Page 45 of Rebel Romeo

She turned, staring at me dead on. “Tell you what—I promise to watch The Departed if you watch Romeo and Juliet?”

She held out her hand for me to take.

I gripped her palm and shook. “Done.”

Energy zipped up my arm from where our palms touched. It was just us in the room. No arguing. No lies standing in between us. No acting. No cheesy, fake lines.

Just Katherine and Holden.

Alone.

With a shaky breath, she tugged her hand from mine, and I noted the rise of gooseflesh down her toned arms as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Want a drink?” she asked, standing up and heading into the kitchenette.

“Sure, I’ll take a beer.”

She threw a glance over her shoulder at me. “Dude. I’m eighteen and I live in a dorm. I have generic cola or seltzer water.”

I stood up and peeked around her into the fridge, grabbing the nearest red can. “Then I guess I’ll have a Cola Fizz.” After cracking the tab on top, I took a sip and grinned. “Ah. Refreshing.”

She laughed and grabbed herself a seltzer water. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.”

She grew quiet, playing with the tab on her can. “So, on the phone earlier. Out in the hallway. That was your…”

“My dad,” I finished her thought for her.

“You told him you were going into a study group.”

“Isn’t that what this is? Kind of?”

She shrugged. “I guess. But… why wouldn’t you just tell him you were working on lines for your show?”

“Yeah, I don’t think that would go over well. You saw how my mom reacted the second she thought you and I were becoming close.” I sighed and set my can on the counter. “Look, with my dad, if it’s not football, lacrosse, or law school related, he’s not really interested.”

Her eyes went wide. “They aren’t going to come see you as Romeo?”

“Remy,” I corrected her. With a casual lift of my shoulders, I shook my head. “Doubtful.” It was bad enough that my entire football team was planning to show up opening night. I wasn’t sure how I was going to perform with them staring at me, let alone my fucking father. “What about your parents? Will they be here on opening night?”

“Probably not.” She shook her head, eyes cast down at her feet. “They live really far away.”

I nodded. “Right, Indiana.”

“Plus… they don’t really get my whole theater thing.”

My brows creased. “They don’t get it? Isn’t this like all you’ve ever wanted to do for years?”

It was her turn to give a seemingly nonchalant shrug. Man, for two people starring in the fall show, we sure did suck at masking our emotions. “I think they thought it was just a phase that would pass eventually. Then when I got the full scholarship for a school halfway across the country, they had to let me go. I was leaving with or without their blessing.”

“So, they’re not coming?”

“My parents run a pub and don’t have a ton of money. Even if they had the money for two plane tickets, they’d have to find and pay someone to cover their shifts and I just don’t see that happening.”

“But… they’re proud of you, right?”

She smiled and gave a reluctant nod. “I think so. They love me. Can they be both proud of and disappointed in me at the same time? Because if so, I think that’s how I’d categorize them.”

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