Page 72 of Chasing Your Ghost

Noah sighed. “No,” he muttered.

“Secondly, I’m not the one who came to you with this. You’re the one who came asking questions about Asher. And thirdly…well, I guess you’re just going to have to trust me.”

It was a difficult thing to ask for. Riley had never had friends, at least none that lasted very long, and asking for Noah’s trust, when he could so easily turn around and call her a liar and a freak and so many other lovely things, felt like taking her own giant leap of faith—one in which she risked getting shredded and cut open.

Noah stared at her, considering and weighing everything she’d said with unforgiving scrutiny. “You’re not messing with me?” he finally asked.

“No. I would never do that to you.”

“Okay.” He jerked his head up and down and began pacing. “Okay. Tell me everything—no, wait! Chris should be here to hear the story, as well.”

Riley immediately started arguing against that. “No. No way. You barely believe me, so why on earth would you think telling Chris about this is a good idea.”

“Because he deserves to know,” Noah snapped back. “He deserves to know that you’ve seen and talked to our friend and didn’t bother to mention it to us.”

Riley’s eyes heated. “Are you serious? Was I supposed to casually mention it when you guys drove me to the ballet studio?”

“Our friend has been missing for a month, and we’ve been going crazy wondering what happened to him, so yes,” he yelled. “Maybe you should have mentioned it to us.”

“Do you think I haven’t tried to do that before?” Riley asked, responding to his anger with a choked and bitter whisper.

This was why she never told anyone about her gift. This was why she’d always followed her dad’s advice on not involving the living in the problems of the dead.

“Do you think I haven’t tried to help people by giving them messages from ghosts? Do you think I would not tell you without good reason?” She curled her hands into fists, furious at how quickly Noah had turned against her. “We both know you wouldn’t have believed me if I’d said anything. You would have reacted like everyone else and thought I was playing some sick joke, so don’t stand there and shout at me for not telling you earlier.”

Riley’s stepbrother’s glare eased as he listened to her rant, his blue eyes softening with understanding.

“You’re right. We wouldn’t have believed you,” he admitted once she was done. “But that doesn’t mean Chris shouldn’t be here now,” he added firmly.

“Noah, he’s not going to understand. He could end up hating you if he thinks we’re messing with him.” She emphasized the word ‘hating’, needing him to understand the repercussions telling his friend might have.

“Chris knows me,” he insisted. “He knows I’d never do that to him.”

Riley groaned and wiped her hands over her face. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“No,” he replied without hesitation. “Chris was just as upset as I was when we heard Asher was missing, and he was right there with me during the search parties. I won’t leave him out of this.”

She didn’t know if she wanted to punch him for being so difficult or hug him for being so loyal to his friend. She settled on neither, releasing a heavy sigh instead. “Fine,” she agreed, much against her better judgment. “But whatever happens is on your head.”

He perked up instantly. “Absolutely. So, I can call him?”

“Even though I think this is a terrible idea, yes.” Riley paused before her next words, knowing they wouldn’t be received well by her stepbrother. “But while you’re at it, there’s someone else you need to invite to this disaster-in-the-making.”

Noah frowned, his gaze lifting from the phone he’d already taken out of his back pocket. “Who?”

Riley grimaced, preparing for the inevitable argument that was coming her way. “Ella.”

???

“Remind me why the hell we’re here,” Noah grumbled before aggressively knocking on the door.

After he’d called Chris and told him to come over, he’d reluctantly called Ella without success. Hence why they’d come to her home after Chris had arrived.

“Because she didn’t answer her phone,” Riley replied, slapping his fisted hand away from the door before he could punch his way through the wood. Most people stopped at three taps, but her stepbrother apparently hadn’t gotten the memo.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” he said through clenched teeth. He’d been in a foul mood since Riley had insisted that Ella be there to hear about Asher, and it looked like he was only getting more bad-tempered.

Riley forced herself not to snap back, barely managing to keep her hands at her side when her palms craved the sting of slapping some sense into him. “Chris?” she asked, turning to the person on the other side of her. “Could you give us a second? I need to talk some sense into my idiot stepbrother.”

---