Page 94 of Squad Ghouls

“Don’t think he’ll want to guest judge, though.” Larri shrugged.

“Probably not.” Ryan nodded. “Well…thank you for the score.”

“It was well earned,” Harri said. “But…”

“But what?” Ryan said.

“There is room for improvement,” Larri said. “We took the liberty of writing down some notes for you so you can work on things. We’ll give it to you later.”

“Also,” Harri said. “Didn’t peg you for a little spoon. Big man like you.”

I hid my snort behind my hand. Tried, anyway.

Ryan looked at me with utter betrayal. “What? No. I’m the big spoon. I was spooning the fuck out of him.”

“Until you flipped over and wanted to be snuggled, you mean?” Larri said.

“I do not enjoy being ‘snuggled.’ I’m the big spoon!” Ryan glared at them.

“The biggest spoon in the little spoon drawer? Sure,” I said before Harri or Larri could say anything.

“No. The biggest spoon in the serving spoon drawer.”

I tilted my head. “You must have gotten lost, little spoon.”

“Owain,” he said in a warning tone.

“Yes, Ryan?”

“Let’s just stop talking about this!”

“Okie dokie.” My mouth twitched with a smile.

“I’m not the little spoon,” he muttered under his breath, like he just needed to get the last word in.

I decided to let it sink in. Maybe he needed time to process and come to terms with his little spoon identity. Acceptance was hard.

Ryan’s head snapped up. “Fuck, I forgot to check on the guests last night. Where’s Sucky Seth and the other two? Did they hear anything? Did anything pop up?”

I gave an embarrassed quirk of my mouth. “They left screaming last night.”

Harri and Larri chose this time to exit stage left.

Ryan frowned. “Yeah, well, fuck them. They don’t know shit. So a nightmare ghost showed up. What are they? Babies?”

“Well, not all of them.” Bronwyn appeared with an envelope in her hand. “The men made a damn fuss, tripping over each other to get out. Near broke their bloody necks. The lady…she’s a tough one.”

“Adriana?” I asked, and Bronwyn nodded, handing me the envelope before floating off. “She left you this.”

I examined the pale yellow envelope before peeking inside. My eyes went wide at the sight of it. There was a small stack of cash in it, along with a folded piece of paper. I pulled it out and unfolded it.

Owain,

I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer. I have realised I need to be more mindful of the company I keep. Seth is a fucking arsehole, and my husband has a bit of explaining to do for sticking up for him to the bitter end. They decided to book it in the middle of the night. I stalled so I could write you this and pay for our stay. I hope it’s enough. You never told us your rates so I estimated based on the other places we tried to book in the area.

What you have here…is special. I know you tried to keep it a secret from us, but I’m no stranger to the paranormal. I’ll leave my number below if you ever want to chat. I think you and I would make great friends.

Whatever your plans are with the Last Resort, I hope they work out. I’d love to come and stay again without the burden of two toddlers screaming their arses off at some noises.