I wanted to slap myself on the forehead. In my frustration over class, I’d completely forgotten again about showing Adrian how to drive. I felt like an idiot, even though I was still mad at him for giving up on Wolfe. I checked the time. I had things to do tonight at Amberwood but felt obligated to make up for my shoddy teaching.

“We’ll practice once we’re back in your neighborhood,” I promised. “We’ll start slow, and I’ll show you everything you need to do. I might even let you try driving around the block tonight if you seem like you’re paying attention to the lesson.”

The transformation in Adrian was remarkable. He went from sullen and uncomfortable to cheerful and energetic. I couldn’t figure it out. Sure, I found cars and driving fascinating, but technically speaking, there was a lot more detail to learn about manual transmission than there was in Wolfe’s evasive techniques. Why were those difficult for him, but the clutch was easy?

I stuck around for about an hour when we got back. To his credit, Adrian paid attention to every word I said, although his results were inconsistent whenever I quizzed him or actually let him try something. Sometimes he’d respond like a pro. Other times, he’d seem totally lost on things I could have sworn he’d picked up. By the end of the hour, I felt safe enough with him driving the car at low speeds on empty streets. He was a long way from the highway or stop-and-go traffic of a busy city.

“Looks like we’ve got more lessons in our future,” I told him when we finished. I’d parked the car behind his building, and we were walking back toward the main entrance and Latte. “Do not take that car beyond a half-mile radius. I checked the odometer. I’ll know.”

“Noted,” he said, still wearing that smirky smile. “When’s the next lesson? You want to come back tomorrow night?”

“Can’t,” I said. “I’m going out with Brayden.” I was surprised at how much I was looking forward to it. Not only did I want to make things up to him after the dance, but I also just wanted a dose of normality—well, at least the kind of normality Brayden and I had together. Plus, things with Adrian were feeling really weird…

“Oh.” Adrian’s smile fell. “Well. I understand. I mean, love and romance and all that.”

“We’re going to the textile museum,” I said. “It’s cool, though I’m not sure how much love and romance there’ll really be there.”

Adrian nearly came to a halt. “There’s a textile museum here? What do people do there?”

“Well, they look at… um, textiles. There’s actually a great exhibit on—”

I stopped as we reached the front of the building. There, behind Latte, was a familiar car, the rental that Sonya and Dimitri were using. I looked questioningly at Adrian.

“Were you expecting them tonight?”

“No,” he said, resuming his walk to the door. “They’ve got a key, though, so I suppose they can make themselves at home anytime. They do it a lot, actually. He eats my food, and she uses my hair stuff.”