BENNETT
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“I don’t know whether I should hit you or kiss you right now,” Zach muses, looking around the living room before glancing back over at me, shaking his head.
I offer him a shit-eating grin and lift my shoulder. “Maybe both? You know I like it a little rough.”
“Freaky little fucker,” he mutters through a laugh.
When he lifts his arm to toss it over my shoulders, the strings of tiny bells on the front of his sweater jingle, and he groans.
“Jesus, I feel like a fucking cat right now, wearing one of those collars with the bells on it so you know when they’re coming. ”
“Look like one, too, with that ugly-ass furry sweater,” Tyler adds, walking up with three green plastic cups clutched in his arms, the liquid inside that smells suspiciously like eggnog nearly sloshing over the rim.
Zach grunts, narrowing his eyes. “Oh, fuck off.”
Tyler just shrugs, distributing the cups to both of us and keeping one for himself. “You’re the one who chose that shit. They had plenty of others to pick from, but noooo, instead, you chose to walk around like you glued fire-truck-red pube hair to your shirt.”
I nearly fucking choke mid-sip, sputtering some of the eggnog back into the cup when a laugh tears out of me. “Oh, fuck.”
Zach’s brows pinch together, and he looks between Tyler and me. “You know, that really hurts my feelings, you asshole. Despite the jingling, this is a funny fucking sweater.”
“Yeah, totally. Suuuuuper funny,” Tyler quips as he reaches out and fingers the tufts of fur on the front that do, in fact, look like pube hair if I’m being honest. “I bet it even helps you get laid tonight wearing that.”
“I don’t need help getting laid, motherfucker,” Zach grunts, rolling his eyes.
I tip the cup back, draining the rest of my eggnog, then step between them, throwing my arms over their shoulders. “Now, now, boys. It’s our last Christmas together. Let’s not argue about Zach’s pube sweater.”
“You fuck—”
I press a finger to his lips. “Shhhh. Just accept it. Let me have a sentimental moment that doesn’t involve balls, okay? This time next year, who knows where we’ll all be, so we’re going to enjoy being at this party, this eggnog, and each other while we can.”
Zach’s lip twitches in amusement. “That was so beautiful. Good job.”
My arms tighten around their shoulders, and I pull them into me. “Us against the world, pookies.”
I get about five seconds more before Tyler’s shrugging out of my hold and pushing me back.
He’s not big on cuddling. His loss.
Real men are comfortable showing their feelings and emotions instead of burying them, but tell that to Saint Devereaux 2.0.
“Your cheerfulness is making me uncomfy,” he says, taking another step back. “Five feet of distance at all times, brother.”
I chuckle, and Zach rolls his eyes as he takes a sip of eggnog and cocks his head. “Damn, this is good as fuck. What’s in it?”
“Rum, I think,” Tyler answers.
Nodding, I shake my cup in the air between us. “And speaking of, y’all want a refill?”
Tyler drains his cup in a single gulp and says, “Yup.”
“Have I told you what a brilliant idea it was to have an ugly sweater party?” Zach asks when a girl walks by wearing a red sweater dress that barely covers the curve of her ass.
His gaze lingers on her until she’s gone, and he shakes his head.
“Fucking brilliant, my guy. Love that big brain of yours when you decide to use it.”
“Remind him of that later when Gauthreaux gets here,” Tyler says, and my jaw tightens.
“I mean, you can’t invite everyone on the team for a party and not invite him,” Zach reasons. “It’ll be fine. Bennett’s not a scrappy kind of guy.”
I scan the room in search of him, but I don’t see his obnoxiously large head. The majority of the team is already here, spread all over our living room, drinking and dancing, but not Gauthreaux.
Maybe he’s just going to no-show, and it’ll save us both the headache.
Not sure why he’d want to come anyway when we can’t stand being in the same room, even when we’re forced to be.
“He’s also not a girlfriend kinda guy, but apparently, he is now,” Tyler adds, and my gaze shifts to him and the taunting curve of his lips. “Isn’t that right? Tonight’s the night we get to meet your new girl.”
I sigh.
I knew this was coming. From the second I told them about Merritt, they’ve given me relentless shit.
I kept the whole “fake” part to myself, so he and Zach only know her as my new girlfriend.
As much as I don’t want fuckface Gauthreaux in my house tonight, him being here and seeing Merritt and me together will strengthen the belief that we’re together. He’ll see it for himself.
So I guess maybe it won’t be the end of the world if he does actually come.
