Page 51 of The Casanova Complex

“You know, the fact that you have the ability to read me so well is honestly a little concerning.”

Mads smirks, lifting a shoulder. “Or some would say it’s a gift. Now, talk.”

“Fine. So you know how I’m partnered with Bennett Legros for our Creative Writing project?”

Stella’s eyes widen, and Mads gasps, “Oh shit.”

I nod somberly. “Somehow, that led to us kissing… twice?”

“No fucking way!” Mads cries, nearly flying off the floor. “You little slut, keeping something like this from us! How could you? Wait, I thought we hated him. We did hate him, right?” She nudges Stella in the side, and she snaps out of her stupor.

“I mean, I thought I did? But then we got partnered on this project together, and he’s painfully annoying and still tragically as charming as I remember. But it kind of, I don’t know, just accidentally happened?”

Stella waggles her brows, “Accidentally happened twice?”

Once is an accident, but twice is…

“Actually, can we just talk about anything other than this?” I cry, looking between both of my friends, who are staring at me with far too much amusement on their faces. “It was obviously just a… momentary lapse in judgment that isn’t going to happen again.”

Seriously.

It’s never happening again.

I lost my head… twice, and now I’m going to stop. Cold turkey.

It was just a kiss that meant absolutely nothing.

They already know about Blake showing up at Ever After the other day and that he brought his new girlfriend, aka the girl he cheated with, to flaunt in front of me, or at least that’s what I’m assuming was his plan.

I just… didn’t add in the part about Bennett pretending to be my boyfriend orrrrrr the fact that I kissed him in front of Blake.

And also left out the entire part about Bennett’s whole fake dating idea because it’s ridiculous and not even worth repeating.

Bennett Legros has clearly taken too many hits to his head. That’s the only reason he’d even suggest something as ridiculous as fake dating. Even for the sake of superstition.

And even if I were considering it, which I’m obviously, you know… not, I barely have time to sleep as it is. I can’t even fathom taking on yet another… responsibility. Because that’s what it would be. I’m juggling a thousand different things, and most days not very well.

Plus, being his girlfriend, fake or not, is literally the last thing anyone who actually knows me would believe.

Why does it sound like I’m arguing a case to myself right now?

Mads laughs, and I pull my gaze from the TV to hers. “Mhmmmm. Yeah, no, I don’t actually believe you, but if you want to lie to yourself…”

See? This is exactly what I was worried about in telling them. That they’d get some stupid thing in their head that I actually am interested in Bennett.

“Nope,” I say adamantly, shaking my head. “No fucking way. I knew you two would do this.”

Stella lifts her hands. “Woah now, I haven’t said a thing.”

I pin her with a stare, and she crumples under a single second later. “I’m not saying you want him to fuck you into the mattress…” She trails off and rolls her lips together as she stifles a laugh. “But I’m also not.”

“I hate you. Both,” I groan, grabbing the pillow from behind me and slamming it over my face. “It was a one-off. I want nothing to do with Bennett Legros outside of this project that we have to work on together.”

“What was that? Sorry, I couldn’t hear all of your jumbled lies with the pillow covering your face,” Mads says before wrenching said pillow off and tossing it to the ground. “Look, all Stella and I are saying is that if you did happen to want to ride a certain hockey player until the next Blood Moon, it wouldn’t be the worst thing, Merritt. You deserve all the orgasms.”

“Yeah,” Stella interjects. “Honestly, you could prob use some orgasms with how… stressed you are. Orgasms make people happy.”

“And happy people don’t kill their husbands,” I add.