Bewitched by Bella's Brother Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    Sebastian was coming to realize that the greeting he’d gotten when he’d walked into the kitchen was as talkative as the kid got. Silence fell again, and Sebastian’s attention
    wandered as he thought about how to fill it. Asa was making himself busy at the counter, and without meaning to,
    Sebastian felt his attention zero in on the most inappropriate place possible.
    “Sebastian—spicy or sweet?”
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    “Gurk?” He’d been trying not to look at Asa’s backside.
    It looked good in khakis—tight, muscular, tasty. It had
    looked better naked. The question had been too close to his own, more prurient thoughts for comfort.
    “Your bagel. I’ve got tomato pesto spread or cream
    cheese and strawberry jam; how do you like your bagel?”
    “Spicy,” Sebastian said dumbly.
    “Do you want ham in the middle?”
    “Yes, please. Why are you making me a bagel again?”
    Asa caught the bagel as it popped out of the toaster and didn’t answer.
    “Because he likes to mother us,” Bella said, and Asa
    shrugged. Another silence fell, one in which the only one who seemed to be uncomfortable was Sebastian himself.
    “I’m going to be talking to myself by the end of the
    summer, aren’t I?” Sebastian wondered aloud, and Jordan
    looked at him guilelessly.
    “I’ll talk to you. As long as you tell me about bugs.”
    Asa put down what looked to be a gourmet bagel with
    some amazing schmear and some sliced ham in the middle.
    It was on a plate with an orange garnish, and Sebastian
    thought he’d never been served breakfast with quite so much cavalier grace.
    “Can we stick to lions, kid?” Sebastian asked, shaking
    out the napkin that had come with the bagel. He took a bite and closed his eyes. Oh God. Did this guy have a bagel
    delivery truck or something, because this thing had that
    “just baked” taste soaked in every pore of the bread. “I really want to enjoy this,” he said through a partially full mouth.
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    This time, he didn’t seem to mind so much when silence
    fell over the kitchen.
    But by the time he and Bella had hopped into
    Sebastian’s Volkswagen Beetle (second generation, of course) and they were zipping around an appalling number of curves to get to Auburn via Ophir, the full impact of the situation had sunk in.
    “Oh my God!” Sebastian whined, as Bella took the turns
    like a pro. “You’re a family of non-talkers. I mean, I thought I was safe, because I met the rest of you—but you and Asa, for the love of sitcom television, has neither of you heard of light conversation?”
    Bella arched a perfectly shaped brow at him. “I didn’t
    hear you complaining after he fed you.”
    Sebastian gave a satisfied grunt, in spite of himself.
    “Really—who would complain about a bagel like that? But
    Bella—don’t you guys ever talk?”
    Bella shrugged. “I told you; we’re the quiet ones.”
    “That’s an awful lot of white repression for me… I don’t know if I can make it.”
    They came to a three-way stop on Fowler, and Bella
    paused to let a procession of cars pass her on 193. “I think it will be good for you, sweetie.”
    “Oh please… it’s like going without oxygen!”
    Bella shook her head, put her car into first, and hit the accelerator like a linebacker sacking a quarterback. The car lurched across the road and gunned into its place in the long procession of cars wending their way through the foothills, and Sebastian sent a green smile over his shoulder at the car behind them. A woman with coffee, a cigarette, and a
    Bluetooth headpiece glared at him, and he shrugged,
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    figuring someone with that many activities to do in the car couldn’t be in that much of a hurry.
    “You talk too much, Sebastian. You’re always trying to
    cover silence with banter. Asa always just listens. You could learn a lot from him.”
    “Easy enough