He smiled, and my heart started thumping wildly again.
"Curiosity killed the cat, you know." He said, his voice soft as velvet.
"But the cat also has nine lives... so why not use them?" I smiled back.
His blue eyes gazed intensely into mine. My hand...
Henry did not call or text me at all that weekend. I didn't blame him- we were on a date, and when he left, I didn't go with him. I'm sure in his eyes, I'd chosen someone else over him.
Will (he'd asked me to start calling him that) had apologized several times while I ate my food. After ten minutes of his puppy dog eyes and sincere sentiment, I'd caved and forgave him. We'd had a pleasant evening just talking- I'd refused to kiss him thanks to him embarrassing me in front of Henry.
Monday, I returned to school from winter break. Katelyn had heard about me going on a date with her cousin, and she wanted every detail. I'd told her that it didn't go well, and I wasn't sure if he'd ever want to see me again. When I wouldn't elaborate, I thought she was gonna chew me out. Thankfully, Adam's arrival to class had signaled a change in topic and saved me from having to admit that I was probably dating a ghost (I could just see the Jerry Springer episode...).
After school, I headed over to Ravencrest to talk to Will. When I pulled up, I was beyond surprised to see Henry's SUV parked out front. I walked inside, where Henry was carrying a small box down the staircase.
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"Oh. Uh, hi." He muttered, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. "I didn't think you were coming to help."
Crap, that's right. He had invited me to help him with his restoration project.
"I, uh... actually came to talk to Will." I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "But I think we'd better sit down first. I need to apologize." He followed me into the sitting room and set his box down. He sat on the same couch as me, but he sat several feet away on the opposite end. His body language was obvious.
"So... what a date, huh?" He muttered.
"Yeah." I sighed. "Look... Henry, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I am just so confused. You both walked into my life on the same exact night. I was attracted to you both, so I wanted to spend a little time with each of you to try to sort out all my feelings. Once I'd gotten to know you both a bit, I planned to choose and put my heart into just one relationship. We were only out on our first date. Obviously, I hadn't expected you to take me here."
He nodded slowly. "You're right. Honestly, I was just really pissed off that someone was getting to see a side of you that I didn't want to share." He took a long, deep breath and finally looked at me. "Not to mention, seeing a ghost kind of freaked me out."
I smirked. "Yeah, I was a little startled the first time he vanished on me, too. But he's a really great guy."
"So, I don't want to sound like a jerk," he began, looking out to the foyer. It was as if he were checking to see if Will was listening. "But, like, how does a relationship with a ghost even work? You said he was stuck here. How can you really date someone when you can't leave the house? How can you introduce him to your family? How do you get married, or even have kids with someone who is dead?"
