Page 109 of The Temptation of Truth

When her lips start to slow, my heart falls. I don’t want this to end. I don’t want to open my eyes and plummet back into reality, but I follow her lead. I move my hand from her neck to her shoulder and I shift my weight backward, so my body is no longer pressed up against hers.

She kisses me twice more, then rests her forehead against mine. Our breath comes in pants as we lie tangled in each other, and my mind starts to swirl with what she might say next.

It was a mistake.

It meant nothing.

We should pretend it didn’t happen.

Anxiety creeps up my throat with each possibility, but then she giggles. It’s a light, joyful sound that makes me smile, and I pull back so I can see her face.

“What?” I ask on my own laugh. “What are you giggling about?”

Her cute little nose scrunches up on a grin before she shakes her head and gives me a shrug.

“I don’t know. I just...I’ve never felt like this. Kind of bubbly. Excited. I feel like I need to giggle.”

I trace her cheeks with my fingertips, then run my thumb lightly over her glowing smile.

“You mean happy?” I tease. “You’ve never felt happy before?”

Her smile falters and sadness flashes in her eyes as she shrugs, then shakes her head.

“Not like this, Mabel. Not like with you.”

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to tell her everything that I’m feeling when I can’t make sense of it myself. I understand her, and it’s not fair. She makes me happy, too. It’s not fair. None of it is. How can it feel so right with her if everything about it is wrong? I can’t find the right words to say any of it, so I say nothing.

Instead, I kiss her.

I kiss her, and I don’t stop until the sun rises.

“Are you even listening to me?”

I tear my attention away from Aurora’s French doors and look toward Sav. She’s got her sunglasses perched on top of her head and a towel wrapped around her waist. I didn’t even realize she’d gotten out of the pool.

“What?”

She narrows her eyes. “Who is it?”

“Who is who?”

“Who are you going all dopey over?” She waves her finger in a circle around my face. “I know this look. This hazy, brain fog, first crush look. Who is it? Do I know them?”

I push up from the lounge chair and make my way to the mini fridge. I hope like hell she doesn’t see the blush heating my neck and chest. This fucking bikini hides nothing. I can’t lie to her—Sav’s like a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out dishonesty—but I can’t tell her the truth either. I go for something in the middle.

“I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Are you going to tell me who it is?”

“Nope.”

I keep my back to her as I pull a mineral water from the fridge, uncap it and take a long drink while she groans. When I turn to face her again, she’s got her hands on her hips and her head tilted to the side.

“I know it’s not Kat.”

“That’s correct.”

“I know it’s a woman, though.”