Page 142 of Wrong For Me

Epilogue

Leo

A Few Weeks Later

“You hanging in there?”

Rose shoots me my favorite scowl, the one that makes her nose scrunch up. So freaking cute. “I’m fine.”

“You’re a weepy mess and we both know it,” I argue.

“My best friend just got engaged!” she cries. “I’m allowed to be weepy!”

The engagement party to celebrate Will and Eva is in full swing. The entire Ransome clan has taken over the burger place down the street from Will’s tattoo shop which means the party is loud and crowded and totally chaotic.

It’s strange that I’m starting to get used to those feelings. I guess a few family meals with the Ransomes over the past couple weeks will do that to a guy.

I slip an arm around Rose and kiss the top of her head. “Are we happy weepy or sad weepy?”

She snorts into my chest. “Definitely happy weepy.” She snuggles a little closer. “Missed you this week.”

“You saw me literally every day this week.”

“Yes, but I didn’t see you atschool,” she argues.

I don’t bother teasing her. The truth is, I missed the shit out of her this week, too. It was the first week we weren’t sharing an office and the tiny little closet feels very empty without her.

As soon as we got back, Rose sat down and talked with Dr. Hernandez about her future, officially dropping out of the PhD program that same day. She stayed on as a TA for a few weeks until the department could shuffle some things around so that Hernandez and I wouldn’t be overloaded with work. Rose is taking the rest of the semester off. The plan right now is that she’ll come back in the spring and begin her master’s in counseling, but she’s playing it by ear.

I think that scares her a little, not having her entire future planned out. But I can also tell how much less stressed she is now that she’s made up her mind about her PhD. I hadn’t even realized how much tension she carrying around until it lifted from her shoulders.

“Speaking of school,” she says, pulling back to look at me, her beautiful eyes wide and expectant. “Did you hear anything yet?”

I shift on my feet. “Uh, yeah. Heard this morning, actually.”

Her eyes go wide with outrage. “You already know whether you got the job and you haven’t said anything about it?”

I shrug. “It’s Will’s night. Didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

Her eyes narrow. “Leo Malone, you tell me what happened right now. Did you get the internship or not?”

“I got it.”

She stares up at me. “You got it. You got a prestige research-based internship this summer. A prestigious,paidinternship.”

I shrug again, like it’s no big deal, but I’m having a hard time keeping the smile off my face. “Yeah. I guess I won’t have to work three different jobs this summer to make ends meet.”

She stares at me for a second longer before she lets out a huge whoop and jumps into my arms. “Leo! That’s amazing!”

“What’s amazing?” Daisy asks, coming up beside us with Daltrey.

Rose is beaming as she turns her attention to them. “Leo got that internship! The one I was telling you about.”

Those words have something tightening in my chest. She told her parents about it? I’m not sure why that makes me feel so…odd.

From the way both their faces light up, it’s obvious they know what she’s talking about. “Leo!” Daisy throws her arms around me. “That’s wonderful! Congratulations!”

I’m still not entirely used to the easy physical affection Rose’s family displays, but I hug her back, trying not to look awkward about it. I’m even more caught off guard when she releases me and Daltrey holds out his hand for me to shake.