Page 21 of Rebel Romeo

“We make half of the cups beer, and the other half, tequila shots.”

Nate’s hand slid protectively to Kate’s lower back. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Oh come on, Natie-Poo,” Addison said, shaking the bottle of tequila so it sloshed in their faces. “It’s just a game.”

“Kate,” Nate bent down to whisper in her ear. “You don’t have anything to prove to either of them.” She shivered as his lips brushed the shell of her ear.

That ear that’s the most sensitive part of her body. An accidental discovery I’d made in rehearsals.

Oh fuck this. I didn’t have to stand here watching their fucking foreplay. I shoved my hands into my pockets and turned to walk away. “Yeah, no thanks?—”

“We’ll do it,” Katherine snapped, ignoring Nate.

Her words halted me midstep. I slowly turned, glancing at her from over my shoulder, locking eyes with her heated, angry glare as she added, “And we’ll still kick your asses even with tequila shots.”

I snorted. “You’re making a bad choice, freshman.”

Katherine stepped forward, getting in my face. Behind us, Addison dumped out half of the beer cups, filling them instead with tequila. “Maybe,” Kate whispered, her brows slamming down. “But it’s my bad choice to make.”

I growled and swiped my palm down my face. “Please don’t do thi?—”

She spun away from me, sashaying back over to her side of the beer pong table. Addison pulled me to our side where I faced off across from Katherine.

Nate went first, bouncing the ball into my cup… beer not tequila. Amateur move. You want to get your teammate drunk the fastest, so you should go for tequila cups first.

Glancing up, competition gleamed from Nate’s eyes like I’d never seen before. Game on, motherfucker. I took the ball out of my drink and downed the swallow of beer in a single gulp. Then I sank my ball straight into one of his cups and rocked back on my heels as Nate grumbled and tipped back the shot of tequila.

Katherine went next and her ball bounced off the rim but landed in Addison’s cup. Like a pro, Addison drank the tequila quickly tossing the cup away behind her. Before she’d even swallowed, she tossed the ping pong ball into one of Kate’s tequila cups.

My heart sputtered as I watched Katherine grimace and drink the shot.

Nate’s turn again. This time, his ball sank into another cup on Addison’s side.

Even though Nate annoyed the shit out of me, I still wanted them to win. So I put my competitive streak aside and intentionally tossed the ball a little wide, sending it bouncing off the table. The people watching groaned.

Addison glared at me, whispering, “You did that on purpose.”

I shrugged, because what the hell was the point in trying to lie?

Unfortunately, Katherine was onto me because livid heat poured into her cerulean eyes.

I shook my head slightly at her, but when she threw the ball, she tossed it right between my eyes, hitting me in the forehead. She didn’t even try to hit the cups.

Message received. If I don’t try, she won’t try. I had no choice but to play the fucking game. And if I played to my full ability, Addison and I would annihilate Katherine and Nate.

We were sinking balls left and right and soon enough it was down to only one cup left on their side. And five on ours.

As predicted, Kate was tipsy as fuck.

Swaying and dizzy, she leaned against the ping pong table to balance herself. With one eye closed and her tongue darted out at the corner, she focused hard on a cup on my side. But when she tossed the ball, it didn’t even come near the cup. It whizzed by my shoulder.

I’d been intentionally missing every time I threw the ball, but unfortunately, it was Addison’s turn and her ping pong ball landed dead center into Kate’s cup.

Nate reached for the cup to drink, but Addison stopped him. “Nuh-uh. That’s her drink and you know it.”

“Addison, come on. She’s had enough,” Nate said.

And for once, Nate and I agreed on something.

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