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“Yeah, but you obviously needed me, or I wouldn’t be here.”
Chris glanced around the high school classroom. “This is a dream though, right? You’re just a figment of my overactive brain.”
“It’s definitely a dream, but that doesn’t mean I’m not actually here. Pretty sure I’m your guardian angel.”
Chris laughed and shook his head. “Come on. We watched A Christmas Carol when we were kids and you said that was stupid.”
“True, but when the man upstairs tells you that your best friend needs some guidance, you hop off that cloud. It’s all about perspective, my friend.”
Chris shifted his feet, uneasiness shrouding his joy. “So, you’ve been looking down on me?”
“Not just you.”
The tone in Ray’s voice was darker and Chris cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, man.”
“Thanks for that. I mean, I understand. It’s been a bit and you’re both adults.”
“But?” Chris asked.
“How is this going to work, with me between you guys? If I had never been in the picture, would you have come back when she asked you to? Would you have dated in high school, had a terrible break up and never seen each other again? Did you ever think that maybe I was in the picture, because I kept you two from doing something stupid, like hooking up?”
Anger ripped through Chris. “This wasn’t just hooking up.”
“No, it was almost twenty years of repressed hormones that exploded in a moment of weakness.”
Chris assumed Ray was belittling Kelly and his connection because he was pissed and ran his hands over his head. “Look, I’m sorry. We didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Ray laughed. “Are you kidding me, man? I’m dead! Nothing I can do about it, and besides, I want Kelly to be happy. It’s killed me watching her cut herself off…pun intended.”
Chris groaned. “Your jokes were always terrible.”
“For real, man, I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing. Because if you screw this up and break her heart, I will haunt your ass forever.”
Chris sat straight up in Kelly’s bed, dripping with sweat. His heart pounded in his chest and his whole body shook.
“You okay?” Kelly asked, sleepily.
He turned to her and watched her lay there, her eyes closed and the moonlight from the window casting shadows across her pale skin.
“Yeah, I just got to get home and check on Fungi.”
“Okay.”
He climbed out of the bed and went downstairs to dress, still shaken from his dream, Ray’s words replaying in his mind.
Make sure you know what you’re doing.
He had no fucking clue.
Chapter 20
Kelly woke up and stretched, her arms going out alongside her. When her skin pulled on her injured wrist, she winced, suddenly wide awake. She sat up, wiping at her sleep-filled eyes and sighed. Pepper, who was sleeping at the end of the bed, got up and arched his back, yawning. He padded toward her slowly, his purr loud and rumbling in his chest.
“Hey, my love. How are you?” she asked, her irritation with him from the night before forgotten as she stroked his soft, short fur.
Pepper rubbed against her, his tail shaking straight in the air.
“Yeah, me too.” She felt amazing this morning, relaxed and happy. All thanks to Chris…
