Page 129 of Rebel Romeo

He turned to me and handed me my phone. “Sorry, I turned it to silent. It was ringing off the hook and I could tell Laurie was getting pissed. Figured I’d spare you from her inevitable lecture.”

I glanced down at my phone, spotting several more missed calls from my dad. “Thanks,” I said. “Guess you saved my ass.”

Keith shrugged and tapped my arm with the back of his knuckle. “Eh. It was selfish, too. I didn’t want to have to hear about it all night tonight after rehearsal.”

He lowered his voice to whisper that last part. Even though we hadn’t really talked about what Katherine and I had seen that first day of classes in the closet, it’d always been lingering between all of us. Unspoken.

Until now.

Now. When I also knew Professor McCay was cheating on Keith… with my father.

And my father was cheating on my mother.

Adults are fucked up. I was only twenty-two and somehow managed to be on the moral high ground above both my professor and my dad.

I gave Keith a small smile even though my stomach felt heavy.

“Yeah.” I tried my best to chuckle along with him, but it sounded raspy and forced.

I grabbed my bag, pulling out the paper bag of four donuts I’d gotten for me and Katherine to share just as my phone rang in my hand again, my dad’s name illuminating the screen. Jesus Christ. He was relentless today.

Might as well get this over with. Especially if I wanted to have any semblance of a normal dinner tonight with Katherine without him calling every five minutes.

I rolled my eyes, sliding my thumb across the screen. “What the hell could be so important that you had to call?—”

“Holden.” His tone made me go silent. It wasn’t his normal, impatient bark. No, this was different. His voice cracked as he said my name.

Something was wrong.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

Most people described panicked moments as their heart stopping. Not me. My heart raced. It pounded. Not only in my throat, but all over my body. I could feel it in my head, my jaw, my wrists, my stomach.

Those four seconds Dad took to pause between answering me were the longest of my life. I had no idea what was going on. And nothing could have prepared me for what he was about to say.

“Son, you need to come home. It’s your mother…” Dad’s voice cracked, just the slightest bit. A tone I’d never heard from him before. After taking a composing breath, he added, “She… she died this morning.”

My entire body went numb. Beside me, Keith tilted his head as I hung up the phone. “Everything okay, Holden?”

I handed him the paper bag of donuts. “Can you take these to Katherine and make sure she feels better? Don’t let any of the other students see her until she is.”

“Sure.” His face twisted into a frown as I grabbed my shit, throwing my sweatshirt over my head and slinging my bag over my shoulder. “Where are you going?”

My eyes burned as I stared at my feet. I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t look up and see all the different ways I was disappointing everyone. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I have to go. Just—tell Katherine I’m sorry.”

I ignored him as he called after me. Ignored McCay shouting down at me from the light booth. Ignored the curious looks on my castmates faces as I left the theater just as they were arriving for rehearsal.

I walked out of the theater building and got into my truck. Without packing or running to my condo first or saying goodbye to Katherine, I started the engine and left.

My mom was gone.

She was gone and the last words I’d spoken to her was that I hated her.

Another casualty in the Dorsey family dynamics.

And I’d be damned if I let Katherine become the next one.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

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