Page 119 of The Casanova Complex

Because it’s what brought us together. I have no doubt that it was fate.

Shoutout to Jane Eyre.

Once we’ve eaten nearly the entire pizza, Merritt closes the box, sitting up on her heels. “Do you think… I should check it again? I know I checked it like five times today, but maybe I should just check it again.”

“Baby… check it a hundred times if it makes you feel better.”

She pulls her lip between her teeth and chews on it distractedly while I stand from the floor and grab the pizza box out of her hands.

I drop a quick kiss to her lips. “I’m going to bring this downstairs and put it in the fridge. BRB.”

It dawns on me as I’m halfway down the hallway that it’s been a while since I’ve climbed through her window.

Now we’re much more civilized and I’ve been using the front door.

I’ve actually slept over here twice, and her dad was cool with it.

I was worried that he wouldn’t be, but honestly, it seems like he really likes me. And fuck, that means so much to me.

I know Merritt probably doesn’t understand why her dad and Elliott’s approval is so important to me, but it’s because this is my first time doing this.

Dating someone, being a boyfriend.

And I want to do it right.

Merritt deserves me to do everything the right way.

As I pass Elliott’s room, I hear him on the other side, laughing and talking with his friends.

By the sound of it, they’re playing a very intense session of Mario Kart. And I’m not going to lie, I’m a little tempted to pop in there for a quick little side quest.

But I head down the stairs and to the kitchen, putting the leftover pizza in the fridge.

I’m grabbing a Powerade from the fridge when I hear Merritt scream from upstairs.

“Bennett!”

My heart about falls out of my fucking ass. I sprint out of the kitchen and take the stairs two at a time up to her room, nearly fucking tripping over my feet when she screams my name again.

From the doorway, I find her sitting in the middle of her bed on her knees, holding her laptop in her hands, her endless brown eyes filled with tears.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I say, rushing over to her. “Are you okay? What fucking happened?”

Her throat bobs, and for a second, she’s quiet, not answering my question. But then she finally says, “I… I got in.” The words are a nearly breathless whisper, the syllables shaky, and it takes a single split second for me to realize what she’s talking about.

My eyes widen. “You got in?”

She nods repeatedly, the tears in her eyes spilling over as a sob tears out of her mouth.

Oh, fuck.

I tug her into my arms and pull her off the bed, spinning her around as she cries.

“Of course you fucking got in, baby. Congratulations, I’m so proud of you,” I murmur against her skin, her sweet scent surrounding me, my face buried into the soft spot where her shoulder meets her neck. I squeeze her tighter, plastering her small frame against me. “You have no idea how proud of you I am. I never doubted for a single fucking second, Merritt. I knew you were going to get in.”

A laugh that’s half a sob bubbles out of her, and she’s nearly blubbering as she says, “I mean, I knew that the odds were good, but there’s always a chance that I wouldn’t, you know? And I didn’t have a backup plan. My only plan has ever been to attend OU Law. I didn’t know what I was going to do if I didn’t get accepted. I never even thought about having a plan B. I should always have a plan, but I didn’t.” Her words are running together, the hot tears seeping from her wetting my shirt.

I pull back. “Hey, hey, hey.” My voice is low as I grip her chin between my fingers. “You did this, Merritt. You busted your ass for four years. A nearly perfect GPA, one of the highest LSAT scores of anyone I know, glowing letters of recommendation, hours and hours and hours of poring over case law and LSAT prep books. Baby, you earned this. You did it. You fucking did it. You didn’t need a plan B because you were always going to get in.”