“Yeah and the dating schedule begins tomorrow night.” The waitress came over. I ordered an iced tea. “How’s Derrick?”
It was Jake’s turn to smile a big smile. “Great. Dating again is great.”
I smiled. “Still being jealous?”
Jake’s cheeks turned pink. “No. Not at all.”
I leaned forward, just as eager for details as he had been. “Do tell.”
He chuckled. “He’s been very sweet. I admit, I did get jealous when one of his ex-girlfriends was at a party last week, but I didn’t say anything rude. I didn’t blame him for it or anything. I didn’t even get mad.”
I grinned. That wasn’t it. He was smiling way too much for that to be the end of the story. “And what happened next?”
His cheeks turned pink. “Oh, nothing, we just went and had some alone time.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you two sleeping together?”
“There’s not much sleeping,” he hedged.
“Oh, you hussy,” I teased.
He raised his eyebrows. “Okay, little miss dating five guys.”
“But not sleeping with any of them,” I countered.
He grinned. “And how long is that going to actually last?”
I thought about it honestly and smirked. “Probably not long.”
He snickered as the waitress brought me my tea. I paid her and thanked her before turning back to Jake. “It’s not that easy, I want everyone to have a better idea of how this is going to work before we throw that wrench into the mix.”
“Don’t you mean wench?” he teased.
I snorted into my tea. “Nice. How’s your shoulder?”
He grumbled wordlessly.
“That good, huh?”
“I’m bored,” he admitted. “I can’t run, I can’t play football. Hell, I can’t even type at a decent rate right now. And I never realized that Derrick’s schedule was as busy as mine before.”
“I know it sucks, but if you want to keep your range of motion, then you’ve got to take the time to heal.” I took a sip of my tea.
“I know.” He grinned. “That just means that I have more time to get you and Riley talking to each other again. And…” His grin disappeared. “Dylan’s dad.”
“He’s getting worse?”
Jake nodded. “They’re not giving him much longer.”
I cursed. “How’s Dylan handling it?” I didn’t talk to my ex, but I had liked his dad, and well, no one deserved to lose both parents.
He shook his head. “Not well, we’ve all been chipping in at the store so they can keep his treatments going. And we can all spend time with him.”
“I’m sorry, Jake. He’s such a nice guy.”
He shook his head slowly. “The guy practically raised all of us.”
Before I could figure out what else to say, that chill ran down my neck. I took a casual look around. A lithe ghost stepped through the windows across the café. She had been a few years younger than me when she died. Her marching band uniform still had bloodstains covering her side, staining the gold embroidery red. And I knew why. On the way to a football game several years ago, the bus crashed. Three people died, including Misty. She made eye contact with me and headed for the back of the café near the bathrooms.
“Um, I’ll be right back.” I got to my feet and followed the girl only I could see.
“Running away isn’t going to stop me from being nosey,” he warned.
I flipped him off over my shoulder before turning the corner. Misty took a hit of her inhaler. I didn’t say anything, I had already told her that since she didn’t have a body, she didn’t have asthma anymore and didn’t need it. She had simply waved me off saying it was psychosomatic and to let it go.
When she could, she said, “We took the trails that were farther out today, and we still found nothing.”
I cursed. Ever since we came back from Swan Lake I’d sent souls out searching for another setup like we found at the lake. They had more time on their hands and walls didn’t bother them. Only, we hadn’t found anything yet. “Did everyone come back?”
She nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“We’re still losing ghosts daily.” And I couldn’t figure out why. “I really need you guys to stay on top of who is going where and if they get back. That'll give us a place to start if they go missing.”
“If who goes missing?” Jake’s voice made me jump.
I spun around; the blood drained from my face as I spotted Jake. “What? Oh, Hades. I was just thinking out loud.”
“Okay, weirdo.” He eyed me before going into the men’s room.
Shit. I turned back to Misty. “I’ll see you guys tonight at the cemetery.”
I went back to my spot and mentally cursed myself. I knew better than to talk to a ghost around normal people. I was still berating myself when he came back and sat down.
“So, have you talked to Riley?” he asked as he picked up his coffee.
I played with the straw in my tea. “Nope.”
“She’s going to be here in a couple of minutes.” He shook his head. “Don’t you miss her?”
“Yeah, I miss her. But it’s gotten easier over the last few months.”
“Lexie, you said you’d listen with an open mind,” he chided me.
“I will. But frankly, I feel like I just called her on her shit.” I shifted and got more comfortable.
He sighed. “I know. And honestly, I feel the same way. She even admitted to me that some of her other friends said the same thing. But you can’t go in already pissed off and not willing to listen to what she has to say. That won’t help.”
I started to rub my temple. “Yeah, I know. And I’m trying.” I liked Riley. I really did. But she hadn’t believed me when I said how I felt about all the guys. She also didn’t like the fact I had been thinking of dating all the guys at once. In fact, she had a very clear opinion on it.
Jake’s gaze moved over my shoulder. “Here she comes.”
The door of the café opened and a tall girl with lavender hair walked over. Riley had a pretty, round face which was now tense as she sat down in the chair next to Jake. “Hey, how’s the wing?”
“Annoying.” Jake grinned. “How are the cousins?”
“The same.” Riley’s face loosened up before she turned to me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I started tapping my fingers on my thigh, wishing one of the guys were here.
So…” She shrugged. “What was your decision?”
I barely resisted the urge to flip her off. “That’s what you want to know? Not, what have you been up to? How’ve things been? Or even talking about our fight? Just straight to if I’m dating the guys.”
Riley crossed her arms over her chest. “Look, I thought I knew you. You are a funny, pissy bitch that I love to hang out with.”
“You bailed on us.” I refused to answer until I said what I needed to say. “You got a boyfriend, and you bailed.”
“Deep breaths, girls,” Jake reminded us. “This isn’t about blame or who did what. This is about talking about how you feel. ‘I feel’ statements.”