Page 61 of A Love Like Candle Light

Now the logs are barely glowing anymore, there’s no more dough for stick bread left, all alcohol bottles are empty and a chain of yawns goes around the campfire.

"Time to go home," Henry declares and gets up, stretching his arms over his head.

"No," Nic whines and pouts as he pulls her to her feet. Erik and Caleb grab shovels I didn't even see before and throw sand over the remains of our fire to extinguish it completely.

"Fine, you all go home with your pretty boyfriends," Kieran mumbles, barely understandable with how badly he's slurring his words.

"You're a lightweight," I tease him and nudge him with my elbow. He breaks into a lazy giggle, his eyes already falling closed.

"Look at you drinking us all under the table." Lauren stands up and sways dangerously. Before she can fall, she makes the wise decision to sit back down.

"It's a talent," I shrug. Erik appears next to me and offers me his hand.

"Are you staying over?" I ask him in a whisper. He stopped drinking after a second cup of the whiskey mix and I wonder if it has anything to do with his father’s addiction.

"Yes he is!" Lauren shouts, earning a thrown piece of baked dough from Kieran. I’m surprised at the accurate aim, considering his drunken state.

"If it's okay?" Erik asks. I nod before he even finishes his question.

Kieran mumbles under his breath and demonstratively turns his head away from us.

"Just go ahead, you two," Caleb declares, fixing Kieran with an amused stare. "Lauren and I will get this sad pile of sass home."

"Hey," Kieran objects, but when he catches Caleb's eyes, he sinks into himself. "Okay."

"That's what I like to hear. Good night, you two."

"Good night, everyone," I say, loud enough so Henry and Nic hear me too. They give us a lazy wave. We grab a bunch of empty bottles and trash lying around, then make our way back to my home.

The light in my living room is on as we make our way along the shore and then over a small path through shrubbery. I'm not even mad it’s on, because it's really damn dark on our way. So thanks to the ghost, we can at least see enough of the path to not trip on branches blocking it.

"Are you feeling alright?" I ask Erik and fumble the key out of my pocket.

He shoots me a confused glance. "Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know how good you are with alcohol." I shrug and accidentally drop the keys. Thankfully they reflect the moon light so they don’t disappear in the darkness. "But if you feel alright, I do have one half of a bed to spare instead of the couch."

"Yeah? Is that okay? I mean, I'll totally take it." He nods and from the corner of my eyes I watch his lips curl into a smile. "Gotta protect you from intruders and all that."

"Oh yeah." I nod, biting my cheek to keep from grinning. "That's so important out here in the middle of nowhere. Intruders."

"You'd be surprised." He walks up the steps to my porch and waits for me to unlock the door. "Last year Nic's ex tried to break into her house."

"Well, mine won't. It would require him to care." I push the door open and motion for him to go ahead, in case the ghost decides to throw plates my way after all.

Thankfully, it doesn’t.

As much as I'd love to keep a conversation going, I'm almost falling asleep standing up. So I kick my shoes into a corner and head into the kitchen for a glass of water before going to sleep.

Ten minutes later, we're in my bed. His arm is around my hip and my face right by his chest. But before I can even think of cuddling, sleep drags me under.

Chapter 21

Kylie

I wake up with my face smooshed into Erik's chest, his arm over my hip and promptly close my eyes again before I freak out.

So yesterday wasn't a dream. My stomach tingles as memories flood my brain.