Chapter 19 #2
“And you were always a charmer.” I point to the items he set on the blanket. “But what does all that have to do with this stuff?”
“We’re going ghost hunting.” Roscoe picks up one device that looks familiar. “An EMF detector to see if we can sense her presence.”
Carson holds up a small handheld recorder. “We’ll use this to see if we can catch her on tape.”
Owen taps his phone. “And we’ll use this good ol’ phone to snap a bunch of pictures to see if we can get physical proof of her existence.”
My eyes scan the items, then slowly trail across the three men who have completely bowled me over with their thoughtful, sweet gesture.
“You guys, I’m…speechless.” I sit up on my legs. “You did all this for me?”
Carson takes off his hat and flips it around. “It was one of the things we’d been planning before the fight.”
“And we weren’t willing to miss another opportunity, so here we are.”
I can’t contain the explosive amount of emotion building in my chest any longer. I throw myself into Owen’s lap, my arms wrapping around his neck and squeezing him tight.
Once he recovers from his shock, I’m engulfed in a hug so perfect, I almost cry.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“You don’t have to thank us, love bug.”
“Speak for yourself, asshat. I want to be thanked next.” Carson reaches over, lifting me off Owen’s lap and into his own. “There. Now you may proceed.”
My laugh comes from the very center of my soul, and it lights me up in ways I haven’t felt in years.
“God, you’re beautiful when you laugh.” Carson clings to me, brushing his nose against mine.
“Okay, hot shot, you’re gonna make me blush.”
“Oh, I want to make you blush everywhere.”
“And on that note…” Roscoe steals Carson’s move and drags me away from the lover boy.
“Hey! You girlfriend thief!”
“Ah, ah, ah. Fake girlfriend.”
Roscoe settles me firmly in his lap, pressing my ass against something long and hard. “That feel fake to you, baby girl?”
Glancing over my shoulder, he’s staring at me with heat that’s impossible to miss. Of course, the erection under my butt is a good indication as well.
“We didn’t come up here for that, asshole.” Owen throws a chip, managing to hit Roz straight in the forehead.
No wonder he’s the star quarterback.
“You’re just jealous she’s rubbing her luscious ass on my dick and not yours.”
Owen reaches for one of the strawberries, but before he can chuck it in my direction, I duck out of Roscoe’s lap.
“Now, now, fellas. One of those strawberries hits me, and I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
The guys chuckle, but Carson stands and offers his hand to help me up. “C’mon. Let these idiots have their food fight. You and I will go ghost hunting.”
“Sounds fabulous.”
He picks up the EMF meter and drags me over to the railing. The guys are whispering behind us, but I’m focused on the small electronic device Cars just turned on. The lights flash briefly, then go steady green.
“Okay, let’s see if this thing works.” He holds it out to me. “Wanna give it a shot?”
“Sure.” With the device in my hand, I slowly walk around the area, watching for any kind of spike or movement of the light.
“You believe what they say about her?” he asks quietly.
I shrug. “I can imagine a woman’s pain if the man she loved didn’t love her back.”
My words are met with silence, and when I look over at the guys, Owen is snapping photos of me while Roscoe stands beside him with the digital recorder.
“Maybe something happened and he wasn’t able to meet her here. Maybe it was never about him not loving her, but a simple miscommunication.”
My heart stutters. The double meaning of his words hasn’t gone unnoticed.
They’re watching me with an attentiveness that should be unnerving up here in the dark, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite.
I feel seen and cared for in a way that’s new and…
okay, a little frightening but in a different way.
“Maybe she’s not innocent either. Maybe she believed the worst without any sort of proof.”
“Think she’d forgive him if they ever found their way back to each other?”
“Think they’d—I mean, he’d—ever forgive her for leaving?”
Owen walks over, his eyes scanning my face. “I know he would. He’d leave the past in the past and be happy they get to exist in the present.”
“I’d love to believe that,” I whisper, turning to look out over the edge. “Much happier ending than being alone and miserable for years on end.”
Standing here, staring out at the lake and canyon below, I’m hit with this sense of how utterly small we are in this big, grand world. The fact that two people, let alone four people, could even find each other in an endless sea of opportunities seems nearly impossible.
“You know…” Owen begins, gripping my hand and tugging me into his chest. “They say that they get the most activity when a couple kisses up here. I think we should test the theory out.”
My chin tips up, a small smirk playing on my lips. “Oh, you do, huh?”
“Mmmhmmm.” He gives me plenty of opportunity to pull away, but I couldn’t if I tried.
His face tips to the side just before his soft lips press against mine.
A soft hum slips from my lips unbidden. The moment is just too sweet…
at least until his hand wraps around my waist and he pulls me up onto my tiptoes to deepen the kiss.
It’s a flash fire in dry conditions, and I’m melting under the heat.
“Holy shit!”
A hand brushes against mine, lifting it up and distracting me enough that I pull back. More than a little dazed, I try to figure out what in the hell Carson and Roscoe are all excited about. Then I see the EMF meter flashing wildly, all the way to red, and my startled eyes meet theirs.
“No fucking way!” Roscoe exclaims, taking the device and moving around with zero change.
“See, I told you,” Owen whispers in my ear, drawing my face back to his. “Let’s give the other two some more ammunition for their research.”
He kisses me again, and everything but the way he feels against me is forgotten.
I’ll worry about the spirit a little later. Right now, I’m going to take this moment for the both of us. Girl solidarity…or something like that.