Call On Me (22 page)

“I prefer agony
uncle, but let’s not quibble when it comes to matters of the
heart.”

Whoa
.
“Well, shit, I don’t know if it’s exactly a matter of the
heart.”

There was
silence for a few seconds before Matt drawled, “So what is it a
matter of?”

That was more
like it. Relaxing, Ghost again dropped his head back against the
backrest to gaze up at the stars twinkling in the sky. “Ali says we
can’t be lovers ‘cause we’re friends.”

“Uh huh.”

“I say we can
be friends and lovers.”

“Uh huh.”

“I mean, we
were already friends and then we became lovers.”

“Once. You made
love once. That doesn’t make you lovers.”

“Really, man?”
Ghost squinted up at the sky.

“I thought you
wanted an opinion.”

“Yeah, one that
agrees with my own.”

“Sorry. My
mistake. What
is
your opinion?”

“My opinion is
that it’s already too late. Ali’s scared of change but things have
changed already. It’s too late now to pretend nothing
happened.”

“I agree.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention
it.”

Ghost brooded
for a few minutes.

Mauve jumped up
onto his lap and he stroked her gently. She gave his hand a lick
and settled down, her purr comfortably filling the silence.

“So how do I
get Ali to see that things have changed?” he asked.

“She knows
things have changed,” Matt answered. “She’s not stupid.”

“So why can’t
she go with it? Why can’t she acknowledge it, just enjoy it?”

“What did she
tell you?”

Closing his
eyes, Ghost thought back to the conversation. “She got teary.”

“Ah.”

“Don’t you
start with that ‘ah’ shit again.”

“Sorry.”

Opening his
eyelids a little, Ghost looked down his nose to where Matt sat,
wishing for once he could see his friend’s face. “What was that
‘ah’ shit, anyway?”

“Just
thinking.”

“Don’t hold
back.”

“This is your
therapy session, not mine.”

“I need
advice.”

“In matters of
the flesh?”

“Jesus, don’t
let Ali hear you say that or you’ll be on her shit list as
well.”

“I only have
one chance left, too.”

“What did you
do?”

“More to the
point, what are you going to do?”

“If I had my
way I’d march over there right now and kiss the living daylights
out of her.”

“And what do
you think her reaction would be?”

“Before or
after she knocked me senseless?”

“You reckon she
would?”

“What do you
think?”

“You know her
better than me. You’ve been friends since school.”

“She’d knock me
senseless,” Ghost stated confidently.

“Really?” Matt
didn’t sound convinced.

“Yeah, she’d
have knocked me senseless if I’d kissed her before, given her some
tongue.”

“And you’re a
writer.” Matt shook his head. “Can’t you do something about that
description? Because I couldn’t blame Ali for knocking you
senseless. I would too if I heard that.”

“Fine. If I’d
dared to kiss her, deeply and thoroughly, ravished her as it
were-”

Matt held up
one hand. “I get the picture.”

“Make up your
mind, mate. I don’t want to offend your delicate
sensibilities.”

Matt motioned
with his hand. “Just go on.”

Abraham stuck
his paw back into Matt’s glass, which Ghost chose to ignore. “She’d
have hit me.”

“And now?”

“Now what?”

“What would she
do now if you kissed her deeply?”

About to reply
off the cuff, Ghost opened his mouth, only to slowly close it as he
considered the answer. No, she wouldn’t knock him senseless. She
hadn’t the previous night, no matter how angry she’d been, but she
had cried.

“Ah shit,” he
muttered.

“What?” Matt
angled his head curiously.

“When I fronted
her up, told her things had changed, she cried.” Uncomfortably,
Ghost shifted in the seat, setting the swing chair rocking gently.
“Hell, Matt, she’s worried that if we take this further and we
break up at some point we’ll lose what we had. That’s
ridiculous.”

“Why? It
happens.”

“Because this
is Ali. I would never break up with her.”

“Really.”

“Yes,
really.”

“You’ve dated
other women and broken up with them,” Matt pointed out.

“But other
women are not Ali, are they?”

“No, there’s
only one Ali Mackay, that’s for sure.” Matt added under his breath
something that sounded like, “And only one Lori Mackay.”

