Chapter 453

“All right, who’s in!?” Jesse asks, beaming around at our little circle with a laugh.

“Absolutely not,” Midnight says, slowly shaking her head and looking around at all her collected cake like she has no reason at all to leave. “Abandon this to go drink demon juice? With the ruffians and the whores? No thank you.”

Jesse laughs and narrows his eyes at her. “You don’t have ID anyway. And no one will believe you’re older than twelve.”

She nods sharply like it’s decided, quite pleased.

“Well, if Midnight isn’t coming then I’m calling it a boy’s night,” Rafe says, quite grave.

I gasp and turn to him, appalled.

“You’ll be the only girl, Ari,” Jesse says, screwing his face to the side. “It’s very clearly becoming a boys’ support club – a healing evening of debauchery with the ruffians and the whores. You’d hate it anyway – all whiskey, no wine. That’s a rule.”

“This is sexist and horrible,” I snarl, crossing my arms over my chest even as I realize that honestly, I’m not sure I want to go anyway. My wolf nudges me, urging me to get in touch with Daphne and to spend a little more time with Pippa if I can – my friends who I really shouldn’t abandon for a day of drinking. Even Maryam, if she’ll see me, could probably use someone to talk to.

Besides, I don’t need a day of debauchery to run away from my problems. My life is…kind of coming together right now.

“I’m out too,” Elias says on a sigh, screwing his mouth to the side. “I’ve got a baby on the way, no leaving the palace for me.”

Jesse and Rafe nod to him, understanding and supportive, and then turn their eyes to Ben. Ben looks at Elias with a grimace.

“Oh, go!” Elias says, giving him a little shove on the shoulder. “You deserve it. Besides I think…” he glances around the tent and laughs a little. “I think you have kind of some news to break, don’t you?”

“What?” Rafe asks, looking around at all of us, trying to figure out what the news could be.

Ben laughs and shrugs. “All right, I’m in. Jacks?”

“What?” Jackson says, sitting up straight.

“Jacks is coming,” Jesse says, grinning and pointing at him.

“I am staying with Ariel,” Jackson says, pulling me first against and then slightly in front of him, almost like a shield.

“Jackson!” I say, laughing and turning a bit to look up at him, “you should go!”

“What?” he asks, going tense. He glances around, bringing his mouth close to my ear. “Ariel, I want to stay with you –“

“Booo,” Rafe calls out, cupping his hands unnecessarily to his mouth. “Happy relationships are lame! Come out Jacks!”

“Jackson, I am your best friend –“ Jesse says, looking at him with wide, sincere eyes.

“You use that line too much,” Jackson says, narrowing his eyes at my cousin, making me laugh. “I’m starting to think you get more out of being my best friend than I do.”

“Then let me buy you twelve glasses of whiskey, my guy,” Jesse says, grinning at Jacks, a wicked flash in his smile. “Besides, you’re family now.”

“It is true, Jacks,” I say, pointing over at Rafe. “Your brother is sad.”

“He’s my brother?” Jacks asks, screwing up his face a little and turning to look at Rafe, who nods seriously.

“Yes, and I’m sad. I need you.”

“Oh my god,” Jackson groans, letting his head fall. “Fine, I’ll go.”

A shout goes out through the tent and I laugh, turning and wrapping my arms around Jackson’s neck, pulling myself close and giving him a few kisses on the cheek. “It’ll be good!” I whisper to him. “You need time with the boys.”

“I need time with you,” he grumbles.

Beaming, I lean back to look in his face, absolutely loving how much he genuinely likes my company and wants to hang out.

“Let’s go!” Jesse says, laughing and getting fast to his feet. “Boy’s night out!”

“Have fun!” Midnight calls, smiling around at her assorted cakes like a dragon in a very specific kind of treasure trove.

Laughing, excited, our little group calls our thanks to her and spills out of the yurt, heading down the stairs.

“Are you going to see Pippa?” I ask Elias, moving to his side, Jackson coming with me. “Would you mind if I came?”

“Sure,” Elias says, giving me a happy grin. “I think it will do her some good.”

I nod eagerly to him and we set off down the stairs, Jackson staying close to me until the last second before Jesse hauls him away to go find Mark.

