The laugh that bursts from his throat is almost patronizing. “Did you forget I won our first bet?” he asks.
This is only the second time I’ve seen Sable turn so pale so quickly. The first was right after I told her Dread and I had sex.
She glances at me nervously, and my curiosity piques once again.
“That’s not happening.”
He cocks his pierced brow, and the mirth drains from his eyes, replaced with something dark and threatening. Instantly, the tension in the air thickens, and I’m pretty sure I see lightning strike off in the distance.
Sable stiffens, and I can tell she’s fighting not to shift beneath his sinister stare. Even my stomach drops a little.
“A bet is a bet, Sabela.”
My brows jump up on my forehead while her eyes narrow into thin slits. If I didn’t know her so well, I’d think she was unaffected, but her chest moves too quickly, and her throat works to swallow.
“No,” she bites out.
He cocks his head to the side, studying her carefully, not a trace of a smile remaining, nor any fear for her. It’s intimidating even from the sidelines.
“I wasn’t asking.”
Her cheeks brighten again, and that’s my cue. I wave my arm between them like I’m a referee.
“Let’s take a break before you two are either arrested for public indecency or homicide,” I suggest.
Rogue doesn’t remove his stare from her as he slaps the table with both hands. “I have to take a piss, anyway. Don’t miss me too much.”
He winks at Sable before getting up and heading to the restroom, and I just know she felt that in her vagina with the way she seethes at him.
However, the second he disappears, she whips around back to me, devastation twisting her features.
“Perdóname. You have every right to hate me, and I’m so sorry I betrayed you. I kept it from you because I was ashamed and didn’t know how to tell my best friend in the entire world that I did the worstpossible thing I could’ve ever done. I’ve been sick over it, not that it makes it any better. I’m so fucking sorry, Rev.”
I bite my bottom lip, hating how badly it’s been eating her up inside.
“You’ve been an incredible friend every single second of the past four years. There hasn’t been a single instance you didn’t put me above all else. For the first time, you did something without consideration for me, and not only would I be entitled and selfish to condemn you for that, but it would be incredibly fucking hypocritical of me, too.”
She’s shaking her head, attempting to disagree with me, but I don’t let her get a word in.
“I know Rogue has caused me a lot of hurt, but I also understand it came from a place of loyalty to his friend, whom I’ve hurt. The circumstances don’t matter. In his mind, he was doing something for Dread I would’ve happily done for you without a second thought.”
A distressed crease forms between her sculpted brows. “That doesn’t make it okay.”
I shrug. “Maybe, but you’re allowed to be a human, Sable. And believe me when I say, I get it. I get the weird pull. Severen is the same way. I don’t know what those three men put in their fucking Cheerios growing up, but it’s sorcery.”
She lets out a soft laugh, though she doesn’t appear to want to forgive herself yet. I wish I knew how much it was weighing on her, but Sable’s always been the type to keep shit close to her chest. I’ve learned over the years that the harder I pry, the tighter she holds it in.
“I still don’t understand how it happened,” she admits softly. “He made a stupid bet, and I just… I don’t know. He got under my skin, and I was dumb and wanted to prove him wrong, I guess. And then it just kept escalating, and it got away from me. I regretted it immediately, and that obviously hurt his fragile little man feelings, but I don’t care. I hate myself for it.”
Tightening my lips, I envelop her hand with both of mine and hold it to my chest.
“Don’t,” I tell her sincerely. “If there’s something between you two?—”
“There’s not and never will be,” she denies vehemently.
But it's not sincerity that fills her rounded eyes, but desperation. It’s a lie, though not one she’s aware she’s telling, so I don’t hold it against her.
Because it’s the same lie I keep telling myself with Dread. Yet, somehow, I still end up naked with him between my legs while I screamhis name. Even worse, I’ve begun to crave an intimacy with him beyond sex, and that part fucks me up most of all.
