Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

lifted Greg’s hands and kissed them both. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all that. I’m glad he’s in jail. I hope they put him away for a long, long time.”
“Me too.” Twisting his hands in Adrian’s, Greg wove their fingers together. “Now for the apology I owe you. I’m sorry I accused you of lying when you told me about your…your abilities, and what happened to you when you were a kid, with the portal and all. It must have been really hard for you to tell me that, and I threw it in your face, just because I was scared of being hurt.”
Adrian swallowed against the tightness in his throat. “Well, to be fair, I had lied to you about Groome Castle, and Lyndon.”
Greg shook his head, his intense gaze never wavering from Adrian’s face. “Yeah, but it’s not exactly the same thing. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never, ever, told a deliberate lie to someone’s face. You’ve never said something that’s completely untrue. And you’re certainly not the type of person to make fun of somebody the way I accused you of doing. I should never have said those things to you, and I’m sorry.” His hands tightened around Adrian’s. “Can you forgive me?”
Adrian didn’t even have to think about his answer. “I forgave you ages ago.”
Relief lit up Greg’s face. He slid closer, his knees bumping Adrian’s. “Can we try again?”
Happiness made Adrian lightheaded. Still, he had a responsibility to make sure Greg wasn’t just reacting to the trauma he’d suffered.
You have the potential to hurt him worse than Harrison ever dreamed of doing. Never forget that.
Dislodging Greg’s grip on his right hand, Adrian touched Greg’s cheek. “I want that so much it hurts. But you have to be sure of this. After what I did—”
Greg cut him off with a hand against his lips. “I know what you did. And I know what I said about it. Believe me, I’ve thought about this a lot over the last couple of weeks. And I realized that in spite of what you did in the cemetery, you don’t have it in you to be an abuser.”
Adrian blinked. “But… But I…”
“You got angry. You lost your temper, like all of us do sometimes.” Greg ran his fingertips across Adrian’s cheek and over the corner of his jaw. “I’m not excusing what you did. If I’d gotten pissed off at you and punched you, there’d be no excusing that either. But the thing is, if I did that, I know—I know —it would only happen once. I’d be so horrified by what I’d done that I’d make damn sure it never happened again. And see, I know that’s how you feel. I know you’ll never hurt me again.” A smile tugged at Greg’s mouth. “In fact, I have extra confidence in you because you have more self-control than anyone I’ve ever known. You’re almost super-human that way.”
That surprised a laugh from Adrian. “I’m definitely no Superman. But I do want to be with you again. God, yes, I want that.”
“Good.” Greg rose from his chair to straddle Adrian’s lap. “You promised you wouldn’t lie to me, and I’m promising right now that I won’t lie to you either. I’m still a little scared. But I trust you.” He let go of Adrian’s hand, cradled Adrian’s face in both hands and pinned him with a stare that pierced him to the core. “Don’t make me regret that.”
Adrian shook his head, his throat tight. “Never.”
“I know.” Beaming, Greg leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Adrian’s lips.
It felt so good Adrian wanted to cry and whoop with joy at the same time. He settled for wrapping an arm around Greg’s waist, burying the opposite hand in his hair and taking the kiss deep. Greg’s resulting moan sounded sweeter than any music to Adrian’s ears.
When they drew apart, Greg rested his forehead against Adrian’s. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
Tonight, and every night. I want you with me forever. Adrian ran his fingers through Greg’s curls. “Of course. You don’t even have to ask, you know. You have an open invitation to stay here with me.”
Greg’s breath hitched. His fingers dug into Adrian’s shoulders. “Thank you.”
Tilting his head, Adrian brushed a chaste kiss across Greg’s mouth. “Come on. I think you should lie down and get some sleep. You’ve got to be exhausted.”
“It’s not even ten yet,” Greg protested, but he stood anyway and let Adrian lead him to the bathroom to brush his teeth and change into a borrowed pair of sleep pants and a