Till Death Do Us Part: A Paranormal Why Choose Romance (Vows Duet Book 1)

Chapter 30

Present Day

Something crashes behind me.

I groan, my body deliciously sore from how Koda used me all night, only letting me stop when, as he promised me I would, begged. For a dead guy, he sure has stamina. A giggle escapes my mouth as the thought crosses my mind.

The humor dies quickly when I feel my blanket yanked away and I bolt upright, coming face to face with my sister. I draw my knees up and use my arms to cover myself, my eyes finding the door that was slammed so hard into the wall that the door knob left a dent.

“Rhea!” I yell, glaring at her. “Give me my blanket back!”

“I fucking told you no guys over!” she yells back, her angry expression far from heated. It looks artic.

“I didn’t have a guy over!”

It’s not technically a lie, right? Koda was already here.

Fear plunks into my gut as I inconspicuously check around me, making sure that he’s not somehow still here. I don’t find him, holding in my sigh of relief as I grab a pillow to cover myself. I realize I’ve been ignoring a rant from Rhea and tune back in.

“—and you break the rules as soon as you think I’m not paying attention!”

I take a deep breath, going to that zen place I need to when I usually deal with Dad. “Rhea, I didn’t have any men over. Can I please have my blanket back?”

The balled up blanket is flung at me, smacking me in the head. I shake it out with one hand, covering myself fully.

“Then why are you naked and your panties are ripped apart on the floor?” Rhea demands.

If I could melt into the bed and disappear, I would. “I did that,” I mutter, my face burning with embarrassment. “I ripped them.”

She snorts. “Why would you do that?”

“I—” I glance around. “I read about a male character doing it in a book. I wondered if it was as easy as it sounded.”

Oh, gosh. I can hear the deception in my tone, the guilt. I hold my breath as Rhea studies me, actively avoiding meeting her eyes. She stares at me for so long that my neck itches with anxiety.

“There was no man in here?” she asks, still suspicious.

Not one with a pulse.

“No,” I answer. “Just me.”

“Fine,” she says, blowing out a breath. “Don’t forget the rules.”

Rhea stomps out, leaving my bedroom door wide open. As soon as she’s gone from my sight, the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut a moment later, I scramble out of bed, dressing as fast as possible. Just as I tug a shirt over my head, Koda materializes before me. I bite my tongue in the process of trying not to yelp, tasting copper immediately.

“Sorry,” he says immediately, as I fan my hand at my stuck out tongue like it’ll help soothe the pain. “I left right before she opened the door. I didn’t want to take a chance she’d see me.”

“Ah-ay an?” I say, my tongue still out.

Koda grins at the new dialect I’ve created. “Okay and I wanted you to know that I didn’t leave a second before then. You asked me to stay until you woke up,” he adds, like he’s reminding me.

My tongue slides back into my mouth, throbbing, and I scan his face. “Thanks,” I say softly.

He suddenly looks nervous, cramming his hands into his jean pockets, a far cry from the person who knew exactly what he wanted from me last night.

And how he wanted me last night.

“This is going to sound stupid,” he starts.

“No, it isn’t,” I reply without hesitation.

Looking up, Koda meets my eyes. “Last night was the best night of my life, being with you.”

I blink. “But—”

“But I’m dead.” His chuckle is mirthless. “I know.”

I shake my head. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

“What were you going to say?” he asks curiously.

“But I’m not anything special,” I say, completing my thought from earlier. His eyes narrow at me and I hurry to explain. “I’m sure you’ve been with other, much more experienced girls who were better than me.”

I hate how jealousy swirls in my gut at the thought of anyone else touching him. But I know I have no right to be envious of anyone he spent time with, even if they got to have him when he was still alive.

With his favorite move, a gripping hand to my throat, Koda walks me into the wall until I’m flat against it. “Tell me again you’re nothing special,” he challenges. “I dare you.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that he’s telling me not to say it again. Unfortunately, my brain is probably still short circuiting from all the orgasms and lack of sleep last night.

“I’m nothing speci—”

He cuts me off with a vicious kiss. “You’re lucky Rhea is here,” he whispers against my lips.

