Only if she pressed the issue would I take that step. What would we tell people who came over and saw that she had a separate bed? Without one, there was no doubt we were in this. We were together. We were going to be husband and wife in almost every way.

As I took several gulps of beer, my mind went to analyzing the flavor. I’d been thinking this one to death, but something was off. As I stood there avoiding thoughts of the lightning-speed changes going on in my life, it hit me what the lager recipe needed.

I set the beer on my desk, pulled out my phone, and typed in a note about the change. I took another swig and let the beer roll over my tongue, then nodded. It didn’t suck as it was, but that one little change would get it to what I’d originally imagined.

There was nothing like the feeling of nailing a flavor, and though I had to mix up a new batch and wait weeks before I’d know for sure the change was the right one, my step was lighter as I exited the office and went toward the kitchen to deliver my empty glass. Even though I didn’t have the recipe quite right, it’d gone down easily.

When I was almost to the kitchen, Chloe came out of the bedroom, and I froze in my tracks and swallowed hard.

Apparently she’d done exactly as promised and put on her pajamas. I just hadn’t had a visual of what that meant until now. It wasn’t something I’d forget anytime soon.

Did she have on a sexy little slip of a nightie? No. No, she did not. If you saw her pj’s in an online ad, you’d think meh. But seeing the very small black-with-white-heart boxers and the plain white cropped tee on Chloe, particularly as she had both arms above her head to pull her hair up, which made that little tee climb upward and reveal her bare belly, I was not thinking meh.

I was thinking it was going to be a very long night.

Chloe

It was nearing midnight and I was still curled up, sitting on the couch with a blanket and my laptop in front of me, pretending to work.

Curled up sounded so cozy, but what I was really doing was cowering. Avoiding. Procrastinating.

I did not want to walk into Holden’s room and climb into his bed, because I knew I’d never get to sleep.