Between Friends (31 page)

“
I was out with
my sister.”
He calmly lets out a
sigh and pushes back his broad shoulders.

“
You’
re lying to me! Just
like you did about Stephanie!” I scream at him, and place my head
in my hands. I wish I could just control myself. This spastic loose
cannon approach to putting him in his place is not what I had
planned at all when I imagined us coming face to face for the first
time since things ended.

“
Megan, calm
down
!” Ben shouts back with hurt
behind his eyes, “I’m not lying to you. My sister lost like fifty
pounds, remember? Michelle probably didn’t recognize her. But if
she would have come over to our table, she would have known that. I
took her out for dinner because I needed someone to talk to -
about
you
.” He finishes and points his finger at me.

“
Even if it’s
that’s the case
,” I say putting
my hands rigidly to my hips, now completely unsure of what to
believe and feeling slightly stupid, “It doesn’t matter anyway.
It’s over and nothing will ever be the same between us. I just
can’t be friends again.”

“
Megan – “Ben
pleads.

“
I just can’t do
it.” I mumble
and cut him off. I
make the mistake of looking up at him, only to feel a giant
crocodile tear trickle down my cheek.

“
Please don’t
cry-” Ben softly says placing himself only a few inches in front of
me. He gently wipes away my tear with the back of his thumb
and pulls my head into his chest then
whispers, “Believe me, I don’t want to be friends anymore
either.”

I pull away and
look up at him, both
confused and
anxious as to what he means. I feel a prickling sensation behind my
knees as I stare directly into his dark brown eyes.

“
Megan, I know in the past
I said I didn’t believe in love and marriage and all that crap.”
Ben sighs and continues, “But that’s because I had never been with
someone I wanted all those things with. But when I’m with you, I
want all those things.” He runs one hand through his hair and
nervously bites his lip, “I love you.”

My heart is racing and I can barely
breathe, let alone respond to Ben’s words. I try to muster
something out, but no such luck. I am a surplus of emotions;
thrilled, ecstatic, confused, you name it. I even wonder if this is
all a dream and I secretly pinch myself when he isn’t looking, “Do
you remember that New Year’s Eve at The Cove?”

I nod thinking to
myself
how could I forget?
“Do you remember me asking you at the end of the
night if you wanted me to come back to your apartment?”

“
Yeah” I say feeling myself
blush.

“
That’s the night I knew I
loved you.”

“
Oh please” I grumble,
looking down to the floor.

“
Megan, stop.” Ben pleads,
“Please hear me out.”

I roll my eyes, but he continues,
“That night, you were so beautiful. I had never seen you look so
amazing. I remember you wore a tight jean skirt with a black shirt.
It was low in the front and haltered around your neck so you had a
bare back. You were even wearing high heels, which was so unlike
you.”

I am stunned that he actually
remembered what I was wearing. Ben never pays attention to stuff
like that. I suddenly feel all the tightness and tension drain from
my body.

“
I have always had feelings
for you, but I thought they were because we were such good friends.
But that night, when I saw other guys checking you out at the bar,
I didn’t like it. I tried to see if maybe you were feeling the same
way as I was, by making little gestures towards you all night, but
you didn’t bite. Instead you shut me down twice, once in the bar
and once out at the cab.”

“
Why didn’t you just say
something?” I ask.

“
Megan did you not hear me?
You shut me down all night and then shortly after that you started
dating that douche bag Marco. You have never ever not had a
boyfriend! When was I supposed to swoop in and tell you how I felt?
Not to mention how you can be so intimidating and closed off at
times that it makes you impossible to read. When I hooked up with
Stephanie or any other girl for that matter, you were too busy off
dating someone else to ever give a shit how I felt. What was I
supposed to do? Stay celibate in hopes that one day you might love
me as much as I loved you? Besides, that night with Stephanie, I
was beyond drunk and I thought you wanted nothing to do with me.
But trust me, if I had thought even for a second I had any type of
chance with you, it would never have happened.”

Ben places his hand on my lower back.
I want to brush him away, but I don’t. Instead I feel the warmth
from his palm radiating onto my skin and feel myself weaken to his
touch as my breathing quickens.

He gently tucks a loose
strand of hair behind my ear, “That night, at Third Rail Tavern, I
never had a date that stood me up. I invited you there on purpose,
because I promised myself before we left that it would be the last
time I would ever try and see if there was something more than
friends between us. When I propositioned you with that coin toss,
and you said yes, I couldn’t believe it. I knew once we did
that,
there was a chance
it could ruin everything. But after it happened, it only confirmed
I wanted to be with you so bad that I couldn’t keep on hiding how
much I loved you, because being your friend just wasn’t good enough
for me anymore.”

“
You really love me?” I say
and feel my heart pounding out of my chest.

“
Megan, I love you so
fucking much that I can’t even imagine my life without you.” Ben’s
expression lets me know that he truly loves me. It was written all
over his face and the desperation in his voice only confirms that
this is definitely not a lie. All I can think about is how much I
love him too, “
Since the day we met, you’ve
always had my heart and I’ve always known you were the greatest
thing to ever walk into my life. I swear to God Megan, I have never
wanted anything more in my life than to be with you. And I have
never been more terrified in all my life as I am right
now.”

I open my mouth slightly, because I
can’t wait to shout out that I love him, but he
interrupts.

“
Wait. Before you
say anything else, I have something I want to give you - for your
birthday.” He pulls a small neatly wrapped box with a pink bow from
the pocket of his jeans.

He hands me the gift, and without a
word, I slowly unwrap it to find a tiny brown box, beneath all the
cream colored wrapping paper and shiny pink ribbons. I look up at
him, petrified of what might be in there, but he gives me a
reassuring nod. I pry the box open to see a shiny 1952 George
Washington quarter on a bed of tissue paper. I know exactly what
significance this quarter holds, and I feel the tears well up in my
eyes.

