“Crap!” Dom smacks his forehead. “Of course. Your dad. Hadn’t thought of that. You promised to go home for Christmas. Say no more.” He takes my hand and pats it. We spend the rest of the drive in silence.

In the tavern, I decide that something is definitely off. Dom barely looks at me. He doesn’t drape his arm along the back of my chair like he usually does, and he refrains from gushing about my outfit and meal choice and general existence. I eat my shepherd’s pie and try to pretend this isn’t acutely awkward. I ask myself if maybe I’m not being grateful enough for Dom. He fits himself so seamlessly into my life. He is great with my friends and showers me with gifts, attention, and orgasms. Yes, the plan was to spend Christmas in San Francisco, but I told Dom about it weeks ago; how was he to remember?

Besides, Dad hasn’t mentioned it since. We haven’t even had a decent conversation since I offered to make the trip there. It’s not like he’d care.

And it’s not like Dom overstepped. He knew I’d planned to spend Thanksgiving by myself, before he came to save the day.

In other words, Dom tried to do something nice, and not only did I reject his offer, but he’ll also have to tell his parents I’m not coming.

At some point, Nora goes to the restroom and Colt takes a call outside. I turn to Dom and put a hand on his knee. “I’m getting weird vibes. Are we okay?”

He gives me a lopsided Are you crazy? grin. “Of course. Why?”

“I don’t know. Ever since that conversation in the car . . .” I shift uncomfortably. “I feel like I did something wrong.”

“Nah. You’re right. I didn’t think before I spoke. I’m the one who made a boo-boo.”

There’s silence before he exhales. “Well, actually, yeah, there is something. But it’s not your fault, and I don’t want to involve you in this, so just forget it.”

“No, tell me.”

He looks left and right, like he doesn’t want to be heard. “I forgot to give you the entire story about my cancer situation. When I was twenty-two, I had another scare. Some tests had come back with atrocious results. Bad stats. I had to retake them and also get an MRI.”

My heart is already in my throat. I nod.

“At the time, I was with a girl named Emily. She wasn’t just a girl. She was my girl. First girlfriend, prom date, hand job . . .”

“Yup. I get it. Your point has been made.” I close my eyes, waving a hand around frantically.