Page 21 of The Ghost of You

I nod as I try to take off the stupid costume I have on. I struggle as I get my boots off and then can’t figure out how to unhook the garter from my stockings.

Liam chuckles and soon enough his hands are on my thighs, unbuckling the garters. “Stand up, baby girl.”

He pulls me into a standing position and I grip his arms to keep from falling over. He helps me undress and finds a t-shirt in a drawer for me to put on.

He pulls back my covers and helps me to bed, tucking me in.

I grasp at the necklace around my neck, Seraphina’s words making their way back to my head, and I burst into tears.

“Shhh, baby girl. Don’t cry. It’s going to be okay. Maybe not now, but it will be.”

I try to find comfort in Liam’s words but today it’s just too hard.

“Can you stay?” I ask him.

“Anything for you, Anna May.”

I hear him take his costume off and feel the shift in the bed as he lays down next to me. He gathers me in his arms and holds me.

This isn’t the first time he’s done this. But he knows when I need it. He might not know my whole story, very few do, but he knows enough to understand that my pain runs deep enough to tear me apart.

He whispers words of comfort as the tears start to dry and I finally drift off to sleep.

8

Noah

I’min my front yard cleaning up some housework from the past two days. My attempt at redoing the front porch of my house only somewhat successful. Turns out it takes a lot of work to redo a porch and I needed more than two days or another set of hands.

I wave at Anna as she gets out of her car and heads into her house. It brings back the memory of Sunday afternoon when I was cutting wood with a table saw and saw a man leave Anna’s house in a pair of fireman turnouts and no shirt.

I’ve never been a jealous man. I’ve never had a reason to be jealous of anyone or anything.

But seeing a man walk out of Anna’s house at one in the afternoon irks me in a way I’ve never felt before. And I am not sure why. I barely know the girl. Hardly ever talk to her. But after seeing her naked, I cannot get her out of my mind.

Two days later and I still can’t shake the feeling. I need to get laid. That’s all it comes down to. It’s been far too long.

My phone rings, a needed distraction. “What’s up, Mase?”

“I closed.”

“What?”

“I closed on the studio. Last night. It’s mine.”

“No fucking way. Awesome, man. I knew it would happen.”

I can hear him smiling through the phone. “The guys and I are working on setting it up this week if you want to stop by when you aren’t working.”

“I’ll see what I can do. How much needs to be done?”

“Not a lot. It was in pretty good shape. And we can’t afford newer equipment yet, so just loading in instruments, a few monitors, and decorating.”

“Wow, man. I am happy for you. I might be able to stop by before work in the next couple days.”

“Sweet. We are trying to get it ready for a party on Saturday night. Inviting a bunch of local musicians, bands, and the like. Think you can make it?”

Considering I don’t have much of a social life besides time spent with Brutus or visiting my parents, I know I am free. “Of course, man.”

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