“Don’t be weird,” I say, looking back and forth between Zach and Tyler. “Don’t make her feel uncomfortable, and if either of you say some shit that comes across as even remotely disrespectful, I’m going to punch you in the dicks.”
I know the second that Zach’s face lights up like a kid on fucking Christmas and he turns to look at Tyler that they’re going to make me beat their asses.
I just know it.
But I won’t let these dumbasses ruin my overly cheerful mood tonight.
Which is obviously because it’s almost Christmas, the best day of the year, and you can’t be unhappy on Christmas, or you’re just a miserable fuck.
And because I get a whole night with Merritt, and I don’t have to spend a second of it pretending that I’m not fucking crazy about her.
I want to tell her, but I’m honestly scared to.
I’ve never really felt this way about anyone the way that I do about her, and I’m scared that if I tell her how I feel, she’ll shut down, or even worse, that she doesn’t see me the way that I see her.
For fuck’s sake, feelings are terrifying.
“She’s… She’s really fucking important to me. Like, maybe more important than anyone else in my life besides my family. I’m not going to fuck this up, and that means you aren’t going to either.”
Zach lifts his hands, palm up. “I swear I’ll be on my best behavior. I can’t speak for this idiot here, but…”
Tyler reaches out and slaps him on the back of the head, and I smirk.
“Actually, you’re both fucking idiots. But…” Trailing off, I start walking backward to the kitchen. “You’re my idiots. Time for a refill, let’s go.”
“I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve managed to make a snowman hot.” I clutch at my chest, raking my gaze over Merritt. “My God, I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on before.”
Her head tips back, and a bubbly laugh pours out of her, a sweet, infectious sound that warms my insides and makes my heart thump wildly.
I hang her jacket on the hook next to the front door and flash her a grin. “I’m serious.”
“Thank you.” She does a small twirl, showing off her tight black sweater, which hugs her ample chest and soft waist like a second skin.
It’s got a snowman on the front that says “I like big buttons and I cannot lie” with small red buttons for eyes.
It’s hilarious and exactly something she’d pick.
“You look… adorable. The antlers really pull it all together.”
I waggle my brows at her. “Obviously, I’m very horny.”
Her smile widens, and amusement shines back at me in her warm, smoky eyes. “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more ridiculous.”
“Gotta keep you on your toes, Mer Bear.”
Humming, she steps past me into the living room, and her eyes go wide when she sees the number of people standing in it.
“Yeah, so… apparently, word got out about tonight, and a few people outside of the team showed up.”
Her gaze whips to mine. “You think?”
By a few, I mean at least a hundred, but what’s a guy to do? It was supposed to be a team-only party, but one person told another, who told another, and here we are.
I shrug and take a step forward, slipping my arm around her waist and hauling her to me, burying my face in her neck.
Jesus fuck, how does she smell so goddamn good all the time?
Warm, sweet vanilla mixed with a hint of cherry tartness that makes me want to throw her over my shoulder and haul her upstairs just so I can spend the rest of the night devouring her.
It’s been far too long.
Three days will starve a man.
“Want something to drink? We’ve got eggnog, beer, some vodka seltzers.”
She tips her head back to look up at me. “Uhh, maybe just a little eggnog?”
“Cool. Stay right here, and I’ll go grab it for you.”
The sweet, lingering smile she gives me nearly makes me trip over my own feet before I’m even able to make it out of the living room.
I have no idea how the fuck I’m supposed to act casual around her, like I don’t have fluttering in my stomach or a racing heart when she looks at me.
Or fuck, how I’m two seconds away from popping a foot out when she kisses me.
I should probably be embarrassed by the level of down bad that I am for her, especially since she has no fucking idea, but I can’t seem to find the will to give a shit.
A couple of my teammates are in the kitchen when I walk in to fix Merritt a drink, so I stay for a few and talk. We’ve got a winter conference coming up before we get a couple of days off for the holiday, and we’re all pumped for it.
Every time I think about it too long, a sense of anxiety washes over me at the fact that I have no clue what the future holds right now.
Not just my spot on the team, but what’s going to happen after graduation.
Or what’s going to happen with Merritt when I finally tell her how I feel.
When I finally get the courage to. Everything feels unsteady, and I fucking hate this feeling.
That anxiety amplifies when I walk back into the living room and see Gauthreaux standing in front of her wearing a cocky, self-assured smile. Standing far too close. His body language is familiar, like he feels comfortable being in Merritt’s personal space.
My grip tightens around the cup in my hand, and the plastic crinkles under the weight.