Page 32 of Can We Just Be Happy Now?

“I didn’t do anything!” She laughs as she unbuttons her shorts and slips them onto the grass while keeping eye contact.

“What the hell did you do with my sweet and innocent Sophie?”

She shrugs. “You’re the one who gets me the books.”

“I’ll buy you all the damn books you want,” I tell her even though I know her newfound confidence and initiative will only take things so far for now. I’m okay with that. Well, rational Cooper is okay with that, and I need to step the fuck back from my girlfriend to prevent irrational Cooper from entering the scene.

Superheroes to my rescue once again, a car full of Troy’s fraternity brothers pull up to the house. From where I’m standing on the side of the yard, I see all four doors of the beat-up white van slam shut. The hub caps are painted yellow and a bold black font on the side reads: Van-imal. Shaking my head, I realize how wild college might actually be as my new friends bound toward us in their suits.

One guy, Ethan, crashes into me like he’s already drunk, his arm looping around my shoulder. “Cooper, my man.” His eyes drift to Sophie. “Who do we have here?”

“No one you need to concern yourself with,” I growl, shrugging him off of me.

Sophie rolls her eyes. “Sophie,” she says, laughing and reaching her hand for Ethan’s.

“Nice to meet you, Sophie.” He shakes her hand before dropping it and pointing his thumb at me. “Don’t mind this guy here. He’s not a brother yet and doesn’t understand we take the dicks over chicks thing seriously. But still, you’re going to need to save that suit for our car wash fundraiser in a few months.”

“He doesn’t have anything to worry about,” Sophie's words come out sweet, but it’s not enough to overpower my possessiveness. Noticing, she twists more into my arms. “Coop.”

“What?” I ask, eyes still on Ethan.

“Hey.” This time her voice pulls my gaze hesitantly toward her. “You don’t have to fight for me when I’ll always be yours.” She glances up at me with adoration, and my arm wraps around her waist when her head lands on my chest, her words expelling the hostility from me like an exorcism.

A girl I’ve yet to meet strides up to Ethan, planting a kiss on his cheek. He grins, his eyes roaming her red bikini covered body shamelessly. Turning back to us, he points his words at Sophie. “See, you’ll fit right in with all our girls.”

I slap him in the chest.

Ethan chuckles before yelling to no one in particular, “Alright, let’s get this party started!” Danny, another of my new brothers, tosses him a beer that he immediately stabs with a car key before cracking the top and shotgunning it.

“I’m going inside really quick,” Sophie whispers against the spot right below my ear before she kisses it.

“Don’t forget to come back.” I squeeze her hip before releasing her.

Twenty minutes go by and Sophie still hasn’t returned. Walking past the open sliding glass patio door, I wonder where she is. Troy passes me, stopping me in my tracks. “Hey. Have you had anything to drink yet?”

“Not yet, why?”

“Can you run to the store and get us some ice?”

“Yeah.” I hesitate, debating if I should find Sophie first or make the quick trip to the store. “I got you.” I grab my keys off the counter and shoot Sophie a text letting her know I’ll be back in ten minutes.

Pulling up to the house with three bags of ice, I get out of my 4Runner in time to watch a car park against the sidewalk in front of our yard. Six people pile out of the compact, and I only recognize one of them. Fuck Greg. The dude is one of Troy’s best friends, but I’ve always thought he was a tool. When we played football together, he would always grab shoulder pads to prevent a tackle. With all the holds called, he cost us so many yards in a championship game, I lost my shit and got benched for shoving him.

I chuckle at the memory as I sling a bag of ice over my shoulder. I was so mad, Troy whistled Sophie to the field from the bleachers because my cursing and kicking the astroturf wasn’t helping anyone. She forced my focus to her, giving me a pep talk and making me accept a love hug until I let it ground me. That girl has always been the one to cool me off quicker than this ice currently piled in my arms.

Where is Sophie?

Dropping the bags on the back patio, I rip open the clear plastic and dump the ice into the cooler recently restocked with beer. I haven’t had anything to drink, mostly because I don’t want Sophie to feel left out or uncomfortable around so many new people. I’ve been worried she wouldn’t have fun since she’s never spent time with any of these people before. Whereas I can have fun in almost any situation, she typically prefers keeping to herself. Seriously, where is she?

With his hand on one knee as he leans over the cooler, Ethan rummages for the beer he wants.

“Hey, have you seen Sophie?” I ask.

“Nope. I’m sure she’s somewhere around here,” he says, unbothered as he cracks the can and walks away.

Bunching the empty bags into a pile behind the cooler, I scan the backyard. No Sophie. I check the bathroom and the kitchen, both empty. Twisting the knob on my bedroom door, I open it, my stomach dropping at the sight of Sophie leaning against my headboard reading her book.

Her eyes jump from the page to me, and she chews on her lip like she’s nervous about getting caught. “Hi,” she whispers as I shut my door and cross the room.

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