Page 45 of Nothing Like the Movies

It was a pointless goal, to be nabbed to start in a game that counted for nothing, but for me, that game counted for everything.

And it’d been my primary focus since recommitting to the team.

I needed it to exorcise some ghosts.

I was well aware of the fact that since I was a freshman, I probably wouldn’t start in manyactualgames this season, if any.

But Ross thought this one was a possibility.

You throw enough filth to get the start, but you’ve gotta get rid of the shit, kid.

I finally got desperate, and on Saturday morning I called him.

“Ross here,” he answered.

“Hey, it’s Bennett,” I said, feeling a little weird about calling him even though he always said he was available twenty-four seven. “Do you have any time for extra workouts this weekend?”

“Goddamnit,” he said, sounding like he was still in bed. “I’ve been waiting for you to get your head out of your ass and make this call, but did you have to do it when I’m hungover?”

“Uh,” I said, smiling even though he sounded legit pissed. “Yes…?”

“Fuck off,” he said, “and meet me in an hour.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I think the three of us make a wonderful pair.”

—Seems Like Old Times

Liz

“Good morning, sunshine.”

I walked into the kitchen and rolled my eyes as Leo grinned at me from where he was sitting on the counter in SpongeBob pajama pants and a hoodie, eating a bowl of cereal. The weekend had gone by way too fast, and I wasn’t quite ready for Monday to be here yet.

I’d spent the weekend editing the player intros and making some Reels, so I was in desperate need of another day to catch up on my studies.

“How long have you been up?” I asked.

I liked getting up early to run before class every day, but Leo liked getting up at four a.m. every day because of no reason. He simply likedtacking extra time onto my morning, he said, which made sense on paper but not when it came time to crawl out from under comfy blankets.

“Since, like, four fifteen,” he said, shrugging. “Slept in today.”

“Uh-huh.” I pressed the power button on the Keurig and walked over to the fridge, opening the door to grab my yogurt. “Did you get my rent?”

I usually Venmoed my rent payment to him, but since my grandma gave me a wad of have-fun-at-college money when I visited her last month, I stuck the cash under his door this time.

“Yeah,” he said offhandedly, and it still blew my mind that it didn’t matter to him.

At all.

Leo, who was the sweetest, most thoughtful human, didn’t really think about money because he’d never had to. It was bizarre, the thought of growing up that way. I’d never been poor, but I’d also been very aware throughout my childhood that there were a million things we couldn’t afford.

Honestly, I still woke up every morning and squealed a little that I was somehow living in a really nice apartment for the same amount I’d been paying for the dorms.

But for Leo, it was the norm.

“I was thinking we should get a cat,” he said, looking dead serious.

---