Page 32 of Ghost of a Chance

“Exactly. So, are you going to come to my place and watch Star Wars ?” he asked her. His eyes grew large and…was he pouting?

She wanted to. It was scary how much. “Will you be wearing a droid costume?”

“No. But I do have a huge T-shirt collection and I will change them with each movie,” he said with a grin.

God, this guy.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Good enough.”

* * *

Dan and Gia wanted to go to a new club that opened near campus, but Jasper and Kirsty didn’t go with them. Jasper wanted to continue their investigation while he had the chance.

The Uber dropped the two of them off in front of his old frat house. It was one of those October nights that was crystal clear and cold. A huge moon hung in the sky, casting light across the quintessential college street.

The large redbrick building had four Doric columns in the front and the arch over the portico had been shaped to look like a Greek temple. The white marble steps led to the front door which was open. There was a fog machine and a large ghost that flew down whenever motion triggered it.

Kirsty had the collar up on her coat. He was bundled in his own, a big heavy wool number. Winter was right around the corner, and by the time it arrived, he expected they’d be back to their real lives.

“So this is it?”

Nervous wasn’t a word he’d ever apply to her but there was definitely something uncertain about her.

“Yeah. Were you in a sorority?”

“Nope. Too expensive. Mom and I were barely getting me to classes,” she said.

“Did you want to?”

“Not after watching rush videos on TikTok. I mean the pressure to get into the right one, that would be too much for me. Was it like that for you?”

“Nah. I just applied and got in. Money wasn’t an issue because…well, you know my dad died and we got a huge payout. My college was set.” He smiled ruefully. Some luck.

“Was that weird?”

“In what way?”

“To know that he…never mind. Sometimes I don’t have a filter and just ask things that I shouldn’t.”

“Sometimes?” he teased. He could guess what she was about to ask. He’d never really thought about the source of the money so it hadn’t felt odd at all.

“Ha. You don’t seem to mind it,” she said.

“I don’t. I like knowing where I stand with you.

When I’m an ass you tell me, when I’m not you let me know as well,” he said, slinging his arm around her shoulder.

He’d already checked with the house and knew they were having a party tonight, which he’d gotten the okay to attend. “So is this your first frat party?”

He wasn’t entirely sure why it mattered to him, but he wanted to be the first to do things with her. To have those experiences together.

“Uh…no. I’ve been to a few.”

Dropping his arm, he glanced at her. “Was not expecting that. So did you like it?”

“There were a lot of people which made it hard to talk. The music was pretty good. I danced for a while and back then…well I was really focused on studying so wasn’t into drinking.”

“Probably something I should have done,” he said ruefully.

“You’re okay, remember?”

God, this woman. She got him. The urge to kiss was right there but he was enjoying learning about college Kirsty too much at the moment.

“I can hear the drumbeat of the music inside, maybe we can have a dance?”

“Perhaps.”

But there was a smile in her eyes.

“So who’d you come to the frat with? Study group…were you in one?”

“No. I don’t play well with others.” She smirked when she said it.

“You play okay with me, Gia and Dan.”

“Yeah, but you guys are my gang.”

“So who’d you go to the frat with?”

“Just a guy that I was tutoring. Things sort of heated up and he asked me out. Things happened and he invited me to the winter formal.”

Damn. Who was that guy? “Oh so you were getting really into Greek Life.”

“Not so much. He dumped me before the dance, said I was too weird. He did it at one of those Friday night parties… I guess like this one. I had finished helping him with a paper he’d been writing.

I was asking him about the dance. Some other people were around.

” She stopped talking. “That was the past and we’re here to relive yours. ”

“Oh, Kirst. That sucks. I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

Jasper wanted to know more. “Did your friends have your back?”

“I didn’t really have a friend group or anything. I felt humiliated and then mad at myself for letting him make me feel that way.”

“Men can be dicks,” he admitted.

“Not all of them.” Having her by his side was everything. Back then he wouldn’t have appreciated a woman like her.

She watched him with those serious brown eyes of hers.

Pulling her into his arms, he lowered his head and kissed her.

Her arms wrapped around his waist. He kept the kiss gentle, wanting to show her how much she meant to him without saying the words.

Though he knew he wasn’t a subtle man. He wanted her to feel in every part of her being how much she meant to him.

That the douchebag who’d dumped her had been an idiot.

He lifted his head.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“You looked like you needed a kiss.”

“Did I?” she asked.

“Yup.”

“That party you were at the night that Paul died…walk me through it.”

“So… I forgot, but Paul rode with me in the Uber to the party because Victor asked him to come pick him up before he had to go to work. While we waited for Victor I badgered him to come in for a few minutes,” he said. Knowing better than to push her intimately any further right now.

“Where?”

He glanced around. That night it had been lightly raining. “That corner over there. We waited for the Uber and I saw over his shoulder that he was going to the lab after he dropped Victor at work.”

As much as he’d loved being part of the frat, and having a group of men who were his brothers, he’d wanted Paul to stay that night. To let loose with him. Their time in college was limited and he didn’t want to miss out on the experience with his best friend.

“I was being mean and selfish. He pointed it out before he got in the Uber. His last words to me were ‘stop playing at being an adult and start being one.’”