He sits at the counter, pretending like I don’t exist. He’s been doing that today. He’s been home for a few hours, seemingly lost in his own head.
“You ok?” I ask, my fingers fiddling with my phone to keep myself busy.
“Mhmm,” he hums, typing away on his computer.
“Is it work stuff?” I probe.
“Yup.”
My head falls back in frustration.Why is he like a fucking brick wall?“Ok, whatever,” I mumble under my breath. I get when I’m not wanted.
I turn on my heel, heading outside so that I can go lie on the deck and look up at the stars for a little bit.
“Hey, you okay?”I try again as I slide a plate of chocolate chip cookies over to him. The ones that I made the night we kissed the first time.
“I’m fine,” he mumbles, just staring down at his plate that he heated up awhile go. I’m sure it’s cold by now.
“You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, but you don’t have to lie to me, either,” I mutter, turning around and focusing on cleaning up the kitchen.
My biggest pet peeve is when people lie to me. I already struggle trusting people. I’ve been dealing with liars my whole life, and I hate it. Even just little ones like the one he just gave me. My therapist says that it probably stems from the fact that I was lied to my whole childhood in order for people to save themselves from telling me the truth.
He doesn’t say anything while I wipe down the counters or when I straighten up the appliances. He even stays quiet while I get the supplies out to make my sleepy-time tea.
“You don’t like hiking, right?”
I bite my lip.Is he worried about me?“No, I’m not one who cares much for exercising outdoors.”
“Good.”
The way that he stares at his plate makes me nervous. Maybe I don’t want to know what he’s talking about.
“Why?”
It takes him a moment to answer. “Because I think The Ghost Killer is back.”
The answer makes my blood run cold. I have to close my eyes to take the information in, but even that doesn’t stop the chill that runs through me.
“He—Theyonly attack people that go out at night, though, right?” I whisper.
“I’d like to say yes, but this person, whoever they are…is unpredictable. If this is the same person, there are now fiveyoung women who have gone missing, maybe even more. They are getting braver now; two victims were hit within three months of each other. Whereas last time, it was only a couple of victims a year.”
“Oh…”
“I don’t want to scare you, I just want you to be aware. You’re probably safe, but you never know,” he whispers, his eyes meeting mine.
I nod, feeling nervous all of a sudden. He breaks eye contact first, and I go back to sipping my tea, trying not to focus on how I feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of my head as I stand at the stove.
“Would you like some?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him. He nods his head, so I grab a second mug and more teabags and prep two cups.
“Here,” I say, handing it to him. Leaving the kitchen, I move over to the couch and sit down, turning on the TV and scrolling to find a movie.
I hear his chair scrape against the hardwood floor before he sits next to me on the couch, his shoulder just barely brushing mine when he leans back against the cushions.
I feel a spark of warmth shoot through my arm, the same kind that rushed through me when he kissed me.
I bring my cup to my lips, take a sip, before leaning forward and placing it on the coffee table. He mimics my motion, and when he leans back a second time, his hand once again brushes mine.
His hands are on his thighs, his fingers just centimeters away from mine. A part of me wants to reach out and lace them together. I stare at his hands for far longer than is considered normal.
