Kash shook his head. “How would a squatter find this place? And, I mean, there might be birds or bats or rodents here, but nothing big enough to hurt you. Don’t worry, babe. I got you.”
I looked up at his face and saw shining nostalgia. For a moment he looked just the way I remembered him, young and filled with the thrill of exploration. I snuggled close to him and syphoned some of that brazen confidence.
“Okay,” I said. “Show me around.”
Rooms opened into rooms, with more rooms beyond. The kitchen filled one entire wall, with prep and service rooms flanking the main cooking area.
“I looked into it once,” Kash said after I had exclaimed over the pair of double ovens. “And it’s possible to buy this place. I mean, whoever bought it would have to pay to move the security gate and would have to put down a deposit with the county to guarantee restoration—but with enough money, it’s salvageable.”
I looked up at a rotted crack which ran across one corner of the ceiling. “A whole lot of money,” I said. “And time, and work. A project like this would suck up years of someone’s life, and what would they even do with it then? It still isn’t in a good spot to be an active B&B.”
“Not a traditional one,” he admitted. “But they’ve got those apps now. I bet someone could make a killing here.”
I slid him a look. “Is that what you want to do?” He didn’t look happy about the idea, and I knew how he felt about people being in his space. Running a B&B was the last thing I could picture him doing with his life. But he shrugged and bobbed his head.
“I like money,” he said. “And this is right here. Easy access.”
“Easy access for my dad, too,” I said wryly.
“Oh. Yeah, there is that.”
Still, the place was kind of magical. There was a big, curved staircase which led up to the rooms, one of which had been sealed tightly enough that it was barely even dusty. The bed was made, though the comforter was stiff. Kash pressed on the bed, making the springs squeak, and raised his brows at me.
“Want to give the ghosts something to talk about?”
I grimaced at the bed, but then he winked at me. He whipped a blanked out of his jacket and flicked it out over the bedspread. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You planned this!”
“You bet your ass I did,” he said with a grin. “You said you wanted it in a bed, right?”
“I mean, yeah, but…this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Even with his blanket on it, I was leery of the bed. How many rodents had made their home in there over the years? I shuddered at the thought of squishing a mouse’s nest accidentally. Or having one try to make a surprise entry mid coitus.
Kash grabbed my hands and kissed them, one after the other. “We don’t have to,” he said, but I could hear his disappointment. “I just wanted to give you what you asked for, that’s all.”
I looked around the dingy room and smiled at him. “I did want to see this old place,” I said. “And it is wonderful. I’m not sure it’s as haunted as you two made it out to be—but it’s nice and creepy and beautiful. And I did want to make love to you on a bed—but not that one.” I held his face in my hands and kissed him. “Thank you, lover.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tight against him. “You are welcome, my love.”
We spent a few more hours exploring the nooks and crannies of the house (though I refused to go down into the basement). I fell in love with the space exactly the way it was. I liked the fact that nature was beginning to reclaim it, breaking up the flooring and pulling down shutters. Squirrels, owls, and mice had left their mark throughout the house, and at least one band of coyotes had been through there recently. It was a bittersweet notch in mother earth’s bedpost.
“I’m glad nobody’s tried to restore it,” I said dreamily when we were back in the car. “It’s perfect.”
Kash smiled at me, his eyes soft and warm, and squeezed my hand. “I love the way you see things,” he said. “I don’t always get it, but I love it.”
I snuggled up to him and kissed him. The car was still full of our scents from the night before, weaving a sensory spell which drew us irresistibly together. I was out of my clothes in moments, straddling his thighs and pressing against his soft, warm chest. Mouth pressed tight against mine and his hands venturing lower, Kash slipped my panties to the side. His cock had come alive, teasingly pressing against my dripping center. I didn’t hesitate to push up and angle myself just the right way to make it easy for him to slide inside of me. Our breaths hitched, our mouths fighting for each other, our bodies slippery with juices of pleasure, exhaustion and lust, we rode bliss into the darkness of the night.
We made love at the top of the hill, under the shadow of the old house, across from the water tower. Over the next weeks, we did the same at the drainage ditch, under the defunct railway bridge, out in the desert beyond the last set of tire tracks, everywhere in town I always wanted to go but could never find on my own. I was addicted to his touch, but I was also reveling in the closure. Our outings were a long goodbye to my hometown, one stop at a time, closing the doors on the last bit of intrigue and curiosity this town held for me.
It seemed to affect Kash oppositely. Everywhere we went, he would reminisce about being a boy here with
