“You were letting your hair down, Nessa, that’s all. Niamh and Phil were there. They would’ve stopped you if things went too far.”
She looked at the ceiling incredulously. “Niamh once wrestled Phil through a fire. She’s not the person who is going to tell anyone to stop.”
Sebastian opened the door before turning for his suitcase. “Which means she is not the person who will judge. It’s fine.”
“Hey.” Jasper came in with a jovial grin. He sat on the edge of Nessa’s bed and looked down at her. “You look like I felt this morning. You gotta get healed, babydoll.”
“I gotta get some brakes,” she grumbled.
“Nessa is worried she made an ass of herself last night, especially with Tristan,” Sebastian said, pulling out a black button-up shirt.
Jasper laughed. “Lady, weallmade asses of ourselves last night. Aurora passed out on the table. John had to carry her home. And we’re going to do it again tonight because Gerard is ready to tie one on. Remember at Kingsley’s when he got so drunk he flew into a building?” He nodded with a grin. “Yeah. He’s reserved a VIP section for us. Not for his people—us! He’s pissed he missed us having a blast last night. He’ll make up for it tonight, I bet.”
“No,” she moaned. “I am not doing that again tonight. I’ve embarrassed myself enough for a lifetime.”
“Nah. Come on.” Jasper grabbed her hands and hauled her to sitting. “You didn’t do anything crazy. You’re fine. You’ll feel better once you have Indigo lay the healing mitts on you. Or you get a Bloody Mary, whichever comes first.”
“No,” she said again, faux crying as he pulled her to standing.
“If Aurora can face everyone, being as buttoned up as she was trained to be, you certainly can. You didn’t even fall down! I don’t think. There are some very blurry sections in my memory.”
“I tried to stab someone, Jasper.” She let him lead her to her suitcase.
“You didn’t so much try as you threatened. Which was what Tristan said to do. You were following orders. Not your fault.”
“Oh, yeah, Tristan, the guy I slapped.”
“What’s going on?” Ulric popped his head through the door. “What is taking—oh man.” He came in wearing a huge smile. “Look atyou! You look like I felt this morning.”
“That’s what I told her.” Jasper rifled through her suitcase, disturbing the order. “She’s embarrassed because she slapped Tristan.”
“He’s a gargoyle,” Ulric said. “He liked it. That’s a garhette’s version of courtship, right there. Which was probably why he couldn’t keep his hands off you. Wear something sexy. All will be forgiven, trust me.”
Her face heated, as did certain parts of her body. “I also cried. You don’t cry at a bar.”
Jasper pulled out a slinky dress that was much too fancy for an evening swilling suds. He laid it on the bed before grabbing some high-heeled shoes to go with it. “I’m pretty sure I cried at one point.”
“Yeah, you did.” Ulric put his hands on his hips. “You were telling John about Nathanial, remember?”
Jasper blinked at Ulric. “No.”
“Oh.” Ulric started to chuckle. “John started to awkwardly pat you on the back, since shifter pack people aren’t touchy-feely, and Niamh made a wisecrack that John was afraid because everything he touched turned to gold.” Ulric laughed harder. “It was only funny because it really rankled John and none of us could understand why. Like, turning things to gold is good. He should be proud. But he seemed really taken aback and pissed off, while trying not to show it, and Niamh just did her normal unimpressed thing, which wound him up more?—“
“I think you had to be there,” Jasper said, and that made Nessa laugh silently.
She didn’t remember any of that, and clearly neither did Jasper.
Jasper leaned in to smell her. “You have alcohol seeping out of your pores. Jump in the shower real quick. Ulric, go get Mr. Tom to help her get ready. He needs something to do or he’ll try and find Jessie. She’s with Austin somewhere and probably wants to be left alone.”
“That guy needs a hobby,” Ulric said, heading for the door.
“He has one. Jessie.”
“No, I can do it, honestly?—“
Jasper ushered her toward the bathroom. “You are in no mood to try at your appearance, and tonight we need to show up looking like the most prestigious of the cairns. We widened a lot of eyes today. Everyone is watching. You can usually do super-hot in your sleep but hungover is a hurdle you aren’t used to, apparently. It’s fine. Mr. Tom needs something to do. Let’s go.”
He slapped her butt to get her moving, and she laughed and did as she was instructed. Afterwards, as promised, Mr. Tom met her in her room. Sebastian sat in the chair on his side of the room. He was wearing a slightly dressed-down watch, slacks, the button up he’d pulled out earlier, and dress shoes. His hair hadn’t been done yet, since she’d been steaming up the bathroom.
