Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 102607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“Is that what it’s like with you and Gio?”
Her head shakes with a laugh. “No. I feel like it’s different because we’re twins.”
“You guys bicker like it’s your love language.”
“That’s because it is.” She leans back a little, balancing her weight on one elbow. “Growing up, we were inseparable—same teachers, same birthday parties, same overly color-coordinated outfits. He used to tell people we were telepathic.”
“Are you?” I ask, teasing.
She squints at me and taps her temple. “You were just thinking about kissing me.”
I chuckle. “That’s not telepathy—that’s good instincts.”
She rolls her eyes, smile lingering.
“He’s your person,” I say quietly. “Even when you want to strangle him.”
Nova nods, the shift in her energy is immediate. “Yeah. He really is.” She looks down at her hands for a second, then back up at me. “After he moved out of the building, I had… kind of an emotional meltdown?”
I don’t speak—I listen.
Something about the way she says it feels like she hasn’t told many people this.
“I have female friends,” she continues. “Poppy is the best, and I love my girls—but when Gio left, it felt like a part of me got ripped open. We’d always just… been around each other. Same walls, same routines. Fighting over laundry and splitting takeout and dropping in unannounced like he did tonight. And then he was gone.”
She shrugs the kind of shrug that doesn’t erase the weight underneath. “It’s probably not good to spend that much time with a person. Not healthy, right? Codependency or whatever.”
“I don’t know,” I say carefully. “I think it’s okay to miss someone who knows you down to your atoms.”
Her eyes flick up to meet mine, vulnerable and steady.
“It wasn’t just about missing him,” she admits. “It was about what he represented. Safety. Familiarity. A buffer between me and everything else.”
I nod slowly. “And when he left, the buffer went with him.”
She lets out a shaky breath. “Yes. I’m so grateful to have Austin in my life, too. I love her so much and she’s grown to become my sister.” Nova fiddles with a napkin. “Did you know I basically set them up?”
No, I did not know. “You’re the matchmaker?”
She grins, eyes lighting. “Indeed. There’s this bar at the end of the block called Five Alarm, and I went in to grab takeout—naturally—and Austin was sitting at the bar, screaming at the TV about Gio and how shitty he was playing.”
I blink. “Screaming at him?”
That sounds like a bit much.
“At the screen, yes,” she says, laughing. “Full-on ranting. Dropping f-bombs like it was her job. She didn’t know I was his sister, obviously. I just stood there holding my veggie burger while she destroyed his whole soul in front of everyone.”
I’m laughing now too, imagining it. “And you introduced them after that?”
“Oh, absolutely.” She sets the napkin down, leaning in like it’s a confidential mission debrief. “Once I realized she was funny as hell and not, like, an actual stalker, I mentioned her to him and—”
“Let me guess—he took is as a challenge?”
“Exactly.” She grins. “Next thing I know, he’s ‘accidentally’ grabbing takeout from the same place three nights in a row. Then she finally called him out on it and they started talking. Fast-forward a year, and now I’m officially Auntie Nova.”
“You’re gonna be the cool aunt.”
“I am the cool aunt,” she corrects. “I’ve already bought three tiny onesies, one of which says ‘My Auntie is Cooler Than Your Mom.’”
I smile at her, something warm blooming in my chest as I watch the pride in her eyes. She’s radiant when she talks about them—like she’s carved out a space in this world where she belongs, where she’s needed, where she gets to be something more than the girl who hides her feelings behind sarcasm.
“What about kids of your own?” I blurt out.
16
nova
“What about kids of your own?”
The question hits harder than I expect—sudden, direct, like a pebble chucked into still water.
My fork pauses halfway to my mouth.
I blink. Slowly lower the fork back to my plate. My chest does this weird stuttery thing, like my heart missed a step on the stairs.
I glance up, and Luca’s already got that look—regret, maybe, or embarrassment. His eyes flicker like he wants to take it back. I don’t want him to.
We should have real talks, yeah?
“I do.” I swallow, voice smaller than I expect. “Of course I’ve thought about it to the point where if it doesn’t happen with a partner I could still do it. I’ve imagined raising a baby on my own.”
His brows lift slightly. “Really?”
I nod. “I know it sounds insane, but I love the idea of having someone small to love. Someone to raise into a good human. I think I’d be a good mom.”
Luca shifts a little, his hand brushing against mine on the counter. “I don’t think that sounds crazy at all.”