Taming Romeo Read Online Free PDF

extra twenty as long as I tell his buddies I’m his girl.
    After deciding on my helmet, jacket, pants, and gloves, I follow the saleslady to the boot section.
    “You’re really going all out for this guy,” Choco says. “Doesn’t it bother you what we told you? That he’s courting Genie.”
    “Actually, it does.” I fix my narrowed eyes at her. “You should have said something. When did this come up and does Romeo even know he’s supposed to be courting our baby sister?”
    And I do put the emphasis on ‘baby.’
    Choco does this thing with her hands. “You and Romeo ever? You know.” She implies sex.
    I whistle in the breeze. The truth is we came close, but no, loose lips sink ships.
    “What if I told you we have? Would you tell Papa to call off this courting business?”
    “You didn’t.” Her eyes bug out. “I would have known if you did. Did you?”
    “Can we not talk about this?”
    The sales lady thankfully interrupts, “I brought one in size six and the other six and a half.”
    “Thanks.” I loosen the laces and remove the tucked tissue papers from the boots, then renew my interrogation of my disloyal elderly sister. “Whose idea? I’m sure it’s not Romeo because he would have told me.”
    “You think he’s so honorable, don’t you?”
    “Huh?” I shove my foot into the first boot. “If he’s not, why would you approve of him for Genie?”
    “Because I’m sure it’ll be temporary. Genie will go to college, get over her crush and grow up. In the meantime, Papa knows she’s with someone safe. Tita Elena guarantees it.”
    I don’t know whether to scream or strangle her. “Is that the line of bull he sold you? Did you see him with that blond bimbo? I bet he’s doing her too.”
    “Then why are you buying the gear?”
    A curl of worry swirls in my stomach, but I pass it off as if it were gas. “He’s an old friend. I’m here, he’s here, we’ll ride around for old time’s sake.”
    “And play tongue hockey on the way.”
    “Guilty as charged. Problem solved. Genie’s off the hook.” I walk around in the stiff steel-toed boots, my feet feeling invincible. Bring it on. I can’t wait to lean into the asphalt and fly over the back roads. Me. Romeo. And Juliet, his Yamaha.
    I hand my credit card to the saleslady and follow her to the front of the store.
    “Not quite,” Choco, always the sound of reason says. “There’s the matter of Tita Elena’s loan. You know about the expansion plans and the second restaurant in San Marcos? I mean, downtown’s great, but a lot of restaurants have opened branches up north.”
    “Yeah, I heard Papa talking about it.” My skin turns clammy. “Oh no. Are you saying?”
    Choco purses her lips and huffs from her nostrils. “Tita Elena put up the money for the San Marcos location. She leased the building and remodeled it. Eventually, she wants Romeo to settle down and manage the bakery side and she’ll forgive the loan if he marries Genie.”
    “And Romeo went along with this?” Now I’m seething. He’s practically betrothed to my baby sister, and he has the nerve to ask me why I ditched him at the prom five years ago? Forget the cycle gear. I’m outta here.
    “Miss? Enjoy your purchases.” The sales lady swipes my card and points to the pen pad. I’m about to blurt that I don’t want anything when I meet Choco’s raised eyebrows. I know that look, she’s betting on me to fight or die trying.
    “Yeah, thanks.” I sign away my sanity.
    “Will you need help to the car?” the lady says in a saccharine voice.
    “No, thanks.” I heft two large shopping bags of gear over my shoulder, my wallet twelve hundred dollars lighter.
    Romeo, Romeo, art thou worth it?

Chapter 7
    The campus library at UC San Diego looks like a building straight out of a science fiction movie. It is an upside-down pyramid of concrete and glass jutting from a canyon of eucalyptus groves. We follow a decorated path made of colored tiles so realistic