Ghost of Lies (Medium Trouble, #1)

by Alice Winters

The best way to describe Ben and Maddox is to say that all of the happiness was drained out of Maddox’s body and shoved into Ben,

“Oh! Thank you for the birthday cake,” I say. He holds his hands up. “I didn’t get it for you, Maddox did, but he’d probably skin your ass if you thanked him, so you’re welcome,” he says. I look at him in surprise then dread. “Oh no… it looks so good too. There’s poison in this, isn’t there?”

“You’re not going off and having ghost sex with Natalie on my birthday.” He shrugs. “That was once.” I stare at him. “Three times but it was an accident each time,” he says as he leans back on the couch. “How do you accidentally have sex with someone?” “It’s like ‘Oh whoops. This is my dick’ and she’s like ‘Oh whoops. This is my vagina’ and then you see what happens when you put them together.”

I’m not a cat person. I’ve never wanted cats and honestly prefer dogs. I always wanted a German shepherd or a Doberman pinscher, but instead… I have cats. Two annoying, needy cats that think I’m the love of their life.

“Your closest friend is a ghost?” he asks, sounding a bit incredulous. “If you had someone who haunted you, went everywhere with you, and watched you pee on occasion, you’d just give in and make them your friend too.”

“So… at a children’s recital, your brother wants to sit on my face naked?” Maddox asks, completely deadpan as Sean gets between us so I can’t look at Maddox. The soft glow of blue around him is the only thing telling me he’s not truly there.

“Well, now I’m kind of disappointed no one wants to sit on my face,” Maddox says.

I open the first aid kit and look in to see his “wide” selection. “This is what you have?” I ask as I hold up a teeny Band-Aid. “Yes, you just have to use fifteen of them for a papercut-sized wound,” he says. “Why the hell didn’t you say that you didn’t have anything and to go to my house?” “I have Scotch tape if you want it,” he says with a grin. “To tape your mouth shut?” I grumble.

“The moment you say horny, I’m here and ready,” Natalie says as she pops into the back seat before seeing the bird. “Oh my god, he’s adorable!” She reaches for him only to be viciously pecked. “Or not. He’s Satan’s spawn, obviously. What the hell?”

“You…” He closes his eyes for a moment as I realize that maybe I need to fear for my life again. “Thank god I’m still in a panic over your life or I’m positive you would be fretting over your life again.”

“I’m an angel. A saint, really,” Reggie says as he starts kicking my bag across the room. “Stop!” I say. He looks me right in the eyes and kicks it again. He reminds me of a cat who just isn’t happy until it pushes the glass right off the table and likes it even more when you’re looking them in the eyes as it happens.

“The second thing you need to know about shooting a gun is your stance,” Maddox says, getting his serious look on. I raise a hand. “Yes?” “Do you have to have your shirt on for this?” “I do.” How dare he immediately burst my bubble without a care in the world? “Dammit.”

He kicks my foot. “Get into the right stance.” “What? I don’t even know what the right stance is.” “That’s right, so do you have time to be asking about my shirt? Someone’s coming and they’re going to murder you. If I’m missing a shirt, what does that solve?” I think about it for a moment. “It will make my last moments blissful ones because I’ll get to see your muscles. Basically, I’ll die happy.”

“Detective… Stick… Up His Ass? Did I hear that right?” “I want your stick up my ass.” His head cocks to the side as I bust out laughing. “Oh my god, I should be arrested for that kind of sexy talk,” I say. “Was that sexy talk?” he teases.

“It depends. Are you going to tell me all of your embarrassing secrets?” I ask. “Dude, I’ve already sat before you while carrying on conversations with imaginary friends, rolled around with imaginary friends, crawled around on the ground after imaginary birds… I’m really not sure how much more embarrassment I can take. Oh wait… I also vomited on you.”

I start laughing and even if it hurts a bit, I can’t stop. “I honestly can’t wait to take you out on a real date. And I promise I’ll show you my… my collection of ‘How to Be a Cat Dad’ books I bought after Reggie passed on… or stuck around to haunt me.”

“Maddox, the stripper ghost is here.” “Umm…” He seems uncertain about this. “The only way for him to go away is if you two have a strip dance-off,” I inform him. “The only way, huh?” Maddox asks. “Yes,” I say with certainty.