke out from our classmates.

While Kate scrambled away from me, stumbling back a couple steps, I threw my hands into my hair and tugged at the strands hard.

Holy fuck. Was that me in that scene, reading those lines? It felt like me… but not. The feeling was completely liberating. A way to release all that tension that had built up inside of me.

I felt… I felt alive in a way I’d never felt in my entire life.

When I looked up at Kate, fire burned in those blue eyes, and her mouth pressed into a blanched, white line, draining the blush color from her flesh.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she whispered, pointing a finger in my face before turning away from me.

“Do what?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew what she was referring to.

“It’s unprofessional to touch a fellow actor… to put your lips on them without discussing first.”

“Professor McCay’s the one who told me to touch you!” I glanced at our teacher who was surprisingly—and it seemed intentionally—staying out of it.

Was this our punishment? For walking in on her fucking some dude in a closet? She was going to allow us to just torture ourselves for the semester?

“Yeah,” Kate spat. “Touch me. Not kiss me. Not put your lips on my ear.”

What the hell was she so mad at? We rocked that scene. We should be reveling in the applause from the class and basking in a sense of accomplishment.

And I shouldn’t feel so fucking pissed that she was lashing out at me like this. “Are you really mad at me for touching you? Or are you mad that you sucked at playing your dream role until I touched you?”

Her jaw ticked, and I would have felt bad, except that she responded with, “Well, feeling up a girl and kissing her on stage doesn’t make you a talented actor, either, Holden. It makes you a porn star.”

I laughed, my lip curling back. “You’ve been watching some pretty pathetic porn.” Then, I leaned in, whispering so that only she could hear me. “And if you think what we just did was a kiss? You really are a vir—”

I didn’t get the insult out before her hand flew across my cheek, slapping me. Hard. It wasn’t the sort of girlie smack that was playful and innocent. The sound cracked, echoing through the theater and a few gasps followed from the audience.

“Enough!” McCay said, stepping between us. “You two put on quite a show… on script and off.”

Unlike Kate, who was already halfway down the stairs of the stage and rushing to her seat in the auditorium, I was locked in place. My feet were heavy, cemented to the stage floor.

Professor McCay lifted an eyebrow at me. “You can take your seat now, Holden.”

I shook off the disturbed feeling and the giggles and murmurs of our other classmates as I headed back to my seat. Now more than ever I could feel Kate’s gaze burning into me.

She leaned forward and I felt her breath on the back of my neck as she whispered, “Never touch my ear again. I hate that.”

“That might be more of a believable statement if you hadn’t pulled out my hair and humped my leg after I touched your ear. But sure… whatever you need to tell yourself.”

Professor McCay cleared her throat, looking pointedly at us. “You might be wondering why we’re starting the curriculum with Romeo and Juliet? Well, I want to introduce you all to one of our graduate students in the theater department. He has written an original play—a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. And for his final thesis project, this class is going to workshop his show. Your final will be the performance. And his MFA will be dependent upon you all.”

She waved a hand, and from the back of the theater, a shadowed figure came down the center aisle.

“Everyone, this is Keith Langley, your playwright and teacher’s assistant for the semester. Think of him as an extension of me.”

As he stepped into the light, I recognized him and gulped. Extension of Professor McCay, indeed. I turned to glance at Kate, who’s eyes were wide. She recognized him, too.

He was the man we’d found Professor McCay in the closet with on the first day of classes.

Professor McCay cleared her throat, and I jerked my attention back to the stage. Her glare was set directly on Kate and me. “I think it goes without saying that discretion is of the utmost importance. This play is Mr. Langley’s work for the last two years. He will hold auditions for the parts next week. And if I find anyone has leaked the script—or any other private information—I will hold the entire class personally responsible and make sure that none of you see the light of the stage for your remaining time here. Is that clear?”

It was crystal fucking clear. Message received, Professor McCay. The threat: Keep your mouth shut or she’d ruin us.

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