The Heart of Nine

Chapter Seventeen

He looks up and meets my gaze, hope shining in his beautiful green eyes, “Okay. Thank you.”

I smile and lean in to give him a kiss. He kisses me back, but not too intensely. It’s sweet and gentle, and has some underlying emotion that I can’t identify.

I pull away and smile, “C’mon let’s go downstairs and eat. I’m starving.”

He laughs, “Do your brothers starve you? You’re always hungry.”

I look at him in mock outrage, “Are you saying I’m fat?”

He stops walking and looks me up and down, “Well…” I slap his arm with a frown on my face, “Okay, okay I’m just kidding.”

I smile in satisfaction and continue to pull him downstairs, but he stops and spins me around to face him, “You’re perfect.”

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After we eat breakfast, he leaves to get his siblings.

“I’ll see you tomorrow okay?” I tell him as he’s walking out the door.

“Yeah, I’ll see you then.” His smile lights up his face, “You know winter break is next week.”

I give him a curious look, “Yeah I know, why?”

He shrugs casually but there’s a bit of excitement in his eyes, “Well, I kinda forgot to tell you that my dad has a ‘business trip’ next week and he’s gonna be gone for a while. So, I was wondering if you wanted to come officially meet by brother and sister.”

Truthfully, I’m shocked. He’s actually letting me into his life now. The parts I never knew about.

“I’d love to.”

He smiles a genuine smile and gives me quick kiss before he leaves.

I walk back into the house, and into the living room where Seth is sitting slumped in his seat watching TV. I plop down next to him on the couch and nudge his shoulder. “What’s up?”

He shrugs, “Nothing.”

“Okay. Something wrong?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Wanna go grocery shopping?”

“What? Why?”

“Because Rosa needs us to.”

“Oh.”

“Seth, for real. Is everything okay?”

He sighs and turns to me, “Riley’s cousin is still here. This is the longest he’s ever stayed.”

I scrunch my nose at the mention of that guy, I only briefly met him once and I already can’t stand him. “I don’t see why that would make you so upset.”

He looks away, not meeting my gaze, “I don’t like him.”

“I can see that, but I still don’t understand.”

He sighs again, “Honestly, it’s nothing.” With that he gets up and walks away.

I decide to leave him alone, if he wanted to talk to me about it he would.

I grab the remote from the coffee table and turn on the TV, watching it but not really paying attention. My thoughts keep drifting back to Tristan and his situation. After a while, I finally manage to convince myself that I can’t do anything about it now.