Pure Sin (Privilege 5)

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Miss Greene. If you’re ever interested in a career in the movie business, give me a call,” Mr. Greenway said with a genuine smile. “I could use someone like you around the office.” Then he looked at Ariana. “You too, Miss Covington. You’ve got that creative yet ruthless air about you. Both qualities would work well for you in Hollywood.”

Ariana was stunned into speechlessness.

“Ladies,” he said with a bow, removing himself from their space. He backed away and struck up a conversation with Landon and Maria. Lexa smiled at Ariana, impressed.

“I know!” Ariana said, moving toward the bar. The skirt of her dress scraped delicately along the floor, and the cool air circulating around her tickled her skin. “But where’d he get ruthless from?”

“I told him how you stole Palmer from me,” Lexa said matter-of-factly, resting her empty glass on the bar and signaling for another. “Maybe he was referring to that.”

Ariana’s jaw dropped. “Lexa, I—”

“I’m just kidding!” Lexa said, placing her hand on Ariana’s arm in a placating way. “You should see your face. That joke is just never going to get old.”

Ariana rolled her eyes and leaned back against the bar, biting back a retort about how the joke had gotten old the first time it was made. But what was the point in arguing about this now? She had a feeling the jibe would be completely passé the moment she broke up with Palmer, and then she’d never have to hear it, or explain it, or feel guilty about it again.

Not that she had ever felt all that guilty about stealing Palmer from Lexa in the first place. She’d simply done what needed to be done.

As Lexa sipped her new drink, Ariana was suddenly hit with a brilliant idea. Perhaps Lexa and Palmer would get back together. The moment she imagined it, she was shot through with automatic jealousy, but in the next moment she realized how silly that was. She didn’t want Palmer anymore. And he was a good guy. He and Lexa had been in love once. They could be again. Ariana realized it might be difficult for Palmer to get over her, but once he did, he could be exactly what Lexa needed. Solid, mature, kind, understanding.

Captain Boring, she thought, stifling a laugh.

“What?” Lexa asked, swirling the ice in her glass. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Ariana said. “Just thinking about how everything’s falling into place.”

And not just for Lexa and Palmer and her and Jasper. Already tonight Ariana had met several influential Stone and Grave alumni who worked in a number of different and fascinating fields. All of them had attended Ivy League schools, and three people had already offered to write her recommendations for Princeton. The whole world was opening up at Ariana’s feet. In two year’s time she would be a freshman at Princeton University, just as she’d always dreamed. She might have fallen a couple of years behind schedule, thanks to Reed Brennan, but she would get there. All she had to be was patient. And patience was something Ariana had in spades. How else could she have survived those eighteen months inside the Brenda T.?

Suddenly the crowd before her parted, and there was Jasper. It was the first time she’d seen him all night, and he put all the other boys to shame in his black tux and long dark gray tie. He looked elegant, sleek, sophisticated. And he had an incredibly sexy look on his face as he approached. A look that said he knew something no one else in the room knew.

That he knew her.

“Hi, ladies,” he said, hands in his pockets as he paused in front of them.

Ariana’s heart was on fire.

“Hi, Jasper,” Lexa said in a friendly way. “You look quite dashing.”

“You’re looking lovely, too, Madame President,” he said with a smile. Lexa blushed, and Ariana felt momentarily envious. But then he turned his eyes to her. “But, if you don’t mind my saying so, nothing compares to my fellow pledge.”

Ariana smiled and cast her eyes at the ground.

r />

“I don’t mind at all,” Lexa said, accustomed to the flirtatious ways of the boys at APH. “I happen to agree.”

“Do you now?” Jasper asked, his face lighting up. “That’s very interesting.” He turned around, kicking his heel against the floor, and leaned back next to Ariana. “You know, you two will never believe what I heard about you the other day.”

Ariana glanced at Lexa and watched as all the blood instantly drained from her face. She wanted to reach for her friend’s wrist, to reassure her that there was nothing Jasper could possibly know, but before she could, he continued.

“I heard that the two of you have been very . . . bad . . . girls,” he said, leaning toward them, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

Ariana’s mouth went dry. He couldn’t. He didn’t. “What . . . what do you mean?” she asked, the smile frozen on her face.

“Don’t you two know by now?” he teased. “It’s impossible to keep secrets around here.”

Ariana’s eyes darted to Lexa, who looked like she was about to faint. She felt as if her own heart was being twisted into a coil, tightening, tightening, tightening with each passing second. There was no way he could possibly know. There was just no way.

“I—”