Page 40 of The Casanova Complex

ME: Nothing to admit, Mer Bear. I read it. Why, you struggling?

I smirk.

“Dude. Hellooooo,” Zach calls, and I look up. He and Tyler are staring at me.

“What?”

Zach jerks his head in a nod toward the phone in my hands. “You’ve been grinning at your phone like an idiot since we got here. What, is it a new girl?”

“Nah. Just my baby, Saint.” Not exactly a lie… but also not the full truth. I was talking to Saint, but now I’m talking to Merritt.

They don’t even know that I’m partnered with Merritt.

What would I even say?

There’s this girl I’m partnered with on my Creative Writing project who ninety percent of the time I can’t tell if she wants to stab me or kiss me.

I think she’s super fucking hot, and I want to know everything about her.

Who I also think probably actually hates me, except that she kissed me two days ago to make her piece-of-shit ex jealous. Who also happens to be our new teammate.

And it was incredible, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

Not Gauthreaux, obviously, but the kiss.

But I can’t be attracted to her anyway, no hooky-uppy little Bennett.

“How’s he liking New York? We should go up for a game on Christmas break,” Tyler says, swiping his beer off the table and bringing it to his lips. “He’s your bestie. I bet he’d get us killer seats.”

I shrug. “Probably. I’m down. Let me know dates, and we can plan it.”

“You know, I think tonight might be the best I’ve ever seen you in the net,” Zach says with a shake of his head. “Like… dude, that save? I got a little stiffy, not gonna lie.” He laughs when I flip him the finger. Fucking dick. “For real though, your stick work was nuts. How does it feel to have an assist on the winning goal?”

Very fucking rare for a goalie to get an assist, but somehow, I managed to pull it off in sudden death.

“Unbelievable,” I say honestly, the truth spilling out of me.

After the last few games and the losing streak that we’ve been on, tonight’s game feels hard-fought.

We earned this shit.

We played our asses off for it, and it wasn’t just me.

We’re a team, and tonight is the first time we’ve really played like one since the season started.

“Tonight felt like the first time we understood each other on the ice. Like we were playing as a team instead of individually. Feels like we might finally be getting our footing.”

Tyler and Zach nod in agreement, and then I add, “We wouldn’t have won without Myers. He ran it right up the middle and found a weak spot. All I did was block the shot and turn it around quickly.”

“Yeah, a hell of a fucking shot, brother. Look, I’m just saying, whatever you did to get your sparkle back, keep doing it because it’s working, and we need you playing like you were tonight.”

I shake my head, laughing. “Guess all my ridiculous superstitions are working, then?”

I mean, I didn’t do anything differently. All of my normal pregame rituals, no drinking before a game, sleeping twelve hours, tape under my pillow.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

“I didn’t do anything new that I can think of, but all I know is that I’m fucking back, baby.”