Page 65 of Chasing Your Ghost

“Of course it matters,” he argued. “And I do believe you.”

She smiled weakly and turned away from him, occupying herself with fixing the pillows on her bed so that she could be the one to avoid his gaze this time. “You shouldn’t even be here,” she said quietly. “You’re meant to be saying your goodbyes, remember, not getting caught up in my family drama.”

“Why did you think I came back here with Noah and Chris?” he asked softly. “I was coming back to say goodbye to you.”

Riley was glad her back was to him. If not, he would have seen the way her face crumpled as she fought back a sob. She closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath through her nose before turning to face him. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back,” she admitted.

“Of course, I came back,” Asher replied, his tone not allowing her to accept his words as anything but the truth. “I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye to you. Not after everything you’ve done for me.”

Riley shook her head as the tightness in her throat grew painful. “I didn’t do enough. I should have done more, looked harder.” Her breath stuttered, forcing her to pause. “Or maybe I did this all wrong. Maybe I should have pushed you to move on from the beginning.”

Asher stepped toward her, his fingers twitching at his sides before they curled into loose fists. “Maybe that is what we should have done, but I’m glad I stayed.”

“You are?”

He smiled that lopsided grin of his. “I am.”

Riley caught her bottom lip between her teeth, not sure how she was meant to respond and scared that she would say something stupid and ruin the moment.

Asher took another step closer. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to take my anger out on you.”

“It’s okay,” she replied, meaning it. “I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you. Not really.” She had witnessed countless ghosts wrestle with the knowledge that they were gone and could never come back, but she couldn’t truly know how it felt to be faced with that cold, hard truth.

“It’s not okay,” he argued. “I was being such an ungrateful idiot.”

Riley’s lips twitched. He was dealing with one of the worst things imaginable, yet he was still thinking of her. “Asher, it’s alright,” she assured him. “I forgive you.”

“Thank you,” he sighed in relief. He shifted on his feet, his mouth opening and closing twice before he managed to ask, “I know I need to go, but do you think you could handle me for a few more hours?”

She failed to contain her smile. “I don’t think a few more hours could do any harm. What did you have in mind?”

He shrugged and scratched the back of his head. “We could watch a movie?” He grimaced. “Or is that stupid?”

“It’s not stupid,” she told him with a grin. “What’s your favorite movie?”

He considered it for a few seconds, his head bobbing from side to side as he thought before saying, “Gladiator.”

“Russel Crowe, right?” she asked, grabbing her laptop and settling on the edge of the bed.

“Yep.”

“I’ve never actually seen it.”

Asher gasped. “What kind of childhood did you have?” he asked, his eyes dancing with mirth.

She shrugged as she searched for the movie online. “One without gladiators barbarically slaughtering each other for the entertainment of sick people like you.”

He chuckled and threw himself onto the bed, not so much as disturbing the sheets as he made himself comfortable. “Touché.”

Riley settled beside him, hesitating briefly before renting the movie on Prime Video using Hugh’s card. She might get into trouble for it, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“My dad and I watch—used to watch—this all the time,” Asher told her, his words catching when he realized his mistake. “My mom couldn’t understand our obsession. She’d end up reading instead of watching with us because she got so bored of it.”

“Poor woman,” Riley sighed as the movie started.

“Don’t feel too bad for her,” he said with a nostalgic grin. “She used to make us watch these beyond boring Oscar-winning movies with her every Sunday night.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “The horror.”

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