Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Oh, that’s my favorite Shakespeare play.” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it was on this summer’s performance calendar.
“Then come with us,” she suggested.
“Sabrina.” There was a warning in Connor’s tone.
“What? He just moved here. I’m trying to be nice.”
“I only moved from Black Mountain, but I appreciate the offer.” And for once, I really did.
“We tried to get Connor to come, but he claims he doesn’t understand Shakespeare.” She held her hand up to her mouth and stage whispered to me. “He’s not as dumb as he likes to pretend, though.”
“You should try it, Connor,” I insisted.
Connor shook his head. “It’s not my thing.”
“Shakespeare isn’t meant to be some lofty thing for the intelligentsia. In his day, the plays were just regular, everyday entertainment, like a sitcom.”
Connor frowned. “But it doesn’t make any sense. All those weird words, and the rhyming and shit.”
“I teach Shakespeare. I promise I could help you understand it.”
“You mean you’re going to go?” Connor asked.
“I would if you wanted some insight.” I realized how presumptuous I sounded, probably exactly what Connor expected of a snooty professor.
“If you promise to make it interesting, I’ll go.” Connor looked oddly shy, his cheeks pink.
I would be willing to make the evening very interesting indeed, but I doubted Connor would go for that. I should have told Sabrina I already had plans. Connor wasn’t just hot, he was intriguing, and I could easily fall for him. That would be a big mistake. “Um…”
“Chickening out?” Connor asked. “Realizing maybe not everyone gets Shakespeare?”
Connor knew exactly how to get to me. “Absolutely not. The only people who don’t get Shakespeare are people who haven’t been introduced to it properly.”
“And you’re the man to do that?”
I could introduce him to a whole new world. “I am.” The words came out low, husky. I hadn’t meant them to, but instead of the odd look I expected from Connor, the man simply stared at my lips, eyes wide. Oh, fuck.
Sabrina cleared her throat, and I looked her way, glad for the distraction. “So both you boys will be joining us then?”
“Um…” Connor looked everywhere but at me.
“Yes,” I replied.
Sabrina beamed. “Perfect. The show starts at seven, but you need to get there early, like six, to get a good seat. I always bring a picnic and have dinner there while I wait.”
I nodded. I loved hanging out before the plays. “I go to the plays every summer, but I’ve been so busy I hadn’t even thought of it yet.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I mentioned it then,” Sabrina said. “Connor can pick you up since the parking gets tight.”
I looked at Connor, who had a panicked expression. “You don—”
“I—”
“Don’t argue,” Sabrina ordered.
Neither of us did.
7
Connor
Ifumed as I drove back to my apartment. What the hell was Sabrina doing? She knew, didn’t she? She knew I was gay and that Jeremy was pushing all my buttons. There was no other explanation for why she was so eager to get Jeremy to go out with her, or rather with us.
Jeremy mentioned that he loved the play before she invited him.
So what? She’s trying to set me up.
When we’d both parked at my apartment complex, I jumped out of the car. “What were you thinking?”
Sabrina smiled, all innocence. “What do you mean?”
“Asking Jeremy to go with us tomorrow?”
“Us? You said you wouldn’t go. I asked him to accompany me and my friend.”
I scowled at her. “That’s beside the point. He’s a client.”
“No fraternizing with the clients? Is that a rule now?”
“I…”
“Even if it is, does it really include inviting them to a free public performance of Shakespeare?”
“Dammit!” I hated when she talked sense. Now I’d probably given myself away.
“He really bothers you, doesn’t he?”
“What do you mean?” I doubted I was fooling her.
“He’s like your polar opposite.”
“What? Smart? Educated? Understands poetry? Yes, I guess he is.” Jeremy couldn’t be more wrong for me.
“No, you asshole. He’s soft and clumsy and quiet.”
Was that really what she thought, that I didn’t like him? Had she not guessed, not seen the way I couldn’t take my eyes off Jeremy? “I’m quiet.”
Sabrina quirked her mouth and raised a brow. “Only when you’re pissed.”
“No, I’m pissed off right now, and I’m definitely not quiet. In fact, I’m doing everything I can not to yell at you.”
Sabrina studied me much too closely. “Why don’t you want him there?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“I…” I couldn’t tell her the truth, but I was tired of making up lies. “I don’t know.”
“You still planning to come?” she asked.
“You told Jeremy I’d pick him up, so—”
“I can pick him up or ask him to meet us there instead.”
I didn’t want Sabrina to pick Jeremy up. I wanted to do it, no matter how foolish it was. “No, I’m coming.”
“Just to prove him wrong?”
I shrugged.
“Promise me you won’t say you hate the play just because you’re stubborn.”