“Why?” I whisper back.

“Because if she wasn’t, I’d be making you scream until you remembered that you’re pretty fucking special, little Nova.” He grins at my wide eyes, backing up a little to give me space. “Now be a good girl and repeat after me—I’m fucking special.”

“I’m special,” I say, disbelief coloring my tone.

“No. I’m fucking special.”

I roll my eyes. “What is yours and Jimmy’s obsession with getting me to say fuck?”

I slap a hand over my mouth and Koda loses it, belly laughing at what I know must be a comically horrified expression.

“Because it sounds so pretty coming from the lips of an angel,” he teases, then grows serious again. “Say it.”

“I’m fucking special,” I murmur, holding his gaze until I have to blink back tears. Not because I cursed. Because I can’t remember a time when anyone has ever told me I was more—that I was special.

“That’s my girl,” Koda praises, and I’m forced to blink back tears again. This time because he sounds so sincere I feel his words sawing at my soul.

He is dead.

I am alive.

And this can only end in tragedy and loneliness.

“Earth to Nova.”

I blink, glancing at Tilly. “What?”

“Woman,” she laughs. “You’ve been stuck in your own head all day!”

“I know,” I groan, pressing my palms into my eyes and rubbing. “I’m tired.”

“Why? What’d you do last night?” she asks, bumping me with her elbow.

I turn a dark shade of red. “I—Noth—I—”

“Oh. My. God. Should I have asked who did you do last night?” Tilly exclaims, grinning. “Spill! Who was it? Was it that delicious guy from the other night? Did he come back and redeem himself with his thick dick?”

I gnaw on my lip nervously. After the club with Jimmy, Tilly had hassled me about what happened after we left. Not wanting to get into the details about my dead lover, I told her he’d pissed me off, and I kicked him to the curb before we made it back to my place.

I’m regretting that now. I have always been alone, but having no one to talk to about the whole ghosts thing is driving me crazy.

Crazier?

I take a brief moment to mull over how Tilly would react to me telling her about the ghosts. I feel it deep in my gut that she wouldn’t ridicule me, even if she didn’t believe in what I was saying. It’s too much of a risk that I’ll lose her as a friend if I tell her, though.

And considering she’s my only alive friend right now…

“Not Jimmy,” I force out, along with a smile.

“All right,” Tilly says, slapping her hands on her naked thighs, her black mini skirt leaving them free. “That’s it.”

I frown at her as she stands and crosses her arms, looking down at me. “What?”

“Are we friends?”

“Yes?” I answer slowly.

“Then why the fuck are you hiding shit from me?” Tilly demands.

I feel like a deer in the headlights. “I—”

“Ah, ah. Don’t you lie to me, Nova Kellerman,” she says, wagging a finger at me. “You’re a shit liar.”

I let my head fall back and stare at the sky. “Tilly, if I tell you, you’re going to think I’m insane.”

“Ooh, goody!” She grins and settles back down next to me on the bench. “Tell me!”

It’s clear I’m not getting out of this. I’m not sure I even want to—I need someone to talk to. Maybe Tilly can be that person for me.

Maybe she can’t, but there’s no turning back now.

With a deep breath that does nothing to make me feel braver, I face her. I consider my words, trying to figure out how to delicately word this so she doesn’t think I’m a total mental headca—

“I fucked two ghosts.”

My own words physically send me reeling backwards, my hands slapping over my mouth—the second time today—with a mortified squeak. I wait for her to freak out about what I just revealed. She does freak out, but not about what I expect her to.

“YOU SAID ‘FUCK’!” Tilly screams, leaping to her feet. Three students walking across the courtyard together pause and stare at her as she hops back to her feet. “MY FRIEND NOVA SAID ‘FUCK’ TO ME FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!”

“Tilly!” I hiss, yanking at her arm. “Sit down!”

She listens, but she leans forward conspiratorially. “Say it again!”

“Why does everyone want me to say that?” I exclaim, a laugh escaping me.

“Because sometimes you just need to—” She breaks off, going still. Her head cocks to the side and she studies me. “Did you say two ghosts?”

