Page 5 of Our Time

Derek finishes up my massage and I sit up, stretching my arms over my head and feeling so much better than I did when I laid down. “I didn’t even realize I was so tense until now,” I murmur.

“You should probably have a hot shower when you get home and make sure you’re drinkinglotsof water tonight, Ryder.”

“Will do,” I tell him, stopping to squeeze his shoulder as I pass. I grab my clothes from where I laid them on the floor, shimmying myself into my sweats and hoodie before heading out into the hall.

“Bye, Ryder!”

“Bye, guys! I’ll talk to you all soon,” I tell everyone as I go.

I head to the locker room, snagging my bag and jacket from my locker before heading out in search of Ben. Thankfully, he’s not hard to find.

“Hey,” I call out, walking over to him and watching as he carefully places Beatrice into her case. The way he takes such tender care of his camera always makes me soft. I play with my lip ring for a moment, hoping the softness isn’t coming across on my face. “What are you doing today?”

Ben looks up and smiles. “I don’t have plans.”

“Awesome. Can I come over?”

“Of course. You’re always welcome.” Ben puts Beatrice away, placing her case in her usual place before standing up straight. “Ready?”

“Yeah! Do you wanna stop for tacos on the way home?” I completely ignore the way my stomach flutters when I call Ben’s placehome. If I’m honest with myself, anywhere there’sBen, that’s where my home is. I’ve never been good at being honest with myself though.

Ben hums, tilting his head to the side. “I don’t know. I’m kinda craving something else.”

“Like what?”

“I just want the biggest, juiciest burger.”

“Yes. I approve. Let’s go.” I grab Ben around the waist, pulling him down the hallway towards the door. We stop at a burger shack on the way to his place, ordering burgers and fries and sodas for both of us. I also get a chocolate banana shake to dip my fries in.

“Lemme have a sip,” Ben murmurs as he drives, opening his mouth for my straw.

“Oh my god. Eww. I don’t want your cooties.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“No,” I say with a snicker, holding my drink out for him.

“I fucking love those. Why didn’t I get myself one too?”

“Because you always think having two drinks is one too many,” I tell him with a smile. “I’m just built different, Ben. Double fisting drinks left and right.”

“God, you’re such an ass.”

“Well, if you are what you eat.”

Ben lets out a snort of amusement. “Nice try, but I think today the saying should be ‘if you are what you serve’.”

I let out a giant giggle, almost choking on the fry I was trying to eat at that comeback. He’s notwrongbut hey! How dare he actually twist my own saying against me!

“Sorry, sorry. Please don’t die in my car.”

“I’m fine. I just wasn’t prepared for Mister Snarky over here.”

“What can I say?” Ben asks, looking over at me with a wide grin, one that I find stunning. When it’s just the two of us, I get to see a whole different side to Ben. Often he puts up walls around himself. I understand why he does it, never trusting if someone is going to accept him, but that doesn’t stop my heart from breaking on his behalf. I wish he could be like this with everyone, but at the same time, a primal, selfish part of me loves the fact that I get to have this all to myself. “You inspire me.”

It doesn’t take long before we’re pulling into Ben’s parking lot and making our way across the street to his building. Once inside, we put our bags of food on the coffee table in the living room. Ben sits on the couch and I stretch out on the floor. The burgers are everything we hoped they would be and so much more. The two of us moaning as we eat which would be embarrassing if we didn’t know each other so fucking well.

“I really need to shower,” I say, shoving the last of my fries into my mouth. My muscles are so fucking tight.

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