Page 79 of The Temptation of Truth

My nose scrunches on the last sentence, and Mabel’s lips twitch like she’s trying not to laugh. Then she grabs my wrist and leads me to a back wall, away from the crowd, where the music seems less loud and the lights less bright.

“Okay, this is better.” She folds her arms over her chest and leans casually on the wall. “What was your question?”

I huff, the dim lighting making me bolder. More confident. Reckless.

“I thought you liked women.”

She smirks. “That’s not a question.”

My eyes narrow. “Why would you let that man kiss you if you like women?”

She arches a brow. “I do like women. Unfortunately for me, I am also attracted to men.”

“And you were attracted tohim?”

“Sure, he was attractive, but you don’t have to be attracted to someone to enjoy dancing with them.”

“But he kissed you!”

“He did.”

“And you let him.”

Mabel’s head tilts just slightly. “I didn’t, actually. He just did it.”

“You didn’t stop him.”

“I didn’t stop that one, no. But I left, didn’t I?”

I pause, my mouth popping open just slightly. “You left?”

“You ran right into me as I was heading back upstairs.”

“Oh.” I clasp my hands in front of me, my eyes falling to the floor between us. “Oh, right. Right. Well...I’m sor?—”

Mabel presses her finger to my mouth, silencing the apology before I can finish speaking.

“Don’t do it, Roar.”

I purse my lips against her skin and bring my narrowed eyes back to meet hers. I’m sure mine look wild, unhinged, yet hersare sparkling with humor. I bristle and move my hands to my hips, but I don’t speak, and I don’t remove her hand. She smirks.

“Jealousy is a completely normal emotion.”

My jaw drops, and her hand falls away. “I am not jealous!”

When her smirk widens but she doesn’t speak, I start to ramble. My inability to shut the hell up around her is my fatal flaw. I’ll die in this hallway, mid-run-on sentence, from lack of oxygen.

“I was just worried, is all. Because of Kat, of course, and I didn’t want you to make any rash decisions because I thought you were, like, attracted to tall, skinny, sexy celebrities, and I didn’t want you to bring that giant Australian underwear model back to the suite and bang him on the bed next to mine and then regret it in the morning. That’s all. I was just looking out for you, is all. That’s all. I’m not jealous. I’m not.”

I’m nearly out of breath when I finish, and the intensity of Mabel’s gaze makes my ears burn.

“What?” I ask aggressively.

Tooaggressively. I almost apologize, but I bite my tongue. Mabel sighs.

“Well, that’s a lot to unpack. First, thank you for looking out for me.”

“You’re welcome,” I say curtly.