Ben kissed her one final time before he rolled over on his back and sighed.
"That was incredible."
"I know. I'm still seeing stars."
He laughed. "Stars? That's a new one. Last week it was fireworks."
"What can I say? You're that good."
"Okay now I know your lying."
Ciara gave his shoulder a playful slap before turning over on her side to face him.
"I don't know about you but I'm starving. That workout really did a number on me."
Ben smiled as he sat up and slipped a pair of white sweat pants on. "So I guess that means you won't be up for round two?"
"Get some food in me and I think I'll be good to go."
He got up off the bed and started to make his way to the kitchen. When he made it out of the hallway he could hear a knock at the door.
"Are you expecting anyone?"
"What?" Ciara yelled back.
He shook his head and started to walk over to the door. It was kind of late for someone to be showing up at their apartment.
Before he could reach the door, there was another knock this time louder. Whoever was behind door seemed to be impatient.
When he opened the door, a man was standing there with his fist up like he was about to knock again.
"Tripp?"
"Ben. What the hell are you doing here?" Tripp said as he took in Ben's attire or lack thereof.
The older man crossed his arms over his bare ripped chest, "I could ask you the same thing. It's almost midnight."
"I came here to drop something off for Ciara. Not that it's any of your business. And you still didn't answer my question."
He gave Tripp a sly smile. "I live here."
He shook his head in shock "Wait what?"
"Hey Ben. I was thinking we could have pancakes. Maybe with blueberries or bananas or something. What do you think?"
Ben and Tripp looked over to see a half-dressed Ciara standing in the kitchen. She only had on a long Red Sox t-shirt of Ben's that went down to below her knees.
"Tripp what are you doing here? It's almost midnight." She said as has her hands went to her legs in a feeble attempt to cover them up.
"I-I- Claire found this book at the apartment and she said it was yours, so I thought I'd bring it by."
Ben walked over to the couch and grabbed a blanket that was hanging off it. He opened it and then brought it over to Ciara where he wrapped it around her. He had a feeling she was feeling uncomfortable with Tripp seeing her half naked.
"Thank you."
He gave her a wide smile and followed her over to the door.
"Claire could have just brought it over herself."
"I-I know but uh I thought I could bring it over and that that would give us a chance to you know catch up."
"At eleven thirty?"
"Yeah well she just found it so…so I didn't want it to get lost again by the time she went to bring it to you."
Tripp pulled out a worn book that had burn marks on the edge of the cover.
As soon as Ciara saw it she smiled. "Oh my god. It's the book you got me Ben. I thought I lost it in the move."
"I hadn't realized Ben got you that book."
Ciara took the book from him and looked it over. "Yeah Ben got it for me when we were in the cabin. It's like my favorite book."
"Oh…"
"Look Tripp it was sweet of you drop this off but-."
"I was kind of hoping I could come in and we could talk. You know just the two of us." He said as he eyed Ben.
Ben knew Tripp wasn't happy that he was there. It was written all over his face. The old him would have rubbed it in his face but the new him felt it better to stay silent and let Ciara handle things. He wouldn't lie though, he was very tempted to say something.
Ciara saw Tripp staring at Ben and sighed. "It's kind of late Tripp."
He nodded. "Right of course."
"But tell Claire thanks for finding this for me."
"Yeah sure."
All three of them stood there in awkward silence for a moment before Ben cleared his throat.
"If you want pancakes I should probably start making them now."
She nodded and turned back to her ex. "I'm sorry Tripp I have to go. But I'll see you around sometime?"
"Ugh sure."
Ciara waved goodbye to Tripp as he reluctantly walked away toward the elevator. Once he was gone she shut the door.
"That was kind of awkward."
She sighed. "Good I thought it was just me."
"I feel kind of bad for the guy. It's clear he's still hung up on you."
"I know. I would have thought he would have been over me by now. It's been several months already." Ciara said as she hopped on one of the bar stools that was in front of the breakfast bar.
Ben went over to the refrigerator and opened it. He peered inside for a moment before he turned his head to look at Ciara.
"We have bananas but no blueberries."
"Then bananas it is."
He grabbed everything he'd need out of the fridge and put them on the counter. Ben then walked over to Ciara and wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her cheek a small kiss.
"I hope him stopping by didn't ruin the rest of our night."
She smiled and placed the book on the counter. "It didn't ruin it in the slightest."
"Good because I have plans for us after were done eating."
"Oh really?" She asked him as she turned around to face him.
"Mhmm. And I think you're going to like them."
"Then hurry up with those pancakes so we can get to it."
He leaned in and gave her lips a peck. "You got it Rockstar."
###
"Ben, where are you?"
"In the bathroom."
Ciara walked over to the closed bathroom door wondering what he was doing in there.
"Whatcha doing?" She just had to ask.
A few seconds passed before Ben opened the door.
Behind him there were lit candles all over the counters and on the window sill next to the tub. There was romantic music playing in the background and the bathroom smelt like honey and lavender.
"I thought I'd draw us a nice bubble bath."
"Us?" She questioned.
"That's if that's okay with you. If not, then you can just take it. It's up to you. I just thought it'd be nice."
She smiled at his comment. Ben was always so sweet and considerate of her feelings.
"It is. It's extremely sweet. I just didn't peg you as the bubble bath type."
"What can I say? For you I'd do anything."
"Well then I'd love to share it with you."
Ciara walked over to where Ben was standing and wrapped her arms around his neck. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before she leaned in to kiss him.
It started off soft and slow. His lips tasted like real maple syrup and fresh bananas
He went to pull away but before he could she pulled him in closer.
