Starbright (The Starbright Series) (9 page)

             
“Trent
is Tristan’s older brother. He goes to college in Lincoln, but he’s home for winter break,”
I
explained.

             
“You didn’t answer my question,” Jupiter noted.

             
I
laughed
lightly, realizing I hadn’t. I was just used to people understanding everything between Tristan’s family and mine…. between Tristan and me
. “Yes, he is my friend. I’m sorry; I guess I assumed I answered that.”

             
“Hmph,” Jupiter grunted again and then turned back to his paper.

             
“What is that smell?” a groggy
baritone
voice asked from the doorway to downstairs.

             
Seth leaned against the doorframe, shirtless and disheveled. His black sweatpants sat low on his hips, revealing a thin line of plaid boxers and perfectly chiseled hip bones. His dark hair was a mess of waves that laid across his head in wild tangles, curling into charming semi-circles just at their tips. He crossed his arms and lifted his nose into the air, breathing in the aroma of baked chocolate chips left in the kitchen.

             
His eyes found
mine
because I was staring at him
with a mixture of embarrassment and wide-eyed wonder from the sink.
I
had seen plenty of boys shirtless before, plenty of good looking, athletic boys.
I
had grown up with Tristan
and his brothers
who had
all
been pract
ically shirtless from the time we
met, and
they were all
hot….
But nothing
I
had ever seen compared to the A
ngel standing in front of
me
.

             
The
A
ctual
angel.

             
I
reminded
my
self that Warriors were born that way. They lived hard, grueling lives and any lesser physique wouldn’t stand a chance
against the Darkness
. Still,
I
had to clamp
my
mouth closed when he lifted one palm to rub at the overnight stubble that darkened his jawline
with the palm of his hand
. His smile deepened and his honey colored eyes twinkled, turning his expression mischievous.

             
I
turned back to the dishes, convinced
he could read
my
thoughts.
My
impure, totally uncalled for
sinful
thoughts. And
as
I
scrubbed the griddle clean,
I
wondered how treacherous it was to have lustful
thoughts about
my
C
ounterpart
before we were even…. uh…. more than whatever we were
? S
urely
,
I
was the first
S
tar to do so in the history of the entire universe. Lust being
one of the
seven deadly
sin and all…
.
I
ignored him
, or pretended to,
as he brushed past
me
into
my
square country kitchen.

             
“Are these for me?” Seth asked, reaching for the plate of pancakes.

             
“Yea
h
, Annabelle made them for us,”
I
explained quietly, trying to hide the embarrassing squeak in
my
voice.

             
“Awesome,” Seth muttered and then sat down heavily at the table across from Jupiter.

             
When he
used the syrup bottle for an ex
tended amount of time, I
couldn’t help but glance over at him. There he sat with the entire plate of left over pancakes
, his fork digging in and breaking them apart savagely so he could shovel them in his mouth. T
here had to be at least fifteen of
pancakes
, stacked gluttonously high on his plate. The maple syrup dripped down over the top of the pancake mountain in glops of sticky liquid
and
every time he took a bite he made this adorable little moaning sound that I desperately hated
.

             
“Seth!”
I
gasped, stalking over to the rectangular oak table
my
dad had hand made one summer
in an effort to be
more…. human.
Although,
I
had not personally met another human that wh
ittled their own furniture,
I
couldn’t fault her dad for trying.
Besides he was really proud with how much money he was convinced we saved.
“I didn’t know you were going to eat
all
of them! Those pancakes are like gold around here! What am I supposed to eat for lunch now?
And for dinner?
”
I
demanded, forgetting all
about the way his abdominal muscles folded over each other while he leaned over his plate
, shoveling heaping forkfuls of
my
favorite meal into his greedy, perfectly formed mouth
.

             
“Sorry,” he mumbled, with a mouth full of food. “You should be more specific next time.”

             
I
was normally a very good-humored girl,
I
rarely let things bother
me
and most of the time could laugh about any situation.
Most
of the time. Stolen pancakes and no lunch was not one of those times.

“I think you should put at least half of those back! Do you really need….”
I
counted what was left of them in
my
head quickly, “seventeen pancakes
just
for breakfast?”

