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And then slowly and carefully and nostalgically, Zoey places her smooth palm against my cheek. Warming my skin, and I struggle not to sink into her hand like a fool.
“You don’t feel like a ghost,” she whispers sweetly.
“I’m not a literal ghost, you idiot.” I roll my eyes, wanting to smile but not having the effort. It almost hurts to lift my lips. Like I’ve forgotten how those muscles work.
She drops her hand, leaving the imprint of her warmth behind.
“Figuratively, you died,” she breathes in that realization. “What hap—”
“You can’t ask,” I remind her.
It’s her turn to roll her eyes. “Then how about a trade? I tell you the real reason why I’m here, and you tell me about your curse.”
I tilt my head. “You have changed,” I muse and hop on the table. Carefully, I cross my legs and then grip the edge of the table on either side of me. She watches every movement with raw intrigue. “The old Zoey wouldn’t have tried to barter with me. She would have known better.”
Zoey snorts. “You did just call me an idiot. Twice now.”
“You are one, if you think you hold any power here.”
Arousal flushes her cheeks and heavies her breathing. We’re both under each other’s compulsion, feeding off the desire, but she has no idea how strong hers is to resist. “How in the hell do you do that?” she whispers.
“Do what?” I arch another brow. “Make you wet?”
She groans. “You’re really insufferable, you know. You haven’t changed, even if you think you’re a ghost or whatever.”
I am a ghost.
A ghost who’s found someone to play with, which shouldn’t be the case. I shouldn’t want Zoey around. But light breaks through her gaze whenever she simply looks at me. Like I’m Helen of fucking Troy.
I’m beautiful, but I’m not going to cause a thousand ships to sail from my beauty alone. Unless all one thousand belonged to Zoey.
She would try to do that.
My heart clenches and aches.
I shouldn’t be turned on by the way she looks at me. Just like she shouldn’t be turned on by the way I talk to her.
But I bask in her reverence and awe of me. It’s different than others in the town. She’s seen a different part of me. She’s already pulled back my layers once. She knows what lies underneath. The thaw under the ice.
My fingers brush over a shell. “New deal,” I tell her, sidestepping over her insult. “You tell me the truth why you’re here, and I let you sleep in this shed tonight.”
Her nose wrinkles. “That’ll only get me to tomorrow. I might be here for a week.”
What?
“Might?” I repeat that word. “So you don’t know how long you planned to stay?”
She sighs heavily. “Not exactly.”
I wait for her to keep going.
She lets out an even heavier sigh. “Parry called me. Told me Colt’s messed up. In trouble. I don’t know. He seemed really worried about him, so I just booked a flight back here. No questions asked. But now I’m starting to think I should’ve probably asked some questions. Seeing as how Parry won’t tell me anything until I see Colt in-person tomorrow. That’s…basically it.”
Parry?
He’s the cause of her return.
Ugh.
I blink. “You risked coming back here because Parry DiNapoli asked you.”
She nearly laughs. “That’s an oversimplification.”
He’s going to get her killed.
He’s placing Colt above Zoey. And that’s not okay with me.
“You should have demanded a better explanation. Fuck, Zoey, what if Colt’s fine?”
“I know.” She sighs. “But…maybe…I don’t know…” She stares at her hands.
“What?”
“Maybe I was waiting for a reason.” She looks up at me underneath her eyelashes. “A reason other than you.”
Because I couldn’t be her reason to come back.
We have rules.
She swallows hard and adds, “And anyway, if Colt really is in trouble, I’d never forgive myself for not coming. You’d do the same for Babette.”
“I’d do anything for my sister,” I say.
“Exactly.”
Our siblings have always meant everything to us. In this town, family is your lifeline. Your blood and soul.
I nod slowly, thinking this over for a half second. “Alright.” I push off the table, back on my feet. “You can sleep here as long as you need. On one condition.”
“Deal.”
I give her a frosted look. “At least make this a little hard for me.”
She smiles. “I need somewhere to stay, so whatever you want, you can have.”
I eye her from her feet to the top of her head. The air thickens again with tension formed years and years ago. “Don’t make that deal with me, Zoey.” The severity in my voice sobers the room.
She blows out a soft breath. “Okay.” For a second, she sounds like that frightened little rabbit. Then I watch her shoulders pull back. “No deal,” she says with a newfound confidence.
I like this Zoey.
“I’ll let you sleep here,” I explain. “But as long as you stay in Mistpoint Harbor, I’m going to be following you around everywhere you go. Someone has to protect you.”
