"Urgh." Jesse moaned when she woke the next morning, feeling utterly and hopelessly miserable. Her head pounded something fierce, and she had the most horrendous taste in her mouth.
"Urgh." She groaned with a bit more feeling as she rolled onto her back.
Never again, she vowed as she lay there, never again will she touch alcohol. And as soon as she got hold of the person who had fed her all those tasty drinks last night, she was going to kill them.
Slowly.
A vague recollection of buying shots for herself and a woman she had become best friends with during one of her numerous trips to the bathroom flashed through her mind.
No wonder she felt so terrible.
With a self-pitying sigh, Jesse slowly opened her eyes.
Staring at the ceiling above her it took her a few seconds to realize that it didn't look familiar. A startling minute after that, she realized that the bed she was lying on was softer than her own and that scent she was greedily sucking in was pure male.
Pure, familiar male.
Alarm shot through her and she bolted upright, moaning again when the quick movement made her head throb even more painfully.
There was a knock on the door before she heard Devon call out her name.
Oh, no.
Oh, nononononono!
Utter panic consumed Jesse and she crawled towards the side of the bed. Uncertain of where she was going but when the door handle started turning, she decided the cupboard looked like a safe bet.
Not even two steps from the bed, Jesse abruptly found herself lying on the floor. Her limbs spread in a very inelegant mess, blankets wrapped around her legs, while she blinked up at the ceiling.
She heard Devon swear softly and something metallic being put down before she felt him crouch down next to her.
"What happened?"
Jesse moaned in denial, squeezing her eyes closed even tighter. Hoping that the Earth would just open up and swallow her whole.
"Jesse, are you alright?" He asked, cupping the side of her face in his hand before sliding it down to rest on the base of her throat.
At the touch of his hand, Jesse felt that electric feeling spread over her body again.
Hearing a strangled sound coming from him, Jesse opened her eyes and looked right into Devon’s face. She followed his eyes toward her chest area. She let out a squeal and bolted upright. Devon swore while she whimpered when their heads painfully collided.
The pain gave her momentary reprieve from the fact that her nipples were practically visible in the shirt she had on and Devon had seen them.
"Mr. Monroe!" Jesse squeaked.
"Jesse," Devon answered evenly and rubbed his jaw.
"What are you doing here?"
Devon raised a brow and looked around the room.
"Well, last time I checked, this was my house."
"What?!"
Devon nodded as he rose to his feet, offering his hand to her but she was already scrambling up.
"My brother brought you here after the festival last night. You lost your keys somewhere, and you were rather adamant about not disturbing your friends to get the spare key they have. Do you remember that?”
Jesse nodded, struggling to put together the vague images of the end of her night out with Jax. She had snapshots of laughing, some dancing, and the warm weight of his arm around her waist as he led her to a car.
She looked up at Devon, bewildered.
“We drove his friend's car here?”
“That’s right. Jax thought it would be safer than having you at the back of the bike. Something he mentioned you were also worried about.”
“Yeah, I’ve never ridden at the back of a bike before and didn’t want to attempt it after a, uhm, few drinks.”
Devon gave an amused look that said he wasn’t fooled.
“The way you staggered in here last night gave me the idea that it was more than ‘a few’ drinks.”
“The night kind of ran away with me.” Jesse admitted on a mutter, feeling mortified that he had seen her in that state last night. Not to mention what she must look like after sleeping with her makeup on. And her hair …
Where was that hole she keeps looking for?
“The nights out with Jax have a way of doing that. As long as he looked after you and you had fun doing what you were doing.”
He drags his hands over her tangled golden hair and lifts her face. His eyes searched hers while his thumbs brushed over her cheeks.
“Did you? Have fun with my brother?” He clarified when she looked confused.
Jesse closed her eyes, her cheeks growing hot.
“Jesse?”
“Yes, I had fun.”
“Good. I’m glad.” He pulled her closer. “You can be such a serious little thing. You needed to have a night out to let loose.”
She glared up at him.
“Seriousness doesn’t discriminate on height. Besides, I’m a good average height at 5.7.”
“Exactly tiny.”
She huffs but settles back into his arms. There were alarm bells going off in the distant part of her brain. There was something that she was forgetting but she couldn’t seem to focus on anything except for the feel of his arms around her. The subtle smell of his cologne and the sound of his heart beating under her ear.
The moment was broken by the sound of her stomach growling.
“I brought you some breakfast.” He said with a slight smile, and led her to the bed before tucking her under the sheets. He brought the tray he had dumped on the table at the door and set it on her lap. The little white tablet instantly drew her attention.
A pain pill!
The beautiful, wondrous man!
She’d forgiven all his previous transgressions just for that.
“Take your time and finish what you can. I’m going to go grab some things for you so you can shower and freshen up for the day.”
Feeling a little unbalanced by his familiar treatment, Jesse nodded and focussed on the breakfast he gave her as he left the room. Deciding that she was too hungover to properly freak out over what was happening and that she’d take some time to overthink it later.
As she chewed, she took a look around the masculine room and was completely horrified to find that her bra had been thrown haphazardly on the lamp next to the bed. It was something she would usually do at home if she fell asleep with it on.
She reached over and snatched it to her.
She had just finished hiding her it under the pillow when Devon came back with an armful of items. He gave Jesse a considering look when she jumped guiltily, the tray dipping precariously on her lap.
“I’ll put this in the bathroom for you,”
That was close! Hopefully, he hadn’t seen it when he first came into the room.
“Jax and I will be downstairs in the kitchen. Out the door to your left. The kitchen is to your immediate right once you’re down the stairs.”
He stopped next to the bed and reached out to grip her chin in his hand. Her eyes flickered around him as he tilted her face up.
“Don’t hide away too long.” The knowing look in his eyes had Jesse blushing furiously as she tried to formulate a retort.