by Kelly Oram
Sophie shot me a horrified glance from the stove. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
I chuckled. Sophie couldn’t handle gore any more than I could spiders. “I didn’t. But it is Halloween, so I got The Sixth Sense and The Skeleton Key. You could handle one of those. They’re more suspense than horror.”
When she eyed me skeptically, I grinned, and she caved. “Fine. But you have to hold me and not laugh at me when I hide my face in your chest for half the movie.”
My smile doubled in size. “Deal.”
. . . . .
After her second glass of wine, Sophie had relaxed enough that the movie didn’t bother her. We were both having a hard time concentrating, though. Well, concentrating on the movie, anyway. Not when dinner had been so nice, and we had the place all to ourselves. We’d all but forgotten about the movie when Jordan burst through the front door. “Oh, great!” she yelled. “That’s just great! As if I need to feel any worse right now!” Hot tears poured down her red, puffy face.
Startled, Sophie and I pulled apart. “Jordan? Hey, what’s wrong?”
She was already heading for her bedroom. One second later, her door slammed shut. Helplessness and concern washed over me as I looked at Sophie. “I should go see if she’s okay.”
I started to get up, but Sophie grabbed my wrist and shook her head. “She’ll be fine.”
“She was really upset.”
“And she doesn’t want you barging in there, getting all in her business. Trust me. Just let her cry it out on her own.”
Sophie leaned in as if she was going to try to get the moment back between us, but it was gone. “Are you sure? I really think I should go talk to her.”
Annoyance flashed across Sophie’s face. “Are you kidding me? We were a little busy here.”
“Yeah, but you saw her.”
“And?” Sophie shrugged. “You warned her. She refused to listen, and now she’s dealing with the consequences. I hate to say it, but maybe she needs to not be coddled right now. Maybe she’ll think twice next time about dating a player.”
I was shocked. For the first time ever, I could almost see where my brothers’ attitude toward Sophie came from. I stood, and when she reached for my hand again, I pulled away from her, appalled enough that I didn’t want her to touch me. “Are you really that cold? How can you be so callous?”
Sophie blinked at me as if surprised I wasn’t agreeing with her. Her defenses rose with her as she got to her feet. “What? I can’t stand girls who constantly date jerks and then are surprised or hurt when those guys treat them badly. She knew what kind of guy he was, and she went out with him anyway. She doesn’t deserve your comfort right now.”
I couldn’t believe this. It was like I didn’t even know her right now. “We’re her friends, Sophie. It doesn’t matter if she made a mistake. We should be there for her.”
Sophie’s face flushed red. Her jaw tensed and her hands balled into fists at her sides. “She’s not my friend. She’s the girl who’s ruining my romantic night with my boyfriend because he seems to care more about her than he does about me.”
“Seriously?” I rubbed my hands over my face and counted to five before I spoke again. “I care more about her than you because I want to check on her and make sure she’s okay? What the hell, Sophie?”
“Maybe I should be asking you that. It just seems like you care an awful lot about her.”
“I do. She’s my friend.”
Sophie folded her arms. “And you don’t think that’s at all inappropriate? To have a close friendship with some woman whom you live with when you have a girlfriend? I’m uncomfortable with this arrangement, Nate. I didn’t like it from the start, but now it really bothers me. I want you to move out. I want you to end your friendship with Jordan.”
I froze, stunned by the ultimatum. “You want me to choose between you and Jordan?”
“It shouldn’t be a choice!”
She was right. If our relationship was what it was supposed to be, I shouldn’t need to choose between my girlfriend and my roommate. Sophie should be the obvious choice. Every time I opened my mouth to say as much, the words wouldn’t come out.
My silence said everything I couldn’t. The longer it stretched between us, the more Sophie’s anger was replaced with heartbreak.
My chest burned as I realized what was happening. I didn’t want to hurt her, but there didn’t seem to be another option anymore. “I’m so sorry, Sophie.”
Sophie pinched her eyes shut and sucked in a sharp breath. More tears gathered in her lashes and spilled down her face. “You’re choosing her over me. Do you love her?”
