Page 59 of Rebel Romeo

I was pretty sure class was a moot point now, but I turned to leave, all the same.

She reached out, stopping me by grasping onto my hand. “Holden?—”

This was bad. And yet, I couldn’t walk away from her. I was in too deep, being dragged into the undertow that was Katherine Harris. Or maybe I was the undertow. Either way, one or both of us would drown.

“Just don’t fucking date Doug, okay?” I snapped and immediately regretted the harsh tone of my voice.

Unaffected by my tone, a small, teasing smile flicked on her mouth. “Why not?”

The heat of her touch was still permeating my arm and I stepped into her, our bodies pressed against each other.

Without a step away from me, she stood stretched her neck, looking much taller than her five foot, three inches in height. When I didn’t answer, she said, “I’ll tell you what. As long as you don’t chicken out on movie night, I won’t go out with Doug. Or Nate. Or anyone else.”

Her smile spread as she backed away from me. And as she headed back toward her waiting classmates, she pointed at me, adding, “And to make sure of that, why don’t we have movie night at your place, Boo-Bear. Eight o’clock?”

“Sure thing,” I croaked. “Hunny Bunny.”

Licking her lips, she clamped her bottom lip between her teeth, then turned to run inside for class.

Goddamn.

This girl had my number and she knew just how to call me out.

She thought she was going to break me…

But she had no idea how broken I already was.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad!” Jill says, walking beside me on Fifth Avenue.

I slide her a sideways glance. “Believe me, it’s that bad.”

“How much harm can Addison really do in one week of rehearsals?”

“As it turns out, a lot,” I grumble.

In one week, she’s managed to throw me so far off my game, it’s a wonder I still have this role. It started small. Little disruptions here and there during scene work. Then, I would arrive to find her running scenes with Nolan of all people.

I thought he was on my side, but as it turns out, he’s just like any other dude with a dick. One day of batting her eyes at him and all the solidarity we’d struck up during rehearsals went out the window.

“It’s like she’s picking off my castmates and the production team, one by one. Winning them over so they like her more than me. Even Maggie seems to love her!”

“Or maybe Addison’s just trying to be nice?”

Nice? Addison? I nearly laugh, but I’m too brittle. Too raw. Instead, I glare at Jill. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours. Always. But it’s been a few years since you’ve seen her. Maybe she’s changed. I mean think about it, she graduated the same year Holden did. Years before you and I did. And she’s only now getting a break into Broadway and clearly only because Missy’s using her to piss you off. She’s probably just trying to prove that she belongs there, too.”

“Maybe.” I rub my lips together. “But then why isn’t she trying to befriend me? Why is she snuggling up to literally everyone else!”

“Have you met you? You’re scary as shit when you want to be.”

“I’m not scary!”

Hiking her laptop bag higher on her shoulder, Jill levels me with a look. “You’re terrifying when you want to be and you know it. You just hide behind your adorable girl next door look.”

Okay, fine. I can be a little scary… when I want to be.

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