Ghost Walk

Part 3

I manage to jot down enough notes that I'm comfortable I'll be able to whip up an article despite missing nearly half the tour. It helps that Lopaka comes over afterward to apologize for having to move on ahead; I'm able to ask him some follow-up questions and he quickly summarizes for me the things I've missed.

By the time we've finished talking, most of the people from the tour have dispersed. I find Kai sitting on a bench a few feet away, scrolling through something on his phone. Waiting for me.

"Sorry," I say, hurrying over to him. "Your friend left?"

"Yeah, his girlfriend got back early from a business trip. He went to pick her up. We drove separately so it's fine." He stands and nods in the direction of our tour guide, who's already ambling back toward the state library where we met. "Got what you needed?"

"Think so." I tuck my notepad and pen into the back pocket of my jeans. "We'll see when I write it, I guess." We won't see anything, though, because it's not like I'm going to run into Kai again.

The thought makes me a little sad. I try to smile at him and hope it doesn't go askew. "Thanks again for helping out with my shit. Sorry you had to miss most of the tour because of me. I really owe you one."

"No worries. I'm not really into ghost stories anyway."

"Why go on a tour then?"

He gives a little shrug. "My cousin, that guy I was with? He booked it for his girlfriend but she had to fly out, so he dragged me along because he thought I needed help getting my mind off my ex. We broke up a few weeks ago."

He has an ex. That means he's single. Probably.

"Did it help get your mind off?" I can't stop a little tendril of hope from worming its way into my chest, even though I'm pretty sure he's going to turn out to be straight. All the single, hot and nice guys usually are.

"No," Kai answers, and I feel myself deflate further.

"Oh," I say, hoping my tone conveys empathy. "No chance you'll get back together?"

"No chance. But that's not what I meant by no. I meant I didn't need it in the first place. I guess I felt guilty I wasn't upset over him. We were together for two years."

"I see." Him. He said him. Holy shit. Not so straight after all. And holy hell, two years? "The longest relationship I've had is like, two months."

Kai huffs out a tiny laugh. "Better to end it sooner rather than wait until it's past the expiration date. I think he thought asking for a break-up might make me realize how much he meant to me. I feel like an ass, because it did the exact opposite. I realized I didn't love him and probably never would. We were just together because it was convenient and the sex was good." He pauses, startled. "Sorry. TMI."

"Nah, you're cool," I reassure him, hoping like hell he can't see the sudden flush to my skin in the lamp light. Because now I'm thinking about all that good sex and what it must feel like to have Kai naked and sweaty against me, feeling his hard muscles under my hands as he spreads me open and— Stop it stop it stop it. Now is most definitely not boner time.

"You think I'm a dick?"

Don't think about dicks either. Don't think about dicks. "No," I answer, managing to keep my voice somewhat normal. "But that must've sucked for him. For both of you I guess. I mean. Two years."

"Yeah. But my point is Damien didn't need to worry about it. I'm not pining or anything." He glances at me, then looks away again at the dimly lit buildings across the street. "I'm not sorry I came."

"No?" I ask, the hope tendrils startling to unfurl again.

"No. It was good. All that stuff I didn't know about the plague fire and the prostitutes. Sad, though."

I sigh. "Yeah. All those people trapped inside and burnt alive." I shudder. The thought makes me kind of sick. No wonder this street is haunted. And my mind takes me back to that security guard. I shiver. "Almost at your car? I'll pick up my stuff and get out of your hair."

"Yeah, it's the next street over."

We walk in silence until we reach Kai's car. He opens the door on the passenger's side, where my pile of stuff is. "Thanks again. Wish there was something I could do to pay you back."

Kai hesitates, shifting on the balls of his feet. I cock my head curiously at him.

"How about a kiss?" he asks.