Chapter 16
sixteen
ZEKE
The rain outside is like a racehorse pissing into a bucket, and the door’s hanging wide open. I can already see the puddles starting to form on the hardwood entryway where Autumn just came bursting into my cabin and threw herself at me with zero explanation.
But I don’t care. I’ll grab some towels in a couple of minutes.
Because right now, Autumn Carroway has herself nestled in my arms, and I’d be the world’s biggest dipshit to end this moment early.
I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but she’s clearly scared out of her mind.
I’m not big on comforting people—especially women, that shit bogs you down—but with Autumn?
Who’s usually pretty damn good at taking care of herself? Something’s wrong.
And she came to… me.
So here we are, her dripping water all over the floor and me with my chin on the top of her head, breathing in the coconut scent of her wet hair.
I’m a little alarmed at how easy this feels.
How my only thought as Autumn yelled out over the thunder of the rain was that she needed help—and how all of a sudden I’m like—boom. I’m there.
Even now as I’m holding her, I kind of don’t want to let go.
It’s fucking with my head.
I also don’t want to think about how I’m supposed to be at Jenny’s place in thirty minutes. That shit—trying to distract myself with a booty call—feels so far away. Right now, I just want to be here. With Autumn. But preferably with the door shut because that lightning is absolutely crazy.
“Hey. Um.” I loosen my grip on Autumn, shifting only slightly so she doesn’t feel like I’m trying to pull away or something. “Could we, like, shut the door?”
Autumn’s head whips around, and she gasps. In an instant, she’s untangled her arms from around me and has shut the door with a thud. She’s already glancing around the cabin, making her way to the tiny kitchen to snatch a towel from the back of a chair.
“Oh my god,” she says, kneeling down to sop up the rain with the towel. She doesn’t look up at me. “I’m so sorry. I was just—I was so freaked out that I just came running—and the rain! Holy shit, I wasn’t thinking. I completely lost my head.”
“No biggie.” I grab a couple more towels from the kitchen and get down on the floor next to her. “But what the fuck had you so freaked out you’d go running across the lawn in the middle of a thunderstorm?”
Autumn grimaces. I can tell she’s embarrassed, but the way she looks me in the eyes when she answers also tells me the fear’s not quite gone. She sighs. “Okay, don’t be mad...”
I break out into a grin. “Uh-oh. That’s my line. That means shit’s about to get real.”
“Yeah, a little too real.”
I quirk an eyebrow at her. “Oh, yeah? I’m listening.”
Autumn swallows hard, getting up to carry the sopping towels to the sink so she doesn’t have to look at me when she tells me the thing I’m not supposed to be mad about. “I, uh. Kind of used the spirit board.”
I toss a towel in the sink and stop, staring at her. “You did what now?”
“Oh, miss me with that judgy tone,” she snaps. “You heard me. I used the spirit board, and yes—if you’re wondering whether I know it was stupid, the answer is yes.”
“Okay,” I snort. “Glad we’re in agreement there.”
She narrows her eyes at me. As she wrings out a towel, rainwater splatters into the sink. “Hey. You’re the one who left the board—and you’re the one who’s causing drama in my goddamn house.”
My eyebrows about hit the roof. “Excuse me? Drama? No, no. Zeke is drama free.”
“Oh, as if! Thanks to you, I’ve got a jealous, vengeful lady ghost on my hands—and she is out for blood, Zeke.”
“What?!” I sputter. I am really not following. “Look. Hot stuff. I don’t know what you think I did, or what you think is going on, but I can promise you—”
“She’s going to murder me!”
I’d be tempted to laugh if Autumn didn’t look so goddamned petrified. She’s got her back to the sink, her fingers clutching the edge of the counter, and her green eyes are clinging to mine like I’m some kind of lifeline.
“Alright, I’m gonna need you to start from the beginning,” I say, switching tacks. I have no clue what’s going on, but Autumn seems serious. She really thinks there’s someone—something—out to get her. “Who is going to murder you? And how the fuck do you know that?”
Autumn draws in a deep breath, like she’s trying not to lunge at me again.
Her eyes move to the floor. “Okay. So, I was home alone this evening, and things just felt creepy. And I got to thinking… that ghost girl obviously has a—a thing for you, and… I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t very smart of me last night to, like, be all up on the dude she’s into. You know?”
“Right. So stupid of you,” I say, grinning. “How could you?”
Autumn glares at me, but she keeps on talking.
“So then I thought, ‘Okay, I can sort this out. We’ll just have some girl talk.’ So I used the spirit board.