At least in this I could reassure her. “No,” I promised. “I care about her, but it’s not like that with her. I’m not choosing her. I’m choosing everything—my brothers, my new apartment, my music, Jordan and Colin. I’m choosing this new life I’m building that you don’t seem to appreciate. This isn’t about Jordan; it’s about us. You want something different than me. Our lives are moving in different directions. My music is more than a phase. It’s who I am. It’s what I want. You keep waiting for me to quit, but I’m not going to. I want you to be happy, Soph, and I’m not sure I’m the guy who can do that for you. I know I’m not. We had our time together, and it was great, but I think we need to accept defeat. Go find someone you don’t have to change in order to make you happy.”
She stared at me for a long moment. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, wishing there was an easy way to do this, but knowing there wasn’t. If there was a movie that held the answers to dumping someone without hurting her, Jordan hadn’t shown it to me yet. I was on my own for now.
Sophie sniffled. Her jaw quivered and she swallowed hard, but then she found her inner strength. “I’m sorry, too,” she hissed, stomping for the front door. She angrily thrust her coat on and sent me a scathing glare as she flung the door open. “I loved you,” she spat.
I flinched as the door slammed shut behind her, but then I let out a long breath. I was sad, and I felt a little guilty, but I felt relieved at the same time. We were over. And if I was being honest with myself, I would say that we’d been over for a long time. Why else would I have applied to a different college than her and not told her?
Sophie had been something familiar in a scary new world. It had been easy to keep her around and let her hold my hand through my new adventure. That’s why I’d given in to my brothers when they’d arranged for us to room together, too. But the truth was, it was time for me to become my own man. Sophie had been right: it was time for me to grow up. But growing up for me wasn’t moving into an apartment with her, or getting engaged. That would have been doing exactly what I’d done in high school—allowing her to run my life because it was easier and less dramatic than arguing with her.
Growing up for me meant stepping out of my brothers’ shadows, and Sophie’s. It meant taking charge of my life and going after what I wanted. I knew what that was; I just needed to have the guts to go all in. After standing up to my brothers, Sophie was the last thing holding me back. Finally, now, thanks to Jordan’s friendship and support, I was ready to do that. And first things first, I needed to repay Jordan all the kindness she’d shown me. Luckily, she was a pretty straightforward person, and I knew exactly what would cheer her up.
After grabbing a pint of ice cream from the emergency stash in the freezer and two spoons, I knocked softly on her bedroom door. “Jordan?”
“Go away, Nate.”
She said “go away,” but I was pretty sure by the sound of her voice that she didn’t mean it, so instead of obeying her request I pushed the door open. “But I have some Double Fudge Chunk.”
I waited, and after a moment the lump beneath Jordan’s bedspread moved and Jordan’s head popped out of the covers. “Fine. You can stay.”
I knew that would do the trick. Grinning, I lay down next to her on her bed and propped myself up on my elbow. With my free hand, I pulled the lid off the ice cream and held out the spoons.
When she took one, I used the other and dug right in. A ghost of a smile crossed her face when she realized I intended to share this pint with her.
“You okay?” I asked after she had a couple bites in her system.
She huffed. “If you call repeatedly being Cher okay.”
“Cher?” I knew she wasn’t talking about the singer.
Her spoon froze in the ice cream between us, and she gave me that exasperated look she always gives me when my cinematic ignorance has disappointed her. “Alicia Silverstone? Clueless?”
I grimaced. “Sorry.”
She groaned, shoved a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, and then groaned again. “Nate, Clueless is iconic. How can you not have seen it?”
“You do realize that I grew up in a house with all guys, right?” I laughed. “If it wasn’t full of explosions, car chases, fight scenes, or foul jokes, I haven’t seen it.”
She sighed as if I were hopeless.
“So, tell me about Cher. What makes you her?”
