Saylor reaches out, his hand cradling my cheek. I think he’s trying to wipe away a tear with his thumb, but it just intensifies the tingling sensation.
“I choose you,” he murmurs. “Given the choice between Heaven and an eternity like this, with you by my side, I’d chooseyou every time.Youare my heaven.” His gaze softens, and he looks at my lips for a second before he leans in to kiss me.
At first, I’m frozen, unsure how to respond to a ghost kissing me. But it’s not just a ghost. It’s Saylor.
My Saylor.
I close my eyes and kiss him back. My poor, beaten heart jolts back to life, pounding so hard it feels like it might burst from my chest. His other hand rises, cradling my face between his palms. All I can feel is the overwhelming sensation of tingles everywhere, especially the fluttering storm in my stomach.
He pulls back slightly, resting our foreheads together, and I take a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m yours, Slo. I might not be much now, but everything I am… it’s all yours. I’ve been yours since the moment you hit me with that spatula.”
A tearful laugh escapes me, and he gently kisses my birthmark before bringing his cheek to mine.
“We keep each other, and everything will be all right,” he whispers.
I hope he’s right because it feels like nothing will ever be okay again.
TWO
A short while later,I manage to regain some semblance of composure, enough to continue driving. Or let’s just say the need to get away was bigger than the overwhelming desire to fall apart. I know I can allow myself to break down later, but only when I’ve put enough distance between us and what just happened.
I can’t afford for them to find me at the side of the road.
If they’d even follow.
I told them not to.
Because I don’t want them to.
Liar.
I breathe through the hyped-up panic.Nobody is going to come after us.The thought threatens to cause another wave of choked sobs, but I swallow them.
We drive down the winding road, the sputtering engine providing a backdrop for the unsettling thoughts racing through my mind.I made them believe.Or I think they believe me now. But that doesn’t mean they don’t think I’m crazy anyway.
Wouldn’t that be a reason to commit someone to an institution?
Being able to speak to spirits?
Would they do that to me?
I would have said no if this had happened a week ago, but that wasbefore.
Before they kicked me out of the house and called me crazy.
Before they proved I can’t trust them, and their promises and nice words mean shit.
I focus my attention back on the road. The fading daylight casts eerie shadows from the trees that line the road. My grip tightens on the steering wheel, knuckles turning white.
Breathe, Sloan.
They’re not worth it.
Saylor finally breaks the silence, his voice pulling me back to the present. “Slo, over there.” He points toward a sign for a nearby camping site we’re about to pass. “We could stay there for the night. It’s getting dark, and it might be safer.”
I glance at the inviting-looking area, but I can’t bring myself to stop.
Not now.
