"Xan, what the hell are you doing here?"

Zach had been sitting in his kitchen mangling a frozen pizza and pretending to eat it, while he felt guilty for not calling Laney that day, or the day before, when his sister let herself in the back door of his house, helped herself to a beer, and plopped down at his table.

"I'm about to do something I swore a solemn oath to never do."

Zach scowled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm about to break ...