“
I saved it.” Ben nervously
says, “I want you to have it.”

I look at him, and feel the same way I
did that night he took me turtle watching in Costa Rica. I love
him, more than anything in the whole entire world, and I so badly
want to kiss him.

“
Megan, please say
something. Tell me right now whether or not you feel the same way.”
Ben begs taking one step closer and pushes his pelvis into my body.
I can feel the warmth of his breath on my shoulders when he presses
his nose against my forehead. He places his hand on my cheek and
his touch is electric. It sends a tingling sensation up my spine
and raises the hairs on my neck.

“
I do.” I say and lock my
eyes with his.

Ben lets out a huge sigh of relief. He
moves his hand down from my cheek, and cups the back of my neck and
places his other free hand firmly on my bottom. I tilt my head up
to meet his lips and I swear I see fireworks go off in my condo
when our mouths finally touch. I can’t believe this is happening;
never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine us in this moment. I
never ever thought for a second Ben would ever love me in any other
way than a friend, or that I would ever be so lucky.

I grip him harder in my arms, and kiss
him back, running my fingers through his thick dark hair. We
stumble onto the sofa and my heartbeat quickens; my lips part as
Ben passionately kisses me and thrusts his hips up against mine. He
smells ridiculously good, but it is definitely not cologne. I’m
thinking more body wash, or expensive shampoo. Whatever it is, it’s
intoxicating and I am lost in him and this moment. My heart has
accepted that he is my forever, and more importantly, that is
exactly what my heart wants. When he yanks off my blazer, I also
accept I am not going to Macy’s anytime soon, and the only birthday
outfit I will be wearing tonight, is coincidently the one I was
born with.

Ben
flips me on top of him, and pulls me upright into a
sitting position. He peels my shirt off from my body and flexes his
hips, then slowly kisses down my neck and all along my shoulders.
He smiles against my collarbone, and looks up at me and says, “This
is it Megan. You are all I want. I love you.”

I smile inside and
seductively whisper, “I love you too.”

Ben lips suction
against mine and his hand covers my breast, while the other cups my
bottom. I love his hands all over me. I love how he makes me feel
and I love how hard he feels against my groin. He growls and runs
his nose along my neck and whispers against
my skin, “You smell incredible.”

I grab
handful
s of his shirt and yank it
over his head. His six pack is stunning as I run my hands along its
ripples, “It’s been way too long.” Ben whispers, then with a
naughty smirk says, “You’re gonna get it.”

His hands cup my
face
as he kisses me, strong,
passionate and fierce. I run my fingers through his hair and feel
the ache welling up inside me. Ben lifts me off of him, never
letting his lips stray from my mouth and leans me back onto the
sofa. He runs his hands down the sides of my body until he finds my
knees and forces them apart. Oh my God the way he touches me sends
chills up my spine. His hardness pressing between my legs, makes me
crave nothing more than for him to be inside me.

Ben jerks off my
pants
and tosses them over the
sofa. He slides my panties to the side and his hand wanders
right
there
. Ben kicks off his jeans moving inside me with his
fingers. He pulls away leaving my lips and making me throb between
my legs. Our breathing is quick and heavy as Ben hovers over me and
locks his soft brown eyes with mine. I lift my hips to meet his
thrust and wrap my legs around his waist. Thrust after thrust and
kiss after kiss everything still feels surreal. I claw at his back
when I climax and moments later he releases. He lets out a deep
breath, still inside me and gently strokes my hair then
kisses my forehead, “You’re my
forever.”

I let out a sigh of happiness when Ben
pulls out and slides against my side. I cuddle into him and feel
his smooth bare chest on my warm skin. We lie together in a
comfortable silence letting out breathing slow.

After a few short minutes, Ben sits up
on the sofa and smiles “I want to take you out on a real date. How
about tonight, for a birthday dinner?”

“
Right now?” I ask still in
an utter daze from our fantastic make-up sex. I glance at the clock
on my wall, “It’s already quarter to eight and I have to be
somewhere at nine.”

Ben strokes my bare legs with his
fingers, “Where are you going?”

“
Jessica made reservations
at JBar. Do you want to come?” I ask.

“
You bet I’m coming. I am
not letting my sexy girlfriend out on the town without me.” Ben
laughs, leans down and kisses my forehead. I love that he just
called me his girlfriend and I smile from ear to ear.

Ben places his index finger on his
chin, and taps it there for a few moments, “You know, if we leave
right now and go for dinner, I am positive we will have more than
enough time to meet up with everyone else at nine.”

“
It’s almost eight o’clock.
That’s not enough time.” I whine wiggling myself up on the
sofa.

“
It is more than enough
time.” Ben insists and pulls me on top of him to straddle his naked
body, then gently kisses me on the lips, “Now get up.”

“
No” I laugh and wrap my
arms around his neck, “Let’s just stay here. You can take me out on
a real date anytime. I don’t want to be late. An hour is really not
enough time. I still need to get ready.”

Ben crosses his arms in front of his
smooth muscular chest, “Is that so?”

“
Yes it is.” I say and kiss
his cheek. Ben mischievously rips my arms out from around his neck,
and starts playfully wrestling me. He tickles up and down my sides
and forces me into the sofa.

“
Stop it!” I shout,
laughing hysterically and try to wiggle myself free.

“
Not until you agree to
have dinner with me.” He says.

“
Fine! I will!” I laugh,
but when I gain back my breath I scold him, “But we cannot be a
minute late, so pick a restaurant somewhere close to
JBar.”