Page 68 of The Enemy Face Off

Beth:You have a talent for exuding arrogance, even via text, you know that?

Milo:Arrogant and weird is an unbeatable combination.

Beth:You talk a good game.

Milo:I can back it up, too.

Beth:Can you now?

Milo:

Beth:You better win, is all I'm going to say to that.

Milo:We will.

Beth:Time will tell. See you Saturday, x.

Milo:x

It's the second time she's ended a message thread with an x, and this time, I'm proud to report it didn't send me spiraling.

I hit thatxkey and pressedSendwithout a second thought.

With our forwards dominating in the dying seconds of the game, I'm left alone to think in the goal crease. Like always, Beth occupies my every thought. Between her and the kids, it feels like that's all I ever think about.

After a couple of unexpectedly heavy conversations during our trip up the mountain, Beth's returned to her usual intoxicating mix of insults, jabs, and expressing her low-level annoyance at me any chance she gets.

That's clearly her comfort zone, so I'm going to respect that. And honestly, I like the to-and-fro banter between us.

But there is something I'm struggling with.

As much as I'd like to continue down our semi-friendly, semi-flirty path, in light of what she revealed about her past treatment, I'm not sure how to navigate things.

If I compliment her appearance, am I inadvertently reinforcing that she looks good only because she lost weight? Because I don't mean it like that. I think she'd look great at any size, but this is the only size I've seen her.

And I don't know how to proceed on the, uh, physical intimacy side of things, either.

Based on her dating history, there's a high probability she hasn't been with anyone yet. My experience on that front has only been with women who are very forward and clear on what they want.

I don't want to treat Beth differently simply based on an unconfirmed assumption I have, but if I am right, I want to tread carefully and make sure she always feels safe with me.

Because she is.

I will always give her the respect and care she rightfully deserves.

Another thing I'm not sure about?

That would be our kiss arrangement.

Sure, she clarified that she meant one kiss a day, but did she mean it hypothetically or for real that we could actually kiss every day. And if she meant the latter, does that apply only to days when we're together, or is there a running tally, in which case, we are woefully in arrears and will need to do a lot of kissing to square the kiss ledger.

The final buzzer sounds, and we end up winning the game.

We've won a lot of games this season, our turnaround from this same time last year truly remarkable.

It's January and midway through the season. Our record stands at 28-12-3. Twenty-eight wins. Twelve losses. Three overtime or shootout losses.

We're leading our division by a comfortable margin, but neither me nor my teammates are resting on our laurels. A lotcan happen between now and the finals, and we are staying focused and determined.

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