It isn’t until he reaches across Tessa again that I act.
I grab the bottle of tequila and move it out of his reach. My leg brushes against Tessa’s again, and this time, I let it linger longer than last time.
Jasper scoffs in my direction, but I ignore it.
I’m cutting him off.
I may not like him, and I’d prefer it if he got so drunk security had to remove him from this event, especially because his hand has crept onto Tessa’s thigh, but I refuse to let him embarrass her by getting belligerent.
Tessa sits up higher in her seat, and if I’m not mistaken, she’s angled herself toward me.
It isn’t evident to the rest of the room, and maybe not even her, but that’s just the thing lately–I notice everything when it comes to her.
Like how her breathing hitches when I press my leg against hers again, or how she drops her hand to her lap to grab onto Jasper’s.
I lean back in my seat and casually look below the table.
Tessa’s fingers are wrapped around Jasper’s wrist, and every time he tries to move his hand farther in between her legs, she shoves it away.
A faint growl slips from my throat.
I glare at his hand, like I have the power to stop it.
She hears it, and so does he.
I glare at him and calmly shake my head no.
He has the audacity to smirk at me.
My fists flex.
Tessa glances at me and then to him.
Sensing what’s going on, she tries to shove his hand away again, whispering something so low, I can’t make out what she says.
The next five seconds move in slow motion.
He grumbles something and removes his hand from beneath the table, only to reach across Tessa for her untouched glass of tequila. Except, instead of getting a good handle on it, he fumbles it.
The sharp smell of liquor fills the air, and Tessa’s rushed gasp cuts across the space between us. The liquid spills over the table and onto her legs.
“Oh, shit,” Jasper says loudly.
Van, from the next table, glares at us with a silent warning.
I do the same, but it’s directed at one person only.
Jasper.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
TESSA
Tequila dripsin between my legs and onto the floor, splattering against my brand-new heels. My mouth hangs open in shock. I quickly scoot backward in my chair and pray no one is watching the scene unfold throughout the very prestigious unveiling occurring in the front of the room.
“Ah, sorry, Tess.” Jasper’s words are slightly drawn out from the amount of tequila he’s consumed in the last hour. “Here.”
He gathers the cloth napkin in his hand and starts shoving it in between my legs tohelp, only he doesn’t get very far. Rome wraps his fingers around Jasper’s wrist, and from the sight of his white knuckles, I’d say he’s squeezing pretty hard.
