“For real?”
“Yeah, I’ll hang out for a while in case anyone shows. I know you only have that damn bike. Might as well get home before the roads get too bad.”
I couldn’t deny it—the fact that he was concerned about me felt nice. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“No worries. Get out of here before I change my mind.”
“I’m going,” I said with a laugh. The fact that I was going home to a crowded house wasn’t the most silver of linings I could’ve hoped for, but I’d deal. I had a few leads on cheap places I could rent or people who were looking for a roommate. In another week or two, staying at my parents’ place should be a distant memory.
And maybe once I was back on my own, things would start to feel more normal again. Maybe I’d be able to start getting over Sophia and forget about all the things I couldn’t have.
S O P H I A
“Merry Christmas!” Carter yelled as he stood in my doorway with a Santa hat on, thrusting a present at me.
“What’s this?” I reached out to take the poorly wrapped package from him.
“A Christmas gift for the best tutor a guy could’ve asked for.”
I toyed with the ribbon as I looked at him. “Well, now I feel like a jerk. I didn’t get you anything.”
“You got me through psychology. That’s gift enough.”
I smiled, one of the only real ones I’d managed since Drew left. “Still. Thank you. Come on in,” I said as I opened the door farther.
He walked over to the couch and sank back into it, and I joined him after I closed and locked the door. Giving the box a little shake, I asked, “What is it?”
“What are you, five? Just open the damn thing.”
“Okay, okay.” I slipped a finger between a gap in the paper and tore it open. Then I lifted the lid on the box and peered inside. “What…is this… Did you make me a collage?”
“Yup. You like it?” Carter’s eyes were wide, and he seemed to be close to bouncing on the sofa. The fact that he seemed to care so much whether I liked his gift warmed me.
My eyes drifted over the pictures he’d taken over the course of the semester and had printed onto a canvas. My breath caught when I saw pictures of Drew on there.
I’d left out the details of what had happened between Drew and me. It was too painful to rehash and, quite frankly, a little embarrassing too. I had no idea if Carter had spoken to Drew since he’d left, and I honestly didn’t want to know if Drew had kept that relationship while disregarding mine.
My throat grew tight as I let a finger lightly skim over a picture of all of us at Aamee’s costume party.
“I wasn’t sure about putting those on there,” Carter explained, his voice the softest and gentlest I’d ever heard it. “But I figured that they were still good times, even if it ended. Did I mess it up?”
I shook my head, unable to trust my voice at first. After swallowing the emotions down, I said, “No. It’s perfect. I love it.”
Carter smiled at that and opened his mouth to speak, but the shrill ring of my phone interrupted him. Looking down, I saw my dad’s name.
“One sec,” I said before answering. “Hi, Dad.” I stood and walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water for Carter and me.
“Hi, Soph. You all packed up?”
I looked around at the apartment that seemed so empty without my stuff hanging around. I’d begun sleeping at the sorority house again but had left a few of my things at Brody’s that I wanted to grab before going home for the holiday break.
I’d told Carter to meet me there in order to keep things peaceful with Aamee. Tomorrow, my dad was driving down to pick me up for winter break, and while he was keeping the apartment for Brody—who was supposed to be coming home in time for Christmas and to resume his own identity for the spring semester—I’d be heading back to the sorority house.
“Yup. All set.”
“Good. And still no sign of that boy, right?”
Rolling my eyes, I answered, “No, I have not seen Drew. And you’d think you’d be a little more grateful to him. Brody just got the best report card of his life.” Why I was defending Drew was beyond me, but nothing I was saying was untrue.
“Yes, well, thank heavens he was good for something. At least he was smart enough to get good grades and know when to leave well enough alone.”
I froze at that. “What do you mean, ‘leave well enough alone’?”
“What? Oh, nothing. I’m just glad he’s out of our lives is all.”
I opened my mouth to call my dad on what was clearly bullshit, but Carter ran over to me and thrust his phone in my face.
“Hang on a second, Dad,” I said, putting him on mute. “What is that?” I asked, squinting at the picture that was too close to my face. I pulled back a bit. “Why are you showing me a picture of an accident?”
“Look right there,” Carter said, his voice sounding panicked as he pointed at the screen. “Isn’t that Drew’s bike?”
I looked harder at the picture for a second before my eyes widened in alarm. “Oh my God,” I whispered.
And then I did the only thing I could think of. I hung up on my dad and got my coat.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost we have to thank Meredith Wild for always believing in our writing and inviting us to be part of the Waterhouse Team. We’re thankful that you thought of us for a rom-com series and that you trust in our humor.
To our swolemate, Scott, thanks for making the editing process smooth and for always trusting us to get a story where it needs to be. You’re always there to provide insight when we need it, and you’ve helped make our books the best they could be.
To Robyn, thank you for answering our million and one questions and for stepping in and taking control of things when we were floundering. We’re sorry we’re such disasters sometimes.
To the rest of the Waterhouse Press team, you simply kick ass. Thank you for everything you do to help us be as successful as we can. You’re an amazing group of people, and we’re lucky to have the honor of working with you.
To our Padded Roomers, you all are such a tremendous group of people. It’s tough to find people as crazy as we are, and we’ve truly found our tribe with you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for us, such as posting teasers, sharing links, reading ARCs, writing reviews, and making us laugh. We don’t deserve you, but we’re damn glad to have you.
To our readers, there’s no way to accurately thank you for taking a chance on us and for your support. Thank you for letting us share our stories with you.
To Google, thank you for providing the means for us to research things including, but not limited to, fraternities, sororities, marketing degrees, alcoholic drinks, dean responsibilities, business class topics, college codes of conduct, Gen Z lingo, and popular clothing trends.
To our sons for inspiring the last names of our main characters. Our lack of originality strikes again.
To Elizabeth’s daughter for being a spitfire and inspiring the way in which she wrote Sophia’s character.
To our husbands, we know it’s not easy. Thanks for hanging in there. We honestly don’t deserve you.