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)
Luca: I’ve got a solid crew. My roommate Cash has zero impulse control and gets hurt constantly.
Nova: You have a ROOMMATE?! How did I not know that?
Luca: Cause you’re not supposed to know that. You were off-limits.
Luca: Anyway—Nugget is actually his dog.
Nova: What does Cash do for a living?
Luca: He’s also an athlete. Snowboarder. Isn’t in town much, which explains why I spend most of my time pet sitting.
Nova: Any other roommates??
Luca: Yeah, I live with Scaggs.
Nova: YOU DO?!
Luca: Why do you keep sounding so surprised?? Scaggs might be a rookie but he’s good people. A real pain in the ass, but he has to live somewhere and we had an extra room.
Nova: I have too many questions LOL
Luca: What about you? You’ve mentioned Poppy a couple times.
Nova: Poppy is my person. She’s loud and honest and ALWAYS ten minutes late to everything. We’ve been friends since my two years at college.
Luca: Two years?
Nova: Yes, I actually hated it? The dorms spooked me and I lasted 2 years before landing a job as Gio’s professional sister.
Luca: Ha ha. What do you actually do for work and why do I feel like a dumbass for not knowing??
Nova: LOL don’t feel dumb. I didn’t exactly post my résumé on the dating app.
Nova: I do digital marketing and content strategy for a fashion and home goods brand. Which is a fancy way of saying I write captions, schedule emails, and sometimes convince people to buy shit they probably do not need—and didn’t know they wanted.
Luca: So… you’re telling me you are the reason I bought a throw blanket and three candles last week?
Nova: If they were overpriced, with names like “Citrus Noir” and “Cozy Chaos,” then yeah, maybe.
Luca: Cozy Chaos is literally in my bathroom right now. This is alarming.
Nova: **takes a bow** You are so so welcome.
Luca: I like that you’re creative.
Nova: Most people just assume I sit around scrolling Instagram all day.
Luca: No no—don’t get me wrong, I definitely thought that.
Nova: SHUT UP lol
Luca: WHAT?! You said you wanted me to be honest.
Nova: No, YOU said that lol
Luca: I was teasing but also enjoying getting you all worked up.
Nova: You’re seriously so annoying.
Luca: You say annoying as if it were a bad thing…
Nova: God, you’re insufferable. Do you make everyone feel this flustered or am I just special?
Luca: Nope, it’s just you. I don’t waste this level of chaos on just anyone. You bring it out of me. I don’t even want to flirt like this with anyone else which is facts.
Nova: I have no idea if I should believe you or not.
Luca: Trust me. Also. I was supposed to be asleep an hour ago and now I’m lying in bed wondering what your laugh sounds like when no one else is around.
Nova: You can’t say things like that.
Luca: Too late.
10
nova
“He said what!?”
I groan. “God—he said so much. Like, where do I even start.”
Poppy’s eyes are practically bugging out of her skull as she stares back at me from the phone screen, clutching her mug for our virtual coffee date.
I have her propped up on a table, leaning against a small container of sugar and artificial sweetener.
“Uh, how about the part where he said not to fall in love with him? Or the part where he told you to break the rules slowly? Or maybe the part where he said he wouldn’t say anything to your brother until you were ready, ergo: date you in secret. Who does that?”
I lift my head just enough to glare at her. “Thank you for the helpful recap.”
She ignores me completely. “Nova. You’re not casually seeing this man. You’re already emotionally involved. And I say this with love—but you’re so screwed.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I mutter, stabbing at the whipped cream on top of my mocha with my straw.
Poppy folds her arms. “Okay, so go on. Spill. Walk me through the whole thing. Slowly. In glorious, excruciating detail.”
I waste no time.
“So we’re joking around, right?” I begin. “Flirting like usual. Then Luca starts laying down these fake relationship clauses.”
“Clauses?”
“You know: no falling in love before date five, no posting on social media, no kissing until the fourth date—things like that.”
“Hold up.” Poppy lifts a hand. “You made a no-kissing rule? Are you out of your mind?”
“I panicked!” I cry. “I needed something to slow things down and my brain defaulted.” Jeez, sue me for freaking out! “People need boundaries.”
She waves a hand. “No, you gave him a challenge. Now he’s going to be feral by date four.”
“Uh. Probably.” I murmur, vaguely alarmed by how excited I am about the anticipation.
Poppy smirks. “So what’s next?”
I try to keep a straight face and fail. “Grocery shopping.”
She chokes on her chai. “What?”
“Yep. So domestic and innocent. We’ll meet in the produce section. He said I could teach him how to pick out a ripe avocado and then flirt with him over bananas.”