Page 22 of Broken Romeo

Finally, she spun to face me, annoyance twisting her otherwise flawless face. Just as quickly, that annoyance lifted, and her gaze swept my entire body, before coming back up and landing at my pecs.

Hell yeah, babe. Eat your heart out.

“Do you know where Theater C is?” I asked.

She pressed her unnaturally full lips together and lowered her chin seductively. “Of course.” Tossing a glance at the other girls, she said, “I’ll meet you in the studio in a couple minutes.”

Then, with a suggestive crook of her finger, she inclined her head toward the hall in front of us. “I’ll walk you there.”

We took a few steps before she said, “I’m Addison.”

“Holden.”

“You’re a little out of your league in Turner Hall, aren’t you?. Usually I only spy you out on the football field and at the pool.”

I lifted a brow. So she not only knew I was a football player but she’d seen me easing my sore muscles in the school’s hot tubs. “Guilty as charged,” I said. “I just needed an electiv—”

“Hi!” A girl came running up behind us, clutching some books to her chest. “Addison, right? We met the other day at the kickoff thingy.” Bright blonde hair swung around her shoulders with each hurried step. “Um, anyway. Did I hear you right? You’re going to Theater C? Can you show me where it is, too?”

Addison blinked, clearly surprised. Then her delicate features shifted quickly to disdain. In the snap of a finger, she went from sweet and helpful, to murderous and vengeful.

“Of course. But wait… are you looking for Theater C, like the letter?” she asked with an overexaggerated faux sweetness.

If that was the level of acting talent that these classes got you to, then this girl was wasting her money.

When I turned around, I was face to face with the blonde girl and the wind knocked from my lungs.

It wasn’t like me to wax poetic, but she was utterly beautiful in that effortless, girl-next-door way that so many women tried to achieve. Her features were dainty and delicately carved across flawlessly smooth skin—a narrow, ski-slope nose, dusty pink lips, and high cheekbones that plumped across the apples of her flushed cheeks. Her black, thick lashes framed striking blue-gray eyes. A wealth of blonde hair tumbled carelessly down her back, and she nervously smoothed it over her shoulder with her palm.

The blonde girl looked eagerly between Addison and me. “Yes, Theater C, like the letter.”

“Mmm.” Addison nodded. “He’s going to Theater See. S-E-E… like what you do with your eyes.”

I looked down at my class schedule on my phone where it very distinctly said C like the letter. “Uhhh…” I held a finger in the air to correct her. I didn’t want to be late for this class or go to the wrong space.

Addison shot me a narrowed glance and like a dumbass, I finally realized what she was doing. She was fucking with this poor freshman girl and wanting me to play along like some dumb hazing accomplice.

Addison cleared her throat. “The theater you’re looking for is actually down that hall. The second door on your left. It’s unmarked, but don’t let that fool you. Just walk right in.”

As Addison pointed to the right, the blonde girl briefly narrowed her eyes like she was onto the prank. But just as I thought she might call Addison out on her bullshit, she grinned wide, hugging her books tighter. I noted the worn copy of Romeo and Juliet on top of the pile. “Um, okay. Thank you!” she squeaked and ran off.

I lifted a brow in Addison’s direction. “S-E-E, like what you do with your eyes?”

“Fucking freshman.” She smiled, but in this light, she looked heinous. Any iota of attraction I might have had all but withered away with her mean girl hazing.

“Sure,” I said coldly. “So, the real Theater C is…?”

“It’s right over there.” Addison gestured to a door down the hall and off to my right. Stretching my neck, I could barely make out a black and gold plaque on the door that read Theater C.

“Great, thanks.” With a wave, I took off in the opposite direction, rushing to catch up to the blonde girl.

“Where are you going?” Addison called after me.

I ignored her. I didn’t have time for that hazing bullshit. I didn’t have time for it on my team, and I definitely didn’t have time for it in a stupid elective class.

When I found the blonde girl, she was standing in front of the door Addison had sent her to, unmoving. Static. Frozen.

“Hey,” I said gently, tapping her on the shoulder.