Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

“How do you feel about Thai food?”
Adrian stared into Scotty’s big, dark, admittedly sexy eyes. They held the same hunger Greg’s had that morning at Groome Castle. For a moment, Adrian’s neck tingled with the memory of Greg’s lips on his skin. He swallowed. “Thai? It’s all right.”
“Mmm.” Scotty’s fingertips traced the curve of Adrian’s shoulder in a slow caress that made Adrian’s skin spark. He bit back a moan, remembering the slide of Greg’s hand over the small of his back. “How about Thai food in bed?”
The breath froze in Adrian’s lungs. “What?”
“Come on, you heard me.” Dipping his head, Scotty planted a light, openmouthed kiss on Adrian’s neck. “I have leftover Pad Thai from Penang in my fridge. Let’s heat it up and have a private party in my room, huh?” His hand slid up Adrian’s thigh, dangerously close to the rising hardness in his jeans. “I’d love to wind some of those noodles around your cock and suck ’em off.”
The heat simmering in Adrian’s belly vanished like fog in the sunshine. Shoving Scotty’s hand away, he jumped to his feet. “That sounds very, um, interesting, but I have to go.”
“Hey, wait.” Scotty grabbed his wrist, the movie-star smile still in place. “You’re not really leaving, are you?”
“Yeah. It’s late, and I have an early class tomorrow.” Adrian tried to pull his arm free and frowned when Scotty’s grip tightened. “I’m serious, Scotty. Let go.”
Scotty’s brows drew together. “But… You want it. I know when a man’s turned on, and you are .”
What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Sorry, but I was thinking of someone else? As much as he valued the truth, Adrian couldn’t bring himself to be that harsh.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
Sighing, Scotty opened his hand. “Man. So close, and yet so far.”
A smile tugged at Adrian’s mouth. “That’s just not my thing.”
Scotty’s eyebrows went up. “Noodles?”
“One-night stands.”
“Ah.”
Silence fell. The fact that Scotty said nothing about more than one night told Adrian all he needed to know. He cleared his throat. “Okay. Well. It was nice to meet you, Scotty. I’ll, uh. I’ll see you around. I suppose.”
“Yeah. See you around.”
With nothing more to say, Adrian turned and made his way through the crowded room to the hallway leading to the front of the house, his half-empty cup still clutched in his hand. Every square foot of space seemed to be occupied by couples making out or groups of people discussing some subject or other. Adrian had to stop every couple of minutes to greet a person he’d met earlier or talk to someone he knew from one of his classes.
By the time he stumbled out the front door into the October night nearly twenty minutes later, he felt wrung out and tense as a bowstring. How did the popular people stand this constant pressure to be pleasant, polite and personable? It was exhausting. It didn’t help that someone had put on the latest rave music and turned it up so loud Adrian was hoarse from trying to talk over it. The only good part was, the adventure of getting out of the house had taken his mind off Greg long enough for his cock to deflate.
Draining the last of his drink, he tossed the red plastic cup into an overflowing trashcan and descended the steps onto the sidewalk. He started walking without much thought to his destination. He didn’t care where he went as long as there were no other people there. What the hell had he been thinking? He should’ve known he would manage to feel uncomfortable even surrounded by a bunch of physics majors and assorted other scientific types.
He knew why. After all, how many people could say they’d accidentally opened an interdimensional portal with their mind at age eleven, nearly causing the deaths of everyone they loved? The horror and guilt of it had shaped him more than any experience before or since.
He aimed a savage kick at a particularly large chestnut in his path. It made him angry sometimes to think he’d spent so much time and energy keeping everyone around him safe from his abilities that he no longer had any idea how to connect to other human beings. Still, he wasn’t sure he would change anything even if he could. He’d done what he had to in order to protect his family, himself and everyone around him from a very real threat. He didn’t regret it, despite the damage to his personal life. A little hard work and the right partner could