Page 18 of Sky’s Guide To Getting His Man & Banishing Ghosts (The Dreamwalkers #1)

Chapter

Fifteen

Skylar

It ended up being a long, long day. We spent hours in the dining room while Gran and Pops told us some of their adventures.

As the day continued, Kingston’s shock slowly wore off, and he was able to ask questions coherently, even listening to the answers without pushing back—too much.

I thought my involvement might be his biggest sticking point.

Kingston had grinned from ear to ear when his grandparents told us about their courtship, but the shadows in his eyes hadn’t faded, and he’d wanted me where he could see me at all times.

I didn’t hate it. In fact, I loved it. But the fact his walk last night had involved me had him so rattled that his vigilance was starting to freak me out more than I already was.

On the one hand, this was cool as fuck. I was the tether, anchor, support, or partner to a Dreamwalker. How badass! Also, uhh…I was more of a friendly ghost type guy. The evil spirits we’d encountered had really freaked me out.

“Are you sure you want to spend the night at my house?” I asked the big man in my passenger seat. We’d had dinner with everyone, and then he’d grabbed an overnight bag when we dropped his grandmother off at home.

“Sorry. I kind of have to.”

“Because Gran said?” I questioned him again. He’d avoided answering that question multiple times since I found out he intended to come home with me.

“No, not Gran.”

“Elyse, then?” Once Chance’s mom had shown up in a swirl of color, knowing better than all of us the right questions to ask, information really started to fly around.

“Not Elyse, either,” he finally said. “I can’t let you go home alone because of me. I…I need to be with you so I know you’re safe.”

“Why won’t you tell me what you saw last night?”

He shook his head. “I will. But not yet. First, I need to wrap my brain around everything my gran told us today. It’s…”

“It’s a lot.”

“It is, and I don’t want either of us to end up doing something we’re not ready for,” he said stubbornly.

He was talking about the tea concoction his grandmother had sent home with us.

She’d said when we were ready, we could drink it together, and I’d be able to walk with him in his sleep.

I’d wanted to do it immediately and see what he saw, but Kingston wasn’t ready to go down that road yet.

I had faith we’d get there eventually, so while his gran’s winks and nudges gave me hope that Kingston and I would end up together, maybe, hopefully, he still needed time.

It was tough when I simultaneously wanted to cuddle into his lap and comfort him or climb him like a tree and ride him all night long.

At my house, we went straight into the kitchen, and Kingston flung the homemade tea bags on the counter and sighed.

Since I was staying in Jetty’s old house, I assumed he knew the place as well as I did.

Not sure if we were actually making the tea, I gestured around vaguely. “Help yourself to anything you need.”

He nodded, settled down into a chair, and thrummed his fingers against the table. “I’m so sorry about this…craziness.”

“It’s not your fault.” I sat across from him. “If what your grandparents said is true, this was like, inevitable once we met.” I thought about how rattled he was. “I think I should be apologizing to you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why in the world would you need to do that?”

“Without me, your powers wouldn’t have evolved. Your life would be simple.”

He scooted his chair around the table, closer to me.

His knee pressed into my thigh. “You don’t understand, Sky.

” Gah! I loved it when he shortened my name.

“I don’t mind following in my grandfather’s footsteps.

In fact”—his cheeks went rosy—“I’m honored.

It’s you I’m worried about. You don’t understand how disturbing what I saw was. ”

I heard what he was saying, I really did, but I trusted him to keep me safe once we were working together.

“But last night could’ve happened no matter what, right?

If I understood your gran right, I’d been pulled into someone else’s dream.

The only way I would’ve been hurt is if the apparition connected to me instead of the house. ”

“Not all of them can do that,” he grumbled. “At least that’s what Pops said.”

“True, but until we get in there and really learn all the things, we won’t know what we’re up against. Your grandparents’ wisdom is awesome, but let’s face it, they haven’t done it in what?

Twenty-five years. I’m sure there are things they’ve forgotten.

New entities out there to face. We need some hands-on training. ”

Kingston groaned, letting his head drop forward until his chin hit his chest. “I want you safe,” he whispered.

