Page 32 of Planning on Happily Ever After

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ben

The night was cool, but not nearly chilly enough to extinguish Ben’s desire for the woman currently dragging him through downtown Sunset Cove. When Holly had suggested a way to make him feel better, Ben’s mind had taken a swan dive into a pool of fantasies involving the two of them in his bed and their clothes on the floor. Holding Holly in his arms as they glided across the dance studio had felt magical, and feeling her soft curves pressed against him necessitated a quick review of every baseball stat he’d ever memorized to keep from embarrassing himself in front of a room full of strangers.

The more they danced, the tighter he held her, the jealousy that had flared in his chest at seeing Holly dancing with another man only being extinguished when she was as close as possible. Ben was no stranger to jealousy, but normally it was over people’s social skills or comfort in public spaces, but the thought of Holly,hisHolly, with someone else felt like a knife to the chest.

The pain receded slightly when her original partner baled, but he wouldn’t be the last guy to notice what a bright, beautiful, caring person Holly was. They had talked about taking things slow, but it was starting to feel more like he was dragging his feet. If her reaction to his light suggestion that they make things more physical was any indication, however, Ben needed to keep going at her pace because she clearly wasn’t ready to take things further. As long as he kept getting to spend time with her, Ben was good with that.

As they continued to walk toward the pier, fingers intertwined and bodies huddled closely, Ben lost himself in the feeling of her hand in his, and simply having Holly nearby continued to feel like the best thing to happen to him. That this perpetually happy, extremely patient, and all around amazing woman saw something worthy in him constantly blew his mind. Ben was still awed by his stroke of good luck when Holly’s steps slowed to a stop in front of a brick building that had been painted an alarming shade of orange, the wordArcadedisplayed in big box letters.

Ben wondered if they were in the right spot and glanced down at Holly. A shy smile spread across her face as she nodded to the entrance. “We’re here.” Her tone was gleeful but filled with nervous tension. Ben looked up at the building once more before returning his gaze to hers, and his curious expression must have given her pause because her smile fell right off her face. “I know this is kind of silly, but I really thought it would cheer you up. Whenever I felt down when I was a kid, I would come here and things wouldn’t seem so bad afterward. I’ve even been here a few times as an adult for the same reason and...” she shrugged a shoulder, looking embarrassed. “Never mind.”

Ben stopped Holly from retreating both physically and emotionally by wrapping her up in arms and holding her close, squeezing her when she was looking everywhere but at him. “Eyes on me, sunshine.” When her blue eyes finally met his, Ben felt like a complete jerk. Her normally sunny features were dimmed and her expression was downcast, and he hated that he had put that expression on her face, but she had it all wrong. “I don’t think it’s silly, I was just surprised. I didn’t even know this place existed, but I’m glad it was here for you when you were down, and I’m excited to try something that has helped cheer you up in the past.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead, his heart skipping a beat as the sadness left her eyes and the brightness he was used to shined back at him again. “Now, why don’t you show me around little Holly’s happy place?”

“Okay.” Her voice was slightly less enthusiastic than normal, but still music to his ears, and he was determined to keep her talking until she was happy Holly once again.

Taking his hand, she led him into the arcade filled with the typical games you might see near a boardwalk. There was a shootout gallery, hot shot basketball, a crane game, and even the game where you try to knock down those freaky looking clowns by shooting balls at them. Holly dragged him past all of those until they were in the back where the walls were lined with vintage arcade games like Pac-Man, Tetris, and Space Invaders among others.

They came to a stop in front of an old Mortal Kombat game unit, and Holly reached into her purse, presenting him with a bag full of quarters. “For laundry and video games,” she told him with a smile. “You ready for a rematch, handsome?”

He chuckled and removed his coat before placing it on a nearby bar stool. “Oh, I was born ready, sunshine. Bring it on.”

Holly shucked her coat as well and pumped quarters into the machine. Before pressing play, she turned to him and smirked. “What do you say we make this a little more interesting?”

“What did you have in mind?” Once again, his mind went straight to something sexual. Strip video games? Ben would be down with that anytime, but remembering they were very much in a public space, he figured her mind wasn’t going to the same places his was.

For a moment he wondered if it had because her cheeks flushed an adorable shade of pink and she adjusted the collar of her dress. It seemed Holly’s thoughts weren’t always just sunny, but sultry as well. She swallowed thickly, wiping her brow with her fingertips. “Loser buys milkshakes?” she asked, her voice high and nervous.

Ben nodded with a smirk. “Sure thing, sunshine. I do have one caveat, though.”

“What’s that?” she asked breathlessly.

Leaning down near her ear so only she could hear him, Ben nuzzled against her, taking a hit of her sweet scent. “Loser buys milkshakes, but winner has to take a dare set by the loser.”

Reluctantly, Ben pulled away from her, noting the sly smile on her face and wondering exactly what she was thinking. “Deal.”

Thirty minutes and many quarters later, he and Holly were tied at ten wins each. He peeked over at her as she selected her final character. “I hope you have enough quarters in that purse to pay for my milkshake, sunshine,” he teased as he made his own selection.

“I won’t be needing them because you are the one that’s going down.” She looked at him haughtily before pressing the start button.

Holly was a fierce competitor, he would give her that, but he had more experience and had her cornered. Before he went in for the kill, however, Ben backed off, but only just enough so it didn’t look like he was letting her win. He had the perfect dare in mind and no way was he letting her have it. Holly finished him off and the game over screen popped up.

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