Page 127 of Ghosted

I want to argue and tell her no. I want to stand between her and the entire fucking world until nothing can get close enough to leave another mark.

Instead, I nod.

Because right now it doesn’t fucking matter what I want.

This is what she needs..

Because apparently that’s what caring about someone is supposed to look like when you’re trying not to make it ugly.

I climb out first, grab my clothes, and dress with wet skin and shaking hands.

Alice stays in the water, watching me from the pool wall like she’s waiting to see if I’ll change my mind and ruin the small bit of trust she just handed me.

I don’t.

At the door to the hall, I look back.

She’s still there in the blue glow, arms folded on the edge, hair wet around her face. She looks exhausted. Beautiful. Too fucking far away already.

“Jagger,” she says.

“Yeah?”

Her throat moves as she swallows. “Don’t die tonight.”

My mouth twitches, but it doesn’t make it all the way to a smile. “That almost sounded like you care.”

“It was a threat.”

“Got it.”

She holds my gaze for another second, and then turns away first.

I leave before I can walk back to her.

The side door closes behind me with a soft metal groan, and the night air hits my wet hair, cold enough to make my teeth clench. I start toward the warehouse with chlorine drying on my skin and her words sitting heavy in my chest.

Don’t die tonight.

I choose you.

Fuck. I don’t have a goddamn clue what to do with any of it.

I don’t know how to carry something that heavy without turning it into a weapon. All I know is that, after all the bullshit, she fucking chose me, and that changes everything.

11

JOHNNY

FLOAT TEST

Well, shit.

Look at that.

Jagger Cutter finally gets picked, and nobody even has the decency to make it funny.

I stay in the dark near the upper viewing area, shoulder against the wall, watching the pool settle after them. Cute, right? My emotionally constipated baby brother brings a girl to his sad chlorine sanctuary, says a few broken things in that wounded-dog voice, and suddenly she’s looking at him like he hung the fucking moon instead of dragging her into a locked university pool after hours.