[1] Midnight Lips | Ghost

𝐂𝐇. 80

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐀
༻❁༺

There was no word from Simon Riley, neither from Price nor anyone who could tell me they'd found him. His body was nowhere near the ashes. My hopes were one day increasing, the other being crushed down. My mind played tricks on me. I couldn't sleep, wondering where he was and how he was, and then when I could finally close my eyes and drift off, I'd go straight into dreams of him. Before, it was my sister the main character in my nightmares, but now it was Simon's turn, and it was eating me alive.

I got discharged from the hospital a couple of days ago. Kate Laswell insisted on taking me back to my apartment in Los Angeles, but I refused to leave Chicago without Simon. Soap stayed, too. I think he wanted to find Simon as much as I did. But we both couldn't do anything about it except wait. We were both told to stay out of this and let the others do their job, and no matter how much I wanted to complain, they were right. I needed to rest. I was only going to be a nuisance.

Soap's words still lingered in my head, the way he sounded so confident when he said them. I wanted the time to pass faster, the days to go by so that I was one day closer to Simon coming honestly. I wanted him to come back to me. I was sure he was coming back to me.

But when Price and Laswell were the ones to knock on the door to my hotel room, I knew there was something wrong.

*ೃ༄

There were two knocks on the door before it cracked open and someone walked in. I knew it was him, Simon, the one coming in. He always did that, announcing his entrance to our room whenever he was about to enter, and it was something that I really appreciated about him, because that way I knew it was him and not another person walking inside.

I spun around from my spot at the end of the bed, having just gotten out of the shower and wanting to get ready for our meeting. The towel wrapped around my body almost fell, but I barely cared. He was Simon, after all, he had seen me naked before, in almost every possible way, and perhaps he was about to see me that way again if I let us get carried away.

I smiled, as I always did whenever I saw him, and he returned the smile from under the mask, though those same smiling eyes began to trail down my body and with it, goosebumps grew on my skin following the path of his gaze. I squirmed under his eyes, pressing my thighs together. Why did he always manage to turn me on this fast?

"What's that?" I asked him before I could wonder how he wanted me this time and making his wish my command.

Simon cleared his throat, looking down at the container he had in his hand. Just then I could see what he was carrying. "Well, I found this in the freezer," he said, approaching me. "And I remembered that you said you were craving some ice cream."

I bit my lip, holding my smile back. "But that was... twenty minutes ago, wasn't it? That I said it?" He nodded his head, looking shyly as he avoided my gaze. God, my heart fluttered along with my belly and the butterflies that were filling in. I groaned, feeling like he just shot me with an arrow straight through my aching heart. I couldn't help it, I threw myself into his arms. "Simon, God, you are so sweet."

I pulled back and took the ice cream container from him along with the spoon, doing a little excited jump while taking off the cap. The towel actually fell this time, but with a little whoop, I managed to push it back up to cover my chest while keeping the container in one hand and sticking the spoon in my mouth.