“Thrilling? It is. But that’s not the point right now,” Aria defended, her voice half-annoyed, half-playful. She leaned back against the couch, a slight frown between her brows, though her lips twitched like she was holding a smile.

“Yea yea, point taken,” Beverly said, rolling her eyes dramatically and waving her hand as if to dismiss Aria’s attempt at seriousness.

Mirabella was already laughing hard. She was, once again, right in the middle of their banter — her two best ...