I knew the second my father asked me out for drinks that something was up. He never asked me out for drinks without Kylie unless he wanted to talk about something serious. In the back of my mind, I panicked. What did my father want to talk about? Was everything okay? Had something already happened with Kylie at the gaming company? I finished filming earlier than I wanted to so I could prepare myself for whatever it was my father wanted to address.

Then I went to meet him at the bar.

“Hey, Dad,” I said as I embraced him for a hug.

“Hello, Son.”

“I have to admit, you’ve got me a little worried,” I said as I hiked my leg up to sit in the tall chair. “It’s been a while since we’ve met up outside the dinners between you and myself and Kylie.”

“How’s the filming coming along?” he asked.

“It’s going well. I’ve put a pin in the Sundance film for now since we have to run it through a test audience this weekend, so I’m working on a short horror flick to add to our YouTube account.”

“How’s that coming along?”

“Good. Today was the first day of filming, which is always a waste. Actors and actresses are finding their chemistry on film and the set isn’t quite right for the scene. Things like that. It’s more logistics than actual filming.”

“Sounds productive.”

“It is. So what brings just the two of us out? I almost invited Kylie out of habit before I remembered you specifying it was just the two of us.”

“That’s what I want to talk with you about,” he said.

“You’ll have to be a little more specific. A lot was said in those last statements.”

“How is your relationship with Kylie?” he asked.

A whiskey neat was set in front of my father before a bottled beer settled in front of me.

“Why?” I asked. “Has she said something to you?”

“No, but I know you, and I know Kylie. So I know something’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on,” I said.

“I’m your father, Adam. I know when you’re not well. And you’ve been with Kylie long enough for me to know when she’s not well. She’s actually held herself together quite well, not allowing her emotions to get in the way of work.”

“Sounds like her,” I said with a murmur.

“But I also know you don’t like to talk about how you’re feeling.”

“So what?” I asked.

“The mark of a man is being able to admit his emotions when the time requires it.”

“And you think that time is now?”

“I think you’ll lose an independent woman like Kylie if you don’t,” he said.

I grabbed my beer and took two long pulls as his words forced their way into my mind.

“She wants to move in together,” I said.

“Do you not want that?” my father asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I really don’t.”

“It’s the logical next step.”

“Why does everyone abide by logical next steps? Why does everything always have to constantly be changing? Why can’t someone settle into a rhythm with someone and just let it ride?”

“Because life isn’t a stalemate, Adam. Life is about improving, moving forward, progressing.”

“You sound like Kylie.”

“No, I sound like the rest of the world,” he said. “Why are you so hesitant to take that next step with her? She’s good for you.”

“Why the hell is everyone wanting us to move in together all of a sudden?”

“Maybe you should take a look at the fact that I’m apparently not the only one bringing it up,” he said.

“No, you’re not. First Sawyer, then Kylie, and now you. Are you sure the two of you haven’t talked or something?”

“Positive,” he said.

I wasn’t sure I believed him.

“The only thing Sawyer and I want is the best for you. For the both of you. Kylie’s a great girl and you’re an outstanding young man. I can see how stuck the two of you are.”

“Stuck?” I asked. “I’m not stuck with Kylie. I love her.”

“Then act like it. Communicate with her. Talk to her. Don’t hide away from what you want because you’re concerned about the outcome once the two of you talk.”

I put my beer to my lips to give myself time to collect my thoughts.

“I know what Kylie wants,” I said.

“She knows what she wants too.”

“And that’s the issue. There’s no compromising with her. It’s either moving in and marriage and kids or nothing at all.”

“Why is that a problem?” my father asked.

“Because relationships are about compromise, right?”

“Yes—compromising on bath towel colors, not children.”

“You’re one to talk,” I said.

“Yes, you were a surprise to me and your mother, but I did right by her. I loved your mother, and when she told me she was pregnant with you, I married her. I dropped down onto one knee right there and committed the rest of my days to her. That’s what men do when they love a woman, Adam. You say you love Kylie, but your actions don’t say that.”

“Why? Because I won’t move in with her?”

“No. Because you’d rather keep her on a string and dangle a possible future in front of her so you can bypass the fact that you might not want that same future and risk losing her altogether.”

My eyes hardened on my father while he sipped his drink.

“I’ll talk with her,” I finally said.

“Good. And make it sooner rather than later. I raised you to be better than this. Don’t prove me wrong.”

The two of us finished our drinks in silence before he threw some money down for the tab. That was my dad, always throwing around his money to make himself seem more powerful. But I knew what my mother had done to him had broken him more than anything Kylie could ever do to me. My mother had cheated on that man more times than he could count. He gave her his world and she stomped on it the second the two of them got married. No prenuptial agreement. Nothing to keep his money in place. Then she pawned me off on him five years later and ran of with some other nameless man, unloading millions of my father’s money into her own personal bank accounts.

Which meant if my father thought something was wrong, then something was obviously wrong.

I pulled up to Kylie’s studio apartment and made my way to her door. I knocked on it and watched it swing open before her beautiful face came into view. She was an angel, and every time I looked into her eyes, the worries of the world melted away.

“Let’s give this a shot,” I said.

She furrowed her brow before she looked down at her watch.

“What are you talking about? It’s almost midnight, Adam.”

“Moving in. Let’s give it a shot. I can easily cut my lease and you can easily cut yours. I’ll pull some money out of the production company to—”

Kylie came barreling into my arms and pressed kiss after kiss into my neck. I buried myself into her, picking her up as I walked her into her apartment. If this was what it took to keep her in my life, then I would do it. I would move in with her, live alongside her, and solidify our relationship if it meant I didn't have to let my muse go. Because that was what Kylie had become. I saw my success in her eyes whenever I looked down into them. I saw us standing side by side at film festivals, celebrating the success of my projects. I saw every idea outlined in the curves of her skin and smelled every character between the depth of her thighs.

“Are you serious?” she asked in a whisper.

I set her back down on her feet and brought her eyes to meet mine.

“Very,” I said. “Let’s take the leap. Let’s move in with each other.”

“Oh my gosh, Adam. Thank you so much.”

“Anything to see you happy, Kylie. I’d do anything for it.”

I crooked my fingers underneath her chin and brought her lips to mine. Her decadent curves fell into the strength of my arms as I kicked back my leg and shut her front door. I backed her all the way to the edge of her bed. It sat in the middle of her apartment where her living room should have been. But the damn place was so fucking small that she couldn’t fit regular furniture in it. The feeling of her tongue swiping against mine set my toes on fire. Her hands tangling in the tresses of my hair sent electricity jolting through my body. I lowered her to the bed and tugged at her robe, smoothing the fabric back to reveal the soft body I had called home for longer than I’d called anything in my life by the same name.

Then I slid my tongue across the roof of her mouth and felt her hips roll into mine.