Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

like the winter cold. Adrian breathed it deep into his lungs with a smile.
“I’m sorry,” Greg mumbled against Adrian’s neck. “You realize we haven’t discussed this whole ghost thing at all since that night at Groome Castle, right? How you believe it and I don’t, I mean.”
Adrian’s stomach flip-flopped. “I know.”
“Mm.” Greg unfolded his legs, stretched one across the bed and planted the other foot on the floor. “We probably should.”
“Probably.” God, that’s not going to be pretty. Just because the last fight they’d had about ghosts had ended in mind-blowing sex didn’t mean the next one would. They’d both been tense as an overfilled balloon at that point. They could’ve read their grocery lists aloud and it would’ve ended in sex.
Greg’s hands wandered up Adrian’s back and clutched his sweater hard. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, Adrian. I think this is the wrong time.”
Relieved, Adrian nuzzled the silky skin just behind Greg’s ear. “I think you’re right. We should wait a while. Put tonight behind us. Then we’ll sit down and talk it all out once and for all. Okay?”
“Sure.” Lifting his face, Greg captured Adrian’s mouth in a slow, sweet kiss that made his chest ache. When they drew apart, Greg sat back with a calm but determined expression. “All right. So, you were saying that you talked to the ghost. Is that why you keep going out to the castle? Are you still talking to it?”
“Yeah. But the thing is, it’s more than just a simple conversation. I’ve gotten…” Adrian frowned at the wall, searching for the right way to explain it. “Well, I guess you could say that a few times when I’ve talked to Lyndon, he’s shown me some of his memories. But it’s nothing coherent. Just bits and pieces. If I can figure out what I’m seeing, I might be able to find out what happened to him. How he died. I may even be able to find his body, and if I can do that, maybe the school can give him a proper burial and put his spirit to rest. So that’s what I’ve been doing all this time. Trying to communicate with Lyndon. Trying to see what else I can learn about his death, so that I can help him move on.”
Greg hid his disbelief well. Adrian would give him that. But Adrian knew Greg well enough to see it anyway. Not that it mattered. He hadn’t expected Greg to actually believe everything he said was the literal truth. What he did expect was for Greg to know he believed it, and to respect that truth. He waited, gazing into Greg’s eyes with as much calm as he could muster.
After what felt like forever but probably wasn’t more than a minute or two, Greg blew out a breath. “Okay. So, you’ve been trying to solve the mystery of the Groome Castle ghost.” He gave Adrian a weak smile. “I guess that’s better than you sneaking off to fuck some other guy behind my back.”
Torn between relief and worry, Adrian scooted closer and touched Greg’s cheek. “Greg, you didn’t really think I’d cheat on you, did you?”
Greg shrugged, the very picture of nonchalance, but Adrian saw his answer in the way Greg’s gaze slid away to study the bedside table. He’d believed, however briefly, that Adrian was seeing someone else, and he’d been visibly relieved to learn that it wasn’t true. Something about that fact gave Adrian’s insides a peculiar deep-down quiver.
He traced Greg’s jaw with his fingers. The pale stubble tickled his fingertips. “I’d never do that. Never. I don’t want anyone but you. Okay?”
“Sure.” The answer sounded casual, but Greg’s head remained bowed and his fingers toyed nervously with a hole in the knee of his jeans.
Cupping Greg’s chin in his palm, Adrian lifted Greg’s face. Greg’s eyes cut sideways to avoid Adrian’s gaze. Adrian shook his head. “Greg. Look at me.”
Greg obeyed with obvious reluctance. His face wore the expressionless mask he used when he wanted to hide how he felt, but a storm of relief, confusion and lingering hurt swirled in his eyes. For a moment, Adrian felt as if he were staring into a mirror image of his own tortured eleven-year-old psyche, trying to make sense of all the half-truths and outright lies being flung at him from all sides.
In that moment, Adrian realized in a blinding flash of insight exactly what he’d done, and the shame of it nearly gutted him.
Framing Greg’s face in his hands, Adrian leaned their foreheads together. “I never cheated on you,” he