CHAPTER NINETEEN
360 Words
TUESDAY NIGHT - AURORA’S ROOM
They got home with an ice cream brain freeze and two ridiculous hats from LUSH.
Aurora went straight to her room. Shut the door.
Her phone buzzed on the bed.
Caleb
Your brother seemed cool. Intense
In a good way I think, LOL
Did I make it weird?
Aurora stared at it. Her cheeks went pink instantly.
She bit her lip and typed back fast.
No, it wasn't weird.
thats just Luca. he's protective
sorry
nah don't be sorry. Have fun with your fam Rory
She dropped the phone face-down. Her stomach was doing flips.
The door cracked open. Luca.
He caught it. The blush. The way she shoved her phone down. His eyes narrowed for half a second. Then he schooled his face.
"Can I come in?"
She nodded, too casually. "Yeah."
Luca sat on the end of her bed. Didn’t look at her. Looked at his own phone.
"You good?"
"Yeah."
"Cool."
Long pause.
Then Luca unlocked his phone. No new texts from Ethan. Of course. Ethan was swamped.
Luca typed first.
Luca to Ethan
bro u busy?
need to vent
Deleted it.
U gud?
Sent.
He locked his phone. Set it down.
"Night, Ro."
"Night."
After he left, Aurora heard the soft click of his door.
SAME TIME - LUCA’S ROOM
Luca sat on his bed, staring at the blank text box to Ethan.
bro there’s a guy
He is 19. At LSC. They have been talking.
He was at starbucks today and she was blushing.
His thumb hovered over send.
He thought about Ethan. About the way Ethan looked at Aurora like she was the only oxygen in the room. Like if he lost her he’d stop breathing.
About how Aurora said, "Just talking. For now."
About how Caleb smiled. Normal. Human. Safe.
And Luca? Luca doesn’t care that Ethan’s a shifter. Never did.
His problem isn’t what Ethan is. It’s what happens when Aurora isn’t ready and people get hurt.
He deleted everything.
Then he threw his phone on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
He wasn’t ready to tell Ethan.
But he was not going to either.
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