Page 87 of Roommate Wars
“Doing well, but Max was acting strange.” I glanced at where he stood. He had a bead of sweat on his temple, which was entirely not like him. He was as cool as a cucumber in the most cutthroat board meetings. “You think he’s sick? Should I say something?”
Elise looked over, but Max had walked across the room to where Sophia was chatting with the parents. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear.
Sophia appeared confused and continued to stare up at Max as he glanced out at the small room.
“Everyone, if you don’t mind, I’d like your attention.” He gazed down at Sophia lovingly.
I scooted to the edge of the couch, taking Elise with me, as though preparing for something, though I didn’t know what. “What the…?”
“Is he—” Elise started before Max’s next words cut her off.
“As you know, I’ve been in love with Sophia for some time. She is the most caring, hardworking, generous person I know, and she makes me incredibly happy.”
Sophia’s mouth parted and her eyes widened.
Elise slapped a hand over her mouth, nearly hitting me in the process.
Max dropped to one knee and said, “Sophia, I love you, and I want to share my life with you. Please do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
Elise squealed, squeezing the hell out of my arm and bobbing up and down on my lap while the room erupted in shouts.
I glanced at Elise’s mom, who was grinning expectantly, as though she’d been aware of Max’s intention.
Max pulled out a black velvet jewelry box and opened it, revealing a fat rock Sophia didn’t even look at before nodding her head and climbing onto his lap.
“Aww,” Elise said, looking at me with tears in her eyes. “They are so sickly sweet, but I can’t even eye roll. It’s so beautiful.” She hugged me, and I held her like that, wondering when the right time would be to ask Elise to marry me. Not now, but hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
She leaned back, and her eyes lit up. “Ooh, you know what this means, don’t you? Society wedding!”
“I thought you didn’t like high society?”
“Some of them are really nice. Plus, Max and Soph’s wedding will have amazing food.” She looked at her sister surrounded by people and worried her lip. “I want to congratulate her, but she’s being swarmed.”
Elise snuggled in close, brimming with happiness for her sister. “You know, Jackson, I’ve been thinking about how I felt the need to live on my own and why.” She looked me in the eye. “I was thinking about it even before your proposal to move in together. And what I realized is that no one is independent—not you or me or Soph or Max. We all depend on each other for one reason or another, and that’s okay. That’s community, and it makes everyone happy to have others they can spend time with and reach out to when needed.”
I squeezed her hand and smiled. She was right, and it was a lesson I’d been learning myself over the last year.
Her brow pinched. “I thought I was the worst person for allowing my sister to take care of me, but Soph depends on me too. I’m the yin to her yang. When she was getting ditched by boyfriends and friends who ridiculed her for where we lived, Mom and I lifted her up. We may not have supported her financially, but we were there cheering her on. I miss her, and I miss you. The one thing living on my own taught me is that life is no good if you’re not with the people you love.” She cradled my face. “I love you, Jack. I thought I couldn’t prove my love without proving I didn’t need you and that being with you was a choice. But I can choose to be with you and still need you, and that’s okay… Let’s move back in together.”
I let out the air I’d been holding. “Finally.”
“Finally?”
“Been waiting for you to say those words—not those precise words, but the gist. I was prepared to wait however long I needed to, but I’m happy you realized it sooner. I want my pretzel back.” I touched the back of her neck and guided her head down, kissing her deeply.
She laughed. “Have you been holding out?”
“More like hovering and waiting for you to realize how wonderful I am.”
“I realized that during our fateful one-night stand. Why do you think I freaked out and bolted?”
“Because I was too hot to handle?”
“Especially because of that. Pretty sure I can handle you now, though.” She kissed my forehead, which was right at lip level. For some reason, the forehead kiss and not the lip kiss received a cat call from Lizzie, who’d apparently been watching despite the engagement commotion.
“Stop tarnishing the vibe of my cat-lady den!” she shouted. This was definitely drunk Lizzie behavior.
Kitty Burrows shook her head in the direction of Lizzie, whom she called “spirited,” and my dad and Karl Burrows laughed while the rest of the party continued to crowd around Sophia and Max. Though I caught Sophia looking over eagerly at her sister.
