Page 93 of Forbidden Romeo
His throat bobs with a thick swallow and after a moment of hesitation, he gives a slow nod. Visible tension ripples through his body as beads of sweat form on his forehead. “Trust the process,” he murmurs to himself. Finally, with a deep breath and a determined look in his eyes, he nods in agreement. “Well, here goes nothing.”
CHAPTER 36
Holden
Five years earlier…
“You’re sure about this, Holden?” the Dean said, looking at me sternly.
The bucket seat creaked as I leaned forward and grabbed the pen from his hands, scribbling my name on the affidavit confession. “Positive,” I murmured, then did the same with the remaining three copies, finally sliding the signed contracts across the table.
I glanced at my Dad, seated beside me who made sure every ‘i’ was dotted and every ‘T’ was crossed.
He grabbed one of the copies, placing it carefully into his briefcase. “And if this gets out,” Dad said, “I’ll not only have your job, but I’ll own this whole fucking school outright, do we have an agreement?”
Dean Grichemande nodded and glanced at McCay, seated next to my father. “And Laurie McCay gets tenure, of course.”
“And Katherine Harris holds her place in the program,” I stated yet again, staring pointedly at McCay.
She and my dad exchanged a quick look that made uneasy energy radiate up my spine.
“That’s right,” McCay said. “She stays in the program this year, no matter what.”
“Then are we done here?” I asked, standing up and shoving my chair back. “I’ve got a lot of packing left to do.” I was supposed to leave for New Jersey in two days and I still hadn’t told Katherine.
Dad nodded and stood as well. “And you’ve got some goodbyes to make.”
“I know.”
How could I fucking forget?
Now, forty-eight hours later, she didn’t know I was watching her. Sitting in the back of the cafe, I arrived long before her shift started, head ducked behind the biggest economics textbook I owned.
We hadn’t spoken in three days, outside of the occasional quick text here or there.
I told her Duncan was stable. Going in for his second surgery soon. Our condo was weird without him home. Empty. Even now, days later, I didn’t really know what to think.
My car was packed with all my shit.
I was already supposed to be on the road, but I still hadn’t talked to Katherine.
What could I fucking say? How could I ever explain this? Make it right?
Across the room, I watched as Nate entered the cafe with another dude and walked up to the counter, grinning like an idiot at her.
Lovesick idiot.
I knew, because I’d fucking tamped down a similar grin for months around Katherine.
I loved her.
I loved her so fucking much that I was willing to cut out my own heart to see her succeed.
As much as it fucking hurt, it was the only scenario where we both could win.
And eventually, the bleeding would stop.
Eventually, we would both pick up the broken pieces and be able to glue them back together, right? Broken Romeo and Shattered Juliet weren’t demolished for good. This wasn’t anything I couldn’t fix later.