Page 136 of The Temptation of Truth

I almost laugh. “But lying by omission is okay?”

Her frown deepens, and I see real regret in her eyes, so I turn away. I can’t look at her anymore.

“I was going to tell you. I’m sorry.”

Her hand brushes my arm, and I take a step away. I’m losing my grip on my composure. I need to get out of here before I start crying.

“You’re getting what you want, and I’m happy for you. And you two make sense. Much more sense than we do. You’re closer in age. You’re in the same industry. She can make you happier than I can. You probably have more in common. My uncle would likely lose his mind if I dated you anyway. I mean, I’m married, for God’s sake, and I’m not even gay, so of course you’re going to consider going back to Kat. It makes sense. It does. It makes sense, and I’m not mad. It’s okay. I’m fine. But I really have to go. I’ve taken too long as it is, and Brady doesn’t like waiting.”

When I look at her, she’s staring at me like I’ve just slapped her, but I’m too busy trying not to fall apart to analyze it.

“Right,” she breathes out, nodding. “Yeah. Okay. We’ll, um, we’ll talk when you get back.”

She drops her eyes to the carpet, releasing me from their hold, so I leave quickly. If I don’t do it now, I might never.

When I step back into the kitchen, it’s eerily quiet, and everyone is staring at each other. I rush past Callie, Claire, and Sav, and take Brady’s hand.

“Okay. Sorry for making you wait. I couldn’t find my sandal.”

He scowls. “Lost your phone and your sandal?”

I force a laugh and tug him toward the door, waving at the girls as I do. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Red’s coming with,” Sav adds, and I nod.

“Okay.”

Then she looks at Brady and twirls her finger around her own hairline.

“And bud, you might want to wear a hat on the beach. Australian sun is strong. You don’t want those balding spots to burn.”

Goddamn it, Sav.

31

MABEL

My head isin a fog as I make my way around the botanical gardens.

The tickets were nonrefundable, and since Aurora went back with dipshit to his hotel room, I made the stupid fucking decision to come alone. Now I’m having regrets. If I thought coming to a place full of plants would be a great way to take my mind off things, I was wrong.

I can’t stop seeing her face when she found out he was in Sydney. Abject terror. There’s no other way to describe it. She was terrified and panicking, but the way she changed when he walked through the door was like something out of a psychological thriller. The plastic smile. The calm, careful tone of voice. It was like watching her navigate a mine field, and her husband was the biggest bomb.

The minute he was in the room, he was her sole focus. She was constantly testing the temperature of his mood and trying her best to keep him from boiling over. She wasn’t concerned for her own safety or happiness, only for him and minimizing any damage he might do. It was maddening and heartbreaking, and I couldn’t do anything but watch.

I had suspicions that she’d been living in a domestic battle zone, but seeing proof put everything into perspective. Aurora has been living life in survival mode, and her husband is an absolute tyrant.

The only reason I didn’t lose my shit last night when I learned she left with him was that both Ham and Red went with her. I haven’t seen any of them since. Last night was the first concert in over a decade where Ham and Red weren’t in attendance, and it just added to the sense of foreboding.

And then there’s what she said right before she left. I can’t stop hearing it.

I’m not even gay.

It probably shouldn’t bother me the way it does. She was rambling and making excuses out of self-preservation. She was trying to convince herself that she’d be okay with me choosing Kat, and most of what came out of her mouth was a lie.

She’s been kept in a box for so long. I know she needs to grow. I know she needs to find out who she is without Brady. I know that some aspects of self-discovery never end. I know all of this. But fuck, it still felt like a sharp slap across the face.

I left a three-year relationship because the woman I was with wouldn’t come out publicly, and I was tired of being kept in the shadows. That relationship sucked the joy out of me, and I didn’t even realize how bad it had gotten until I met Aurora. But hearing those words come from her mouth sent me spiraling back into that pain.