Page 45 of The Casanova Complex

“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.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing anyone tonight,” I finally say, gesturing down the length of me. “So, this is what you get.”

“It’s cute.”

Before I can ask him what exactly he is here for, he’s brushing past me further into my bedroom, and I turn, watching as he slowly looks around. He walks over to the TV and then glances at me with an arched brow. “Holy shit. A DVD player?”

“Congratulations, you can read.”

Bennett laughs. “I don’t think I’ve even seen one of these since I was a kid.” His attention moves to the stack of DVDs beside it, and he picks them up, reading out the titles. “Sweet Home Alabama, The Covenant, Fight Club.”

I feel weirdly exposed right now. Even though he’s just looking at the movies I own, he’s seeing parts of me that he doesn’t know anything about, and I’m not sure if I want him to know.

I walk over and hastily pull them out of his hands, placing the stack back down beside the TV. “No touching.”

“Never would’ve guessed you were a rom-com kind of girl, Mer Bear. Color me surprised.”

“That’s because you don’t actually know anything about me,” I say as he gazes past my shoulder, then brushes past me toward my desk, where he picks up the clay earring that I abandoned halfway through painting.

Story of my life.

He rolls the bright yellow star between his fingers, focusing his attention on my work in progress before flicking his eyes up to meet mine. “Not true. I know that you’re majoring in law,” he says matter-of-factly. “And I know that you love chocolate croissants. I know that you have a little brother that you take care of and that you have ADHD. I know that you never take that off.” He jerks his head toward me, his striking blue eyes dropping to the choker around my neck. I reach up and run my finger along the smooth band in surprise.

I’m even more surprised when he keeps going. “I also know that you spin your ring when you’re nervous or anxious, and now I know that you like movies from the ’90s.”

By the time he’s finished, my lips are parted and my eyes slightly wide with shock.