Who knew how much time she had until Franco figured out she’d discovered her true parentage.
She had a crush on a ghost. After knowing her forone day, and believing she was a hallucination when they first met. What the fuck? Something was wrong with Gia, and it wasn’t her migraines.
“Can’t sleep?”
Gia yelped, sitting bolt upright.
Aurora floated in the doorway, glowing faintly, a hand on her hip. “I heard you tossing around.”
Gia’s cheeks flamed for no reason. “There’s too much on my mind.”
“Of course there is. You had a life-changing day.”
Life-changing. Gia supposed that was true. For some reason, she’d expected Aurora to tell her to deal with it, like she would with anything else, or look at her like she was defective for not being able to suck it up.
Why had she expected Aurora to dismiss her like her father or brother would? She didn’t seem like that kind of person.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Aurora asked.
Talk? God, no. Gia couldn’t form words.
Aurora didn’t let her hang for long, saying, “We could talk about something else.”
Gia’s stiff posture relaxed. “That might help.”
Aurora floated closer, her ghostly form positivelysparkling in the dark. “Is it okay if I sit? Hovering over you feels kind of creepy.”
Gia’s heart hammered as she straightened the tangled blankets. “Sure.” She scooted over, even though there was already plenty of room.
Be cool.
Her heart did not calm down in the slightest as she lay back, eyes on the ceiling. Light from the street filtered through a gap in the curtains, casting a low glow across the white plaster, its luminescence flat compared to Aurora’s dynamic glow. How odd for a person to cast light instead of shadow.
Not being alone or in her Ashton Lakes room was odd in itself. Gia was used to the trees surrounding the Balzano estate, their shadows dancing on the walls. Used to the silence of feeling cut off from the world by the sprawling grounds. Used to the loneliness of having no one to talk to, even in a house full of people.
Here, everything was different.
Aurora settled on the opposite side of the bed, brightening as she neared. Gia held her breath, afraid to give away her nerves. The mattress didn’t dip under Aurora. There was no sound of rustling sheets, but Gia was more aware of her than she’d been of anyone in her entire life. This felt monumental, and Gia didn’t know why.
For a moment, they both lay still as the dead, yet Gia felt more alive, more invigorated than she ever had.
“Is this what having a sleepover is like?” Aurora asked.
Gia cleared her throat. “Probably.”Other than the whole ghostly aspect, and the fact that this is somehow as life-changing as the rest of today.
“Probably?” Aurora sounded surprised. “You didn’t get to do sleepovers either?”
Gia caught herself just in time, almost admitting that daughtersof big crime bosses weren’t allowed to spend the night anywhere except in a fortified house. Gia cursed herself for nearly letting her guard down.
“I didn’t really get invited to sleepovers when I was young.” Which was mostly true. Kids whose families knew the Balzanos’ reputation weren’t inviting Gia anywhere unless their parents wanted in with Franco, and they weren’t slumber party people. As for anyone oblivious to Gia’s ties, RSVPing no a few times usually stopped the invites altogether. Once her migraines set in, she became known around school as someone who stayed home anyway.
“Me either,” Aurora said. “I was homeschooled and didn’t have many friends outside the coven until I was older. What about when you were older?”
Gia’s heart skipped. Damn thing. “Like in college?”
“Yeah.”
“I lived at home rather than in a dorm. Not exactly the classic experience, though I don’t know if college sleepovers would have been like this.” Oh my god, why had she said that? Now Aurora knew she had sex on the brain.