I tried to do everything like you did last night—which, honestly, is what they do in the movies, too—and she showed up, Zeke.
She actually showed up! And it was cool at first!
Her name’s Lena. We were vibing. But then I tried to reassure her that I’m not out to, like, steal her man, and she spelled out—she fucking spelled out ‘murder’.
Plain as day. And then the lights went out, and I got the hell out of there. ”
Autumn’s breathless as she finishes her story. Her eyes are no longer on the ground, and she’s staring at me like she’s waiting for me to throw open the closet, grab one of those vacuum things they use on Ghostbusters, and go sprinting out the door.
But damn. Jokes aside, I’m actually kind of concerned. That shit doesn’t sound good.
I step closer to her, searching her gaze. “The board really spelled out ‘murder’?”
“Yes!” Autumn all but shrieks. “You think I’d come running out here in the middle of a goddamn storm for shits and giggles?”
“I mean, it seemed like you enjoyed last night,” I say, flashing her a sly grin.
She punches me in the arm. “Stop it! This is scary.”
“Sorry. Okay, being serious now. That does sound… really scary.” I clear my throat, stepping even closer to her.
The space between us is gone, but Autumn doesn’t move.
She just stares up at me, eyes all big and green and round.
I can’t believe what I’m about to say. “You can stay here tonight, okay? I’ll sleep on the floor.
And then tomorrow we’ll check it out together—alright?
Or just me, if you’d rather. It’s gonna be fine. ”
My thoughts flit briefly to Jenny, who still thinks I’m coming over. Well—too bad for her.
Change of plans. Autumn’s got my attention.
“You think?” Autumn asks, the tension in her face almost visibly melting.
“Duh.” I reach out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, a little freaked out by the nervousness I suddenly feel. “But I do have one question.”
“What?”
I try to shake off the nerves by letting my face ease into another grin. “Did you mean it? About not being out to steal the ghost’s man?”
Autumn rolls her eyes. “Of course that’s what you zero in on.”
“Answer the question,” I prod, hopping up onto the counter behind me. I didn’t realize how close I was standing to Autumn until now. I can’t feel her warmth on my skin anymore.
“Yes, I meant it,” Autumn says with a pointed look.
“Phew,” I say, blowing out a breath and fake-wiping my brow. “That’s a relief. We couldn’t have you stealing that poor ghost’s man out from under her. That’d be awful.”
I’d never admit it out loud to Autumn, but a weird little flash of disappointment hits me in the gut.
Of course she’s not trying to get with me.
I’m her best friend’s fiancé’s little brother, who basically lives on her charity and doesn’t even have a job.
That happens to be the way I like it, obviously, while I gear up for the TV series I’m going to win, but it doesn’t exactly jibe with Autumn’s life.
Lucky for me, my goal has only ever been to get her into bed.
And the goal is in sight.
Boom.
But…
I think it’s going to have to wait. I may be a player, but I’m not a scumbag. And making a move on Autumn when she’s scared and stressed and probably still kind of reeling from last night seems… I don’t know. Kind of low.
But we’ll get there. I’m not worried.
“Right,” Autumn says. She fixes me with this irritated little look that makes me crack up.
I slap both hands on the counter on either side of me and push off, hopping back down to the floor. I stretch my arms above my head, fully aware that my sweats are barely hanging off my hips and Autumn’s probably got a full view of my happy trail.
Yep—her eyes dip down, lingering a second, before she turns and starts briskly toward the other side of the cabin, where the bed is.
“I’m going to bed,” she announces.
“Already?”
“Yep. Some of us aren’t twenty anymore, bud. Some of us have jobs.”
I snort. “And some of you are grandmas, apparently.”
“Watch it,” Autumn warns, pointing a finger at me.
She gazes at me for a minute, like she’s considering something, then gives a little shrug to herself and pulls her shirt up over her head.
Even from where I’m still leaning against the kitchen counter, I can see the lush curve of her pillowy tits inside her bra, the smooth slope of her bare stomach.
I swallow hard. I wasn’t expecting this.
Autumn peels off her jeans, kicking them into a heap on the floor.
She plops herself onto the unmade bed, and I catch a glimpse of full, round ass cheek before she sinks into the sheets, settling back into the bed.
I don’t know where to look or what the hell to do—because even that glimpse is getting me hot, and I already decided I’m not gonna make a move on her.
Fuuuuuck.
Now I’m thinking about the tattoo.
Autumn raises up on her elbows, peering at me from the bed. “You coming?”
Wow. What a choice of words.
If given the choice, I’d be coming all over those—