Page 18 of Shadowing My Dreams
“They never do. Not at first, anyway. He’s attached to this place for some reason, and we need to figure out why. The gateway has already been opened for him – you did that by just being here. Your energy is as much all over this place as his is. Now, it’s intertwined together. I think that for me to be able to help either of you or both of you is now the same thing. I can take away your ability to see or hear him, but he would still be here. I don’t think he ever crossed over, to be honest. But now, you’re you, and he can use you whether you want him to or not.”
“Fine,” I nodded in total nonagreement. But he made a fair point. If I had a ghost roommate, which I did not want under anycircumstances, I didn’t want to be scared of what might happen when he got angry. I didn’t want to pick up more underwear and drawers. What if he destroyed my kitchen next? “There’s knives…”
“What?”
“Yes. I will do what you ask. But if I start to feel uncomfortable…”
“I’ll never ask more of you than what you’re willing to give. I promise.” He held out his hand.
“I amnotshaking that. That’s how we got into this.”
He laughed, and it soothed my mind. “I think we’re going to have to touch a lot, Jack. You’ll get used to it.”
I wasn’t sure that was true. He was too fucking adorable. But he talked to ghosts… I would have to keep my libido in check. If that happened when our hands touched – imagine what our bodies on top of each other might do. No matter how cute I found him, Archie had to be a non-starter.
But God, he had pretty lips. I made a fist and held it up. He grinned and brought up his own hand and we quickly bumped. The world stayed as it was.
8
Archie
“Ihave the file that you sent me. It’s pretty thorough.” I flipped open my laptop and typed in my passcode – RedRuM. I had a thing for horror movies, which I knew was a little too on the nose. I kept that to myself.
I hit enter and waited as my laptop spun to life.
“You’re gonna need my wifi. It’s…”
“Wait. My computer is a little slow.” I groaned.
“I think you mean old. It looks like you’ve had it for… I mean, I’m not even sure they make this size anymore. It’s almost a fucking desktop,” He teased, and I deserved it. It was old and slow, but I had bills to pay, and this still worked.
“Quit teasing. It works it’s just… Yeah. It’s pretty old.”
“No shit. I could get haunted by a second ghost as we wait for this shit to work. I could just grab mine. I didn’t know I was dealing with a grandpa.”
“I amnota grandpa,” I demanded.
“Well, you definitely don’tlooklikemy grandpa.” He leaned over my shoulder and quickly backed away. “Sorry, I… Sorry.”
“I hope I don’t look like your grandpa. I’m only twenty-six.”
“ThenI’myourelder. That means you have to respect me.”
“Should I callyougrandpa?” Dammit! Stop flirting.
“No, I think it fits you. You have an old-fashioned sense of… buying computers.”
“You’re confusing me,” I said frustrated. God, he was so hot and then… cold and then hot. He was making my head spin, and I needed to focus on the spirit, not the hot boy.
“I don’t think it’s too confusing.”
“Are you… flirting with me?” I turned around and asked directly.
“I… Uh… yeah. Old habits die hard, and you’re… fairly easy on the eyes.” He grinned, and my toes fucking curled in my shoes. He made me weak in the knees just because he was so fucking hot, but then I got to see his real personality, and it wasn’t as shitty as I first thought.
“I… You think I’m… We really need to keep this professional, Jack. So… as hot as you are, I don’t think it’s… uh… a good idea to…” Fuck.
“You think I’m hot, huh?”
