Page 41 of Rebel Romeo

My inhale trembles, but I nod. My clammy grip on the handrail is fiercely tight as I pry my eyes open and begin singing. It’s quiet. To myself. A whisper of the notes.

“Louder,” he demands.

I don’t want to, but I oblige, letting the music course through my body like blood, enlivening me.

A gust of wind whips past me and I squeal, losing my focus. My voice cracks with the note, but I keep singing as the crowd around us murmurs, growing quieter, paying more attention to the trembling weird girl singing on top of the Empire State Building.

A sob tears from my chest as I glance down at the specks of people below me, barely the size of my fingernail from this far up.

The fear percolates within me, and something inexplicable happens as the song continues. With so many distractions, the distance to the ground doesn’t seem so scary. My fear of being this high up with guard rails and plexiglass seems… silly.

My voice rides the wind out over the city, and it’s an even better release than a scream, singing my soul into the world and letting the night breeze carry it away.

I finish the song, chest heaving, and when I glance down, I realize I’m not holding the railing.

And Holden isn’t beside me anymore.

He’s not holding me.

He’s standing a few feet back, just below me. He’s ready and waiting if I need him, but he’s not clutching me.

I turn and face the crowd of silent bystanders as they break out into applause. Some people are holding up phones, recording me. One woman wipes tears from her cheeks.

And when I look at Holden… he’s smiling.

Clapping.

A cry of relief bursts from my lips, and I fall into his embrace as he helps me down from the ledge

“You were sensational,” he whispers and turns me once again to the crowd of people clapping. The warm glow of his praise seeps into my bones.

Good girl.

Though he doesn’t say it, I can hear his voice as though he did. I can feel that he wants to. That he would have said it. If I were still his.

A shiver tumbles down my spine as his whispering lips brush my ear. “Now imagine this crowd multiplied by a hundred, on a Broadway stage. This is what you were meant to do, Katherine.”

I want to believe him. Every nerve ending in my body sings when he’s near. But if there’s one thing I know about Holden, it’s that one minute, he can make you feel like you’re the center of his world. Like he’s your parachute, drifting you slowly and safely to the ground.

Then when you truly need him, he won’t be there. You’ll be careening toward the Earth with no safety net.

But something inside me is challenging me to jump anyway.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Holden

Five years ago…

My phone rang just as I was about to knock on Kate’s door. My teeth gnashed together at the sight of my father’s name flashing across my screen.

I’d been ignoring most of his calls lately, but I couldn’t do that forever.

Forcing the tension in my jaw to relax, I answered the phone.“Hey, Dad.”

“Did you get those law school applications I emailed to you?”

I blew out a breath, ignoring the uncomfortable tightness in my chest I got every time I had to talk to my father about law school. Actually, it was every time I had to talk to my dad… period.

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