Page 52 of Rebel Romeo

Her chest hitched with her stifled breath. “Yes.” Then, she pressed her palm to her sternum. “Here, too.”

A few seats away from us, sitting in the back of the theater, Keith whispered, “Laurie can’t give you a zero if you’re present for the class. Don’t leave the theater and you’ll be fine.”

My eyes went wide and even though I don’t think Professor McCay heard him, it seemed odd that he would risk telling us that little piece of intel.

I gently tugged Katherine into the back row, sitting down right behind Keith. “Fine,” I shouted back. “We’ll sit right here and watch the rehearsal. You can’t give us a zero if we’re present,” I regurgitated Keith’s words back at our professor, smirking triumphantly as McCay’s nostrils flared.

“Fine.” She whipped around to face the stage. “Glenn! You go on for Remy today. Consider yourself his official understudy from now on.”

We watched the entire run of Act One like that, hand in hand. Fingers twined. And for just one day, one moment, Katherine and I were a team.

And I hated how much I loved it.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I’ve been dreading Thursday’s rehearsal all week since Missy came to Brooklyn to see me—or rather—ambush me. So much so that when six a.m. rolls around, I don’t bother trying to sleep anymore and instead, I pad out of bed, get dressed and go to my cafe.

I walk in just after seven and find Jill and Curt behind the counter. Leaning.

Okay, so they’re not going to start an Only Fans page with their leaning, but it’s still way cozier than I’ve ever seen them and the sight makes my stomach lurch.

However, Jill has put up with a lot of my dating woes through the years… namely Holden drama… so I swallow the bile threatening to come up my throat, grit my teeth, and circle around the counter to make myself the strongest tea I can find in the Harney & Sons canisters lining the shelves.

They jump apart like two teens caught on makeout point. “Don’t mind me,” I mumble.

Jill tries to smooth her wild red curls with her palms. “Kate? What are you doing here?”

She’s obviously shocked to see me, which isn’t a surprise since I’m barely awake at this early on days I have to work, let alone ones when I’m not scheduled.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I say as I inspect each tin carefully, looking up their caffeine content.

Chai it is.

“How’s the play going?” Curt asks.

I’m not really in the mood for small talk, but I have to admit, he’s at least trying. Which is more than I can say for myself. I fill a silk tea sachet with the chai tea leaves and drop it into a paper cup. “It’s… fine.”

“You've been hanging out with that co-star guy a lot. What’s his name? Norman?”

“Nolan,” I clear my throat and look up to see Jill blushing over by the espresso machine. I wish there was something I could do to help her see how much Nolan wants her. My eyes cut to Curt just in time to see him swipe his long fingers through greasy hair.

My lip curls. Unfortunately, she’s settling for this dude.

Beside me, Jill clears her throat. “How about I fix you a coffee kit to take to rehearsal today? Get some goodwill going for the cast and producers?”

Jill spins and grabs the to-go cartons we offer from the top shelf, setting it under the coffee maker to brew the equivalent to two pots of coffee.

“I think I’ll need a lot more than arabica to win over Holden’s girlfriend and dad,” I mutter, filling my to-go cup with steaming hot water.

Jill shrugs, her back still to me. “It can’t hurt, though.”

Well that’s true.

“That’s your ex’s new girlfriend and his dad, right?” Curt asks.

“Yeah.” I stop myself from giving him a sarcastic slow clap. Way to go catching up, Curt. You’ve only been tagging along for the last week and a half. These are details he should know by now if he’s paying attention.

“Damn, that’s rough,” he adds with the depth of turnip.

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