Page 61 of Forbidden Romeo
And it looked good.
It looked all-American for a senator to go to his son’s football game every weekend. The photo ops were what mattered. Cute pictures in the local papers of him and Mom holding hotdogs and cheering in the stands.
But none of it was real.
Not a goddamned minute.
I had every intention of going straight home to lick my wounds.
Until I saw Katherine.
She was walking down the sidewalk with her roommate Jill and a few other people from our Method Acting class, including Nate.
Fucking Nate. Who was hovering right behind her, his eyes glued to her ass.
Not that I could blame him. It was a damn fine ass… but it was my ass.
I jerked the wheel of my truck into the first spot I found and watched as their group ducked into a pub on Main Street.
I shouldn’t follow her. I shouldn’t spy.
And yet, my body seemed to have a mind of its own and I found myself entering the pub and silently slipping into the first stool at the end of the bar, ducking my head down so that they couldn’t see me where they were all gathered in the back corner by the pool tables.
Unsurprisingly, Katherine looked fucking stunning in a shimmery green dress that caught the light every time she moved. The girl could wear a garbage bag and still be the most gorgeous creature in any room.
A pang of jealousy twisted in my chest as Nate leaned in and whispered something that made Katherine throw her head back in laughter.
I ordered a whiskey and sank lower in my stool, not wanting my classmates to notice me.
But I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
Something had changed in her since that audition in New York. She wasn’t so carefree and innocent. There was a new spark; a naughty glint to her eye and an extra sway to her hips. The lightness in her step was gone and even though she looked happy, I could see the dark cloud looming beneath the surface.
I lived in those clouds for fucking years. It was an existence I knew all too well, I realized with a sinking feeling.
Beside me, a pint glass slammed down onto a coaster and I jumped as Keith plopped into the next stool over.
“Keith,” I said, surprised.
Jesus, I knew this was a small college town, but was there nowhere else to get drunk on a Thursday night?
“Holden,” he said, my name slurred in a slight way that told me he was bad at handling his alcohol.
“Hey,” I said, giving the bartender a nod as he slid a double pour of whiskey over to me.
The scent of aged whiskey filled my nose, bringing with it a warm and comforting aroma. It smelled like home; like fireplaces and leather armchairs…
And Mom.
“Sorry to hear about Remy and Julie,” I said to him. “You deserved better than that.”
He stared morosely into his glass before finally looking up at me with glassy eyes. “Yeah. But you know what they say… when you lie down with dogs, you get fucking rabies.”
I exhaled a quiet laugh and shook my head. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how that saying goes.”
Keith was silent for a long moment before he sighed into his beer. “She told me about your dad.”
“Fuck,” I hissed with a shake of my head. It was one thing to break up with the guy. But to sabotage his show and tell him the gritty details of your affair? That was fucked up on a whole other level.