“I’ll be safe with you.” I grabbed his hands. “Together. We can figure this out.”

He looked up and stared at me. He looked so sad and lost. “You’ve barely got your feet wet with Elyse, and my gran hasn’t begun training you yet.

Plus, you don’t have a psychopomp like Duchess.

We’d be going in, led by nothing more than whatever goddess steers me there and…

nothing else. We don’t have one clue what to do. ”

He really was such a worry-wart. Kingston liked things orderly, in their neat little boxes.

Which was kind of funny for such a paranormal fanatic.

I’d think he’d be a little more go-with-the-flow.

Jetty had told us that even when they went on hunts to find the things Kingston saw in his dreams, he’d always come prepared with whatever supplies he thought they might need.

“Okay, let’s table the discussion for tonight. We don’t have to drink the tea, so we won’t be linked.” Another concern hit me. “But your gran didn’t send any of that hot chocolate she makes you to help pull you from the dreams to sleep.”

He shrugged. “Pops’ biggest concern was the beings in the dream-veil seeing me before I had a tether. The one last night was one hundred percent focused on dream-Sky. Even if my sleep is unsettling, I don’t think I’m in jeopardy of getting attacked or stuck there.”

That wasn’t all that reassuring, but it would have to do for now.

We’d both had a long day, and Kingston looked completely wrung out.

A little rest to let my brain settle would do me good, too.

Tomorrow I’d start the day practicing Yoga with Elyse, then re-evaluate everything I’d learned from a place of calm.

Which meant… “I set the second bedroom up as an office. I’m not sure where you’re going to sleep unless you’re willing to share my bed with me.”

Kingston made a choking sound, and his whole face went beet red. My sweet, adorable man. “I’ll crash on the couch.”

“Are you kidding me?” I asked, horrified at the thought of his back all twisted up from trying to fit his over-large body on my normal-sized couch.

“I’ll be fine.”

We went into the living room, and Kingston stared at his bed for the night. “I’ll sleep out here,” I offered, eyeing the sofa warily.

Kingston spun and glared at me. “Absolutely not.”

Planting my hands on my hips, I glared right back. “If you’re not going to tell me what has you so freaked out, then you don’t get an opinion. You have two options. Two. One, you sleep in the bed with me or two, you let me take the couch. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you sleep on that.”

The standoff lasted three minutes before he sighed heavily, and I continued, “You may be bigger than me, but I’m more stubborn than you, so you might as well admit defeat.”

“Fine,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “I’m going to change.” With his overnight bag over his shoulder, he stomped toward the bathroom.

The door closed with a click, and I rushed into my bedroom to get it ready. He hadn’t actually told me where he was sleeping, so I wanted it comfortable for him. I quickly changed the sheets, ignoring our info dump of a day and focusing on my personal dream come true.

Kingston was spending the night in my house, and we were completely alone.

Or were we? I glanced nervously around my room.

The first thing I needed Rosie to do was make me able to see ghosts in my own space.

What if Kingston’s pops had followed us home?

Or even worse, what if Buck had hitched a ride over?

He’d been super curious, and terribly worried, about Kingston’s dreamwalking.

Deciding there was nothing I could do about it now, I headed for my dresser. Since I didn’t think Kingston would judge me, I slid on my favorite comfortable sleep pants with Stitch on them with a matching t-shirt.

Hurrying back out into the living room, we practically collided. “Well, those are boring,” I said. “I liked the ghost sleep pants better.”

He looked down at his black sweatpants as his cheeks pinkened. “These are more practical.”

They really weren’t since it was bedtime, but I didn’t want to embarrass him, especially while we still had to argue about who was sleeping where. “So am I sleeping out here, or are we sharing my bed?”

Kingston’s gaze moved over my head and down the hall. He started gnawing on his bottom lip before he nodded his head toward the bedroom. “It’ll probably be safer if we slept in the same room.”

Hell yeah. “That’s fine, but that means we’re sleeping together because I’m not letting you lay on the floor all night.”

He nodded stiffly, so I grabbed his hand and pulled him as quickly as I could back down the hall. For a man with such long legs, he sure didn’t move very fast.