Page 8 of Almost You

“Why look for this ghost-father at all?” I asked. “If he won’t remember his daughter or his life, except for fragments. Why would he want to seek his daughter out?” I was frustrated at how Christopher kept trying to leave me.

Unfair, maybe. Was I some spoiled brat?

“He doesn’t want to seek her out. It’s all her. Humans think ghosts want to haunt them, but it’s the other way around. Most of my clients settle for a glimmer, not an appearance of the ghost. Occasionally, I do channel them and connect with both realms at once.”

“But I want to find my people. I’m hiring you.”

“Payment is yet to be seen,” he replied dryly. “And once you acclimate to this realm, we’ll see if that remains true.”

“What’s your ex-wife like?” I rolled onto my side.

“Way to change the subject from payment,” he griped.

I grinned at him.

He sighed. “She’s nice. She’s a schoolteacher, a good one, and she’s nice to the kids she teaches, even the difficult ones.”

“She sounds nice,” I said, using his same vague wording.

“She is.” His tone became defensive.

“Sorry I brought her up. I wish you could ask me stuff. I’d tell you all about me if I could, even the awkward parts.”

“If you remember anything, I’ll keep you to that promise.”

“How about pets?” I tried to engage him in conversation again so he wouldn’t leave me. I was sure Christopher understood this was my end goal. He looked off at some passing ghosts before rubbing the side of his jaw and slowly sinking into the sand beside me.

He began to talk. He talked about a cat he fed in an alley. His favorite movies. It was like music to me, comforting me. The subject didn’t matter. Everything he said made being here less painful. And he knew it. Christopher stayed and talked because he saw I was so freaked out. So, I asked questions and he answered each one. As he talked, Christopher became my friend.

Yeah, this was instant. Too fast. I got that Icravedconnection. Something human.

But who’d made those rules? What authority? They didn’t apply here.

“Do you believe in destiny?” I asked, cupping some sand in my hands and letting it fall. “Like no matter what we choose, our life is not in our control? We’re waiting?”

“I think we should go after what we want. Nobody hands us a damn thing.”

I stared at him for a long moment. “You’re right.”

“I know.” He swallowed visibly.

Slowly, giving him a chance to pull back, I leaned forward.

Christopher didn’t move away. His eyes got big, and he licked his lip, but he made no move.

So, I kissed him.

FIVE

Christopher

His lips on mine were soft and gentle. But nothing inside of me felt gentle. Instead, I roared to life, my heart a lion, as I grasped his shoulders, pressing my mouth to his.

I’ve never liked a guy. Or a ghost. But I like kissing this one.

I could accept bisexuality or whatever I might be experiencing, but…I’d long ago thought of myself as a barely-sexual person. Now, though, desire was flooding through me like a dam had burst. For the first time, I understood there were two choices: denial or acceptance. The need to accept was overwhelming.

His lips. Oh, God.

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