I tense. “Yes,” I answer firmly, forcing myself to hold her gaze.

“Ghosts.”

“Yes.”

“Like white sheets and…oooooooooo,” Tilly says, lifting her arms and wobbling around as she vocalizes like a ghost from a cartoon.

My chest feels tight as I turn my face away from her, looking for something to do with my fidgeting hands. “Ha. Yeah. I didn’t mean it like—”

“Nova.”

I keep my eyes focused on my backpack, my fingers fiddling with the zipper. “What?”

“Are you serious about the ghosts?” Tilly asks, her voice gentle and serious at the same time.

“Yes,” I answer despite my better judgement.

The silence drags on forever, with the exception of the sharp hiss of my zipper as I drag it back and forth rapidly. Tilly’s hand, her nails covered in chipped black polish, lands on mine, stopping it from obsessively yanking.

“Okay,” she says with no hint of judgement in her voice.

I dare a look up. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

“That’s it?”

Tilly gives me a warm smile. “Nova, you’re my best friend. If you say you’ve…you know…fucked a couple of ghosts, then I believe you.” She releases my hand and frames her chin with hers, looking up at the sky contemplatively. “How does one fuck a ghost? Is it like floating objects up your hoo hah or…?”

“You’re okay with it?” I ask, dumfounded.

She rolls her shoulders. “I mean, did the ghosts rock your world?”

I can’t help the grin that stretches across my face. “Yeah.”

“Then, yes. I’m fucking thrilled with it,” she replies. “I wouldn’t just let any limp dick ghost fuck you if they hadn’t satisfied you.”

The last part she says too loudly as a mousey looking girl with glass walks by, earning us a mixed look of horror and interest. Tilly snickers when she scuttles away from us.

“Why don’t you start over?” she suggests once the girl is out of sight. “Start from the beginning with how you met these ghosts.”

A weight lifts off my shoulders as I start from the very beginning with my mother. I tell her about how most ghosts don’t look like they’re ghosts to me. They look like any other person on the street.

I explain how I have these strange feelings about some of the guys, but not all the ghosts who reside in my house. I fill her in on how I met Jimmy, only to realize after I’d slept with him he was a ghost. I tell her about helping Chris move on and visiting his family. I share how I woke up last night to Koda doing stuff to me while I was asleep—which seems to be her only sore point.

“Did he ask if he could touch you while you slept?” she asks, scowling.

I shrug. “Not really.”

She purses her lips. “We’ll be having words, him and me.”

“You will?”

Tilly smirks at me. “Yes. Koda and I will. Continue.”

Once I finish filling her in on the way the guys approached me a few days ago, she gives a long whistle. She stares off, seeming to be thinking through it all, her tongue pressed into the corner of her mouth.

“I am…” Tilly trails off, still focused on nothing across the courtyard.

“What?” I ask, anxious.

“Jealous,” she finishes, then chuckles. “I’m really fucking jealous.”

I feel like all I’ve done is ask her to repeat herself throughout this conversation, and this time is no different. “You are?”

“Yes.” She grins at my bewildered expression. “Nova! You’re living this extraordinary story. Most people would kill to be trapped in a paranormal romance novel.”

“I’m not so sure it’ll end up being romance,” I mutter. “Maybe just straight horror.”

“Oh, stop,” Tilly says, dismissing my negativity. “These dudes are clearly into you. When do I get to meet them?”

“Meet them?” I ask shrilly.

“Meet them,” she confirms. “How about now? Do they sleep ever? Or are they just hanging around your house all day long?”

“I don’t think they sleep,” I manage, dumbfounded.

She hops up, grabbing her bag. “Great! Let’s go to your place now!”

My mind snags on Rhea’s rules. “We can’t. My sister doesn’t like people over.”

Her expression is confused. “Like ever?”

A streak of rebellion flies through me. “You know what? I’m paying to live there too,” I say, defiant. “You can come over after she leaves for work tonight.”

Tilly beams at me. “My girl got ghost dick all up in her and now she’s a little hellion. I love it.”

I want to say that it was a mistake to tell her anything, but as I laugh with her, I decide it was exactly the right thing to do.