Page 4 of Delicious
“Ben! I haven’t seen you since high school!” I say, reaching out a hand to shake his. Instead, he opens his arms and gives me a tight hug.
Wow. He feels good against me. He’s a little smaller than me, but he’s the right size.
Right size for what, Mason? Sheesh.
We break apart, and he steps back and kicks the ground. “Mason, it’s so good to see you.”
He looks up at me, and I can’t look away, and oh my God I’ve become a cliché, and I don’t even care. But the attraction I felt for him back in high school is still there. I don’t know how to describe it. I’ve always liked the smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose and his high cheekbones that I want to trace with my fingers. And how he has this Going Places and Doing Things energy about him.
I blink and reset, trying not to be a weirdo. “I wondered for years where you ended up. Even tried to look you up on social media. But you didn’t seem to be very active.”
Ben gives me a sheepish grin. “Not back then. Now I have plenty, but it’s mostly to direct people to my blog.” He grabs his messenger bag, and we look around the classroom, which has pretty much emptied out.
I don’t want to let him go so fast. “Let’s get lunch.”
“I’d love to.” He glances over my shoulder. “Isn’t that your phone?”
“Shit. Yes.” I retrieve it, and we leave together. The full sun of early afternoon feels bright in contrast to the cool stone walls of the school. “Any preference where we go?”
“No, I don’t mind trying new places. Most everything here is decent for a bite, don’t you think?”
“Agreed. And I pretty much like everything in Paris,” I say.It’s gotten better today.
The streets are much busier than they were when we started this morning, but we find a café with an open table. I pick a simple ham sandwich and pilsner beer. He orders steak tartare and a glass of red wine. I study him, but before I open my mouth, he says, “Might as well address the elephant in the room. While it’s ten years late, I’m sorry for leaving without saying goodbye. We moved right after that, um, party. I still remember our kiss.”
I grin, thinking about it, and sit back in my chair, sipping my beer. “That was one of the hottest kisses of my life.”
Ben cocks his head. “Really? We were so young.”
I shrug. “Maybe I built the memory up in my head, but yeah. I liked it.”
“Me, too,” he admits. He brings his glass to his lips but stops before taking a sip. “And you’re the only guy I’ve ever kissed.”
I look at him in surprise. “You’re joking. Really?”
Ben raises his eyebrows and nods. “Really.”
“Wow.”
Our food is delivered, and now I want to ask him all sorts of things, but he beats me to it again. “Your friend back then… Alden, right?”
I furrow my brows. “How do you remember that?” Ben and I barely talked, and he was only at my school for a few months.
“You left an impression on me,” he says, his face flushing. “I maybe had a crush on you. Anyway, what happened to him?”
Ben had a crush on me? Because I had a major one on him. “He’s still in LA. Still my best friend. He might actually finally be getting a boyfriend.” I smile, thinking about our conversation this morning.
“Oh. I always thought you and he…”
That stops my reverie. “Alden? No. He’s my best friend, and I love him, but no.” I take a bite of my sandwich. “I’m not seeing anyone.”
“Oh,” he says, and he seems at a loss for words.
“You? Are you seeing anyone?”
“No.”
I smile. Because I’m picturing all kinds of fun things that could happen with Ben. Neither of us is being very subtle, which is the way I like it. Life is too short to pussyfoot around.
