True to his deeply ingrained military roots, every word out of his mouth was about duty to the country and the people.

Claire didn’t seek Van out for a private chat after the gala ended, mostly because it wasn’t the right setting.

They didn’t have much overlap in their lives anyway, and Claire preferred it that way.

Once Van fully recovered, he would head straight back to his unit.

And Claire was about to dive headfirst into a demanding college schedule.

Oh, right—Van had also extended an invitation for her to attend his and Tilda’s upcoming wedding.

The couple had decided to finalize their marriage plans while he was still on medical leave.

Even though the timeline was incredibly rushed for the bride, the groom’s schedule was famously unforgiving.

Tilda was completely on board, and her parents had no choice but to accept it.

Fortunately, the man she had chosen was a solid catch, otherwise her parents would have firmly put their foot down.

Skipping the pleasantries with Van, Claire checked her phone after the event. She and her roommates had already agreed in their group chat to grab supper.

Zara had boldly declared she was treating, and not showing up would be a huge slap in the face.

And honestly, who could say no to the heiress?

They had assumed it would just be a casual bite to eat among the four of them.

No one expected Zara to actually bring the dancer along.

“Let me introduce you. This is my buddy who performed the dance earlier. His name is Yanis Mercer.”

“Yanis is a dance major. He’s got incredible form, and he’s a good friend of mine.”

Judging by their effortless dynamic, Zara and Yanis had clearly grown up together. They were incredibly close.

Yanis offered a warm, confident smile. “Hey everyone, I’m Yanis. Nice to meet you all.”

“I’m Skylar, but you can call me Skye! I’m a pharmacy major, so if you ever need…” Skye was the first to practically launch herself into an introduction.

She was chattering away excitedly like a little songbird.

Claire and Zara exchanged a look, both of them wincing slightly at her eagerness.

Was it really love at first sight?

On the walk back to the dorm after supper, Claire couldn’t help but ask Skye about

it.

Skye was absolutely glowing,

aely immersed in thes

a new crush. “Don’t Sweexet

guys

think he sincredibly hot

As someone constantly surrounded by striking men, Claire shrugged. “He’s alright. I just don’t think he’s masculine enough.”

Dance majors naturally tended to lean a bit more elegant and graceful, which was something most people could appreciate.

Especially in today’s society, where many men lacked a rugged edge.

It had essentially become a modern aesthetic trend.

Sometimes people had no choice but to begrudgingly accept this shift in beauty standards.

“No way, the way he moves on stage is so insanely hot!” Skye fiercely disagreed that he lacked masculinity.

If anything, she suspected Claire was the one with broken taste in men.

Claire sighed. “…..As long as you like him.” Pretend I didn’t say anything!

Lex hadn’t really paid attention to the guy at all and offered zero input.

As for Zara, she had practically grown up alongside Yanis and had long since developed an immunity to his charms.

“If you like him, go for it. As far as I know, he doesn’t have a girlfriend right now, and no boyfriend either!”

Not having a girlfriend made perfect sense, but what was that about a boyfriend?

Claire shot Zara a questioning look.

Zara just threw her hands up. “I don’t know for sure. There was just a

rumor going around in middle et net

School that he was into guys.

“But I’m pretty sure it was totally fake.”

Still, because of that rumor, Yanis’s father had actually hung him up and beaten him senseless.

After that incident, Yanis had been unable to dance for a very long time.

That part of his past wasn’t something Zara felt comfortable sharing with the group.

She merely stated that while Yanis was a great guy, he might not necessarily be the right match for Skye.

Skye suddenly remembered Zara’s

elite background. If Yanis had grown

up with her, didn’t that mean his

family was also filthy rich?

“Yeah, Yanis comes from a lot of money too,” Zara confirmed without hesitation.

“But if you just want to date casually and aren’t expecting a ring out of it, it’s not a bad setup.”

In her social circle, very few people ever dated with serious intentions anyway.