Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

hair.
A knit cap. Ryan said the guy Greg was with the other night wore a knit cap.
Yeah, and so do a million other people. Greg’s wearing one right now. You’re being paranoid.
The logical argument didn’t help. Adrian studied the stranger’s face with growing suspicion.
Eyes as pale as a Husky’s stared at Greg with unnerving intensity. He ignored Adrian completely. “Hello, Greg.”
“Um. Hi.” Greg moved closer to Adrian. “Uh, ’scuse us.”
He tried to go around the stranger, but the man moved in front of them again. Alarmed, Adrian looked the man up and down. Physically, he didn’t seem very intimidating. He was about Adrian’s height, and not much bulkier. But Adrian didn’t like the hard glint in his eyes at all.
Adrian took Greg’s hand and stared at the side of the stranger’s head. “If you’ll excuse us, we really need to go.”
The man cast a baleful look in Adrian’s direction. “Who’s that?”
Greg sighed. “This is Adrian. We’re dating now.”
The man whipped around and pinned Adrian with a narrow-eyed stare. “No. You stay away from him.”
“Harrison, you can’t—” Greg clamped his mouth shut so fast his teeth snapped together with an audible clack . He met Adrian’s gaze for a second, then looked away, but not fast enough to hide the expression in his eyes.
A rush of pure fury drew the dead leaves at Adrian’s feet into a miniature whirlwind for a moment before he got it under control again. He couldn’t decide which made him angrier—the fact that Harrison seemed to be stalking Greg still or that Greg obviously hadn’t wanted Adrian to know.
Not that it mattered right then. Adrian hadn’t felt this kind of rage in years, and if he didn’t do something with it, he thought it might eat him alive.
He stepped between Harrison and Greg and met Harrison’s livid gaze. “No, Harrison. You’re the one who needs to stay away from Greg. He doesn’t want to see you anymore. And if I ever catch you bothering him again, I will make you very, very sorry. Are we clear?”
Behind him, Greg let out an exasperated noise. “Adrian, goddammit—”
“Shut up, Greg.” Harrison bared his teeth. “I’d like to see you try to keep me away.”
An idea popped into Adrian’s head, and he went with it before he could overthink it. Gathering his anger to him, he used it to sharpen and focus his psychokinesis. It was surprisingly simple to compress the air around Harrison’s neck just a bit. Not much. Not enough to really hurt him. Just enough to make his eyes go wide and his hand fly up to his throat.
Simple to start. Not so simple to continue. After a couple of seconds, Adrian’s control unraveled. Harrison sucked in a deep lungful of air. The malice in his eyes was gone. He stared at Adrian with fear stamped into every line of his face.
Oh, my God. He knows what I can do. He knows. All because of my stupid temper.
And who’s to say you couldn’t have hurt him? Maybe you could. Maybe you could even have killed him, if you wanted it.
Neither were exactly pleasant thoughts. But Franklin Street wasn’t the place to have a crisis about it. Adrian arched an eyebrow and tried to look as if he didn’t feel like throwing up. “You okay, Harrison? You don’t look so good.”
Shaking his head, Harrison backed up. “You stay away. You stay away from him, demon! He’s mine , you can’t have him!” He fled across the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by several cars, and blended into the crowd on the other side.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Greg groaned. “I swear, if I knew how to get in touch with his parents, I’d call them. He’s gone off his nut.”
“Yeah.” After a quick look to make sure Harrison had really gone, Adrian turned to Greg and laid both hands on his shoulders. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. He didn’t even touch me, in case you didn’t notice.”
Adrian frowned at the peevish tone in Greg’s voice. “Well, obviously he’s still been bothering you, even after you told him not to.”
“Yeah, so?” Greg started down the sidewalk, his laptop bag bumping against his side and Adrian at his heels. “He never does anything but this. Just keeps trying to get me to come back. He’s just being a pest.”
“Are you kidding me? He’s already hit you once.” Adrian gestured in the general direction of the Forest Theatre. “And according to you, he’s hit you before, when you were dating. That’s why you broke up with him.”
Greg’s