Page 7 of The Ghost of You

Carson is the first to speak up after Mom’s outburst. “Just for the record, I do have a girlfriend, in case you forgot.”

Mom turns to him. “And if she saw the way you reacted to that, her taillights would be the only thing you would be seein’!”

With that, Mom huffs and barges into the kitchen.

We all look around the table, holding in the laughter as best we can. But none of us are any good at it.

Mom bursts back through the doorway holding two pies in her hand. “Now that it’s out of your systems. Who wants some pie?”

4

Noah

I grabthe water bottle out of my cup holder as I turn on to my street. I finish it off then wipe sweat from my brow. I was at the gym with a few other officers playing a scrimmage game of basketball. I should have showered at the gym, but I wanted to get home to Brutus before I had to leave for my shift.

As I pull into my driveway, my neighbor runs up to my car. Her hair is in a messy bun on her head and her entire outfit is soaking wet. It’s almost like she forgot to take her clothes off when she got in the shower.

“Noah!” she shouts as she runs at me, barely allowing me to get my door open. “Oh my god, I am so glad you are home. I need your help!”

I am barely out of the car and she is pulling me toward her house. Well, she is trying to at least; her curvy frame doesn’t have the strength to pull my two hundred pounds of muscle.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

She huffs as she gets up to the first step of her porch. “An emergency! Water! Everywhere!”

I can tell she is stressed out by the situation since she isn’t forming a complete sentence. “Where?”

“Bathroom.”

I follow her into her house and try not to look around too much. We might be neighbors, but we have never hung out, much less talked. I think the most I have ever said to her was at the bar the night Asher tried to hump her. Even when I was at Jimmy’s every day after work, we only had friendly greetings to each other.

Her house has the distinct smell of patchouli. I am sure if I looked around I would find an incense burner or two. Her living room has a giant Turkish rug in the center, plants everywhere bringing life to her house. I should get a plant; it might feel more like home.

We reach the hall between her living room and kitchen and I step into the problem. Water is all over her hardwood floor, a bigger problem than she probably realizes. When I walk into the bathroom, I expect to find the water leaking from under the sink.

Not the case.

Instead, it’s like I am walking into a kid’s waterpark. Within seconds, I am just as soaked as she is. The showerhead somehow broke off in her shower and is spewing water everywhere, the walls, the vanity, the floors, us. I go to turn the knobs to shut off the water and one falls off into my hand.

“Don’t touch those!” she shouts.

“Too fucking late,” I respond as water continues to soak us both.

I take my shirt off hoping I can use it to get a grip on the inside of the water knob but it doesn’t work. I push her out of the way to shut the water off under the sink and it only increases the pressure of the water spraying all over the bathroom.

“Where is the main water shutoff?”

I look at her for an answer but she is staring at me, her eyes locked on the muscles across my chest, trailing down my six-pack to the V that leads directly to my finest asset. And I know she is getting a real show because my basketball shorts hang low, very low, as in if you pulled them down an inch, you would begin to see everything.

If she wasn’t covered in water, I am sure she would be drooling right now. And I don’t mind it. I work hard for this body. I don’t mind when people admire it.

But the water situation is more dire than her desire for me. I snap my fingers in front of her face and she blinks a few times, coming out of her trance.

“Sorry, what—what—a what were you asking?”

I smirk at her stuttering. Glad to know I still got it after thirty-five years. “Main water valve?”

She scrunches her brow and it creates a cute little wrinkle between her eyebrows. “Umm, the what? I’m not sure.”

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