He breathed in deep, some of the nervousness gone, and he kissed the top of her head, silently thanking her for the relief she didn’t even know she’d provided. It’d been awful keeping a secret from her this long, and when she climbed over him, giving him another smacking, satisfied, good-morning kiss, he finally allowed himself a few lazy minutes of thinking through the night ahead.

But eventually he, too, got up, sliding on his glasses and stopping by the bathroom before pouring a cup of coffee and joining her outside. He handed over the fresh cup and took hers, already half gone, a familiar routine—he still got most of his coffee midmorning, from Janine. They stood beside each other, waking up slow as the smattering of city-visible stars faded with oncoming daylight.

“It’s going to be a good evening for it,” she said eventually, when she was about halfway through her new cup, and a little pulse of that nervous energy returned.

“Mmm,” he said, reluctant to start talking about it. He didn’t trust his poker face around Nora.

“Oh, I see,” she teased. “Hardly a full year of living together and you’re already done with morning conversation, huh? So much for the golden hour.”

He laughed softly, reaching out to tug her close. “Tired, that’s all,” he lied. “You go first.”

When he’d first moved in to the building, they’d done this from across the way—Will over on what used to be Jonah’s balcony, in the apartment he’d moved into only a few months after Jonah’s accident. He’d eaten shit on his lease, lost his security deposit, but as it’d turned out, the money he’d earned off his first couple of tenants had covered those costs, and even if they hadn’t, it would’ve been worth it. Jonah’s old place worked just fine for him—close to Nora, close to everyone—and Donny’s old place worked perfect for Jonah, a few easy upgrades to make it accessible as he got stronger and stronger. The bonus was winning a bet: one hundred dollars from Donny’s smiling, good-sport attorney, when he’d officially signed over the apartment to Jonah on the very day the will’s yearlong condition had run out.