             
Seth nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, I really do.” He reached for Jupiter’s coffee next, taking down what was left in the cup in one, quick swig. Jupiter didn’t even look up. Grumpy, ill-mannered, temperamental Jupiter didn’t care that Seth had stolen the last few drinks of coffee, because apparently Jupiter was used to Seth’s thoughtlessness. That bothered
me
even more.
The last drop of someone’s cold
, bitter coffee was one thing. Annabelle’s c
hocolate chip pancakes were an entirely different matter.

             
“Stella, he did fight a battle last night,” Jupiter reminded
me
in a voice that very much sound
ed
to
me
like a reprimand.

             
“A tiny battle!”
I
squeaked. “Really, I’m not sure we can even call it a battle at all! It was more like a skirmish. Or a…. a…. war
m up exercise
! I
don’t think his
one
act of bravery last night accounts for eating every single pancake left in this house,”
I
finished in a grumble. Jupiter and Seth both raised their eyes to meet
mine
as if they could hardly believe
my
ungratefulness.
I
decided to push
my
luck just a little bit further, “Besides…. What if he gets fat? I mean, he is my
C
ounterpart! I should be worried about stuff like that, right?” A blush crept up
my neck and flowered across my
cheeks.
I
knew
I
had
gone too far, but what had fallen
out of
my
mouth felt more like uncontrollable vomit than an actual, rational argument.

             
“You’re worried about me getting fat?” Seth moved from his seat with lightening quick speed.
I
hardly had time to comprehend he wasn’t sitting anymore before he was standing directly in front of
me
, with both of his arms pressing against the counter on either side of
me, pinning me in
. “Let me assure you, my weight gain is nothing
for you to be concerned about
.” Seth’s amber colored eyes
glowed with
frightening
intensity and the way his dark hair fell across his forehead made
me
wonder if he was more Fallen than Angel. He reached for
my
hand, with one dangerously strong one of his own and pressed
my
palm against his flat, muscular stomach. “These are
genetic;
I wouldn’t worry about a few pancakes distorting your eye candy.”

             
The flus
h that
burned itself into
my
face, no
w
deepened across
my
collar bone.
I
didn’t dare move
my
hand until Seth took his off
mine
, and then
I
retracted
my
fingers with the speed of
my
own angelic heritage,
causing
a smug smirk to break out across Seth’s face.

             
“I get your point,”
I
mumbled, not willing to back down from this fight. “But I still don’t appreciate the way you have come in here and just snatched all of the pancakes up.”

             
“Point taken,”
Seth didn’t immediately move from the
bicep
-cage he
built around
me
. He enjoyed watching
me squirm because of him. But then his eyes turned soft and he held my gaze, igniting the connection that tied us together, the one that I couldn’t even fully understand yet. M
aybe it was the independent nature that tied
us
to all of God’s creation or because
I
was imposs
ibly tiny standing next to him but I felt
impossibly fragile and delicate
.
I
instinctively knew that without him by
my
side
I
didn’t stand a chance against even a small army of Shadows, let alone the entire forces of Darkness mobilized against
me and this planet
.

             
“Seth,” Jupiter
chastised
from across the room. The tone of his voice reminded Seth that he was a
C
ounterpart. A
W
arrior. And
his behavior at the moment resonated in the
completely inappropriate
department
.

             
Seth gave
me
a good natured, casual smile and the
n stood up straight. He held my
gaze for a few moments longer, unable to tear his
gaze
away from
mine
that
I could feel
had
just
started to glow
under the strain of
my
emotions. But which emotions were making them glow? That was a question
I was afraid to
get to the bottom of.

             
“I’m going to see if Annabelle needs any hel
p,”
I
choked out, in a tightly
strained voice.
I
broke the hold
of Seth’s gaze first, hating that
w
e
already fought, that
I
already made things awkward for
my
Warrior.
I
sighed, frustrated with
my
self and flew up the servant stairs before anyone could object, or remind
me
what a terrible hostess
I
was playing. Or even worse, what a terrible Star was being.

             
“Please tell me that won’t be a problem with her training,”
I heard Jupiter ask once I was around the corner
. He
almost sounded amused and I so I paused on the stairwell, recognizing that Jupiter rarely felt amused.