She puts two pieces of cheese pizza on her plate. “I have to eat.”

“Fuck, I love you, Chloe.”

Her eyes meet mine. “Good.”

“What do you want to drink?” I ask as I get a glass from the cabinet.

“Water’s fine.” She turns and sees the wine on the counter. “Oh, and maybe like a little bit of that.”

I fill up a glass of water and pour half a glass of wine for her and take it into the dining room. Cookie, Mom’s old gray cat who Jacob rescued years ago, is sitting on my chair, and looks at me innocently when I go to sit down. I pet her and then gently move her to the floor, where she slinks over and rubs against Mom’s legs, knowing she’ll get table scraps. That cat begs worse than a dog, and she’s fat enough to prove it.

“Hey, Lennon,” Chloe says as she sits down. “I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Chloe.”

“I remember you,” Lennon says. “I played D&D with you and Rory a couple times.”

“Right, you did! Do you still play?”

Lennon shakes her head. “No. But only because I have no one to play with, well, other than Rory. But she had to go and get married and leave me.”

“The nerve, right?” Chloe says with a smile.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Mom asks.

“I’m fine,” Chloe says without missing a beat. Her cheeks are still a little flushed, making me think she might still have a fever, and the usual spark in her eyes has yet to return. “I’m tired from traveling so much, I think.”

“You need to make my lazy do-nothing brother go see you,” Mason says with his mouth full. “LA has better weather than Michigan this time of year.”

“Oh, it does,” Chloe agrees. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to lounging around my pool with a drink in my hand. Well, after I finish the book I’m working on.”

“I am a huge fan of the Nightfall show. Sorry, just had to get that out of the way. I’ll admit I never read the books, but the trailer for the show hooked me and I’ve been a fan since day one,” Lennon says rather quickly.

Chloe smiles. “That’s always good to hear. It’s kind of scary having my vision leave me and get filmed and directed by someone who’s not me.”

Nana Benson leans forward, eyes narrowing as she looks at Chloe. “Who is that?” she asks. “Marion? Is that you?”

“No, Mom,” my own mother tells her. “That’s Chloe. She’s Marion’s daughter.”

“Well, shit! You’re the spitting image of her,” Nana says and Chloe smiles. “How is Marion doing these days?”

Chloe’s smile wavers. “She died years ago. Cancer.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I remember your mother.” Nana looks at Mom. “And the hell these two raised.”

The smile is back on Chloe’s face. “I like hearing the stories about my mom when she was a kid. You know, I have all her old yearbooks.”

“Oh my goodness,” Mom laughs. “Please do us all a favor and don’t even look at my photos.”

“My favorite is your freshman year,” Chloe goes on, smile growing. “The big hair and braces was a great look for you.”

Dad nods. “We might not have been high school sweethearts, but I remember that look.”

“That’s how you fell for me, right?” Mom asks, and Dad shakes his head, making us laugh.

“What have you been up to, dear?” Nana asks Chloe.

“I’m a writer,” she replies. “I write romance novels.”

Nana’s eyes light up. “Is there—” She leans in closer "—sex in your books?”

“Always,” Chloe says with a wink.

“Well, leave me a copy.”

Chloe smiles and, fuck, she’s so beautiful. Her hair is messy from sex and then falling asleep, and I’m pretty sure she put her sweater on backwards when she got redressed, but she’s perfect and I wouldn’t have her any other way.

14

Sam

“Ohhh, that feels nice.” Chloe holds her hands out and closes her eyes, soaking in the warmth of the fire pit. We’re outside on the patio of my parents’ house, sitting around the fire with Jacob, Mason, and Lennon.

“Let’s play a drinking game,” Mason suggests.

“Haven’t you had enough to drink already?” Jacob replies.

“To enjoy hanging out with you? Clearly not.” Mason reaches down and picks up a bottle of whiskey none of us saw him bring outside. “Who’s in?”

“I’ll play,” Lennon says, finishing her can of sparkling water. “But I’m getting wine. Chloe, you want some too?”

“Yeah, that would be great, thanks,” Chloe tells her. We’re snuggled up together on an outdoor lounge chair, with a blanket over our laps. Chloe started coughing more during dinner but insisted she’s fine, and I’m doing my best to put my years of medical training aside and not pester her about it.

Obviously, I like taking care of people and making patients feel better. I get a deep sense of satisfaction from helping ease pain or cure any sort of ailment. It’s what separates the good doctors from the just okay ones…the ones who look at patients as people with lives and families and value from the ones who look at them as puzzles to be solved.

But seeing Chloe sick hits me on a whole other level. I don’t want her to feel one ounce of discomfort, and knowing that I’m going to drop a bomb on her later makes my stomach twist up in knots. Everything feels wrong.

Sitting around the fire with my family.

Chloe cuddled up in my lap.

The friendly chatter. The not-so-subtle talk about the future.

Wrong. All of it.

Because I’m keeping a truth from everyone, and once I finally fess up and come clean, the hopeful feeling in the air will be zapped away.

“What about you guys?” Lennon gets up, zipping her jacket in preparation to move away from the fire. “Want anything or are you going to be gross and share a bottle with Mason?”

“Sure,” I say, feeling the urge to drink much stronger than usual.

“What do you want?”

“A Coke,” I tell her. “Jack and Coke sounds good.”

Jacob nods. “I’ll have the same.”

“Need help?” Chloe asks, already getting up. She goes in the house with Lennon, and my heart aches the second she leaves.

“I gotta say, bro,” Mason starts, unscrewing the lid to the bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. “You and Chloe are good together. I never thought I’d sink so low to admit it, but I’m fine with her officially joining the family.”

“It’s kind of soon for that,” I shoot back, throat tightening. I want nothing more than to ask Chloe to marry me. “We’ve only been dating for a few weeks.”

“Yeah, but you’ve been in love with her for years,” Jacob quips. “And I’m sure she’s more than tolerated you for a while.”

“True,” I agree and feel tempted to take the bottle of whiskey from Mason. The truth bubbles up on my tongue. Confessing everything to my brothers would bring me a level of peace, I know. We might not always get along, but I know I can always count on them. “I, uh,” I start and swallow hard. The back door opens and closes, and I twist my head around, seeing Chloe and Lennon come back outside already.