They were lounging in one of the entertainment rooms at St. R’s a couple days later. Leo and Rahul had invited him, like they still did occasionally, and then had looked shocked when he’d accepted their invitation. Leo had quickly covered up his shock with mindless prattle, which had prompted Rahul to call him on his behavior, which had made the whole thing awkward. Grey considered just going back to his room at that point, but now he was glad he hadn’t. This was… kind of fun.

The “game over” sound warbled, and Leo threw his controller on the oversize couch. “Merde!” he said, gesturing at the 110-inch 4K TV screen. “Why am I so horrible at these video games? How is this physically possible? I am a smart man, but video games—they make no sense to me.” His shoulders slumped. “I have been on a losing streak lately. I am also not making the slightest bit of progress with le magnifique Samantha Wickers.”

“You need to make progress quickly, before the factories run out of rhubarb jam,” Rahul deadpanned.

Leo glared at him. “I am serious! I do not know what I am doing wrong.”

Grey gave him a sympathetic half smile. “You’re not doing anything wrong. I mean, jam’s an unconventional strategy, but it’s not wrong. Just keep being you. Show her you care. Sometimes you have to fight for what you want.”

Leo was silent, and Grey glanced at him again to find him staring. “What?” he asked, unsettled. Had he said something socially unacceptable somehow?

“Rien, nothing,” Leo said, shaking his head and settling against a leather throw pillow. “You are different now. You have been for some time.”

Grey frowned at him. “What do you mean, ‘different’?”

Leo shrugged. “You were shut down before. Then you and Jaya began to hang out and you changed. You are more…” He pursed his lips, apparently not able to find the right word.

“Open,” Rahul said on Grey’s other side.

Grey regarded the two of them. “Open,” he mused. They were right. Jaya had unearthed so much of him.

Raised voices in the hallway had them pausing in their conversation. Caterina and Alaric walked in, their faces red, their voices heated. They stopped short when they saw Leo, Rahul, and Grey. Then Alaric strode to the back of the room, where the air hockey and ping-pong tables were, and Caterina followed him. A moment later, they were arguing again, their voices too low for Grey to make out what they were saying. If he had to guess, it had to do with the bombshell DE had dropped on the yacht.

“Anyway, yes,” Leo said, turning back to Grey. He raised his hands, palms upward. “You are playing a game with us rather than just saying no and going to your room. You are inside rather than outside, watching.” He paused. “What has changed? Are you and Jaya speaking again?”