Page 76 of Rebel Romeo

A certain calm washed over her expression. “Not about that implies that you would lie to me about something else.”

“No! That’s not what I meant. It’s just… there are things about me, my family, I don’t like talking about. But I’m not a fucking liar. I would never lie to you about anything.”

“Okay. How many women have you slept with?”

Oof. If I thought the couch question was bad, this was way worse. “Six,” I answered quickly, holding her eye contact. “I’ve had sex with six girls.”

“Oh.” She looked surprised, blinking rapidly. “That’s not so bad.”

“But I’ve hooked up with more than that. Just not… you know.”

She sat quietly for a long, pensive moment, sipping her tea. “Have you ever been with a virgin?”

“Never.”

“Not even your first time?”

My throat went tight as I thought about my first time… it was good in the moment. Until I really considered how wrong it’d been to sleep with a woman so much older than me. And at the time, I hadn’t known she’d only been sleeping with me to get revenge on my dad after he had cheated on my mom with her. “Not even my first time.”

Katherine considered this for another moment. Then, finally lifting her chin to the TV, she said, “Maybe we’re more like our characters than either of us want to admit?”

I snorted my opinion of that. She knew how much I thought Romeo was a lovesick pussy. “Why? Because you’re a virgin and I’m a player?”

She shook her head. “No. Because you’re not a player. You just sort of project this reputation to everyone else that you are.”

“Romeo doesn’t project an image that he’s a player,” I scoffed. “He wants everyone to think he’s a romantic.”

“Hm. That’s a strong opinion coming from someone who’s never seen the show before.”

“I’ve read the play. Many times now.”

“Hm.”

“Stop that,” I snapped. Our moment of ecstasy from earlier was quickly fading.

“Stop what?”

“Analyzing me. Staring at me.”

She turned her attention back to the paused TV, an annoyingly triumphant smirk on her face. “Then hit play and I’ll stare at Leo.”

“Thank Christ.”

Twenty minutes later, with a handful of popcorn, Katherine tapped my bicep with her knuckle, her eyes not leaving the screen.

“Oh, my God,” she squeaked. “Watch Leo’s intensity here. I swear, this scene was my sexual awakening.”

A cough caught me by surprise, and I nearly choked on the kernel of popcorn. Katherine’s sexual awakening? I literally couldn’t think of anything else I’d rather be a fly on the wall for.

She tipped her head back, tossing the last of the popcorn into her mouth and grinning up at me.

With a gulp, I forced myself to look away from her. To stare at the movie. At Leonardo DiCaprio. He was basically every girl’s sexual awakening for two decades, right? Katherine’s story wasn’t exactly unique or unusual.

Except that it was… because Katherine was special. And that comment made visions of her, wet and ready for the first time, invade my mind.

“Great,” I muttered, shifting my hips away from her. “So, I have to stare at close ups of Leonardo DiCaprio’s dumb ass face for three fucking minutes?”

She ticked off the reasons on her finger. “First of all, Leo’s face is far from dumb. Second, it’s also got beautiful close-ups of Clare Danes. And third, it’s not just about two hotties on the screen. It’s about their intensity. Their connection.” She hooked her arm into mine. “Just watch. This scene, hell, this whole movie made me believe in love at first sight.”

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