Where The Heart Is: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations story

He imagined he could feel every cell sparking in the wake of Sommer’s touch.
When the kiss broke, Dean trailed his fingertips along Sommer’s cheek as they pulled apart. “I like kissing you,” he whispered. He didn’t know why he felt the sudden need to tell Sommer that—there was no way in hell Sommer didn’t already know—but he couldn’t help it. He stared at the hollow of Sommer’s throat, hoping he didn’t sound as much like a kid with a crush as he was afraid he did.
“I like it too.” Drawing back, Sommer lifted Dean’s chin and stared into his eyes with unnerving intensity. “Will you come back home with me tonight, Dean? I’d very much like to have you in my bed again.”
Dean swallowed the swarm of butterflies threatening to burst out of his chest. “Oh yeah. I’d fucking kill to have your cock up my ass again.”
With a laugh, Sommer straightened up and cranked the engine. “No need for homicide. If you ever want me, all you have to do is say the word.”
Dean grinned. “The word.”
The sweet, crooked smile that made Dean’s heart flutter curved Sommer’s mouth. “If I fucked you right here in front of Kerry and Ron’s house, Kerry would be the one committing murder.”
“Good point.” Dean shot a nervous glance at the front door. “Let’s go.”
“Absolutely.” Sommer turned to check the road behind him, then pulled away from the curb and headed down the road toward downtown. “Anyway, we have a nice, comfortable, private bed waiting for us after dinner. I’m sure we can both wait that long.”
At the moment, Dean wasn’t sure about that at all, but he wasn’t about to say so. If Sommer could wait, he could too.
He hoped.
To his own surprise, Dean found that waiting wasn’t as intolerable as he’d thought it would be. Strolling hand-in-hand down Franklin Street with Sommer gave him a faint euphoric buzz and laid a sheen of newness over the nostalgia he always felt when visiting Chapel Hill.
By the time they started toward Pepper’s Pizza for dinner, Dean realized with a shock that he hadn’t felt this relaxed with anyone in a long, long time. Even with Kyle, he’d invariably kept a part of himself back. The fact that Sommer had broken through his automatic guard without even trying was both exhilarating and terrifying.
They sat at a small, two-person booth in the back of the restaurant. Once they’d ordered their meals and the waiter had brought them each a glass of wine, Sommer finally brought up the subject which was the official reason for this outing. “So. Give me the crash course on paranormal investigation.”
“What would you like to know?”
“I don’t know. That is, I know so little about the subject that I have no idea what I don’t know. If that makes any sense.”
“Strangely enough, it does.”
Sommer laughed. “I guess you should start at the beginning, then. What’s going to happen? How long will it take? And do I get to help, or should I just stay out of the way?”
Dean smiled at the spark of excitement in Sommer’s eyes. “Well, what’s basically going to happen is, we’ll try to catch hard evidence of your ghost—video or audio—then analyze it. If we don’t find a more mundane explanation for whatever we see or hear, then we can call it paranormal and go from there. As for how long it takes, well…” Dean bit his lip, nervous suddenly. What if Sommer didn’t want him hanging around for a whole month?
“Yes?” Sommer prompted. “How long?”
Taking a sip of his wine, Dean gathered his courage and plowed on. “It sort of depends on the investigation, but I, um, I called my boss and he said I could stay here an extra two weeks to make sure I could do a thorough job, since it’s just me and you, and Ron and Kerry too of course, and since I’m using my own camera plus Ron’s and some rented equipment. Which means I’d be here nearly a month, and yeah, you can help.”
Sommer gave him a shocked look. “You’ll be investigating for a month? And using equipment?”
“Yes.” Dean’s heart plummeted into his feet at the expression on Sommer’s face. Shit, he doesn’t want me to be around that long. “I’m sorry, Sommer, I just thought… I mean, I…I don’t have to. Bo—that’s my boss—thought this case deserved that kind of time, and I agree, I mean you don’t see a real apparition that often, and—”
Sommer reached across the table and laid his fingertips to Dean’s lips, stopping his babbling. “In case