Page 107 of Can We Just Be Happy Now?

I glance sideways before hesitantly finding Sophie again. She looks comfortable, her finger tracing the rim of her glass as she gives the guy her full attention–not at all searching her surroundings for me.

“She needs other experiences, Cooper. She can’t know what she wants unless she also discovers what she doesn’t.”

I take a breath to steady my anger. “It’s a bit cynical to think no one could be as lucky as my parents, don’t you think?”

“Not cynical. Realistic. Look at her.”

I haven’t stopped staring at the way she’s leaning on her palm. Her finger still tracing the rim of the glass. Her pretty pink dress hitting right above her knees. Her curls perfect. Her skin soft.

“She looks happy,” Jack notes.

“She is happy.”

“You’re not next to her. Can’t you see other things besides you make her happy? Don’t you want that for her?”

“Of course I do. But that’s not mutually exclusive to being single.” I fight back, but my confidence in what I’m saying slips with every thought Jack adds.

Sophie reaches out, her hand landing on the forearm of the guy she’s talking to. My gut tells me this is all innocent. He’s just a friend. She told me herself she hardly wanted to go to prom–she felt like she had to. I know she never had sex with this guy, with anyone besides me. But she has kissed them. She probably kissed this guy. It would be naive to think she’d never be questioning about experiencing things with someone different–to know what it’s like, to satisfy the curiosity I already have. I can’t give her everything.

With a double slap of his hand against my shoulder–as if he can sense my crumbling beliefs–Jack leaves me to my thoughts.

Leaving my half-empty beer on the table, I weave my way through the high tops, glowing under the strings of lights.

“Sophie.” Her name falls from my lips as my hand lands on her lower back.

She startles, pulling her hand away from the guy in front of her like she’s been caught doing something wrong. “Coop! Hi.” She immediately turns toward me but looks back. “It was nice catching up, Ian. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah. Later, Sophie.”

“I missed you,” Sophie says with a soft smile. She leans into me, but I step back–enough to evade her touch but not enough that she falls. Her brows scrunch together, her smile falling. “What is it?”

“Who was that?”

She chuckles. “Ian? A friend. We went to prom together.”

“So, you’ve kissed him?” I’m torn between possessiveness and understanding the point her dad has been trying to convey.

“For like a second.” She laughs again, brushing me off.

I contemplate my decision.

“You’re not really concerned about him, are you?”

I stare back.

She tugs my hand until I reluctantly follow her. We slip around the side of the building and when she stops, I sink against the wood paneling. The only light is a soft glow from the party.

“Cooper. What’s up with you? Don’t you trust me?”

“Yes.” A vision of her kissing Ian after prom flashes through my mind, but I know she’d never cheat on me.

“Then what’s the problem?” She steps closer to me, her hand finding a familiar place on my neck.

Without reaching for her, my words come out emotionless. “I think we should break up.”

“Wait, what?” Her thumb rubbing across my jaw freezes.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, not able to make eye contact.

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