“Doesn’t the title say enough? She’s completely clueless. Especially when it comes to guys. I’m Cher. Blaze is the loser Elton, and you’re the wise big brother Josh, come to say ‘I told you so.’”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I was not going to say ‘I told you so.’” I ate another spoonful of ice cream, suddenly needing the chocolate therapy as much as Jordan.
“Well, I deserve it,” Jordan muttered.
“So do I.” I shrugged at Jordan’s questioning look. “I just broke up with Sophie.”
Jordan choked on her ice cream and a little of it dribbled down her chin. She sat up as she wiped it off. “What? For real? Like, for good?”
“Yeah. Like, for good.” I set my spoon in the nearly-empty carton and laid back to stare at the ceiling. “We aren’t right for each other. Pearl knew it after seeing us together for five minutes. My brothers have been saying it for years.” I glanced at Jordan, who was still staring down at me in shock. “So if you’re Cher, then so am I. We’re both completely clueless.”
Jordan finished off the last bite of ice cream and nodded her acceptance of our current starring roles. “Well.” She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed the salty tear residue off her face. “I’m sorry you guys broke up, but I’m glad I’m not alone in my misery tonight.”
I smiled. “You want to wallow together?”
She looked up at me a little self-consciously. “You want to watch Clueless?”
I laughed. “Do I have a choice?”
That finally got a real smile from her. “No.”
After breaking up with Sophie, it felt as if my life simply clicked into place. Not that Sophie had made me miserable, because she hadn’t, but I’d been catering to her a lot more than I realized. Without needing to include her in all of my plans or decisions, or wonder what she would think or how she would feel, everything just became so much simpler.
Once midterms were over that first week of November, I cranked back into gear with my songwriting. Even though I still had about six weeks, I was starting to feel the pressure of the showcase deadline. Working on songs was basically all I did besides school and homework.
Wednesday afternoon I’d been at it for over an hour, when my headphones were pulled away from my ears and Jordan’s voice rattled me. “How’s it going?”
I jumped so high I nearly fell out of my desk chair. Jordan laughed. “Sorry. The door was cracked. I knocked, but you couldn’t hear me.”
I pulled my headphones off and leaned back in my chair to stretch. I was glad for the break. “It’s fine; you just startled me. Is it time to leave already?”
“Not quite.” Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Your brothers are on their way up.”
Now I understood the look on her face, and I was just as surprised. “They’re here? Now?”
Jordan nodded. “The doorman just called. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I told him to send them up. I hope that’s okay.”
“Yeah,” I assured her as I reluctantly pulled myself to my feet. “I’m just surprised because I never told them where I live. My dad must have given them my address, the traitor.”
“Hiding?” Jordan asked curiously.
“Not exactly. Okay, maybe a little.” I tried to explain myself as we walked out into the living room. “I’m glad we’re talking again, and I’m cool hanging out with them whenever. I was just hoping to keep them away from this place. I really like the privacy, and now that they’re here, we’ll never be able to keep them away.” I stopped walking and gave Jordan a grave look. “I hope you know how to say no, because they’ll want to party here all the time, and they can be relentless.”
Jordan shook her head once, laughing softly. “I know. I’ve seen them in action, remember?”
“Unfortunately.”
I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the chaos when they knocked on the door. Jordan patted my shoulder. “I’m sure between the two of us we can keep them in check.”
Sure. She said that now.
Groaning internally, I plastered a smile on my face and opened the door. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”
“Nice of you to invite us to your new place, Runt.” Chris smirked at me as he shoved his way inside.
Tyler followed, bumping my shoulder as he passed me. “Yeah. What’s up with that—oh, dude!” His eyes bulged as he looked around. After taking in the entertainment system, he whirled on me. “Seriously?”
I shrugged, so he looked at Jordan. “Is that 4K?”
Jordan grinned. “Of course. With wireless 7.1 surround and a 400-watt subwoofer.”
I do believe he started drooling.
“ESPN?” Chris asked.
Jordan nodded. “All the sports channels. Have to get them all if I want to watch all my soccer games. The different leagues are all on different networks, so I get the sports package.”
Chris’s brows hit the ceiling. “You like to watch sports?”