The boys’ night out is…fine.

Jackson sighs, sipping at his beer, and turns to look around the bar. He frowns a little when at least a dozen eyes – most of them women’s – dart immediately away from him, blushes coloring cheeks. What…what was that about?

His frown deepens as he puts the thought out of his mind, knowing that he’s never going to get it right if he tries to venture a guess, so he turns his eyes back to his companions. Jesse and Mark stand close to each other, laughing about something, and Ben and Rafe sit quite close, whispering – probably about the great secret that Ben revealed at the beginning of the night, about liking men romantically, and being mated to Elias.

The others had been shocked by this but Jackson had been largely unphased. Honestly, when Ben had told them Jackson had kept waiting for the real secret to be revealed. It was only a few minutes in that he figured out that that’s all it was. Ariel – she thought she had some great secret about Ben up her sleeve, but he’d kind of already known.

Ariel has known about Ben liking guys for a long time, after all, which means that on some level Jacks knew too – her thoughts and considerations of Ben trickling down the bond in little pieces. Plus, growing up in a barrack with a couple of dozen young men who were forbidden to talk to, touch, or even really think about girls…

Well, he’d never dabbled in the sexual assignations that some of the other boys had tried to be so discreet about. But it certainly wasn’t uncommon. So Ben telling everyone that he likes men – it hadn’t been nearly the shock to him as it had been to others.

But tonight, he’s relieved to find that nobody is getting as drunk as Rafe and Jesse first implied back in the yurt. That it’s not really a night of debauchery and instead a few good drinks to loosen everyone up. They seem to have done their job - Rafe and Jesse certainly do look more cheerful after their fairly dramatic experiences with their mates and girlfriends over the past twenty-four hours. And Jackson is happy about that – it’s good to see them, his family, calmer, happier.

But…he has to admit it. He just wants to go home.

Jackson sighs, taking a long sip of his drink, wondering what Ariel is getting up to back at the palace. Whether or not she’s alone in the room. If she’s maybe wearing that slippy little night shirt he saw in her closet, and if the lace is sliding up her thigh. God damn it, her legs –

“Hey big boy,” a light voice says next to him. Jackson blinks and looks down at the pretty, dark-haired girl giving him a sultry smile. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“You want to buy me a drink?” Jackson says, smirking a bit, looking down at the girl, a little confused. “Why? I already have one.”

“In the hopes that I can get you a couple more,” the girl says, stepping closer – close enough to wrap her hands around his forearm. “And in the time it takes you to drink them, convince you to take me to bed.”

Jackson blinks in surprise, staring at the girl. Because…damn. Well, at least she’s not playing coy – he hates that. It takes him so long to figure out if they’re just being nice or trying to date him.

Even if…well. Apparently, they’re usually trying to date him.

“Sorry,” Jackson says, smiling a little and shaking his head at the girl. “I’m mated.” He lifts a hand and presses it over his chest where Ariel’s mark is.

“Happily so?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Jackson laughs and nods, low and deep.

“To whom?” she says on a sigh, her apparent disappointment giving her the opportunity to lean closer. “I see the company you’re with,” she says, flicking her eyes over to the pair of princes and the duke. “Those royal girls are always so stuck up and uptight. Not like me,” she wrinkles her nose at him. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

Panicking a little, Jacks looks over at his friends and is relieved to find Rafe coming over to his rescue.

“He’s mated to my sister,” Rafe says, smirking at the woman and then flicking his eyes pointedly down to where her arms are still wrapped around his forearm. “And trust me, no one describes her as uptight.”

“Juniper?” the woman asks, standing up a bit in surprise. “Damn, she’s young. You royals get started early.”

“No, my other sister.” Rafe says, leaning on the bar next to Jackson. “Ariel.”

The woman goes still and then rolls her eyes, dropping her hands. Jackson exhales a small, relieved breath. “Look,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest, offended. “You don’t have to lie to get me to go away.”

“I’m not lying,” Rafe says, his face breaking out into his million-dollar smile.

The girl rolls her eyes. “Everyone knows Ariel Sinclair is mated to Luca Grant.”

Rafe and Jackson both smirk, turning their eyes to each other, thinking that this girl…has no idea what she’s talking about.