Page 16 of All Our Secrets

He didn’t stagger anymore as he hurried down the stairs and stood in front of me.

My head spun and my skin crawled,but somehow, I managed to keep myself locked in place. It was one of those bizarre moments where everything seemed dreamlike.Am I talking to a ghost? WasIthe ghost? I didn’t lose the lightheadedness until Theodore tried for my shoulder and his fingers slipped through.

What the fuck?This is real.

Theodore’s eyes widened. He gawked at his hand before slipping it through my shoulder again. “Hey, King… what’s happening?”

Did he not know he was dead?

“You don’t know?” I asked.

“Know what?”

So many emotions sprang up through my throat. So many things I should say, but I went with, “Theo… you’re dead.”

His forehead crinkled before he laughed. “What? No… Jesus, I’m drunk, but not that drunk. Did Devin and the guys put you up to this?”

“What?” What do they have to do with this?

“You literally just dropped me off after Devin’s party. I didn’t hear your truck come back.”

My heart dropped. Wait, Devin’s party? He must mean when we all went out drinking for Devin’s thirty-third birthday. That would have been a couple of months or so before Theodore passed. Of all days, why was he stuck on that one? For two nights, he’d been in a continuous loop. Until now.

“That was a year ago, Theo,” I stated.

Theodore glanced at his hand, his brows furrowing deeper, and placed it through my chest. “King…”

I pinched my arm until it hurt.Not a dream.

“Are you real?” I asked anyway.

“Where’s Peyton?” he demanded, holding his hand in front of his face and staring at it quizzically.

My heart raced, and I gritted my teeth. A dark part of me didn’t want to answer, but Theodore deserved to know. “She’s at the hospital. She and Theodore Jr.”

He gaped, staggering back. “Wait… She—we have a baby?”

I nodded, then watched his face shift through several emotions. First, he smiled, then it waned as he glanced down at his translucent body. If he didn’t remember his death or Peyton’s pregnancy, then he didn’t remember dying, did he? Or that last conversation we had. Otherwise, I couldn’t see him talking so freely with me. “You don’t remember?”

Theodore shook his head. “No. What happened?”

“You wrecked your bike on our Sunday ride.” I recoiled, remembering how he’d stormed off.

He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

“How are you here?” I asked.

“I want to see my wife and son.”

“Can you leave this house?”

He stared behind me, toward the front door. “I don’t know.”

“You scared Peyton into labor.”

His eyes rounded. “Iwhat?”

“You’ve been barging into the house repeatedly since last night. I don’t think she saw you, but I don’t think she would have told anyone if she did. So why, Theo? Why do I see you? And why—why are you here now?”

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