Undead Boyfriend

Chapter 2: From I to Us

“Luke!” Felicia squealed, tugging her boyfriend out from under the umbrella he’d propped in the sand. At six-foot-four, the blond man often cursed his fair skin at outdoor events. He wasn’t quite as bad as his older brother—whose pale complexion bordered on fluorescent—but those Germanic roots ran deep. The sun was not his friend.

Speaking of older brothers…

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full, little brother,” William quipped from beneath the shade. Since luke had confessed to him about his plans to propose to Felicia , he’d been having far too much fun at Luke’s expense. William had long insisted he’d never fall into the ‘marriage trap.’ Most people who knew him said the only one truly trapped would be any poor woman stuck with Will.

Luke groaned as Felicia yanked him away. “Yes, yes, what is it, Felicia?”

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud!” she huffed, stomping her foot in the sand. “Vikki and Anthony are having so much fun swimming. Why don’t you come in with me?”

“Well, someone has to stay behind. If we leave William to watch the stuff, he’ll fall asleep. And you know how Randal is about my brother.”

He crossed his arms, avoiding her adorably pouty face. Mentioning their mutual friend’s animosity toward Will was usually a good distraction. And besides, as beautiful as the ocean was, Luke had seen way too many episodes of When Sharks Attack. The odds were low… but never zero.

“But Eliza will be with him! She wouldn’t let him leave,” Felicia insisted, then paused. “Oh, um… you wouldn’t happen to know if Eva is coming?”

Luke raised a brow. Ah, Eva—the mysterious co-worker. Felicia didn’t like her much.

“She and Conrad had plans. Day trip, I think.”

“Hello!!” came a bright voice from behind.

Elizabeta bounded down the beach, sunhat in hand, hair streaming in the breeze. Randal followed, overburdened with gear, looking seconds from collapse.

“Eliza!” Felicia squealed, dashing to hug her.

“I finally get to meet your hospital friends, huh?” Eliza beamed, looking toward Felicia’s twin, who was busy swearing at her boyfriend for chasing her with a crab.

“Vikki and Anthony never change,” Eliza giggled, pointing at their antics.

“Oh, Francis and Oliver are somewhere. Hopefully Oliver didn’t bury him in the sand again. Last time, he forgot air holes,” Felicia muttered, scanning the beach—then sighed in relief at the sight of the two practically making out in the surf.

Eliza already had her camera out, snapping pictures. “I hope Randy and I are still that in love at their age,” she said dreamily.

Both women laughed. Luke just shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. This chaos was what he signed up for—but he wouldn’t change it for the world. There weren’t many women like Felicia. He was lucky.

“You ladies relax. I’m gonna help Randy before William breaks him,” Luke said, heading toward the struggling man.

Randal and William had known each other since high school. Polar opposites, yet somehow inseparable. Randal often joked that Will was the bane of his existence—and he probably wasn’t joking that much.

Meanwhile, the women were deep in conversation when the rumble of a car reached them. A cherry-red SUV parked above the beach, and a slender blonde climbed out, wrestling with a sun hat and beach bag against the wind.

“Um, hello!” she called, voice soft as the breeze.

Cassie smiled and waved as she made her way down the stairs.

Luke looked up from the coolers, squinting. “Randal… isn’t that Conrad’s SUV? I thought he said he had a weekend trip. And what’s with the hat… Wait…”

“i***t, that’s a woman,” Randal said, rolling his eyes. “If I were drunk like your family, I might make the same mistake.”

“Douche,” William muttered, tossing an empty beer bottle at him. “I remember college. You passed out on the Beta house lawn with your pants around your knees.”

“Both of you, stop,” Luke said with a sigh.

Just then, Felicia dashed past, nearly tackling the blonde. “Cassie! You came! I didn’t think you would!”

Soon she was dragging the shy newcomer over. “Luke, this is Cassie Baker—the one I told you about!”

Cassie tugged at her beach coverup, waving. “Hi. It’s really nice to meet you. Felicia talks about you all the time—and how wonderfully you treat her.”

Randal and Luke exchanged a curious look, but before they could speak, Elizabeta appeared with a gasp.

“Conrad! What did you do to your—oh!” she blinked, stopping short. “Not Conrad. Sorry! You look so much like him. I’m Elizabeta—but everyone calls me Liz.”

Cassie smiled and shook her hand. “I’m Cassie. Funny, I do have a brother named Conrad.”

“That wouldn’t be Conrad Jones, would it?” Randal asked, one brow raised.

“Yeah! How’d you know?”

Cassie suddenly felt like she’d walked into the tail end of an inside joke.

“Military liaison at the lab,” Luke explained, rubbing the back of his neck. “Small world.”

He flushed at her compliment. “Well, thank you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Up close, he noticed just how much she resembled their co-worker—but unlike Conrad’s boisterous nature, Cassie seemed… gentle. Quiet.

William, meanwhile, glanced up from the ice chest—and froze. That blur of blond hair. Those wide blue eyes. He felt like the air had been knocked out of him.

Something inside him knew. He didn’t know what, exactly—but he knew it was important.

And for once, William Halvorson was speechless.

Cassie, catching his stare, blushed and looked away. “Yeah… small world. We don’t talk much. I wasn’t sure what he was doing with the military these days.”

---

That’s how it began.

A single glance on a summer day. A chance meeting among friends.

Soon came long conversations—shared numbers, nightly calls that lasted until dawn. They talked about nothing and everything. Despite their busy lives, they always found time for one another.

Cassie learned William worked at a museum—as a war historian, of all things. Brilliant beneath the bravado, with a soft spot for his pet canary, Fritz. Watching him talk about his work—his eyes lighting up at every exhibit—felt like magic.

His favorite memory? The WWII banquet for veterans. The stories those men shared left a mark on his soul—and on hers, too.

Six months later, William moved out of his brother’s basement… and into Cassie’s apartment.

Luke sent a fruit basket with a card that read:

“I thought it would take a bomb to get my brother out of the house. Well, he’s your problem now. JK—congrats!”

Cassie’s life felt complete. A steady job. Wonderful friends. A warm home—and someone to come home to.

Everything felt perfect.

They exchanged “I love yous” every morning.

Neither imagined that someday… one of those goodbyes would be the last.