Out of the Darkness

171

Anna finally met my gaze, and almost seemed to shrink away from it. Her face flamed up, but she nodded. "I had to borrow a suit. I don't have one," she whispered. I nodded and cleared my throat before I spoke. Didn't wanna give Sam any more amo to use against me. "Looks good, from what I can tell." "Thank you," she replied, smiling shyly at me. "I gave her the one that showed the least amount of skin, that I have over here. She insisted, even though I tried to get her to show her bad bitch side. Wasn't much to choose from so she's still showing her bad bitch side," Kat said, laughing as Anna hid her face. "I wish you would've just let me wear a t-shirt over it," she groaned. "I told you. I don't have a clean one with me. Besides, you look hawt! Trust me, you have nothing to be embarrassed about." Anna looked up and grabbed a pillow to cover herself with. "I'm just not used to this. I mean, I'm sure that I wore a bikini when I was alive...right?" She honestly seemed like she was begging Katrina to answer that for her. Instead, Kat laughed again. "I'm not so sure, Anna. You really aren't acting like it. You'll be okay. I promise. It's just going to be you and me out there. I'm sure these two are leaving soon and everyone else has plans today. You have nothing to worry about." I couldn't stand to see her in so much turmoil. "I have a shirt you can wear over it," I offered. "Instead of the cover up. I don't have a bikini that you can borrow though. Or even a one piece. Loaned my last one to Tara." Her eyes went wide for a moment, like she wasn't sure she was hearing me right, then she busted out laughing, letting a snort escape, before she threw her hand over her mouth. That caused the rest of us to join in, as usual. It didn't take long for me to notice the way she had forgotten to cover herself up, while she was laughing. She was comfortable. It was making me decidedly uncomfortable, especially in the pants region. "Um, I'm gonna go grab that shirt," I said, over their laughter, then walked out before anyone said anything. As soon as I closed the door to my bedroom, I pulled on the thighs of my pants, trying to relieve a little of the tightness. It was a good thing that I was leaving. I would never make it through a day of seeing her dressed like that. And I hadn't even seen the full thing! Yeah, I would never make it. I sighed and went to my dresser to pull out a long shirt for her to wear. I grabbed one and headed back to Sam's room. I vaguely wondered what would happen if she fazed out, still wearing the bikini. Would it just fall to the ground and she'd come back wearing her normal clothes? I really didn't need to be thinking about it falling off of her. Damn it, Colby. When I opened the door to his room, Kat was laughing again, and Sam had a smile on his face. Anna was hiding her face in the pillow that was in her lap. "Stop iiiittt!" she groaned. "Girl, I just need you to know that you are fucking gorgeous!" Kat exclaimed. "I'm telling you. I'm glad that people can't see us from the road, because you would definitely cause some accidents. Breaking hearts all over the place, when the guys find out that you're with Colby." I stopped in my tracks, two steps away from where Anna was, at Katrina's words. Was she "with" me? I mean, there was definitely something between us, but it wasn't permanent. We both knew that...except for her begging me to be with her on the other side. Anna looked up at me, through her lashes, and my heart clenched inside my chest. I was falling. Hell, I wasn't falling. I had already completely fell. I was in love with her. It was going to hurt like hell, if we were able to help her cross over. She hadn't even been with us that long, but I couldn't imagine her not being with me. With us, I mean. "Uh, here," I replied, stupidly, holding out the shirt to her. She bit her bottom lip, still looking at me, and I forgot how to breathe again. She reached out and timidly took the shirt from my hand, letting her fingertips graze my own. "Thank you," she said, quietly. "You're welcome," I answered, before turning to Sam. "We should get going soon," I told him. "Make sure that we can find somewhere to park." There was plenty of time left before we had to meet Christine, but I needed to get out of the house. Away from her. If I stayed, and she looked at me the way she just did...I would give her any information that she asked me for. Then Lilith would know. Sam looked at me, a little confusion in his eyes, but he nodded and stood. "Okay ladies, I guess we need to get going. Have fun in the pool...but not too much," he said, grinning at Katrina. She rolled her eyes, and waited for him to lean down and kiss her goodbye. "Have fun today, Anna," he said, nodding at her. She smiled, then looked back at me. "See you later," I said, breaking the hold she had on me with her gaze. I saw her smile falter, right before I turned away.  It crushed me to be this way to her. I didn't want to be. I wanted to be free to do what Sam had did with the woman that he loved. I wanted to tease her, kiss her, and promise that I would come back to her soon. My heart almost had my feet turning back to her, so I pushed myself towards the door, and jogged down the stairs to wait on Sam. He was taking the stairs at a leisurely pace, and it was driving me crazy. "Will you hurry the hell up?" I exclaimed, motioning with my hands for him to come on. "What's the hurry? We have plenty of time. Why are you acting weird?" he exclaimed, putting a little more speed into his steps. "Let's just go," I said,  walking out the door. He didn't say anything until we were in my car, headed towards the restaurant. "What's up, man? Did something happen that I missed?" I shook my head. "No. Besides the fact that I feel like spilling everything that I have planned to Anna. There's that. Oh yeah, and I'm in love with her. I'm in love with a fucking ghost."