Sunburst (Starbright Series) Read Online Free Page A

keeping our relationship in check for long enough that we were painfully familiar with the boundary lines we weren’t allowed to cross. All hugs came to an end before they could be considered intimate- or more intimate than what was normal for us.
    “What have you been doing today?” I asked him as I sank onto the porch swing that hung from the ceiling. The cushion was a little wet from the rain earlier, but I didn’t let it bother me.
    Tristan sat down next to me and set us to swinging with one of his toes anchored on the ground. “Rigley and I were out mudding during the rain.” He was so casual, so nonchalant about it, I almost laughed.
    “Mudding?” Meaning, they were out driving their trucks all over Rigley’s parents land in the most dangerous way possible. There were only certain stunts that splashed mud on top of a truck with extra-large tires. “That’s a little dangerous, don’t you think? Do you have a death wish I don’t know about?”
    Tristan reached out and smoothed out my raised eyebrow with his pointer finger. “Do I have a death wish? Nope.” His eyes were intense again and his attitude too cavalier. “Driving around in my truck is perfectly safe. Fighting demons and psychopaths on the other hand….”
    “Not fair,” I argued. We’d been doing this a lot lately, going back and forth about my fated future. “I don’t have a choice.”
    “There’s always a choice,” Tristan said in a low voice.
    “Fine, there’s always a choice,” I agreed. “Then this is what I want. I want to make this planet safe, I want to-“
    “I don’t want to fight anymore,” Tristan cut me off by pressing his fingers against my mouth. “I came over because I couldn’t stay away from you anymore, I couldn’t…. Stell a, I just wanted to be with you; that’s it.”
    I nodded against his hand, relaxing because of how nice that sounded. I kissed the pads of his fingers as a gesture of surrender, tasting his skin on my lips. He watched my mouth, his eyes darkening with a heat that could burn even me.
    Slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled his fingers from my mouth and then wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I snuggled into him and laid m y head against chest. His heartbeat steadied, but I smiled at the idea that it wouldn’t take much from me to get it going again.
    “Stella, this weekend, I want to take you out,” Tristan said gently, carefully.
    “Sure, like Friday?” I asked.
    We were both into our spring soccer seasons, but there weren’t very many Friday games. Usually we played Tuesday or Thursday nights and got Friday off. Friday night in the spring turned into a big date night throughout the high school. During the fall, we had football games, and during the winter basketball games, so with track meets that took place during the day and soccer games during the week nights, the weekends were almost completely free.
    “Yeah, Friday,” Tristan confirmed. “But, Stel, I want this Friday. It’s mine. I want this to be a date.”
    My chest ached at his words, knowing how impossible that would be. It wasn’t just that I couldn’t pick Seth because of Tristan, it was also that I couldn’t pick Tristan because of Seth. Love triangles were always so sexy in books, but in reality they were heartbreaking and crushing. I felt suffocated beneath the weight of this trifecta relationship, even while I knew who my choice would be in the end.
    I could never pick Tristan.
    I could never be with Tristan.              
    No matter what my heart wanted.
    “I can’t go on a date with you,” I whispered, my throat thick with emotion.
    I felt him tense underneath me, his whole body going rigid with frustration. “Yes, you can.”
    “What about our friendship, Tristan? What happens if we cross the line and go on a date? If it goes really badly, you might not ever want to be my friend again.” I thought that was a valid argument so I turned in his arms so he could see how sincere I was.
    He