"Hi," I respond.
"So, you know the host?" There's a curious note in his voice that it takes a moment for me to process.
"Jealous?" The word slips out without me meaning it to, but his reaction tells me everything. I'm not going to ask about it, but I suspect that I'm not the only one feeling the word mate when we were in the same vicinity.
"I don't think I should answer that." The look he gives me leaves no doubt of what he's thinking.
"I used to work at Drake's family's restaurant," I explain. "We're just friends."
"Ah."
"There's never been anything between us," I say quickly.
"I didn't think otherwise." He flashes me a smile.
I raise an eyebrow.
"Okay, I had a brief moment of wondering whether you might be dating."
"Definitely not," I respond, meeting his gaze. There's something captivating about his eyes and the way they see me. It's part of what keeps pulling me towards him. I break the connection and take a sip of my wine, enjoying the taste and the bubbles. "I could drink too much of this."
He laughs. "It's a party, isn't that the point?"
"Maybe, but I should still be sensible." It wouldn't be the best idea to let the alcohol go to my head. I'm not a huge drinker, only really doing it in social situations.
"I guess that depends on whether you need to get up for anything in the morning," Archie says with a cheeky grin.
"I don't. But that doesn't mean I want a bad hangover."
"Hmm. That might be unavoidable," he jokes, taking a sip of his own drink.
"Maybe. But I'm enjoying the company without needing to drink much." I gesture to the sofa a couple of feet away. I'm not sure what students decked out the room like this, or what it was that made them do it, but I'm grateful for them.
"Same." He takes a seat.
I sit beside him, a little closer than I need to. Then again, there's a lot of noise around us, and I want to actually be able to hear him.
"How's your first week been?" he asks. "Everything you want it to be?"
"I think so," I respond. "It's hard to say when all of the lectures have been some kind of variation of here's what we're going to teach you."
He laughs. "It'll get better," he promises.
"I assume so. How about you?" I move closer so that I can hear him better.
"I feel normal."
"Is that good?"
He lets out a sigh. "It's better than good," he responds. "The demon court is a little chaotic, but everyone there knows I'm a prince."
"Everyone here knows that too," I point out.
"It's different," he says. "It feels like people actually want to get to know me, rather than friending up to a prince."
"I hope you know I'm not even thinking like that."
He meets my gaze, and I see something surprisingly earnest in his eyes. "I know, Lottie."
