Page 15 of Tempted to Rebel

She clears her throat, careful to keep her smile in place. “Of course. I’ll spread the word.”

Once Sallie-Mae has slipped into the back, Rebel relaxes.

My stomach churns all of a sudden, and I push my plate away. Sallie-Mae is friendly enough that Rebel feels the need to stake his claim over me, and something about it rubs me the wrong way. Clearing my throat, I try to keep my voice from shaking. “Have you fucked her?” I ask, keeping my voice down.

Rebel freezes, his drink halfway to his lips.

“I mean, it’s okay if you have.” My face heats. God, I’ve never had to have a conversation like this before, and it makes me feel really juvenile. Finding out that your husband is having an affair? Gut-wrenching. Asking your sometimes-boyfriend if he’s had sex with another woman? Somehow, it feels like a precursor to bad news. I die a little inside as new, post-divorce insecurities rear their ugly heads. I never used to question my partner’s loyalty, but now I feel like it’s as inevitable as breathing. I shouldn’t have even asked, but now that the genie is out of the bottle, I can’t shove it back inside. Rebel is staring at me with this bewildered look on his face, like he can’t believe what he’s hearing as much as I can’t believe I’m still talking about it.

“It’s not like I have ownership over you. And you clearly have a life I know nothing about. It’s just that I—” Flustered, I fidget with a paper napkin and tear it into strips. “I need to know, so that I don’t feel like an idiot when she smiles at me like that.”

Like she knows what it means to be Rebel’s special girl.

“I know that it’s none of my business?—”

Rebel abruptly grabs my face in his hands and slams his mouth over mine, and suddenly, the booth isn’t big enough for the two of us. He pins me to the seat, bumping the table across the booth as he presses his body as close as humanly possible to mine, suffocating any hope I had for space from his hot-and-cold attitude. I’m getting whiplash...

…until he kisses me likethat.

His lips are a salty mess, but they slide against mine with a fervor that leaves no room for imagination. He might be angry with me for running away, but that hasn’t changed a damn thing about how he feels aboutus.

Heat sizzles between us, and I grab the edges of his jacket to pull him closer. There’s nothing nice about this kiss—it’s hot and fast and damn delicious, setting my body on fire and making my heart skip three beats. He pulls back just enough to smirk against my lips. “Jealousy tastes so fucking good on you, baby.”

His smirk still in place, he plops back down on the bench and chuckles as he fishes a handful of bills from his wallet. Tossing them onto the table, he slides from the booth and pinches his snakebite between his teeth while he waits for me to stand.

I stand as fast as I can, ignoring Sallie-Mae’s cheerful goodbye as I rush out of the diner and onto the cold street. I shiver immediately, the high from Rebel’s kiss making the crash of reality that much harder.

He never answered my question. I take that as ayes, he’s fucked Sallie-Mae, probably more than once. I’m so stupid for feeling jealous about it, but I can’t help it. What if it’s like Rebel said? He frequents all of the businesses on the strip. He could have slept withanyone.What if that’s his thing? Is he well-known and well-liked because of how well-fucked he is? Is that why I find him so charming? He’s practiced?

Rebel doesn’t miss a beat, grabbing my hand and pulling me to a stop. The smile on his face disappears instantly. “Hey, talk to me, don’t run away.”

I laugh, the sound falling past my lips like dominos crashing. “What are we doing?” Shaking my head, I try to reign in my bitterness at how fucked-up our relationship is. “You say you won’t kiss me, but then you call me your girlfriend and practically shove your tongue down my throat. Now we’re just gonna go back to,what, locking me up in a cage while you drown yourself in alcohol? How is that okay?”

Late-night mist fogs the air and clings to our skin, blurring the lights from the diner and making the streetlights glow in an orange haze. Rebel holds onto my hand, refusing to let me go. “We’re figuring this out, Celia. Youaremy girlfriend, at least Ithinkso. Fuck, baby, I don’t know what to call it, but does it matter? You’re mine just as much as you are Rage’s, and if I have to put you in that goddamn cage to keep you from running from me again, I fucking will.” He drags me into his chest and slips his hand into my hair, tilting my head back to peer into my eyes. The orange light reflects like copper in his eyes, warm and melted like caramel. The mist clings to his hair, sparkling as he moves, making him even more beautiful than he already is.

It’s hard to stay angry when he looks at me like he’s falling in love.

“I’ve never done this before, so I’m going to fuck up sometimes,” he murmurs, sweeping his thumb across my damp cheekbone. “But that doesn’t make this any less real, okay? I want you, Celia. I want you more than I want air.” He presses our foreheads together and sighs. “I know I can be a dick about it, so just… give me time… to figure this all out.”

I lean into his warmth and try to process what he’s saying. It feels like I’m the one falling—faster than I can see, the earth sliding out from under my feet, without any idea of which way isupanymore. I wrap my arms around his body and he melts into me, damn near purring like a cat. “Okay,” I breathe, pressing my face into his neck, “let’s figure this out. Together.”

He presses a quick kiss to the top of my head. “You got it,mama.”

Snorting, I roll my eyes. “Please don’t call me that.” My heart jumps at the implication, both fearful and hopeful at the same time. How can something that’s supposed to be beautiful and radiant feel so complicated?

Rebel pulls away and fondles the collar at my throat, the heart pendant as warm as his fingers. I’d forgotten I had it on.

“Why not? Are you saving it for Rage?”

“No.” I scrunch my nose. “He’s the last person who deserves it.”

Especially if heforcesa baby on me. There is no going back from that.

Biting his bottom lip, Rebel gets this goofy look on his face. It’s quickly replaced by the usual suave smirk and glittering mischief, but I saw it—for one brief moment, Rebel looked like the most ridiculous, lovestruck idiot on the planet.

I have no idea what he was thinking, and it’s over so fast that I can’t ask. In an instant, he’s gone back to being completely composed, oozing sex appeal as though it comes as natural to him as breathing. “Can I…” He slips his fingers into the waistband of my sweatpants and teases my hip. “Can I show you something?”

“It’s not your dick, is it?”

---