“Agreed,” we all answered him.
I flopped down on the bed, officially drained now. Nothing like a wave of insane emotions to start your day.
“I’m going to call and switch birth control when we get home or at least talk to the doctor about it,” I said. “I can’t do this freakout again.”
“We’re with you, whatever you want to do,” Ethan promised as he laid down next to me, pulling me in for a snuggle. I rested against the softness of his chest, breathing him in and grounding myself.
“I’m glad I have you guys,” I said softly. “I was half afraid you’d be excited and want a baby after this.”
“Maybe someday, but I love this life we’ve built,” Ethan answered with a kiss to my forehead. Warmth spread through me. They could make me feel so safe and loved with just a few words.
I was a girl who only wanted a few simple things in life. Ghost hunts, amazing guys who fucked like pornstars, and some cute alpacas. What more could I ask for?
ChapterFifteen
Ethan
The smart thing to do would be to avoid the cleaning crew and stick to town today. But we’d never been one for holding ourselves back, and these staff members might hold valuable information. If nothing else, they wouldn’t be able to hide their feelings from me.
It was crazy to think what started as simple feelings on hunts turned into this. Not only did I now get strange feelings slamming into me during investigations, but I got them around people now as well. It wasn’t my near death experience that led to some sort of weird superpower like Brea, but the more I honed in on them, the more intense they grew.
“You ready?” Brea asked as she ran her hands over my shoulders, walking around me, then flopping down on my lap. She had her copper hair braided to the side and her freckles stood out in the afternoon sun. This investigation had been different, the new member throwing off our usual easy flirting and teasing, but somehow I felt closer to her. Maybe it was the pregnancy scare or seeing her bring Sully back to life a bit, but something had shifted between us. And now all I could think about was marrying her. Sure it wouldn’t be possible seeing as there were four of us, but we’d find a way to put our own unique twist on things. Even before asking them, I knew the guys would be just as on board.
A swipe of Brea’s finger over my brow had my attention turning back to her. She laughed as I blinked to clear my vision.
“You’re getting lost in that head of yours today,” she teased but it was clouded with concern. She always had such a big heart, it was one of the reasons I fell in love with her so fast. “Are you alright? Is it the pregnancy thing?”
“No, no,” I reassured her. “It’s nothing like that. I was honestly just thinking about how crazy this empath thing has gone.”
“Maybe it’s the water?” she muses, laughing at my confusion. “We’ve always heard that it’s a conduit. Maybe that and the mix of energy in this town is making it more intense. If not for these gloves I’d probably be right there with you.” She wiggled her gloved fingers for emphasis. She wears them so often now that I don’t even notice them anymore. I was a bit jealous at times that she had a way to ‘turn off’ her own powers. The constant emotions I got thrown at me every day could be exhausting. Though in my own ways I was learning to tune some of it out.
“True. I guess the real test will be when we leave Serenity Harbor. We can’t leave until we figure this out though,” I point out. “Even if it’s past the thirty days.”
“I was thinking the same thing, I was just holding onto hope it’ll work out somehow,” she admitted with a small shrug. “For now, I vote we go cause chaos at the museum.”
The evil smirk was enough to convince me. “I’m in. Why do I feel like we’re about to get a call from our good friend Paul?”
She snorted. “Let him. He said to lock down our equipment, not avoid the crew. Clear instructions are important. We are just ensuring the safety of our very expensive equipment after all.”
“I never knew you were so evil, angel,” I teased. She rolled her eyes and climbed off my lap.
“Don’t lie. I’ve never been the calm and quiet one. Chaos is my middle name, snack man,” she joked as she snagged one of my cookies from the table and sauntered out.
Knowing the others would be complaining if I took too long, I threw on a jacket and grabbed my bag, tucking the rest of the cookies in for later if she got hungry.
We piled into the SUV and Lincoln drove over to the museum. Seeing six large work vans parked outside had me raising my eyebrows.
“He spares no expense,” Ben joked.
“I’m not at all surprised,” Ryker tacked on. “The man thrives on being arrogant and spending money.” Our view of him might be a little skewed since he sent us on vacation just to throw us into a hunt unknowingly. He was lucky we agreed to these contracts at all.
“Well, here goes nothing,” Lincoln said with mock cheer as he led the way toward the museum. Workers were milling around the lobby as we entered but every single person paused as the door closed with a thud. We faced off for several moments as my heart pounded in my chest, waiting for someone to give in and say something.
It was like someone flipped a switch, the room turned from statues to fangirls, a screech finally letting out before they were rushing toward us. Lincoln blocked Brea and Sully while the rest of us braced for impact. But they slowed down just before getting to us, all talking at once.
“We didn’t realize you’d be here, forgive us, we’re just huge fans!” a female voice called out.
“They said you wouldn’t be around, but this is amazing!” another chimed in.