Adam's expression flickered through confusion (what thing?), uncertainty (is that practical?), calculation (actually that would work), amusement (and then Ronan would be naked), and ended on pure mischief. Ronan brought out a side of him that was reckless, and had for longer than they'd been friends. When Adam was around either Gansey or Ronan, he emulated them. He wanted to be them, the kings of the world for whom everything was easy. Around Gansey, Adam became more presidential. Around Ronan, Adam became more cocky and reckless.

Ronan thought that he was corrupting Adam, but Adam saw it as a set of tools to be used. Ronan didn't seem to realize that the world offered itself to him, often all the more readily because of how he disdained it. Desperation, Adam had learned, drove people away. The opposite, the sort of callous, careless confidence that Ronan embodied, drew them.

"Let's do it."