MERRITT
CHAPTER TWELVE
I’ve gotten three toes on my right foot painted when my phone chimes… again.
For the third time in the last two minutes, which is really starting to ruin the vibe during my Cranberries session.
I’m painting my toes a funky lime green that I love, eating a ridiculous amount of hot Cheetos, and listening to my favorite music.
Suuuper-wild Friday night of a college girl, right?
Despite Stell and Mads all but blackmailing me to meet them in Baton Rouge to go out at Tigerland tonight.
I truly did not have the energy nor the mental capacity to go out and party tonight. All I want to do is chill in the comfort of my room, my safe space.
I am all peopled out.
Another text comes through, and I groan, depositing the nail polish brush back into the bottle. I rip the earphones out of my ears and grab my phone, fully expecting the person interrupting my version of a self-care night to be Dickface.
You’d think that he’d give up on the “I’m so brokenhearted, I need you back” thing after the bakery, but nope.
Thankfully, the barrage of texts isn’t from him though.
They’re from… Bennett.
Oh, perfect, even better.
Swiping open the notifications, I scan the messages.
GOOD BOY: Can we meet somewhere? I need to talk to you
GOOD BOY: Important
GOOD BOY: Or I can come to you? Or pick you up?
GOOD BOY: Merritt?
GOOD BOY:
GOOD BOY: I am in dire need of assistance like life or death
I roll my eyes. Dire need of help, and he’s texting me?
ME: Sounds like you should probably call an ambulance then
His response is immediate.
GOOD BOY: I’m serious
ME: Me too. The number is really easy, even you can handle it. 9-1-1
ME: I’m busy tonight. Super busy. Sorry!
GOOD BOY: Merritt.
ME: Bennett.
GOOD BOY: What if I say please?
ME: … No.
GOOD BOY: Pretty please?
GOOD BOY: Or even better, what if I get on my knees? You seem to like when I do that.
My cheeks feel like they’re going to catch fire as I read his message, my pulse speeding up alongside my heart.
He’s infuriating, and the only thing I dislike more than him… is my attraction to him.
There shouldn’t be any attraction.
He’s annoying, and he drives me insane, pushing buttons that I didn’t even know existed. He humiliated me and doesn’t even remember doing it.
There are five solid reasons right there why I shouldn’t be attracted to Bennett Legros, and yet here we are.
Rolling my eyes, I tap my response, ignoring the rapid procession of my heart when the memory of his lips on mine floods back, against my will.
ME: What is so important that you can’t tell me over text… like a normal person?
GOOD BOY: Because it’s something that needs to be said face to face. It’s important Mer, come on.
ME: Don’t make me block you Legros
GOOD BOY: You wouldn’t
ME: Going back to my very busy night. Bye!
GOOD BOY: Remember when you used me like a piece of meat the other day to make your ex jealous? I felt so objectified by that, Merritt. The least you could do is hear me out
My mouth falls open.
That… fucker.
I sit straighter, pushing the bag of Cheetos off my lap.
ME: First of all, I did NOT kiss you to make him jealous. That’s your stupidly oversized ego talking. I just… had a momentary lapse of judgement and you have ridiculously perfect, soft lips that I can’t stop thinking about.
Delete delete delete. DELETE.
I blow out a sigh.
I will never, in a thousand years, be admitting that out loud, and especially not to him. That little intrusive thought is staying in the safe place in my brain that only I will have access to.
ME: I did NOT kiss you to make him jealous. That would imply that I care. Which I do NOT
GOOD BOY: Hey, I’m not judging you. Just saying that you kinda owe me one, Mer. I’m cashing in
GOOD BOY: right now.
ME: I hate you
ME: This is not a transaction. It was a fucking kiss. I didn’t steal your virtue
ME: You’d have to have one in order to steal.
GOOD BOY: Listen, I express myself through intimacy. I’m a sensitive guy
GOOD BOY: I’m not judging you, so you don’t judge me Mer
GOOD BOY: As much as I love this verbal foreplay thing we’ve got going on, can we please meet up? It’s important, for real. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t
I nearly choke on my own spit as I read it. Bennett Legros… a sensitive guy.
Yeah, okaaaaaaay, dude.
But clearly, this must be important to him since he’s not backing down, and I will admit… now my interest is slightly piqued.
I have zero idea what is so important, but now I kind of want to know.
Except I can’t meet him anywhere because it’s just Elliott and me here. Dad’s working an overnight at the plant, which means that I’m stuck at home.
ME: I can’t meet.
I tug my lip between my teeth as I watch the dots dance across the screen before disappearing.
ME: I’m home with my little brother. My dad’s working the overnight shift and I can’t leave him here alone
God, am I really fucking doing this?
