I grin at the level of her intoxication. “I thought you didn’t like her.”
“I do, now that I know she doesn’t like you the way you led me to believe she did.”
I touch her lips. “Don’t pout. She’s a lot like you . . . only more annoying.”
“Excuse me?” She hiccups. “That wasn’t very nice of you to make me jealous of her.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” I reply smugly as we reach the door.
Lillian is seated alone on the couch when we enter the house. I take a moment to pull the front of Tessa’s dress up a little. She rolls her eyes at me.
Seeing us, Lillian stands to her feet. “How was it?”
“It was so, so much fun! The band was great!” Tessa beams.
“She’s wasted,” I inform Lillian.
She laughs. “I can see that.” After a pause, she says, “Smith is asleep. He almost had a conversation with me tonight.”
“Good for you,” I say and lead Tessa toward the hall.
My drunk girlfriend waves at Lillian. “It was nice seeing you!”
I don’t know if I should tell Lillian to leave now or wait until Vance shows up, so I don’t say anything. Besides, let her deal with that little robot kid if he wakes up.
When we get to Tessa’s room, I close the door behind us, and she immediately plops onto the bed. “Can you take this off?” She points to her dress. “It’s so itchy.”
“Yeah, stand up.” I help her out of her dress, and she thanks me with a kiss on the tip of my nose. It’s a simple gesture, but it catches me off guard, and I smile at her.
“I’m so glad you’re here with me,” she says.
“Are you?”
She nods and undoes the remainder of the buttons left on Christian’s shirt. Her hands push the garment down my arms, and she folds it neatly before walking to the hamper. I’ll never understand why she folds dirty clothes, but I’m used to it by now.
“Yes, very. Seattle isn’t as great as I thought,” she finally admits.
Then come back with me, I want to say.
“Why not?” I say instead.
“I don’t know. It’s just not.” She frowns, and I’m surprised that instead of wanting to hear how miserable she is here, I want to change the subject. Landon and I both suspected she felt this way; but still it makes me feel bad that it’s not exactly what she’d wanted. I should take her out tomorrow during the day to cheer her up.
“You could move to England,” I say.
She glares at me with red cheeks and champagne-glazed eyes. “You won’t take me there for a wedding, but you want me to move there,” she says, calling me out.
“We’ll talk about it later,” I say, hoping she’ll drop it right now.
“Yeah . . . yeah . . . always later.” She walks back to sit on the bed but misses completely. Her body rolls onto the floor, and she bursts into a fit of laughter.
“Christ, Tessa.” I grab hold of her hand and help her to her feet, my heart pounding in my chest.
“I’m fine.” She laughs and sits down on the bed, pulling me with her.
“I gave you too much champagne.”
“Yep, you did.” She smiles and pushes my shoulders back until I’m flat on the mattress.
“Are you okay? Do you feel sick?”
She rests her head against my chest. “Stop parenting me, I’m fine.” I bite my tongue instead of mouthing off to her.
“What do you want to do?” she asks quietly.
“What?”
“I’m bored.” She looks up at me with that look. Tessa lifts herself up and stares down at me, eyes wild.
“What would you like to do, drunk ass?”
“Pull your hair.” She grins and pulls her bottom lip between her teeth in the most sinful way.
Chapter one hundred and seventeen
HARDIN
Can’t sleep?” Christian turns on the overhead light and joins me in the kitchen.
“Tessa needed some water,” I tell him. I push the refrigerator door closed, but he stops it with his hand.
“Kim, too. The price of drinking too much champagne,” he says from behind me.
Tessa’s endless giggles and insatiable appetite for pleasure have worn me out. I’m convinced she’ll be vomiting soon if she doesn’t drink some water. Visions of her tonight, lying back on the bed, her legs spread for me as I brought her to orgasm using both my fingers and my tongue, flash through my mind. She was amazing, as she always was when she rode my cock until I emptied myself into a condom.
“Yeah, Tessa’s a mess.” I bite back a smile while remembering her tumble off the bed.
“So . . . England next weekend, then?” He changes the subject.
“Nah, I’m not going.”
“This is your mum’s wedding we’re talking about.”
“And? It’s not her first, probably won’t be the last,” I say.
To say I’m completely shocked when his hand reaches out and knocks the bottled water from my hand would be an understatement.
“What the fuck?” I exclaim and bend down to grab the bottle.
When I stand back up, Vance’s eyes are focused on me, and the look in them is intense. “You have no right to speak of your mum that way.”
“What does it matter to you? I don’t want to go, and I’m not going to.”
“Give me a reason, a real one,” he challenges me.
What the fuck is his problem? “I don’t need to give anyone a reason. I just don’t want to go to a stupid wedding. I’ve already been dragged to one this season, and that was enough for me.”