The girls giggled as the doors slid open. Ariana stepped out and immediately scanned the couple dozen tuxedoed boys for a shock of blond hair, but Jasper was nowhere to be found. Her heart was just sinking with disappointment as Palmer stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with unabashed admiration.
“You look gorgeous,” he told her, giving her a quick kiss. He hugged her, and as Ariana rested her chin on his shoulder, she gave the room another cursory glance. No Jasper. Where was he? Why wasn’t he here? Was this some kind of payback for not showing up at his game the day before? He was still coming to the ball, wasn’t he?
“Thanks,” Ariana replied as Palmer released her. She tried to smile. “You do too.”
“Thanks,” Palmer said, tilting his head. “Everything okay?”
Ariana flicked her bangs away from her forehead. “Yeah. Fine. I’m just—”
The words died in her throat. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a flash of red. Her heart withered inside her chest as she saw Conrad Royce striding across the lobby toward Lexa, a huge bouquet of red roses clasped in one hand. There had to be three dozen of them—big, fat blooms, so crimson they could have been dyed with blood. He was taking Ariana’s advice. Trying to make it up to his girlfriend. But he couldn’t have picked a more inopportune method for an apology.
Roses. Bloodred roses. Just like the ones currently forming a canopy over Kaitlynn Nottingham’s grave.
A few feet away, Lexa’s back was to Conrad. Maria and Landon noticed him approaching, and Maria’s entire face lit up. She touched Lexa’s arm to turn her around, and Ariana briefly closed her eyes. She couldn’t take this. She simply could not watch.
“Hey, Lex. These are for you.”
“Oh my God,” Lexa said.
Ariana watched the back of her eyelids and awaited the breakdown.
“Ana? Are you okay?” Palmer said, gripping her elbow.
“Oh my God, Conrad!” Lexa squealed. “They’re beautiful! Thank you!”
Ariana’s eyes fluttered open. It took her a moment to focus, but when she did, Lexa and Conrad were hugging, and Maria was leaning back to keep from getting hit in the nose with the flowers.
“I know I said this before, but I’m really sorry about the other night,” Conrad said. “Do over?”
Lexa beamed up at him. She took the roses in both hands and lowered her face to the blooms, taking a deep breath to inhale their scent.
“You’ve got it,” she told him.
Ariana let out a breath, and suddenly her heart was so giddy she could hardly contain it. Clearly Lexa had turned a corner. Clearly she was getting better. Because if the sight of roses didn’t make her think of Kaitlynn, if they didn’t make her freak out the same way red wine and the blood and the broken glass had, that was definitely an improvement. Everything was going to be all right. Everything was going to be fine. In a few short hours, she’d have everything she’d ever wanted.
“Oh, man. Are you mad that I didn’t get you flowers, too?” Palmer said, reaching for her hand. “I didn’t think this was a flowers occasion.”
“No, it’s okay,” Ariana said, squeezing his hand and thinking of Jasper. “It’s all good.”
“Good,” Palmer replied. “Next time I promise to outdo Conrad.”
He released her, looped his arms around her waist, and leaned in for a kiss. As she kissed him back she decided it wasn’t a betrayal because, as Soomie would put it, (A) he was still her boyfriend, (B) she’d just gotten very good news, and (C) Jasper wasn’t here to see it anyway.
Plus, there was always (D) every relationship deserved a good-bye kiss. And Palmer didn’t know it yet, but that’s exactly what this was.
“What an incredible venue for a party,” Ariana mused, looking up at the stars trough the glass roof of the massive greenhouse at Maria’s parents’ Alexandria mansion.
“Apparently the previous owner had a serious green thumb,” Trent Greenway informed her, spinning the brandy in his glass. Mr. Greenway was a world-famous movie producer who’d had at least one multimillion-dollar hit a year for the past ten years, or so Lexa had informed Ariana right before she’d introduced them. Ariana had never been a huge modern film buff, but the list of hits had impressed even her. “Rudolpho and Cordelia have no such interest, so they cleared it out, put in the marble floor, and have used it for parties ever since.”
“It’s got nothing on the ballroom at your place, though, Mr. Greenway,” Lexa said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “You have to see it one day, Ana. Mr. Greenway has this amazing, sprawling place in the hills overlooking Hollywood, and the ballroom is right on the cliff.”
“Wow. Sounds amazing,” Ariana said.
“It is. The wife begged me not to build it. Something about an earthquake hazard,” he said. “But she wasn’t complaining after our last Oscar party got her picture in all the rags.”
“Besides, one more hit like Flicker and you can build yourself another,” Lexa said with a laugh.
Ariana blinked, appalled for a moment. She thought it was gauche to mention success and money to an adult. But Trent Greenway simply laughed. Apparently he liked to have his success and wealth bandied about publicly. And apparently Lexa knew this. Suddenly Ariana was reminded of how good it was to know someone like Lexa—someone who knew all the right people and knew how to handle them and herself.