Starcrossed

in a spiral and tumbled in the air like they were on a roller coaster. The swooping sensation in her stomach made Helen shriek, but it worked. Lucas grinned and took the bait.
    He seized on her arms and brought her into a dive that had her screaming bloody murder. At the last moment he pulled up, holding Helen cradled in his arms before allowing her to float to his side. They hovered over the Delos lawn like that for a moment, holding hands and laughing hysterically. They failed to notice the worried stares they were getting from the rest of the Delos family inside the house.
    “Now, before you land I’m going to teach you another skill,” Lucas said as he looped over her shoulder and put an arm around her from behind. “I’m going to teach you how to transition into the massive-state—turn up the gravity pulling on you. The best way to get the hang of it is to do it while you’re landing.”
    “Is that what you did when you landed on Hector the other day in the tennis courts?” Helen guessed. “And last night?” She was thinking of how heavy he’d made his body when they were wrestling in her bed. She pinched her lips together to keep herself from smiling.
    “Exactly,” he said against her ear, letting his lower lip brush against her skin. “It’s the third state of gravity for fliers, and it could save your life in a fight.”
    With his arm around her waist and the two of them floating ten feet above the ground, he taught her how to warp the way the world pulled on her. Lucas guided her to reverse the impulse that made her weightless and imagine her body becoming heavier. She was able to pick up the basics right away and when Lucas told her to touch down she thudded into the lawn with a jarring blow, kicking up two great divots of grass with her heels. She was impressed with herself and looked up at Lucas for approval, but apparently, there was still a lot left for her to learn.
    “You’ll get better at it,” he said encouragingly as he pounded into the lawn next to her, skidding two deep trenches with his feet.
    “You are such a show-off!” she said, grinning at him.
    “Hey, I’ve got to impress you as much as I can, while I can. Soon you’ll be flying circles around me,” he said. He took her hand and pulled her tight up against his side as he led her toward the house.
    “I doubt that,” Helen said, shaking her head. Lucas was so graceful in the air. There was no way she’d ever fly the way he did.
    “You’re stronger than me,” he said without any envy or judgment, just as a fact. “When you realize that, you’re going to be able to do things that I never dreamed of.”
    “If I’m so strong, then why do I always need you to come and save my sorry ass?” she asked sarcastically.
    “Because fighting is about much more than strength,” he said seriously. “Which is good, or Hector would still be able to beat the crap out of me in a fight.”
    “I can still beat the crap out of you in a fight,” Hector shouted from inside the house. Lucas smirked at Helen and shook his head as they walked into the kitchen. They didn’t get far.
    “Not on my clean floors!” Noel shouted, pointing to Lucas’s and Helen’s muddy shoes. Then she realized why they were so muddy. “What did you savages do to my new lawn?” she groaned.
    “I had to, Mom. Helen needs to learn.” Lucas dutifully backed out of the house and took off his shoes, and Helen did the same.
    “Helen, dear. You look hungry. Make sure you eat something before you leave,” Noel said kindly, before shifting right back into scolding mode. “About that lawn, you know the rules, Luke.”
    “‘Fix what you break,’ yeah, yeah. And you know I always do,” he said with a mischievous smile as he came into the house and started chasing his poor, hassled mother out of the kitchen with the threat of a tickle. She tried to beat him off with a dish towel, but she didn’t stand a chance.
    As Lucas ran upstairs to change his clothes, Helen could see he was happy. And so was she. She knew she was still in danger and should be terrified, but watching Lucas bound up the stairs three at a time, all she could feel was giddy, bubbly happiness. She still had no idea what the heck was going on between them, but she was happy .
    Apparently, Helen wasn’t the only one. Pandora came into the kitchen with a yoga glow, humming to herself. She didn’t have on her bracelets. Instead, it was her anklets and a spangled belly chain that were