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“Then don’t.”
“Fine.” She raises a finger. “I’ll just say this. Whatever is eating at you, fix it. If it’s Brianna Steel? Fix it.” She shakes her head. “You’d better be damned happy Callie and Donny don’t know about any of this. They’re with Maddie and Brianna right now, so you’d better hope your little sister doesn’t start talking about the fact that her roomie didn’t come home last night.”
“Christ.” I rub my eyes, and my face splits into a yawn. “I’m just so fucking tired, Ror. I got back after dinner last night, and sleep wouldn’t come. So I went down for a drink.”
“Which is where you found Brianna Steel, and you figured out a way to make sleep come.”
I feel woozy, as if all my blood is rushing to my head. “I suppose so. At least I thought I did. But then sleep didn’t come anyway, because I felt so…” I sigh.
Rory slaps the back of my head. “Guilty? Stupid? Like this is the dumbest thing you could’ve ever done?”
“Ow!” I rub my head. “And yeah. Among other things.”
“Jesse, this is a complication we did not need on this trip. You know that.”
“I know. I was thinking with the wrong head.”
Rory sits back down. “God, you men are idiots. To think I could have had a woman as my life partner.”
I open my mouth, but no words come out. I’d like to defend my sex, but at the moment, I’m just too damned tired.
“You do whatever you have to do to sleep tonight. Something besides fucking Brianna Steel. Go to a pharmacy, see if you can find an over-the-counter sleep aid. But get some fucking sleep tonight, Jesse Pike, or I swear to God I will kick your ass.”
I scoff.
“Fine. I’ll get my fiancé to kick your ass.”
“Like he could.”
She laughs as she rakes her gaze over me. “Yeah, he could, especially with the shape you’re in right now.”
“Stop it with your empty threats, Rory,” I say. “I know this is a problem, and I’ll fix it.”
“You’d better hope Brianna doesn’t go running to Donny about this. Or Brock, for that matter.”
“Don’t you think I’ve already thought of all that?” I close my eyes, inhale slowly. “I’ve gone over every scenario in my head. Every single one points to one conclusion. I fucked up.”
“Damned right you fucked up.”
Rory doesn’t even know how badly I fucked up. She doesn’t know Brianna was a virgin.
I’m not about to enlighten her.
“I don’t want to take some pill, even if it’s over the counter. I’ve never needed anything like that before.”
“Then get on your phone and do a search. Find out how to overcome jet lag. Whatever it is, you fucking do it.”
“Yeah. But with Dragon in the room—”
“That’s a nonissue.” She taps on her phone. “The hotel was fully booked, but a room became available this morning. I booked it for you. It happens to be right next to mine…and you’d better be the only one in it.” She eyes me, glaring.
“We’ve been through this. The band has expenses. We can’t afford our own rooms.” I grab her phone and read the confirmation email. “Five hundred pounds a night? You’re kidding, right?”
She yanks her phone back from me. “That’s whyIbooked it. I’m paying for it. It’s my gift to you, Jesse. Use it. Get in your room, take a long bath if you have to.”
I grimace. “I don’t take baths. I feel like I’m stewing in my own filth.”
Rory’s features finally soften. “You are. But they help. They help you relax. I’ve also booked you a massage this evening. Go to it. When you’re done, take a warm bath in your private room to get rid of all the toxins that work their way to the surface from the massage.”
