Page 8 of Ghost
“I’m beginning tounderstand Gunner’s point about living with you,” Ghost said. “Someshit should be left alone.”
“Is that what you want—toallow yourself to fester?”
“Fester. That’s a nicechoice of words, dude. I’m a pus-filled wound?”
“Or the intransitive verb,a situation, problem, or feeling of festering, you disapprove ofthe fact that it is allowed to grow more unpleasant or full ofanger because it’s not being properly recognized or dealtwith.”
“Shit. My respect for yourgrumpy, over-protective partner is growing by thesecond.”
Conor laughed, making Ghost smile eventhough he didn’t want to. “He’ll be glad to hear that. It’s not allbad. With me around you, you never have to worry about makingsomeone understand how and why you feel a certain way. Cause Ialready know.”
“That is both scary andoddly comforting in equal measure.”
“Story of my life, man.Deal with it. Now, back to your situation.”
Ghost picked up the pace and headedfor the tree line; a good hike might help. Unfortunately, Conor waskeeping pace, and any hopes of losing the guy grew slimmer by thesecond. He could go ghost and disappear, but that would require himto stop and strip out of his clothing.
“I’d still feel youremotions and know where you are,” Conor answered without Ghostsaying a word. “So, let’s discuss this internal fight you’re havingregarding the detective.”
“I’d rather stick pineneedles under my nails,” Ghost said honestly.
“Don’t worry; it’s onlyhard to open up the first time,” Conor assured.
“Since when are you mytherapist?”
“Therapist, friend,teammate, I wear many hats comfortably. Now, quit skirting thequestion. What’s going on? There’s no reason to be ashamed of beingattracted to the man, especially around here. You can’t wave astick around here without hitting a gay man.”
“Because I don’t want tobe.” God, he sounded like a petulant child.
“You don’t like him becauseof how he acted when you first met?”
“No. Hell, if someonerandomly appeared out of nowhere in front of me, I’d start throwingfists and asking questions later. I’m lucky I didn’t get punched.”He was truly thankful for Ray’s restraint.
“Are youembarrassed?”
“You’re going to have to bemore specific.” There could be a multitude of things in his life tobe embarrassed about.
“Passing out there for asecond when all the shit went down or being naked in front of astranger?” Conor cocked an eyebrow.
“No, the whole naked thingreally doesn’t faze me at all anymore. I’m pretty sure it bugsothers more than myself.”
“What about the passingout?”
“It wasn’t one of my finermoments,” Ghost admitted, “but I can rack that up to all the otherembarrassing shit I’ve done since I began taking practicing myghosting more seriously.”
“Yeah, that time you triedto go into the lake camouflaged had unexpected results.” Conor wasobviously fighting the urge to chuckle.
“That fuckin’ fish tried toswim straight through me. You would have freaked out in the samesituation.”
“True. You’re extremelybrave, putting yourself through all this to help us. I appreciateit.”
“You do?” Ghost said,stopping beside an old oak to look Conor straight in the eyes andconfirm he was serious. He’d always thought the team kinda saw himas a joke. Fumbling around like an idiot in the dark naked andsearching for some scraps of control over his freakishability.
Conor’s face turned dark.His eyes became steely, and his lips thinned into a severeline.What the hell have I done wrongnow?
“You aren’t a freak. You’rea valued team member, and no one views you as any less than therest of us. You’ve been working hard to control your ability, andin fact, men on this team, one specific man I love beyond allreason, owe his very life to you and what you did back in thatfactory by disarming the bomb while ghosting. I never want you tofeel less than anyone or assume you know what others think of youfrom this moment forward because it’s all false. I understand thatthis may take some time for you to work through, so I will happilyremind you regularly. Got it?”
“Got it.”
