I thought about it for a moment, then thrust my hands into my sweatpants. “You know, I don’t learn from my mistakes.”
“Just perfect,” he said, not even fighting me.
We packed our things and headed for the door. “I’ll walk you home,” I offered.
“We live on the same street,” Bennet pointed out.
“Makes my task so much easier,” I said. “So. It’s not that you don’t like alcohol and sex.”
He sliced me in half with a swift gaze, then surrendered because I was just relentless. Sighing, he said, “I have goals. And if I want to achieve them, I have to stick to a path I planned for myself. I don’t have time for messing around with guys or going to parties.”
We walked out of the building, and I pulled my jacket closer against the night chill. “You kidding? There’s plenty of time in a day.”
“Yes, but what if…I dunno. What if I fall in love and it messes up all my plans? Or if I start going to parties all the time. Or both. Besides, we’re way too young for big stuff like that. I think I should stay focused and not make major life mistakes.”
“Mistakes are the spice you need in life,” I said. “Besides, we are young, but you’re not so immature. You’re much older than you think.”
Bennet glanced at me, and I could see it on his face; I could see that he wanted to agree with that.
“There’s a party at our place on Friday,” I said. “You should come.”
He shook his head decisively. “It’s Dungeons & Dragons night.”
“You play?” I asked.
“I’m a physics nerd living in the Thinkers’ House,” Bennet said bluntly. “What do you think?”
I slowed down and turned to face him. “I think we’re more than stereotypes, Bennet. And I think Dungeons & Dragons is awesome.”
He was so ready for me to tease him about the nerdiness that my words caught him unexpectedly. He opened his mouth, then shut it, thought about it, and tried again. “Have you ever played?”
“Me? Hell yeah. I had a crew in high school, and we played twice a month. Bet you’re some kind of mage.”
A mix of shyness and pride was too cute when he cocked his head and let the corners of his lips lift a little. “Paladin.”
“I was a Cave Troll called Dud who joined a party of adventurers,” I admitted. “My intellect was zero, and, surprisingly, my strength was, too, but I maxed out my luck.”
Bennet laughed without restraint for the first time since I’d met him. “God, you’re a nightmare.”
“You should have seen the DM slapping her face every time I rolled the dice,” I said, laughing with him.
Bennet folded his lips and let the silence returnbetween us. “You’re a nerd,” he said, his voice light with surprise, but the pleasant kind. “You don’t belong in the Bel House at all.”
“I just told you,” I said. “We’re more than those old stereotypes.”
He nodded. “You’re right. Sorry. But you’re still a very popular athlete who couldn’t pass Stats if his life depended on it.” Was that teasing?
“Would a popular athlete volunteer to bring a cheese platter to your next Dungeons & Dragons night? Dud’s probably still living somewhere deep inside me,” I said.
“Did you just invite yourself to our game?” Bennet asked.
I shrugged. “With cheese.”
“Half of my roommates are lactose intolerant, so take that however you want,” Bennet said.
A laugh broke out of me, and we started walking back to our houses again. “You know what? I’ll come with a six-pack of beer, and you’ll see that our worlds can meet in the middle.”
“If you think you can get me to drink out of a keg upside down by the end of the year, you’d better quit right now,” Bennet said.