Page 56 of Rebel Romeo

I was late. I was late because of a stupid dream about stupid Katherine that I didn’t want to wake up from.

Because that’s all she and I were. A dream.

The walk to my poli-sci class from my car was the biggest hike on campus… and I only had five minutes to make it across the quad. That may seem like a lot, but this campus is hella big and my classroom was all the way at the end of the furthest building, on the top floor.

With a croissant shoved halfway into my mouth, I walked as quickly as I could, my arms full of books, trying to hit the button on my keys to lock my car door. Instead, they slipped from my grasp and landed in the dirt at my feet.

“Fuck,” I muttered, my teeth clenched against the croissant. I just lost my keys. I sure as fuck wasn’t going to lose my breakfast, too.

“Here,” a sharp, but feminine voice said beside me. “Let me help.”

When I glanced to the right, Jill stood beside me, hands outstretched, taking the heavy books from my arms.

I tugged the croissant from my mouth as I bent to retrieve my keys. “Thanks, Jill.”

Her brows twitched as I locked my car door and shoved the keys in my back pocket before taking my books from her.

“You remembered my name,” she said, genuinely sounding surprised.

My spine bristled at the insinuation in her voice. “Why wouldn’t I?”

She shrugged, her jade eyes flashing. “Senior football stars don’t tend to remember the freshman roommate they’ve only met a few times.”

“A few times should be plenty for anyone to remember your name. I may be an asshole, but I’m not rude.”

She tucked an errant, red curl behind her ear and glanced shyly away. “I think we both know you’re not an asshole. So I guess the only question left is, then why do you pretend to be one? Is it just to impress your friends?”

“I’m not—I mean, I don’t…” I stopped mid-sentence, not sure how to respond. “I don’t give a fuck about impressing the team.”

Besides, most of those guys weren’t my friends. Not the kind of long-lasting friends most people consider their teammates to be—except for Duncan. Maybe I was just jaded, but I’d seen through the years how my dad’s college teammates became his lackeys. Yes-men who followed him around and traded favors for the right vote or tax break. It was sickening.

I took a deep breath and turned, skulking ahead of her toward class. Maybe if I walked fast enough, I could outrun her.

But when I glanced over my shoulder, Jill was still right there on my heels. “I act like an asshole because I am an asshole,” I said. “It’s that simple. Just ask Katherine, I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it.”

“She told me you bring her tea every day. And that you refused to go onstage with Addison.” Jill paused, assessing me. “Doesn’t sound like an asshole to me.”

I sighed. “So what? I’m trying to make it up to her for what I did. Doesn’t change the fact that I was an asshole.”

“Exactly. Was. Past tense. Bringing her all the tea in the damn world won’t win her back if you’re still pretending to be a dickhead. And holding onto that macho persona will only push her into the arms of someone else.”

Push her into the arms of someone else?

Those words echoed, bouncing around my brain. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I whipped around to face Jill, meeting her flashing green glare.

My stare did nothing to intimidate her and all she did in return was give me a look like I was the stupidest human ever. “It means Kate likes you, but she’s not going to wait around forever. If you act quickly, you still have a chance to win her back. Apologize and prove you're worthy of a second chance.”

“And what if I’m not worthy of a second chance?”

“Except you are. And a girl like Kate? She’s worth the risk. I think you’re scared of how much you like her. Which, fine. Whatever. Way to be basic.”

“Basic?” I coughed, sputtering and nearly choking on my bite of croissant.

Jill snorted. “Yeah. A college dude afraid of commitment? Welcome to half the guys in college. But there’s a whole other half, especially in the arts program, who aren’t afraid of their feelings about Kate. Including that guy over there.” Jill pointed to a guy with sandy brown hair across the quad. I wasn’t above noticing that he was handsome.

And he was leaning into Katherine.

My Katherine.

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