Page 73 of Rebel Romeo

He tucked his phone back into his pocket as I felt my own phone vibrate in mine. Did Duncan just text me while literally standing right here in front of me? Before I could pull my phone out to check the message, he crossed the kitchen, then paused to lean into me. With a gentle punch to my shoulder, he added, “All morning too if I’m lucky.”

He disappeared down the hallway, giving me a final wink.

Katherine climbed onto one of the stools, leaning over and stealing a piece of cheese and a cracker from the makeshift cheese plate I was assembling. “Why didn’t you say something if you were hungry? I could’ve picked up a pizza on my way here.”

I quirked a brow in her direction and continued cutting the cheddar into several slices. “And then what? You would have carried it with you on the bus?”

“Well, you didn’t know I was taking the bus.”

“Because you didn’t tell me.” I paused, my knife mid-slice down a piece of cheese. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have come and picked you up or we could have just done movie night at your dorm.”

A warm coral color heated on the apples of her cheeks, and she dipped her gaze away from mine, blowing the steam off the top of her tea. After a quick sip, she answered, “Because I didn’t want to give you the chance to back out on our date tonight.” As soon as the word left her mouth, a small hiccup inhaled, hitching her chest. “Not date,” she said, trying to back pedal. “I mean, our, um, movie night.”

I fought my smile, ultimately losing the battle. “Movie night. Right.” Then, I set the knife down and reached out to touch her face. Brushing my hand beneath her chin, I tipped her gaze back up to mine. “And just so you know, I wouldn’t cancel on you, Katherine.” I made a promise. A pinky promise. “I might not have a ton of experience as a boyfriend, but I’m not a coward who gets scared and ghosts a girl.”

Just the thought of Kate sitting around waiting and getting stood up by any man makes me insane.

“Good to know.”

“Now, why don’t you take your tea, fire up that movie, and get warm under a blanket? I’ll bring in the cheese plate in a minute.”

A beaming smile split across her face and the sight of it filled my soul.

Making Katherine happy was simultaneously the easiest and hardest thing in the world. She found happiness in simplicity. But letting my heart out of its prison, trusting myself not to fuck everything up again, was asking a lot. Holding the hot cup of tea in her palms, she bounced into the TV room.

My phone buzzed again within my pocket. I yanked it free and found several unread texts from my mom. A couple from my dad… and one from Duncan.

I could only see the beginning of my dad’s texts in the preview window, but I could already see they were in all caps and he was clearly pissed. Coach Cook must have called him. Fuck me. That’s what I get for going to college at my dad’s alma mater where my coach was his fraternity brother.

I hovered my thumb over the text thread, but instead of reading, I held it down and muted Dad. Just for the night.

For one evening, I just want to be with Katherine and not think of my impending graduation or the LSATs or football.

I opened the text from Duncan and immediately snickered.

Duncan:

‘But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.’ Don’t say I never did anything for you. I relinquished Juliet to you, jackass!

I chuckled and texted him back, even though he was literally only a few steps away in the other room.

Holden:

How do I know you didn’t just google that?

His reply was almost instant.

Duncan:

Check the timestamp, bitch.

Sure enough, his Romeo quote had come through when he would have still been here in the kitchen with us. It was me he was texting with a line from the very play he claimed to not be able to recite.

I laughed and shoved my phone back into my pocket before grabbing the cheese plate and going in to sit with my very own Juliet.

Somewhere in the first twenty minutes of the film, Kate had managed to slide halfway across the couch and was now tucked beneath my arm. The blanket draped around both of our waists, our feet propped onto the coffee table. Each time we moved, our toes would brush in a flirtatious dance that made my pulse kick up a notch.

My phone, sitting face down on the coffee table, vibrated for the fourth time since the movie started and Kate lifted an eyebrow in my direction. “Need to get that?”

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