Always Mine (Roommate Duet 5)

Liam nearly chokes on his food, which makes me chuckle. He makes messing with him too easy.

Laughing, I watch him while I eat my well-done steak. “Do we have any wine around here?”

“I’m not serving a minor,” he says matter-of-factly. “Shit outta luck, Mads.”

“We aren’t at a bar, so technically, you aren’t serving me at all.” I give him my best puppy dog eyes when he shakes his head. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

He clears his throat. “How about we make a bet then?”

My eyes widen. “I think I’ve had enough bets for one day.”

“Chickenshit,” he taunts.

After we finish eating, I clean up, then we watch a movie before I call it a night. I want to spend as much time with Liam as I can, even when he keeps me at a distance, but I can’t stop yawning. Standing, I stretch, and he turns off the TV.

“Good night,” I say, looking over my shoulder as I walk toward Sophie’s room.

“Night, Mads. Thanks for making dinner.” He throws me a wink, which makes me chuckle because we both know I had no choice. Liam continues staring at me as though he has something more to say but doesn’t.

The next morning, I wake up and cook his log cabin bullshit brunch compiled of eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, biscuits, and pancakes. It’s a ridiculous amount of food, but he eats it with a smug smirk. The sincere thank you and hug he gives me afterward, though, makes it all worth it. Going forward, I might bet him every single chance I get.

Liam and I clean the house before Mason and Sophie return home this afternoon. While he vacuums the living room, I wipe the counters in the kitchen and make sure there are no dirty dishes. Sophie’s particular about her space and will kill us if we don’t pick up after ourselves since I know she probably cleaned before they left. As soon as we’re done tidying everything, I hear a car door slam and know it’s them. Excitement streams through me, and I stop what I’m doing to rush outside. My arms are wide open, and all I want to do is hug and congratulate my big sister.

“Ahhh! Lemme see! Lemme see!” I scream, needing to know exactly which ring Mason bought. I’ve been stalking her on social media for the past few days, but she’s been completely silent. My curiosity has nearly killed me.

“What?” Sophie asks, confused as I nearly tackle her to the ground. Sometimes I forget how much power I have behind me. Mason steadies her, and I can’t stop laughing at her shocked expression.

“The ring! Let me see!” I exclaim, trying to catch my breath, but she furrows her brows at me. I half-wonder if she said no and then start to worry. “Oh my God. You said yes, right? Shit, did Mason chicken out?”

All weekend Liam’s told me not to ruin the surprise. What if Mason didn’t propose and wanted to wait, and I just ruined it?

“How did you know about the ring?” she asks, then glances over her shoulder at Mason. “I thought you said you only told Liam.”

“Yeah, and Liam told me,” I say. If she doesn’t show me the ring soon, I might combust. The anticipation is too much.

Mason growls and shakes his head in frustration. Before he can chew Liam a new one, I explain what happened. “Okay, well, to be fair, I made him tell me.”

Sophie immediately starts laughing.

“And why are you here?” Mason asks as I follow them into the house. Sophie hasn’t stopped smiling.

“Well…there was a fire on campus and—”

“What?” Sophie interrupts with concern evident on her face. “Did your apartment burn down?”

“No, thankfully. The one next to us, however…anyway, they evacuated us because of smoke damage. I packed all my shit and called Liam.”

Sophie slaps me on the shoulder and scolds me. “Why didn’t you call me? I’m your sister!”

We walk into the living room where Liam is already lounging in the recliner with a beer. Mason sets down their luggage and scowls, and it has me snickering because Liam just grins.

“Liam texted me before you guys left and told me I wasn’t to bother you! He said it was your special weekend, and if I needed anything, he was on call. Of course, that sounded fishy as hell coming from Hulk, so when I did ask him to come get me, I bugged him enough until he finally told me and said I wasn’t allowed to reach out to you.”

Mason smirks at him. “Way to play it cool, man.”

“Well, I didn’t expect her to actually need something! Go figure the one weekend you guys leave, she gets evicted.”

I exaggerate a gasp. “I was not evicted!” I wait for him to say another word, but he doesn’t. “Anyway, I’m not sure when they’re going to allow us to go back. I heard it’s pretty bad, though.”