He sensed the change in her, and his friendly smile turned to one of polite indifference. “Right away.” He gave her a small bow and headed off to the bar.

“Jeez,” said Avery, watching admiringly as he walked away. “Why didn’t you introduce us to your friend?”

“He’s not my friend,” snapped Lissa. “He’s nobody.”

“Agreed,” said Adrian, putting an arm around Avery. “Why look elsewhere when you’ve got the best right here?” If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have sworn there was a hint of legitimate jealousy underneath his jovial tone. “Didn’t I go out of my way to bring you to breakfast with my aunt?”

Avery gave him a lazy smile. “That’s a good start. You’ve still got a ways to go to impress me, Ivashkov.” Her gaze drifted over Lissa’s head and turned surprised. “Hey, Jailbait’s here.”

Mia, with Jill in tow, came striding through the garden, indifferent to the shocked looks she received. The two of them were clearly out of place.

“Hey,” said Mia when she reached Lissa’s group. “My dad just got called away, and I have to go with him. I’ve got to give Jill back.”

“No problem,” said Lissa automatically, though she clearly wasn’t happy about Jill being there. Lissa still kept wondering if Christian had some special interest in her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just business.”

Mia made her farewells to everyone and left the party as quickly as she’d come, rolling her eyes at the other royals’ sneers and shock as she passed.

Lissa turned her attention to Jill, who had sat gingerly in a nearby chair and was staring around her in wonder. “How’s it been? Did you have fun with Mia?”

Jill turned back to Lissa, face brightening. “Oh yeah. She’s really great. She’s done so much work with water. It’s crazy! And she taught me a few fighting moves, too. I can throw a right hook… although not very hard.”

Ambrose returned then with Lissa’s drink. He gave it to her wordlessly and softened a bit when he saw Jill. “You want anything?”

She shook her head. “No, thanks.”

Adrian was watching Jill carefully. “You okay here? Do you want me to take you back to guest housing?” Like before, his intentions weren’t romantic in the least. He seemed to regard her as a little sister, which I thought was cute. I hadn’t thought him capable of that kind of protective behavior.

She shook her head again. “It’s okay. I don’t want you to have to leave… unless…” Her expression grew worried. “Do you want me to go?”

“Nah,” said Adrian. “It’s nice to have someone responsible around in the midst of all this madness. You should get yourself some food, if you’re hungry.”

“You’re so motherly,” teased Avery, echoing my thoughts.

For whatever reason, Lissa took Adrian’s “responsible” comment personally, like he was directly slamming her. I didn’t think that was the case at all, but she wasn’t really thinking all that clearly. Deciding she wanted some food herself, she got up and wandered over to the table in the courtyard’s garden that had trays of appetizers on it. Well, it had earlier. Now the table was being used by the dancing girls Lissa had noticed before. Someone had cleared space by moving all the trays of food to the ground. Lissa leaned over and picked up a mini sandwich, watching the girls and wondering how they could find any sort of beat in that royal guy’s horrible music.

One of the girls spotted Lissa and grinned. She extended a hand. “Hey, come on up.”

Lissa had met her once but couldn’t recall her name. Dancing suddenly seemed like a great idea. Lissa finished the sandwich and, drink in hand, allowed herself to be pulled up. This got a few cheers from people gathered around. Lissa discovered that the crappy music was irrelevant and found herself getting into it. Her and the other girls’ moves varied from overtly sexual to mockeries of disco. It was all fun, and Lissa wondered if Avery would claim this would haunt her in ten years too.

After a while, she and the others actually attempted some synchronized moves. They started by swaying their arms in the air and then moved on to some chorus line kicks. Those kicks proved disastrous. A misstep-Lissa was wearing heels-suddenly sent her over the table’s edge. She lost the drink and nearly collapsed before a pair of arms caught her and kept her upright. “My hero,” she muttered. Then she got a good look at her savior’s face. “Aaron?”

Lissa’s ex-boyfriend-and the first guy she’d ever slept with-looked down at her with a smile and released her once he seemed certain she could stand. Blond-haired and blue-eyed, Aaron was handsome in a surfer kind of way. I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if Mia had seen him. She, Aaron, and Lissa had once been involved in a triangle worthy of any soap opera.

“What are you doing here? We thought you disappeared,” Lissa said. Aaron had left the Academy a few months ago.

“I’m going to school out in New Hampshire,” he replied. “We’re here visiting family.”

“Well, it’s great to see you,” said Lissa. Things hadn’t ended well between them, but in her current state, she meant her words. She’d had enough booze to think it was great to see everyone at the party.

“You too,” he said. “You look amazing.”

His words struck her more than she would have expected, probably because everyone else here had implied that she looked trashed and irresponsible. And breakup or no, she couldn’t help but recall how attractive she’d once found him. Honestly, she still found him attractive. She just didn’t love him anymore.

“You should stay in touch,” she said. “Let us know what’s going on.” For a moment, she wondered if she should have said that, in light of having a boyfriend. Then she dismissed her worries. There was nothing wrong with hanging out with other guys-particularly since Christian hadn’t cared enough to come with her on this trip.

“I’d like that,” Aaron said. There was something in his eyes she found pleasurably disconcerting. “I don’t suppose, though, that I could get a goodbye kiss, seeing as I rescued you and all?”

The idea was preposterous-then, after a moment, Lissa laughed. What did it matter? Christian was the one she loved, and a kiss between friends would mean nothing. Looking up, she let Aaron lean down and cup her face. Their lips met, and there was no denying it: The kiss lasted a bit longer than a friendly one. When it ended, Lissa found herself smiling like a dazed schoolgirl-which, technically, she was.

“See you around,” she said, heading back toward her friends.

Avery wore a chastising look, but it wasn’t over Aaron and the kiss. “Are you crazy? You nearly broke your leg. You can’t do that kind of thing.”

“You’re supposed to be the fun one,” pointed out Lissa. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Fun isn’t the same as stupid,” Avery retorted, face serious. “You can’t go do stupid shit like that. I think we should get you home.”

“I’m fine,” said Lissa. She stubbornly looked away from Avery and instead focused on some guys who were doing shots of tequila. They were having some sort of competition-and half of them looked ready to pass out.

“Define ‘fine,’” said Adrian wryly. Yet he looked concerned too.

“I’m fine,” Lissa repeated. Her gaze snapped back to Avery. “I didn’t get hurt at all.” She’d expected grief about Aaron and was surprised they hadn’t given it to her-which made it even more surprising when it came from another source.

“You kissed that guy!” exclaimed Jill, leaning forward. Her face was aghast, and she displayed none of her usual reticence.

“It was nothing,” said Lissa, who was irked to have Jill reprimanding her of all people. “Certainly none of your business.”

“But you’re with Christian! How could you do that to him?”

“Relax, Jailbait,” said Avery. “A drunken kiss is nothing compared to a drunken fall. God knows I’ve kissed plenty of guys drunk.”

“And yet, I remain unkissed tonight,” mused Adrian, with a shake of his head.