Page 70 of Rebel Romeo

I’m locked in his unflinching stare as all the air freezes in my lungs.

“Hold on!” Missy snaps, suddenly beside us on the stage. “Let me get this straight. You find out I’m kissing another man backstage and you’re more concerned about Kate being the one who saw it? Meanwhile a few weeks ago, Nolan kisses Kate in a performance and you flip out so much that you punch him in front of several reporters?”

Holden’s expression doesn’t change. He doesn’t turn to look at Missy or Nolan. His eyes remain steadfast on mine. “She has a point,” I whisper.

“I knew it,” Missy hisses. “I fucking knew it. I knew you wouldn’t care if I kissed Nolan, but I had to see it for myself.”

Finally, Holden blinks, releasing his locked gaze from mine to turn and glare at Missy. “You knew what we were, Missy. You didn’t need to test me.”

Confusion creases on my face. “What were you? What are you talking about?”

But he ignores me and yet again, my questions go unanswered.

Holden takes a couple steps away from me toward Missy. “Besides, I can’t say I’m surprised that you would kiss someone else. After all, look how we started back when we were all in Les Mis.”

Missy inhales sharply. “That’s not fair?—”

“Isn’t it?” Holden asks. “You and Nolan were the happy couple, it seemed, until I strolled in. You used me to test him all those years ago. And here we are, history repeating itself.”

“Is that what that was?” Nolan snaps. “You were just using me to test your fucked up relationship with Holden?” His voice cracks with the pain of realization. “You just wanted to see if Holden would care?”

Missy turns her bored gaze to Nolan. “You’ve known me for years, Nolan. Don’t you think that if I wanted to be with you by now, I would be with you? Not sneaking around in dressing rooms?”

Nolan’s expression turns stony and he stands there like a statue for three long seconds before he storms off the stage, pausing beside me. “Sorry, Kate. But you should get out while you can, too.”

“Where are you going?” I call after him as he launches down the stairs, grabs his things from the front row.

“I quit,” he shouts. “And if you knew what was good for you, Katie, you’d quit too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Holden

Five years ago…

It was a shit day. Forget the fact that I got a C- on my poli-sci pop quiz. But then I had a quick rehearsal before football practice where McCay railed my ass for not ‘opening up’ enough. Then, if all that wasn’t already enough, my fucking car wouldn’t start, making me late to football practice where I couldn’t connect my fucking passes. They were too short or too long. Finally, when McGreary was able to sack me and I fumbled the ball, Coach Cook pulled me off the field to tell me I was “slipping.”

Slipping.

Of course I was fucking slipping. I was a senior, and I was spread so goddamn thin, I was nearly transparent.

“One fucking off day and all of a sudden I’m slipping?” I shouted back at Coach as raindrops fell against my helmet.

Coach Cook shook his head. “It’s not just today. You nearly cost us the game last week.”

Fuck. He was right. I missed throwing a pass that was so damn easy, our freshman backup quarterback could have out-thrown me that game. Thank God Duncan was there to save our asses and get the touchdown we needed. We just barely won the game. No thanks to me.

Thing was, football wasn’t making me happy anymore. If I was being honest with myself, I don’t know that it ever did. I liked being part of a team. I liked hanging out with my friends and the clout that seemed to come with each game-day win we had. I liked the fact that it gave my father and me something to talk about that wasn’t ‘my future.’

But did I actually enjoy my time on the field? Not even a little.

In fact, I think I kind of hated it.

Weird that I’d never realized that before today. And it wasn’t until I was getting my ass handed to me, not only by Coach, but also by McCay, that I realized it. When Professor McCay critiqued my performance, I wanted to do better. I ached to prove her wrong and to do the scene again stronger. Not just for me, but for the whole cast.

When Coach lectured me, I didn’t give a shit.

Katherine’s words from the other day stuck in my mind like taffy…

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