“You want to know the truth? I wish I never loved her. It has ripped me apart and messed with my mind. I’m sorry, Montgomery.” The elevator dinged. “I’m going to head back to my suite. Say hi to Kristen for me.”

Before I could say anything, Adrian turned and strode across the lobby of the Hyped toward the entrance and disappeared into the cluster of people, out of sight.

“There goes my guide,” I murmured to myself with a sigh.

Chapter Seven

Part of me wanted to go after Adrian, but I knew I had to get to the stupid knucklebones game before anyone—especially my mom—noticed I wasn’t already there. Luckily, one of the elevator buttons was labeled Social Room, so I managed to find my way to the correct floor even without my guide—or my map.

As I stepped off the elevator, the feeling of being watched rushed over me. I caught the Royal surfer boy, Damian, as his eyes ran critically up and down my body. His behavior was nothing like yesterday when he had acted like I didn’t exist. My gut told me he was one of the guys Adrian had been talking about, thirsty to sleep with as many girls as he could before he found his soul mate. Imagine clicking with him? I shuddered at the thought. Would his behavior even stop once he had a click? I shot him my best don’t-even-think-about-it look and strode toward the social room.

Vlad was standing outside the door, looking more serious than the Court Guards, in a black suit, white shirt, and dark-green striped tie that was almost the same color as his eyes—moss in the depths of a forest. Despite the suit, he looked a little scruffy, not his usual clean-shaven self. Like he’d had a rough night too. What was he still doing here?

My stomach knotted, butterflies twisting inside. “Vlad. You’re here,” I said softly, as if afraid he might disappear if I spoke too loudly.

“I am.” His voice sounded as hesitant as mine. He paused before he reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a black cell phone, which I instantly recognized. “Here.”

“My phone! Thank you! Where did you find it?”

“In my coat pocket.” Noticing my confused look, he elaborated, “I lent you my coat last night? You must’ve put it in there before you—well, before you passed out.”

“Did you”—I paused and cleared my throat to hide my nervousness—“Did you carry me back to my unit?”

“I even cleaned you up and tucked you into bed.”

“You what?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot what happened last night?” When I didn’t respond, he said, “That’s okay. As long as you don’t forget to pay for the cleaners.”

“What?”

“You puked on my favorite shoes.”