I type the message and press Send before I can talk myself out of it.
ME: You can come here.
GOOD BOY: Inviting me to your house already, Mer? Big step for us
ME: Shut up before I change my mind. 2241 Marais St
GOOD BOY: Be there in ten.
ME: Oh, one more thing. Come through the window. Second floor, all the way to the right
GOOD BOY: Why am I sneaking through your window? And how the hell am I even going to get up there?
ME: So I don’t have to hear my little brother give me shit about inviting a guy to my house for the first time. You’re a big, strong, macho hockey player, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.
ME: I guess if you need to talk bad enough that is
GOOD BOY: Aw. I love when you say nice things about me.
GOOD BOY: See you soon.
Holy shit.
Bennett’s about to be here.
In my bedroom.
In my sacred space that I never allow anyone outside of Stell and Mads into.
My time capsule of happiness that most people consider chaos. But it’s organized chaos that just feels right to my brain.
But only to my brain since everyone thinks it’s usually a wreck.
Shit.
Springing from the bed, I rush around my room and attempt to pick up. I swipe at the pile of dirty clothes on my floor from yesterday and shove them into the already overflowing basket.
Look, laundry is honestly the last thing on my to-do list when it’s already brimming with fifty other things.
It can wait until… tomorrow. Which means next week and will take me at least two to finish.
I pick up the half-eaten bag of Cheetos and close it, then shove it into my nightstand drawer and then grab the various textbooks scattered across the room and stack them on the top of my desk.
Maybe… I should just make the bed too?
Get fucking real, Merritt. You’ve never made your bed a day in your life.
True.
And then, why would I randomly have my bed made at like 11:00 p.m. on a Friday night, when normal people are going to sleep?
That would be weird.
Why am I nervous? I’m never nervous.
Plus… it’s Bennett.
I don’t even care what he thin—
I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear a thud outside the window, followed by a low, rough groan.
Shit, he’s here.
I walk over and tug at the window until it slides open.
“Jesus fucking Christ, I feel like I just summited Mount Everest,” Bennett grunts, slipping through the window that seems comically small against his thick, wide shoulders.
My annoyance at him rises when his clean, masculine scent surrounds me, fresh cedar and pine, and something I can’t place but that makes me want to sniff the air around me like a weirdo.
Actually, I might be having a mental break.
I think.
I’m already regretting this, and he just got here. Being this close to him makes me think about the kiss and how much I want it to happen again, even though it is absolutely not happening again.
Bennett stands up once he’s fully inside, too few inches of hardwood separating us, and gives me a devilish grin. “Mer Bear.”
“Do you want me to push you out that window you just crawled through?” I retort, narrowing my eyes.
The fucker just chuckles, that stupid, ragged sound that makes my skin tingle.
“As much as I love your stabby tendencies, I’m still trying to catch my breath, so give me at least five minutes before you try and kill me.”
“Mmm. You know…” I cross my arms over my chest. “I thought hockey players were supposed to be full of stamina? Kinda worried for you, Legros. You should probably work on your endurance.”
The corner of his lip ticks up, and his deep blue eyes seem to darken at my taunt. He steps closer, and I hate the way my traitorous body reacts, my heart tearing at my chest at the proximity, my pulse stuttering alongside it.
“If you’re so worried about how long I can last, maybe we should work on it together, then? Lots of hands-on practice to build my stamina up.”
His rasped words are heavily laced with something that sends a bolt of fiery thrill dancing down my spine.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
What is wrong with me tonight?
Bennett’s gaze drops to my lips before slowly lifting back to my eyes. “Trust me, Merritt, you’d tire long before I do. Every muscle in your body would be boneless from exertion. You’d be a sweaty, tangled, panting mess.”
“Oh, wouldn’t you know, your ridiculous ego is showing again,” I say with an eye roll, swallowing hard. “You have a better chance of winning the lottery than me sleeping with you.”
“Wow,” he murmurs. “I was talking about scaling the side of your house like Spider-Man the way I just did. Get your brain out the gutter, Mer Bear.” His head shakes, and he smirks when my nostrils flare.
Everything that comes out of his mouth is to get a rise out of me, I’m sure of it.
And every time, I play right into it.
“Cute pajamas,” he says as he drags his bright gaze down my body, and I look down, realizing that in my haste to speed pick up my bedroom, I didn’t change out of my “rotting” clothes.
I’m still in the old, oversized Oasis T-shirt that I found at a thrift store and a pair of navy and green striped boxers that barely peek out beneath the hem of my shirt.
The shorts are borderline indecently short, but whatever. I obviously was not planning on this impromptu emergency meeting he begged for.