“What?” Ghost
flashed a glance at him.

“I just
agreed.” Raising his hand, Matt took another mouthful of beer.
“This tastes a bit grainy.”

“Really?” Ghost
smirked. “I wonder why.”

“Huh.” Holding
the glass up to the light filtering from the veranda, Matt studied
the amber depths, but unable to see anything he just shrugged and
flopped his hand back over the side of the chair again, glass
dangling from his fingertips.

Abraham eyed it
avidly.

Max watched
Abraham avidly.

Mauve ignored
them both, instead nudging Ghost’s hand with her head in a silent
demand to resume stroking her. He obliged.

“So Ali is
different to these other women,” Matt said. “And you just know you
would never break up with her.”

“Yep.”

“So tell me,
Ghost, how long do you intend to be with her?”

“Forever.”

The word hung
out in the air between them, almost tangible, so full of meaning he
could have reached out and touched it.

Dumbfounded,
Ghost stared at the sky before tipping his head forward to stare at
Matt’s face. The darkness hid his friend’s expression but the
silence was telling. Or maybe it was just telling for him because
he sure as shit had just shocked himself.

“I mean…” He
floundered.

“Not forever?”
Matt asked quietly.

“Well, no…yes…”
Fumbling for the right reply, Ghost stilled.

Mauve bumped
her head demandingly against his hand once more but when he simply
sat in dumbfounded silence she stood up in disgust and hopped off
his lap, running lightly across the lawn and up onto the veranda to
disappear through the cat flap into the house.

“So let me get
this straight,” Matt said. “You mean to be with Ali forever. Lovers
forever. You’re not going to dump her. Did you tell her that,
Ghost?’

“Well, I…I
just…”

“Did you even
think about what you just said?”

“No, I didn’t,
but….I…”

Matt leaned
forward. “Ghost, did you even realise then what you mean now?”

“Kind of?”

“Why are you
asking me?”

“I’m not?” When
Matt snorted, Ghost shook his head. “I mean, I’m not asking
you.”

“You sure about
that?”

“Yes!”

“So just be
sure what this whole thing means to you, because I’m not certain
you’ve actually thought it all through.”

Silence fell
between them, the only sounds that of night birds and Max intent on
destroying the fern garden. Ghost couldn’t even think to stop him,
not when his own thoughts were whirling around inside his head.

Thoughts that
latched on to previous knowledge. Thoughts that seeped through his
conscious, seeping through as he analysed what he’d just said.
Confessed. As he analysed the meaning behind the words.

Forever.

Forever was a
long time.

Being with Ali
forever.

Normally that
sentence would have thrown him into a full-on panic but as the
meaning grew in startling clarity he didn’t feel that panic, but he
was stunned. In fact, he’d never thought of forever in conjunction
with any other woman except Ali. And the longer he thought about
it, the more natural the sentence seemed. The more right it seemed.
The more it
was
right.

It hit him with
sudden lucidity, the realisation that he wanted to be together with
Ali forever. It had always been him and Ali, together, having fun,
laughing, sharing their problems. Being there for each other.

Women had come
and gone throughout his adult life but Ali had been his mainstay,
never judging, always truthful. Being with Ali was like being at
home – warm, comfortable, happy, content. Except that had changed,
had become something so much more, expanded slowly but surely over
time until it had culminated that night into something hot,
sensual, and soul searing.

It hadn’t been
just sex. It had been comfort, wanting her to smile again, assuring
her that he was there, but one harmless kiss had led to another,
and then the dam that had unknowingly been held back by pure
friendship had broken, his emotions flowing free, his pent-up
feelings for her exploding forth in a torrent of passion that had
joined them in a way so intimate it had literally taken his breath
away and sent him soaring on a tide of heat.

Of love.

Oh God
.
Love
.

Stunned, he
stared at Matt’s outline. “Oh God, Matt.”

Matt waited in
silence, like he knew what was coming.

“Oh God,” he
repeated. “Matt, I love her. I love Ali Mackay.”