Jordan smirked. “Only the good ones.”
Tyler pushed Chris out of the way and took Jordan’s hand with a big, cheesy grin. “I don’t think we’ve officially met.”
“Oh, no.” I pulled Jordan out of Tyler’s reach and gave him a stern look. “Absolutely not. Jordan is off-limits to both of you. Don’t even think about it.”
Chris frowned with suspicion while Tyler pouted. “Why? You can’t call dibs. You have a girlfriend.”
I was grateful when Chris elbowed Tyler, until he said, “Dude. You can’t call dibs on a chick in front of her. That’s rude.”
Before I could apologize to Jordan for the idiots I’m related to, she laughed at Tyler and said, “Actually, he broke up—”
“Jordan, wait—”
“—with Sophie last week.”
My warning didn’t come soon enough. The words were out of her mouth and couldn’t be taken back. It was a very rare occasion when both of my brothers could be stunned into silence. This was one of those moments. Ignoring their wide eyes and gaping jaws, I cringed at the ground and waited for the crap to start. And three, two, one…
“You dumped Sophie?” Chris asked, blinking as if he still couldn’t comprehend it.
“You’re single again?” Tyler’s whole face lit up. “Dude! That is the best news ever. We gotta celebrate. Let’s go out tonight.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“No way, Runt,” Chris said. “You are not getting out of this. Oh! Dude! I know what we can do.”
Chris grinned at me, then pulled Tyler across the room where they began whispering. There was no way I was going out for an epic night of Triple Threat debauchery. I had to act fast, or I’d be living out The Hangover tomorrow morning.
“Sorry,” Jordan whispered. “I should have known you hadn’t mentioned that to them yet for a reason. What should we do?”
It was the we that gave me the idea. “What was that movie called that we watched the other night?”
“Which one?”
“The one where Ryan Ryenolds and S
andra Bullock got fake engaged to get Sandra Bullock out of a jam.”
“That was The Proposal,” Jordan replied automatically. Intuition sparked and smirked. “Why, Nate”—she dropped her voice to a whisper—“are you asking me to be your fake fiancé so that you don’t have to go out with your brothers?”
“I was thinking fake girlfriend, not fiancé.” I pretended to shutter. “What is it with all you women wanting to jump straight to marriage?”
Jordan snorted.
“Why not?” I shrugged. “Seemed to work when Colin did it with Sophie.”
“Gee, that was so romantic.” She sighed and shook her head. “I need to start hanging out with new friends. You two sure know how to make a girl feel special.” She folded her arms and her grin turned evil. “Ask me.”
“What?”
“You remember the movie, Sandra. If you want a fake girlfriend, then get down on your knees and ask me.”
Two could play this game. If she wanted me to ask her, then I would ask her. “I can’t get down on my knees. My brothers would see it and know we’re up to something. But you’re right; that wasn’t very romantic of me, and I can totally do better.”
I hooked my finger into the front pocket of her jeans and reeled her to me. She sucked in a shocked breath when I slid my hands low around her waist and trapped her against me. “Jordan?”
She gulped.
Chuckling, I dipped my mouth to her ear and spoke in a soft whisper. “Will you please pretend to be my girlfriend so that my brothers won’t torture me?”
I’d never been this close to her before, but now that I was, I realized she smelled amazing. There was nothing I loved more than a woman who smelled good. I hadn’t pegged Jordan as a perfume kind of woman, but I was clearly wrong, and whatever she was wearing must have been made of pure aphrodisiacs. Without thinking, I inhaled deeply and pressed my lips to the spot just behind her ear in a soft kiss. I didn’t come back to reality until Jordan shivered and said, “Whoa.” Her voice was raspy. “You don’t joke around with the romance.”
Luckily, she didn’t seem bothered that I’d accidentally just crossed a roommate boundary, but I felt the need to explain it somehow. Still holding her in my arms, I leaned my forehead against hers and whispered, “Sorry. Chris and Tyler are more suspicious than Sophie. We have to look convincing or they’ll never buy it.”
