Helio’s POV
“I should have hit him harder,” I grunted to Aspen as I watched Knox slinking toward a mortified Aira.
“Who? What?” Aspen asked, turning around with a glass of punch in her hand. I plucked it away from her before she dropped it on her dress, her jaw nearly hitting the floor. “No.”
“Oh, yes,” I said.
“The Moon Goddess could not be so cruel,” Aspen gasped.
“Apparently, she can,” I replied.
Aspen gripped my arm and leaned against me. I stood still as a stone, letting her use me for support.
“You’re right,” she said. “You should have hit him harder.”
I sighed. “It wasn’t my best moment, and I can’t go repeating it but… poor Aira.”
Aspen looked up at me, stricken. “What if he rejects her?”
“He won’t,” I growled.
“How can you know that?” Aspen asked.
“Because if he does,
