Chapter 15
Winter passed.
Lucky’s tongue healed enough that his bark became less painful, though it still sounded strange and lopsided, like a toy with bad batteries.
He grew.
My best friend stayed blissfully in love with her online boyfriend, who turned out to be both decent and only mildly ridiculous.
And the tall idiot who once blocked me by accident became my boyfriend officially, which meant I now had to endure his morning messages, his dramatic fear of ghosts, and his increasingly shameless requests for affection.
I endured them very well.
One evening, as we walked home with Lucky between us, he slipped his hand into mine and asked, “So if I get haunted in the future, you’ll still protect me, right?”
I looked at him.
“Still scared?”
“Yes.”
“Still stupid?”
“A little.”
I sighed like it was a burden.
“Then yes.”
He smiled immediately.
Lucky made a jealous little sound and trotted closer, winding around our legs.
I bent down and picked him up.
Then I looked at the man beside me and said, “Honestly, you’re both my babies now.”
Lucky barked first.
He answered second.
And just like that, I laughed again.
The night was cold, but his hand was warm in mine.
The road ahead stretched long and ordinary and alive.
Human road.
Heaven overhead.
And beside me, one fool, one dog, and a future that no longer looked haunted at all.