When they kissed it didn't always feel like fireworks and sparks were going off. Sometimes it was a warmth that spilled out from their hearts and went all the way up to fill their lips. This was one of those times and it made it hard for Ben to want to pull away.
When they finally parted from each other he rested his forehead against hers.
"Are you trying to make it, so we don't take this bath?"
She giggled. "No that wasn't my intent."
"Well if you keep that up were never going to make it in there."
"Sorry I couldn't help myself."
"You can never help yourself when it comes to me but it's okay." He smiled.
Ciara smiled back before she slowly stripped out of Ben's shirt.
He stood and watched her as she pulled her hair into a messy bun and then carefully stepped into the bathtub. Once most of her body was immersed in the water she let out a small moan.
"The waters perfect. All that's missing is you."
Ben nodded and ridded himself of his pants and stepped in behind Ciara.
'Your right the water is perfect."
"We should do this more often. It could be our thing."
"If it makes you happy then I like the sound of that."
Ciara grinned as she reached over and grabbed the bar of soap and a wash cloth. She washed her front, her arms, legs and shoulders. She was just about to put the cloth down when she felt Ben's lips hovering over her skin.
He gave her shoulder a light kiss. "If you want I can wash your back."
Ciara nodded and handed him the cloth. Once she felt the soft wet fabric hitting her skin she let out a contented sigh.
"This feels so good."
"I'm glad. Just let me know if I'm being too rough."
"You could never be rough with me. This feels like heaven."
He smiled. "Well I don't think many would believe you."
"Who cares if they wouldn't believe me. They don't know you like I know you."
"Your right they don't. But it still doesn't stop people from talking. Or giving me these weird stares. I thought Tripp was going to have a massive stroke when he saw me in just my sweatpants."
"I never told him that we're were living together so he probably didn't expect to see you when he came here."
"Or expect to see you wearing my shirt."
She nodded. "He probably thinks we had sex."
He laughed a little. "Ciara, we did have sex. Lots of sex as a matter of fact."
"I know but…"
"But what?" He asked as he washed that last patch of skin on her back."
"Never mind. Who cares if he knows we had sex. You and I are dating. He had to know at some point we would. Not that it's any of business though."
"Your right it is none of his business. And if he ever makes you feel uncomfortable about anything then just tell him so. I mean I could do it, but I don't think anyone would like that."
She sniggered. "No, I don't think so."
###
After they finished with their bubble bath they both got out of the tub and Ben grabbed them both a dark blue fluffy towel.
"Remember back at the cabin when you gave my feet a sponge bath?" She asked as she made sure the towel was secure around her waist.
"Remember it? How could I forget? You kicked me in the teeth. It's a wonder I have any left after that."
She laughed. "Well I told you I was ticklish."
"I know but that didn't mean you had to send me flying across the room."
"I seem to remember touching a certain spot on the back of your neck that makes you squirm. So, I'm not the only one who is ticklish here."
He laughed. "I'm not ticklish. You just caught me off guard is all."
"Oh really? So, if I touched that spot right now you wouldn't be bothered by it?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Hmm…"
Ciara turned around and went to touch the back of Ben's neck. But just before she was able to touch his skin he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips to give it a soft kiss.
"No touching." He laughed. "Because if you try to tickle me I might have to try and tickle you back."
"And risk losing your teeth again? I don't think you'd even be willing to try it." She told him as she brought her hand back up to his neck.
"Wanna bet?"
"You wouldn't dare."
Ben gave her a mischievous smile as his hands went to her side. She went to move away but he was quicker than she was, and he captured her in his arms as his fingers lightly ran along the sides of her body.
"Ben! Stop!" She cried out in laughter.
His grip loosened on her long enough for her to escape. She ran out of the bathroom and just as she was rounding the bed he reached her and pulled her into his arms.
"Got you!"
Ciara thrashed about causing Ben to lose his balance and send them crashing on the bed. When they landed she almost kneed him in the groin. Ben noticed this and let out a sigh of relief that she missed.
After that they laid there for a moment in silence before they both started to hysterically laugh.
"See that's what you get for tickling me."
"That's what I get? You nearly kneed me in my misters."
"I know. But I'm like a lethal weapon when you do that. You should know that by now."
He laughed. "I honestly didn't think you were that ticklish."
She flipped over so she was face to face with Ben. "I kicked you in the face the first time. How could you not know I was?"
"It's your feet. Just because you're ticklish there doesn't mean you are everywhere else."
"Okay, how about we make a deal. I don't tickle your neck and you don't tickle me anywhere?"
"Deal."
Ciara laid her head down on Ben's chest and snuggled into him.
###
Once they got up and dressed and brushed their teeth they figured they should head to bed. But for some reason they weren't exactly tired yet. So, Ciara decided to put on one of Ben's favorite movies and they cuddled up together under the covers.
"Joe Pesci had such a full head of hair. What happened to him?"
He ran his fingers through her hair and sighed. "Old age I guess."
'Sucks to get old doesn't it?"
He chuckled. "Yeah it does."
"I can't see that ever happening to you."
"What getting old? Because I hate to break it to you Rockstar, but everybody gets old."
She shook her head. "I know that. What I meant was you going bald. You just have such a thick head of hair."
He smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Well we saw what happened to Pesci. It could happen to me."
She closed her eyes and yawned. "Never."
Ben kissed the top of her head and snuggled in even closer to Ciara. She finally seemed tired and so was he.
"You seem tired Ciara. Why don't you go to sleep?"
"Mkay."
A few moments went by before Ben let out a sigh and closed his eyes.
"I love you Ciara."
"I love you too Ben."
