“I don’t know why you felt like you needed to hide this from me. I don’t care if you see dead people. Well… I care in the sense that if it’s adding stress to your life, I want to be able to help. But you don’t seem to be afraid of them.”
“I just… I can’t believe you’re not only cool with it but you…believeit, I guess. I’ve never told anyone before. Not even my family.”
I raised an eyebrow, shocked. “Surely Iris knows! She’s super witchy, I bet that’s why she gave me the weird pouch you always make me carry around.”
His lips twitched, and he nodded.
“Yeah. You have some…unsavoryhitchhikers.”
What the fuck?
“What doesthatmean?” I asked. This was the most interesting conversation I’d ever had in mylife.How fucking rad was this? My boyfriend could see dead people!
“You uhm… well, you’re haunted, Cal. By the people you’ve killed. Also, your mom—who’s a piece of fucking work, by the way—tends to hang around you like a bad idea.”
“What! My fuckingmom?”I gaped, and Ryan’s cheeks turned a brilliant crimson.
“Yeah.”
“That fuckingbitch!”I snarled. “Did she hurt you? I’ll kill her a second fucking time if she puts one goddamn spirit finger on you!” Rage flared in my chest at the fact that even from the fucking grave, there was a chance that psycho bitch might hurt the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Ryan chuckled. “No, she hasn’t hurt me. When I first met you, she passed through me a few times, and it made me feel a little sick, but since you have your talisman, she hasn’t been able to come near me.”
Realization dawned on me. “So that time I barreled into that service without my talisman, my mom was attacking you?”
Ryan nodded. “Not just her. You have a whole gaggle of ghouls that follow you around. If I ever lost you in a crowd, all you would need to do is drop your talisman, and I would be able to find you just from their yowling screams.”
“That’s… metal asfuck.”I breathed, and Ryan burst out laughing.
He curled his hand around mine.
“I love the way you react to things. It’s… refreshing.”
I frowned at him. “How am I supposed to react?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Most people would call me a freak.”
Anger simmered in my gut at the way he said it. Like hebelievedhe was a freak. I remembered the story he had told me about the time those bitch ass kids had made fun of him for liking flowers, and I clenched my teeth.
“Fuck being normal, Ryan. Normal is boring. Ilovethat you see dead people. I think it’s bad fuckingassthat you live in a funeral home. On top of that, I think it’s hot that you’re a freckly red-headed man who likes gardening. Everything about you is attractive to me. You’re my lil’ spooky ginger boy, and I love the shit out of you.”
He turned his big brandys on me as we pulled into the IKEA parking lot, and I swooned a little.
“Thanks, angel,” he said softly, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.
I beamed at him. “Anytime, ginger snap. Let me know next time you need a boost. I never get tired of telling you all the things I love about you.”
Turning away from my blushing man, I gazed up at the giant blue and yellow building before us, cocking my head to the side in curiosity.
“I’ve never been to an IKEA before…” I mused out loud.
Ryan made a strange sound, and I glanced at him, confused. He was looking at me like I had just sprouted an extra head.
“What!?”he gasped. “I’m taking your IKEA virginity!?”
I gave him a bewildered smile. “Yeah, I guess. What’s so great about it?”
“Oh… baby.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the car, suddenly nearly as excited as my sister had been,
