Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

because I don?t know what it would do to him. To be honest, I don?t

know if I?ll ever tell him. But I know I need a minute to get used to

all of this. A few days at least.?

Lucas?s face relaxed immediately and he let out a held breath.

?Why didn?t you just say that to begin with??

?Because it?s, it?s too . . .? she trailed off, not knowing why it was

so hard.

?Too raw. Like being naked,? Lucas said for her. Helen nodded

her head. ?Well, sorry. But with me you have to be either honest or

silent.? He released the break, put the car in gear, and merged back

into traffic.

As soon as he could stop shifting, he grabbed her hand and held

it on his leg, and when the fading sunlight forced him to turn on

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the headlights, he let go of the steering wheel rather than let go of

her hand.

Lucas pulled into Helen?s driveway behind the Pig, then killed

the lights and engine. ?Stay here for a sec,? he said before hopping

out of the car and disappearing around the back of the house.

Helen craned her head to look for him as she waited, but she

didn?t hear anything?not even the sound of his footsteps. Annoyed

that he would just run off like that, she got out of the car and

walked up to the Pig to get a better view. She noticed her purse lyin

g

on the ground behind the front tire. Oops. She picked it up and

fished out her phone. There were over a dozen missed calls.

She remembered that her purse was lying on the ground because

she had been attacked, and she suddenly realized that her attacker

was not Hector or Lucas, as she had assumed the other night.

Now that she could look back on it without the Furies there to