“And there it
is.” Lifting the glass, Matt took the last mouthful, only to cough
and choke, reaching into his mouth to pull out several bits of
hair. “What the hell? Is this
cat fur
?”

Undoubtedly,
but Ghost was still too stunned to appreciate the moment. Instead
of laughing his arse off, he just continued to sit there in stunned
silence.

He loved Ali
Mackay.

~*~

Gaze levelled
on her sister, Lori sat in silence. Not one emotion showed on her
face, not one little speck of shock or even surprise.

Sitting across
from her, Ali fidgeted in the chair, shifting, uncurling one leg to
curl the other up beneath her, only to straighten them both out
when she couldn’t get comfortable.

“Well?” she
finally demanded.

“Well,” Lori
repeated quietly.

“Well, say
something. Aren’t you shocked or whatever?”

“Not
really.”

Ali gaped at
her in disbelief.

“Come on,” Lori
said. “It’s not that hard to put two and two together.”

“What two and
two? It’s not like Ghost and I haven’t argued before and not spoken
to each other for a while.” Well, when they were kids, but
still…

“True.” Lori
nodded. “But this has been a little different.”

“How so?” How
on earth had Ali given anything away? A sudden suspicion hitting
her, she narrowed her eyes. “Has he spoken to you? Cripes, did he
tell
you?”

“Of course
not.”

“Then how could
you have possibly guessed?”

“It doesn’t
take a genius.” Idly, Lori tapped her fingers on the table. “You
were upset, Ghost went out to get you and everything went weird
between you two from then. The sudden urge to go to the city?
Doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that you were avoiding him,
especially when you almost did a one eighty out of our driveway to
avoid him.”

“So? How does
that get from an argument to…?” Flushing, Ali couldn’t bring
herself to say it, not in front of her sister.

“Sex?’ Lori
said dryly, apparently not fazed in the least. “You can say it, you
know. I’m a big girl now and even though I might never have had
intimacy with a man, I know what it is.” She added with a smirk,
“And how it’s done.”

Oh sweet baby
Jesus, had Ail left a tell-tale dent in the bonnet?

“One of the
biggest indications was this.” Fishing in the pocket of her pants,
Lori withdrew a small, crumpled packet and dropped it onto the
table.

Ali stared at
it.

“The morning
after pill,” Lori stated. “I found it in the kitchen bin, or to be
more precise, the bin bag broke when I took it out to the big bin.
It wasn’t hard to add two and two together and come up with four. I
suspected straight away that you and Ghost had gone further than
friendship.”

“How do you
know it wasn’t me and Chris?” Ali asked, feeling both foolish and
annoyed. Mostly at herself.

“Really?” Lori
rolled her eyes. “How stupid do you think I am? You wouldn’t let
that man touch you with a ten foot pole after that night.
Please.”

“Fine.”
Grabbing the packet, Ali balled it in her fist. “Your powers of
deduction are amazing.”

“Hey, don’t get
snippy with me, sis. This is your problem, not mine. I’m just here
to listen and be your shoulder if you need it.”

Shame swept
through Ali. Reaching across the table, she laid her hand on
Lori’s. “I’m sorry. I am being a bitch and none of this is your
fault.”

“Glad we got
that sorted.” Lori smiled faintly.

Flopping back
in the chair, Ali threw the offending packet on the table and eyed
it unhappily. “So where the hell does that leave us now?”

“You and me, or
you and Ghost?”

“Me and
Ghost.”

“Where do you
want it to leave you?”

Ali said sadly,
“I want things to be as they were.”

“That’s not
going to happen.”

Talk about
stating the obvious.

Propping one
elbow on the table, Ali leaned her chin on her palm and sighed.

Silence fell in
the kitchen for several minutes before Lori nudged Ali’s foot under
the table. “You have to face things.”

“I am facing
things.” Ali glanced up at her. “It happened. End of story.”

“Not the end,
though, is it?”

“It should
be.”

“Ali.” Lori’s
face and voice held a touch of impatience. “It happened, and now
you have to deal with it.”

“I did.” Ali
prodded the empty packet with one finger. “See? I was
responsible.”

“Not that, you
nong.”

“Look, I don’t
want things to change-”