Page 44 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

No.

Don’t you dare.

Wow.

Wow.

My heart quivered like crazy as I looked up at his reflection and saw the quiet fury on his face. So he…he liked me like this then? I swallowed the lump in my throat at the thought that anyone could find me attractive when I was at an all-time low. Clearly, Prudence did though. And I could definitely see myself getting way too attached to him already. Maybe Violet had been right? This was dangerous.

But not in the way she’d warned.

Miraculously, I discovered twenty dollars hidden under a couch pillow the next day. I’d scanned the room for signs of ghost-thievery—found none—then proceeded to drive my shitty car all the way to the nearest McDonalds to buy two large fries. Back home, I munched away, typing one-handed as I sat pretzel-style at my dining table, and whipped through another fifteen job applications.

So far I hadn’t heard anything back, but I was still holding out hope I’d start getting calls today. It was just a numbers game, wasn’t it? All I had to do was submit enough applications and eventually someone would offer me a position.

I’d lied my way through my resume but as far as they knew I was overqualified.

Most people didn’t have a background as colorful as mine. Rich at eighteen. Viral artist—turned has-been.

I didn’t include that on the applications.

I had a mouthful of fries when Prudence appeared again. One second I was alone and the next there he was, standing across the table from me, framed by aged cream wallpaper.

Prudence stared at my fries.

I stared at him.

The red fry carton sat to the left of my hand, still full, and I shook off the salt on my fingers before I grabbed it and offered it to him. His eyes narrowed at me and I tried not to be too overwhelmed by the fact that he was right there. All five foot three of his gorgeously muscled frame.

Real. Solid. Tangible.

All I had to do to touch him was reach across the tabletop. I didn’t. But I could.

Why he’d decided to pop out of my head for the time being, I had no idea. I liked that he was able to be around more. Even though there was no rhyme or reason to his visits.

“Do ghosts eat?” I asked curiously, wagging the box toward him till it made a little shh, shh, shh noise.

“We can.”

Okay. Unhelpful, much?

“Do you like to eat?”

Prudence’s lips thinned and he glanced away, the tense muscle at the corner of his jaw tick, tick, ticking as he seemed to process the question. Finally—after a million years—he responded in a low, scratchy drawl. His words were stilted and forced, like they’d been literally dragged out of him.

“I don’t know.”

Oh.

“You don’t…know?” I blinked, then set the fries down because my arm was getting tired. “How do you not know? Wait. Scratch that. Dumb question. Exactly how long have you been a ghost?”

Fuck, had he recently died? Is that why he hadn’t tried it yet? Shit, that was sad.

“No one has ever offered me food before.” Shit that was even more sad. Prudence’s words once again sounded like they were being tortured out of him. Despite how clearly he hated the small talk, he was still answering, so I figured he should get points for that.

In fact, now that I thought about it, he hadn’t taken over my body again either.

He was following all my rules to a T and it was…weirdly nice? It made me want to trust him.

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