Dale's POV

The question hung in the open doorway like a blade.

“Dale? What are you doing here?”

My mouth opened birthday nothing useful came out. The hangover pulsed behind my eyes. Chloe stood there in the morning light with her overnight bag and that confused, hopeful smile, and all I could smell was chlorine and the ghost of sex still clinging to the entryway behind me. My clean skin felt like a costume. I couldn’t remember how to arrange my face into something normal.

Before I managed a single word, footsteps sounded on the stairs and Britney appeared in the hallway dressed in soft gray shorts and an oversized...