My confusion only increases when she leaves the house so quickly she barely kisses me good-bye. But, the real kicker is when I wander out to the garage and see that her GTO is still parked beside my Chevelle.

“So what the hell did she drive to the doctor’s office with?” Scratching my head, I push on the garage opener. Once the door is fully open, I hike down the driveway toward Ethan and Lila’s house.

The neighborhood is completely different from where Ella and I grew up. Instead of drug dealers on the street corners and old cars decorating the yards, there are Christmas decorations everywhere and green grass. The entire neighborhood is decked out with holiday decorations: Christmas trees, tinsel, lights, snowman created from artificial snow. The only two on the block that don’t declare the holiday cheer are Ethan’s and mine. Usually, it’s not that big of a deal—I’m never home for too long around the holidays to let it bother me—but this year is different.

I need to change some stuff.

Start some traditions.

I give a quick glimpse into their garage and note that Ethan’s truck is inside, but Lila’s car is missing. Maybe Lila drove her. The question is, why?

Deciding I need to get to the bottom of what’s going on, I go straight to the source. I bang on the front door of Ethan and Lila’s house as hard as I can. Ethan has turned into the heaviest sleeper over the last couple of years, and knowing this, I continue to ring the doorbell over and over again until he finally throws open the front door.

He has bags under his eyes, his brown hair is disheveled, and he looks cranky as shit. “What the fuck, man?” Ethan says as he tugs a T-shirt over his head.

“What? No welcome home hug?” I joke. While he blinks, unimpressed, I squeeze by him and let myself into his home.

“Come in,” he mutters grumpily as he closes the door behind me.

I grin at him, noting the air smells like cookies. “Did Lila bake this morning?”

“Chocolate chip, I think,” he says as he heads across the living room. “You are way too cheery for me this morning.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t miss my cheeriness.”

He rolls his eyes yet doesn’t deny it.

I follow him inside the kitchen and snatch three cookies off a plate that’s on the table. As much as I love Ella, Lila has turned into a fantastic cook, and just the smell of the cookies causes my mouth to salivate.

“Do you know how lucky you are to get to eat this stuff every day?” I say as I stuff my mouth full of chocolate gooiness. “I usually get fast food for breakfast.”

“Of course I know how lucky I am,” he snaps, snatching up a cookie himself. “I think about it all the damn time.”

I raise my hands up. “Whoa. Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to push a button.”

He blows out a breath as he slumps down on a stool by the counter. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go all mad crazy on you.” He lowers his head into his hands. “I’m just stressed out about shit.”

I take another bite of the cookie. “Is this about the marriage thing?”

His head whips up, his face draining of color. “How did you know about that?”

“Ella told me.”

“But how did she know about it?”

I break off a corner of one of the cookies and pop it into my mouth. “Um, because you guys are always fighting about it.”

“Wait? What marriage thing are you talking about?”

“Well, I was talking about how you two are always arguing over marriage.” I lick off a glob of melted chocolate from my hand. “But now I’m starting to wonder if it’s something else.”

If it’s possible, he looks even paler. “Can I show you something?” he asks intensely.

I briefly hesitate. “Depends on what that something is. Because you have this weird look on your face that’s kind of creeping me out.”

“Come on, man. I’m being serious.” He pushes back from the counter and stands up from the seat. “I need to show somebody something; otherwise, I’m going to fucking lose my goddamn mind.”

“Oh, fine.” I scarf down the rest of the cookie. “I’ll let you pile your secret on me, just as long as you tell me why Lila took Ella to the doctor this morning.”

He shrugs as we walk out of the kitchen. “Beats the shit out of me.” He pauses in front of the stairway. “Wait. I think Lila said something about going to town and doing something.”

I grip at the railing. “Like what?”

“That, I can’t help you with.” He starts up the stairs.

“Well, that doesn’t help much,” I say as I trudge after him.

“Sorry, but it’s all I got.” He turns right when we reach the top of the stairway and heads down the hallway toward his bedroom. “The two of them are literally driving me crazy, man. I mean, I love Lila, and Ella is okay sometimes, but”—he glances over his shoulder at me as he pushes open the bedroom door—“I spend all my time with the two of them, and I’m starting to go nuts with all their girlie crap.”

“Don’t you have any other guys to hang out with?” I ask as he enters his bedroom.

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because my sparkling personality gets me so many friends.”

I laugh while I wander in after him, glancing around his room at the photos of Lila and him on the wall. The two of them have gotten to spend so much time together that it makes me feel jealous. No more, though. No more missing birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays.