Page 136 of Chasing Your Ghost

Chris huffed. “Your standards are pretty low if you think he’s a gentleman. Drew is a jerk.”

“I’ve always liked him,” Edith offered.

“That’s because he’s a kiss-ass,” Noah pointed out.

“Watch your language, Noah,” Hugh warned half-heartedly before taking another bite of his taco.

“How come when I swear, I get sent to my room or have to clean up after dinner, but Noah gets away scot-free?” Olivia complained.

“Because Noah is too old for that now,” Edith explained while Riley and Asher traded amused looks.

Olivia continued to argue, insisting that Noah had always gotten away with things, even before he’d turned eighteen, but Riley tuned her out.

“Your parents are still going to be out late tonight, right?” she whispered in Asher’s ear.

His eyes nervously moved to Hugh, who was fixated on his tacos. “Yeah. They said they’d be back from the concert around midnight.”

She leaned even closer. “So it’s still okay for me to come over so we can more-than-stare at each other?”

Asher fought back a grin. “Yeah.”

Riley unconsciously tucked her hair behind her ear, her cheeks feeling warm. “Great.”

“Asher,” Noah called out, his loud voice drawing the attention of the entire table. “Stop flirting with my stepsister at the dinner table. It’s nauseating.”

“Not as nauseating as your face,” Asher retorted.

“Ooh, burn,” Chris crowed.

Noah gasped. “How dare you? This face is a work of art.”

Riley laughed. “Maybe if it were made by Jackson Pollock.”

Noah got the smug look of someone who had a brilliant retort ready.

“And not because it’s worth millions of dollars,” she got out before he could say something to that effect.

He narrowed his eyes at her for several seconds, seemingly unable to come up with a response to that. “Are you calling my face a mess?” he finally asked.

Riley grinned. “Maybe.”

“I think we need to get your brain checked then because you think I’m ugly, yet you’re dating that piece of trash sitting next to you.”

“Too far, Noah,” Riley warned him, her eyes turning to slits. “Too far.”

“Children,” Edith’s mother tutted. “If you have nothing nice to say to one another, don’t say it all.”

“Yes, Riley,” Noah said. “Behave yourself.”

Riley’s jaw dropped. “Me? You’re the one calling my boyfriend trash.”

“You called my face ugly,” he accused.

“Alright, alright,” Hugh said, raising his voice above their arguing. “You’re all equally as annoying and ugly. Now can we go back to eating these delicious tacos I made?”

Noah sighed. “Sorry, Dad.”

“Sorry, Hugh,” Riley said, picking up her taco and taking a bite out of it. He wasn’t wrong. They were delicious. Noah’s face was still uglier than hers and Asher’s, though. He wasn’t right about that.

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