Page 45 of The Ghost of Ellwood

“He won’t hurt you,” I said. “Come on. I’ll pour you that drink.”

As we headed for the kitchen, I searched for any signs of Theo. I doubted he’d show himself while Carter was here, but I didn’t know that for a fact. I grabbed an unopened bottle of rum from the freezer and took two glasses from the cabinet.

“I have Coke or Mountain Dew. Which one do you want?”

“Mountain Dew,” he answered.

After I made our drinks, I handed his to him and we went into the living room. The house was too quiet, lacking the creaks and odd sounds. I got the distinct feeling we were being watched. Theo was playing the invisible game again, it seemed. He was probably in the same room with us.

“I won’t lie, Ben, this is creepy.” Carter’s roaming gaze made me inwardly laugh. He would’ve shit himself if Theo randomly appeared in front of him like he had done to me a million times.

“Don’t think so much about it,” I said, before tilting my glass back for a big gulp. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

“I swear to God, if you put on some scary ghost movie, I might have to kill you.”

“Oh, come on, Carter.”

He glared at me but scooted in closer against my chest on the couch. “Fine. But if I have nightmares tonight, I’m blaming you.”

Browsing the horror movie category onNetflix, I searched for the scariest ghost film I could find. I settled into the couch, drink in hand, and smiled as Carter sighed and drank nearly half of his rum.

The movie played, getting scarier by the minute. A ghost with a decaying face jumped in front of the main character, vomiting blood on him.

“I hate you,” Carter said, after screaming so loud it echoed in the living room.

I laughed as he pressed his face against my chest.

A familiar creak sounded behind me, and I turned to look behind the couch.

Theo stood there, and the expression on his face made my gut twist. He stared at me before regarding Carter. I knew what he saw; me and Carter getting cozy together.

But it wasn’t like that, at least not for me.

“What are you looking at?” Carter asked, following my gaze.

Theo faded from sight.

“Nothing,” I said, my heart aching.

An hour and a half later, the movie ended, and I turned off the TV. Carter sat up and stretched, yawning as he did.

“Guess I better get home.” He’d only had one glass, so I knew he was okay to drive.

“Yeah. I’ll walk you out.”

The chilly night woke me up as we stepped outside. The leaves rustled in the trees as the wind blew, and I smelled rain in the air. Good. It had been too long since we’d had a good rain.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Do you think we could ever, I don’t know, try to see where this goes?” Carter stopped walking and stared at me. “Ireallylike you, Ben. You get me and not many other guys do.”

“I…” I honestly didn’t know. “I think we should let things happen naturally. Don’t force it.”

“I can accept that.” The dimple in his cheek surfaced. “Thanks for the drink and for scaring the shit out of me. I appreciate it.”

Laughing, I continued toward his car. Just as I grabbed the handle to open the door for him, Carter slipped his arms around me. I stilled. Then, I turned and looked down at him, my heart pounding. It had been so long since I’d been held. Since someone had looked at me with lust-filled eyes in the way Carter was looking at me now.