Darius blinked, caught off guard by the abrupt change in topic. "What?"
Aria leaned back in her chair, her expression calm but her eyes sharp. "I asked if you have a girlfriend," she repeated, her tone challenging.
Darius looked up, momentarily stunned by Aria's question. Her words caught him off guard, leaving him unable to immediately decipher their meaning. A strange thought flickered in his mind—was she asking because she liked him? Could this be her subtle way of gauging whether he had a girlfriend before making some kind of advance? It was a ridiculous idea, yet it lodged itself in his brain, stirring a tiny, absurd sense of anticipation.