She nods then suddenly her eyes widen. “Oh, my word, I missed your performance, didn’t I?” Her gaze darts to the midnight sky outside the window and the city lights that look like a thousand fireflies dusting the land. “I’m so sorry, Micha.” Shaking her head, she lies down in the bed beside me so we’re lying on the mattress, facing each other. “I can’t believe I missed it. One minute, I was getting ready, and the next, I got sick, and then…” She shudders. “Well, I guess I laid down and fell asleep.”

“It’s okay,” I assure her with an exhausted grin. “There are a thousand ways you can make it up to me.”

She smiles tiredly. “Oh, yeah?”

“Definitely,” I murmur, my gaze dropping to her lips.

I imagine I lean forward to kiss her, but the next thing I know, I’m opening my eyes to warm sunlight filtering through the bedroom.

“Rise and shine, beautiful boy,” Ella singsongs as she leans over me with the world’s most heart-stopping smile on her face.

“What happened? I swear I was talking to you like five seconds ago, and it was nighttime.” I blink up at her then leisurely take in her perky nipples through the fabric of her tank top. Unable to help myself, I reach up and graze one with my thumb.

“We both fell asleep. Guess we’re getting super old.” She shivers, wiggling out of my touch. When I frown, she forces a smile as she reaches for my mouth and fiddles with my lip ring, tracing her fingertip over the metal.

“Or just super overworked.” My fingers find her waist, and my nails delve into her flesh. “We should just relax all day. And I know the perfect way to do that.” I eagerly move up to kiss her lips.

She covers my mouth with her hand, stopping me for the second time in thirty seconds.

What the hell?

“As much as I’d love to get the relaxing day started,” she says as she withdraws her hand, “I have to go to the doctor first.”

I pout. “Well, that’s no fun.”

“Neither is having sex with a sick person.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

She shakes her head as she scoots to the edge of the bed and lowers her feet to the floor. “I know, but my appointment is in like thirty minutes, and it takes fifteen just to get to the doctor’s office.” Her voice quivers toward the end.

My brow crooks as I sit up. “Something’s wrong. I can tell.”

“No, everything’s fine,” she insists as she bolts from the bed and toward the bathroom. “I just need to get my ass cleaned up and on the road. That’s all. Otherwise, I’ll miss my appointment.” With that, she shuts the door, leaving me utterly confused.

My confusion only increases when she leaves the house so quickly she barely kisses me good-bye. But, the real kicker is when I wander out to the garage and see that her GTO is still parked beside my Chevelle.

“So what the hell did she drive to the doctor’s office with?” Scratching my head, I push on the garage opener. Once the door is fully open, I hike down the driveway toward Ethan and Lila’s house.

The neighborhood is completely different from where Ella and I grew up. Instead of drug dealers on the street corners and old cars decorating the yards, there are Christmas decorations everywhere and green grass. The entire neighborhood is decked out with holiday decorations: Christmas trees, tinsel, lights, snowman created from artificial snow. The only two on the block that don’t declare the holiday cheer are Ethan’s and mine. Usually, it’s not that big of a deal—I’m never home for too long around the holidays to let it bother me—but this year is different.

I need to change some stuff.

Start some traditions.

I give a quick glimpse into their garage and note that Ethan’s truck is inside, but Lila’s car is missing. Maybe Lila drove her. The question is, why?

Deciding I need to get to the bottom of what’s going on, I go straight to the source. I bang on the front door of Ethan and Lila’s house as hard as I can. Ethan has turned into the heaviest sleeper over the last couple of years, and knowing this, I continue to ring the doorbell over and over again until he finally throws open the front door.

He has bags under his eyes, his brown hair is disheveled, and he looks cranky as shit. “What the fuck, man?” Ethan says as he tugs a T-shirt over his head.

“What? No welcome home hug?” I joke. While he blinks, unimpressed, I squeeze by him and let myself into his home.

“Come in,” he mutters grumpily as he closes the door behind me.

I grin at him, noting the air smells like cookies. “Did Lila bake this morning?”

“Chocolate chip, I think,” he says as he heads across the living room. “You are way too cheery for me this morning.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t miss my cheeriness.”

He rolls his eyes yet doesn’t deny it.

I follow him inside the kitchen and snatch three cookies off a plate that’s on the table. As much as I love Ella, Lila has turned into a fantastic cook, and just the smell of the cookies causes my mouth to salivate.

“Do you know how lucky you are to get to eat this stuff every day?” I say as I stuff my mouth full of chocolate gooiness. “I usually get fast food for breakfast.”

“Of course I know how lucky I am,” he snaps, snatching up a cookie himself. “I think about it all the damn time.”

I raise my hands up. “Whoa. Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to push a button.”

He blows out a breath as he slumps down on a stool by the counter. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go all mad crazy on you.” He lowers his head into his hands. “I’m just stressed out about shit.”

I take another bite of the cookie. “Is this about the marriage thing?”

His head whips up, his face draining of color. “How did you know about that?”

“Ella told me.”

“But how did she know about it?”

I break off a corner of one of the cookies and pop it into my mouth. “Um, because you guys are always fighting about it.”

“Wait? What marriage thing are you talking about?”

“Well, I was talking about how you two are always arguing over marriage.” I lick off a glob of melted chocolate from my hand. “But now I’m starting to wonder if it’s something else.”

If it’s possible, he looks even paler. “Can I show you something?” he asks intensely.