When Ratio is forced to attend a gala in Aventurine’s place, the last thing he expects is to play escort, bodyguard, and unexpected romantic lead. But under chandeliers and scrutiny, sometimes the most dangerous game isn't business… it's falling just a little too far.
A night of sharp suits, sharper words, and something soft in between.
Title: May I Have This Dance?
It wasn’t supposed to be Ratio’s evening.
He had made that quite clear to Jade—emphatically, scientifically, with charts and statistics outlining how utterly inefficient gala events were for actual intellectual progress.
And yet, despite all logic and resistance, here he stood: dressed in a fitted charcoal suit that hugged sharp lines and carried weight like armor, hair slicked back with precision, gaze colder than the crystal chandeliers overhead.
The ballroom sparkled with excess. Gilded domes. Velvet drapery. A sea of flutes filled with overpriced champagne. Ratio hated it all.
And beside him stood Aventurine.
A vision in emerald-green. His tailcoat shimmered faintly beneath the lights, his magenta eyes rimmed subtly with gold, his smile dangerous in the way that diamonds were—cold, brilliant, and worth stealing.
Ratio glanced at him, aware of the eyes already on them. Aventurine had a way of collecting attention like a magnet drawn to desire.
“Smile,” Aventurine murmured, lifting his glass as he leaned just close enough to be conspiratorial. “You’ll scare the sponsors.”
Ratio didn’t respond immediately—too preoccupied studying Aventurine from the corner of his eye.
The man looked absurdly regal tonight.
The emerald-green tailcoat hugged his frame with shameless precision, golden embroidery dancing in the chandelier light like flames caught mid-flicker. His blond hair was half-pinned back, with just enough loose strands to look effortlessly artful. It wasn’t fair. He looked like a prince from a storybook who had conned the whole court and smiled while doing it.
Ratio’s gaze lingered for half a second too long.
Aventurine noticed. Smirked. “See something you like?”
