Page 127 of Rebel Romeo

Katherine told me all this already. “Good thing I’m not in your program, then.”

Her eyes narrowed and she didn’t agree or disagree with me. She merely pressed her mouth together and released a quiet hm. “My point is we can’t have a scandal.”

It was my turn to narrow my eyes. I wasn’t exactly sure what she was referring to. Me and Katherine? The panties? My drinking and partying? But what I was sure of is that McCay of all people shouldn’t be throwing stones in glass houses. “Then you should probably stop fucking your grad student.” I waited a beat to let that sink in, then added, “And my father.”

McCay was pretty unflappable. In another life, she would have made a great politician. Point was, I didn’t see her get flustered often, but that sure as fuck did it.

Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened and closed three times before she said, “How long have you known?”

Well at least she wasn’t lying about it or trying to deny it.

That was a fucking first for me.

“A week. How long have you been fucking?”

I watched as she straightened her shoulders, composing herself. “After my meeting with your father was the first time.”

Fucking hell. That was weeks ago. Was Mom right? Was it more than just a fling this time? I shook the thought from my head because it was too crazy to consider. Neither McCay nor my dad could handle a scandal in their careers. And a politician boning his son’s professor? Had fucking scandal written all over it.

“When was the last time you saw him?” I pressed more, not sure why I was asking all these questions. I didn’t want to fucking know.

“Last night. He left early this morning.” She paused to check her watch. “He should be home now.”

He should be home now. She knew my dad’s schedule more than I did. That fact pissed me off more than it should.

“And you’re still with Keith, right?”

“Not sure why that matters since your father is still married, but yes. Keith and I are still together, though that is also not common knowledge. And he doesn’t know about your father and I.”

“Fucking priceless.” I snorted and raked my fingers through my hair. “Taboo forbidden shit turn you on, McCay?”

Her eyes flashed and I was pretty sure it wasn’t with anger. A spark of arousal heated the depths of her dark brown eyes as they skimmed down my body.

I took a step back. Oh, fuck no.

I wasn’t getting my Dad’s sloppy seconds…

Not again.

McCay seemed to snap out of it, turning her back to me, she made her way down the stairs off the stage. “The scandal I was referring to was your underage hungover girlfriend puking in the dressing rooms. She’s already on probation, so you should probably check on her. I’ll look the other way… this time.”

What? Katherine’s here? And she was hungover? “Probation? What are you talking about?”

It was McCay’s turn to look smug. “Oh, she didn’t tell you? She was put on probation last night for breaking the school’s ethics code. Something about sex work. That combined with this…” she paused to point toward backstage, “Could get her kicked out of school entirely. So you’d better check on her before one of her other classmates finds her. Those vultures will turn her in in a second.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. Leaving all my shit in the middle of the stage, I rushed back to the girl’s dressing rooms and found Katherine curled in the fetal position on the floor, hugging a bucket.

I slid to sit beside her, gently pulling the bucket away from her grasp. “Hey,”I said quietly and pulled her into my arms.

“Lights,” she groaned and I stiffened as she curled into my chest. I hadn’t heard her use that nickname in weeks. Not since we stopped the whole panty exchange for money thing.

I kissed the top of her head, noting that she smelled like a rotten distillery. “Hey, Rose.”

“I messed up,” she groaned and then sniffed, wiping at her wet cheek with the back of her hand.

“What happened? Why didn’t you tell me you’re on probation?”

Katherine shifted, moving so that she was straddling my lap, facing me. “You had so much going on with your Dad and everything, I—I didn't want to burden you. Plus, it didn’t seem like a big deal. I was handling it.”

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