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I came back to reality, realizing we were still holding hands. I had migrated all the way so I was pressed against his front. His arm was curved around my back, gently holding me in place, and he blinked, coming back to himself at the same time. He took stock of us as well before a wry chuckle left him. “Well, shit.”
Well, shit. Those words hit me in the sternum.
Shame came over me, and I stepped back from him, our hands untangled and his arm fell away from me. As soon as I was clear, though, an ache took over. I wanted to touch him, be pressed against him. I wanted to be with him, and judging from the way he was looking at me, in pain as he was staring at my mouth, he cursed under his breath. “I—um—is it official that you’re Cass’s girl? Considering he’s bringing some other chick with him tonight?”
God.
Cassian.
Right.
I had forgotten for a moment. Clearing my throat, I shook my head. “I—uh—we just met today.”
His eyes jerked to mine. “Just today?”
“His locker is next to mine, but I didn’t know. He overheard me and Ethan talking.”
His eyebrows lifted. His jaw clenched. “Who the fuck is Ethan now?”
“Ethan’s a coworker. He’s…” I shrugged, tucking my hands behind my back. “He usually asks me to cover for him on Fridays and Cassian overheard. I didn’t know he was even there.”
Lee snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
And it was a nice chest. He was lean, but even as his arms lifted, pulling at his sweatshirt, I could see the definition of his arms. Yes. He was very nice looking indeed. There was a darker vibe to him, an underlying edge to his energy and that felt like static to me.
Enticing static.
“Where do you work?”
“Huh?” I had so many thoughts and feelings bouncing through me. The pull toward him was distracting. I couldn’t handle it.
“Your work. Where do you work? Where this Ethan also works.”
A bunch more people came in behind me, and he tugged me to stand closer to him, his arm curving around me to greet some of the people. The guys met his fist with their own. Some of the girls giggled, saying hello, and gave me some not-so-nice looks as they moved past us.
“Yeah, man. Hey, man. What’s up?” He kept greeting each of them until there was a break and he tugged me with him, indicating a side hallway. He eyed me, his hand still touching the side of my hip. “You want something to drink?”
I shook my head. “No offense, but it only took me forty minutes to walk here because of—” I clapped my hand over my mouth, because what the fuck? I’d been about to tell him that I got help from two ghosts for a shortcut? And I had. I’d totally been about to tell him, as if it was everyday conversation like what’s the weather outside.
“Wait.” His hand pressed more firmly on my hip. “You walked here?”
My hand fell away. “I don’t have a car, so yeah.”
He half growled, his hand more firmly on my hip and he was walking me backward until I touched the wall. “You aren’t walking home. I’m driving you and if I’m not driving you, my family has a car service.”
“No. I—” I was about to tell him that Melbor would be waiting for me on top of the landfill wall, but Melbor might’ve watched me walk right to the house with the gate, realized I lied to him. I didn’t think he would be waiting for me after all. “That’d be great.”
He chuckled, some of the tension leaving him. “So…drink?”
“I’d love one.”
6
Three drinks later, I was on a couch in the basement, watching Lee dominate on a video game for what felt like the eighth game in a row. He was playing the NHL hockey video game and yeah, the guys who kept insisting they could dominate him, couldn’t.
That’s when three things happened at the same time.
I had walked around the place earlier. Lee gave me a quick tour, but I did some meandering myself and I hadn’t noticed it until now, but the first thing that happened—there were no ghosts in his house.
