He rounds his rental car, linking his fingers with mine the second he gets close enough. It’s what he does whenever we’re together. I didn’t think I was a fan of touchy-feely, but whenever Jasper is within reach, some part of him is touching me. And when we’re in private, lots of our parts touch.

“Drew.” He pulls me in tight and brushes his lips across my forehead. It’s so sweet that the lady waiting for her car to arrive sighs. “Elsie is your best friend and I’ve already met her. What are you worried about?”

“Oh, you sweet summer child.” I tighten my hold on his hand, fully aware that he has no idea what he’s walking into. “Just you wait and see. Just you wait.”

While we were locked in my apartment, I finished the latest book on my Jasper Book List. There was a lot of cooking in it, so I told him about this cooking class that takes place once a month in a boutique hotel downtown with their head chef. She creates a menu based around seasonal foods and then teaches a small handful of people how to cook it.

I’d heard really amazing things about it from a few acquaintances who had gone, and it was even ranked in 5280 as one of the best date-night ideas in Denver. Of course, Jasper, being Jasper, decided this needed to be a date activity to pair with the book, and when I charged my phone and called Elsie back, I mentioned this to her. And Elsie, being Elsie, insisted that we make it a double date—something I turned down immediately.

I love Elsie to the moon and back, but the last time I went on a double date with her, she scared the guy away before dessert arrived.

I just forgot how determined she can be.

Between her tenacity and Jasper’s inability to say no, she somehow talked him into adjusting our reservation from two people to four.

So really, if this night is a total disaster, it’s not my fault at all because I said no. I can’t help it that nobody ever listens to me.

We walk through the lobby of the hotel, following the directions of the staff as they point us in the direction of the cooking class. Each hallway is covered with a different ornate wallpaper, giant light fixtures hanging from the ceiling until we reach the class.

Where I’m always early for events, Elsie is chronically late. Something that has been made way worse with every child she’s birthed. I figured we’d at least be able to have a drink alone before the Coopers joined us.

Wrong again.

“Drew! Jasper!” Elsie shouts across the industrial kitchen scattered with prepared cooking spaces. “Over here!”