Page 34 of Planning on Happily Ever After

Their chemistry was undeniable, and she had made him laugh and smile more than he probably had in his entire adult life, but what did he offer her in return? A dour expression and the empty promise of a night she wouldn’t forget. She wouldn’t be forgetting it all right. Ben was fairly certain her disappointment would last forever. Frustrated, he breathed in and out steadily as he and Henry rounded a small park, but his mind wouldn’t settle, so he picked up his pace a bit to try and work the anxiety from his body.

“What’s up with you tonight?” Henry asked, a little short of breath but still managing to keep pace with Ben. “You’re super quiet.”

Ben snorted at his friend stating the obvious. “What do you mean? I’m always quiet.”

That was true for the most part, though Ben was proud of the progress he had made in that department. He had opened himself up more to his best friend and his coworkers as well as lead the team meeting yesterday when their supervisor had called in sick and asked him to do it. It hadn’t been easy, and Ben had squeezed the life out of his Pac-Man stress ball the entire time, but he managed to do it. When the whole thing was over, a quick call to Holly provided him with a relaxing finish in the form of her cheery voice and congratulatory words.

Henry nodded his head in agreement. “I mean, yea, you’re always quiet, but tonight it’s like, a loud kind of quiet. Like you have a lot on your mind or something.”

Damn, the man was astute. “How the hell could you tell that?”

Henry shrugged a shoulder as he jogged. “Maybe it’s because my sisters are so good at reading people and it rubbed off on me or because I have a twin and we’re basically telepathic at times. I don’t know. All I know is that your silence is way louder than normal. So, come on. What’s up? Is it something with Holly?”

Ben’s footfalls stuttered, and he almost went down on the pavement before he managed to recover. “Why would you think that?”

Henry chuckled humorlessly. “Come on, dude. I know I told you not to pursue anything unless you were sure, but it’s not like either of you need my permission to date each other, and neither of you has been able to hide how happy you’ve been the last few weeks. You don’t have to worry about me going all big brother on you or anything.” Henry scoffed and waved a hand between them. “We both know I couldn’t kick your ass if you had one hand tied behind your back.”

Ben chuckled at the visual. Henry was no slouch, but Ben probably had at least twenty pounds of muscle on him. “Fair enough.” He jogged for another moment before slowing his pace to make conversation easier, actually enjoying talking about his feelings with a friend. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you a heads up, though. I know you and Holly are close.”

“Eh, as long as you guys are happy, I’m good.” Henry’s words were assuring as they jogged back toward the bakery, but his expression was anything but. “You don’t seem happy right now, though.”

Grateful that Henry was merely showing concern, Ben shook his head. “I’m not unhappy.” It was quite the opposite in fact. Ben was so sublimely happy that all he could think about was how he was going to screw it up now that he’d stupidly put so much pressure on their upcoming date. “Holly and I haven’t really gone out on an actual date yet, and I kind of promised to make our first date special. Only...”

Henry had matched his even slower pace and nodded knowingly. “Only you’re not a date guy, and you think my sister has ridiculous rom-com standards that you have no way of ever meeting?”

Ben winced at Henry’s spot on assessment. “Maybe.” He scratched the back of his neck anxiously, the thought of losing something before he ever really had it undoing all the stress-relief the running had accomplished. “I just want it to be amazing for her. She’s amazing.”

The words were said more to himself than Henry, but his friend clapped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, a smile on his face as he peered over at Ben. “Well, I’m glad to hear that you think that. As much as Holly can get on my last nerve sometimes, I love her like crazy, and I’m glad she found someone who can see her for the awesome person she is.”

“Yea, but how do I not screw up this date?” Ben frowned, his mind empty of everything other than all the ways in which it could go wrong.

Henry chuckled at Ben’s misery and for a moment, he considered tripping his friend just to get back at him. “You are way overthinking this, my guy. You could take Holly out to a fast food restaurant, buy her a kid’s meal, and finish up the date with an ice cream cone and she would think it was the best time she’s ever had as long as you treat her right.” Henry’s face turned serious. “I mean it. Is Holly a romantic person who wants flowers and candy? Maybe on occasion, but she also just wants people to be themselves, and if you’re uncomfortable with what you’re doing, she’ll pick up on that. As long as you’re having fun, she’ll have fun.”

Ben considered Henry’s advice as they continued to walk, taking a few deep breaths and enjoying the smell of spring in the air. The redbud trees were starting to blossom, their sweet scent reminding him of Holly. Each time they had been together, they hadn’t been doing anything special, but she seemed to have a good time. Her smile had lit up the entire arcade the other night, and they had done nothing more than play games and drink milkshakes. Maybe Henry was right. Ben had been spinning his wheels, thinking too hard about the whole thing, when really all he needed was to go with his gut.

As they approached the back lot of the bakery where he had parked his car, Henry nodded toward his apartment. “You want to come in and game?”

Ben looked down at his sweat soaked shirt and did a sniff test. He was definitely in need of a shower, and as much as he would like to see Holly, he thought it would be better if he just called her later. She wouldn’t be able to smell him over the phone. “Maybe another time.” He smiled wryly. “Your sister may not need flowers and candy, but I don’t think she’d appreciate my post-run cologne, either.”

Henry chuckled. “Fair point.” They bumped fists and Henry walked toward the building. “Later, man,” he called over his shoulder.

“Later.” As Ben drove home, he was grateful he’d talked to Henry about what was on his mind and that his friend didn’t seem to have a problem with his dating Holly. Of course, there were still numerous ways he could still screw things up or inadvertently hurt her, but Ben pushed those worries aside and did the best impersonation of Holly he could by focusing on the positive.

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