Page 98 of Forbidden Romeo
The last I’d heard, he’d given me an update on Duncan that made me sick to my stomach.
He likely will never walk again.
All because I had to fight Addison over the stupid bloody sheets.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was my fault. Luckily, we’d all given our statements to the police and they had ruled it an accident… no one was being charged with anything, not even drinking underage.
I couldn’t tell if luck was on our side… or if it was that Dorsey money and influence that saved us.
For once, I wasn’t sure I cared.
“Could I get an almond milk latte?”
I nearly dropped my phone, I was so startled by the voice in front of me.
I looked up to find Nate standing there at the counter with an older guy standing next to him.
“Hey,” I said, forcing a smile on my face.
I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to go on with my day… my week… my semester… knowing I’d nearly killed a guy.
But my bills still needed to be paid, even though Holden had taken care of the cost of my dorm room. So I got to work, serving up coffee to coeds.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “What did you say you wanted again?”
“An almond milk latte,” he repeated. “And he’ll have a cortado.”
“You got it,” I said, turning over my shoulder and calling their order out to my coworker.
“This is Christopher Slaine,” Nate said, as though I should recognize the name. “Chris, this is Kate Harris. She played Ju?—”
“Juliet, yes,” Christopher said, taking my hand. “You were excellent.”
A blush heated my cheeks and I dipped my chin as visions of Holden and I on stage beneath the sheet rushed into my mind.
His hands tugging my body suit aside.
My fingers wrapping around his girth.
The first painful slide inside of me that abruptly melted into toe-curling pleasure.
I cleared my throat and touched my fingertip to the sweat starting to dot at the back of my neck. “Thanks,” I said, pausing to cough into my fist. “It was an ensemble effort.”
“Was it?” Christopher said with a tilt of his head. “I have to say, your Romeo was a little wild… off the cuff.”
Nate snorted. “Understatement of the century,” he murmured. I shot him a look and Nate’s cheeks immediately turned pink.
It killed me that everyone in my class knew what had happened on that stage.
Shame and guilt and embarrassment mixed together in a nauseating cocktail and spiraled in my stomach every time I had to look at one of them. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through the next few years of school.
“It’s very much the trend right now to make these edgy choices,” Christopher continued, not seeming to notice mine and Nate’s exchange. “But I prefer more traditional Shakespeare, like your interpretation.”
“Um… thanks,” I said again. “I also like traditional Shakespeare. It’s so rich with history and poetry, I don’t think it’s necessary to do more to make it interesting. Although when a reinvention is well done, I have to admit, I’m kind of a sucker for it.”
Christopher winked. “Except they’re rarely well-done, right?”
I hid my smile. “I plead the fifth.”