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There had to be a movie about that, Benny thought as he took in the scene they were making, and he thought that anyone would find it hilarious. Anyone but him, at least.

They were still in Jason's kitchen, his best friend breathing hard, looking like an enraged version he was named after, Sarah, still with her back against the refrigerator in what seemed shock, while Benny was on the ground, his jaw throbbing like hell.

"Jason!" Sarah suddenly hissed in her brother's direction, her hands on her hips. She didn't look like the timid girl they thought her to be, more, Benny noted, like a lioness, or some mythological creature, and harbinger of war.

Jason took a few steps in the general direction of what was probably his now ex best friend, but Sarah was quicker than him, and, leaving Jason speechless, she grabbed Benny by the arm and dragged him to her apartment. Benny didn't even dare to protest her. If anything, maybe he had to ask for her forgiveness. Whatever had happened was probably his fault anyway.

In seconds, he was in her small kitchen – so different from Jason's, despite the apartments being equally big – sitting on old looking, and yet comfortable chair, and he was being brutally showed a pack of frozen beans against his aching jaw.

"Ouch." He winced as he held the pack there, both because of Jason's precise hit, and for Sarah's lack of, well, grace and bedside manners.

Sarah gasped, wincing as she had been injured as well. She covered her mouth with her hands, as in shock, and went to seat next to Benny, looking at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. I was so mad at Jason I didn't realize I was taking it out on you."

But Benny shook his head, and left the beans on the countertop as he went to speak. "No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. Jason's you brother. It's natural that he wanted to protect you."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and her cheekbones were graced by a blush that no make-up could have ever reproduced. "Benny, you don't have to…"

But Benny cut her short, shaking his head, and covering her tiny hand with his own on the countertop. "No, I have to – and promise me you'll not be mad with your brother. If you feel like forging anyone, just forgive me. I… compromised you, and in your brother's apartment of all the places."

Like she was hit by fire, Sarah took her hand away from beneath Benny's, and stared at him with the same fire she had used against her own brother minutes before. "Is it your roundabout way of saying you are sorry you kissed me, Benny?"

"Well… yeah?" He wasn't sure what he was supposed, so it sounded like an odd mix between a question and an affirmation.

Sarah suddenly stood up, opened the refrigerator to grab a bottle of rosé wine, then slapped the door shout with all of her might. Benny felt pain all over his body just the mere thought that she was probably envisioning his while doing so – at least now he knew that he had given the wrong answer.

She poured herself a glass, then she started pacing the kitchen, as if Benny wasn't there. "I can't believe you guys. I'm not a kid any longer! Normal girls get caught red-handed when they are teens, not adults! But a guy kisses me, and for everybody it's the end of the bloody world, and you…" she hissed between clenched teeth in Benny's direction, stomping her feet. "You even go and ruin it!"

Benny considered taking the frozen beans back, and trying to put them over his head. Maybe he had a concussion, and they would help him out. He surely had to injured, otherwise he couldn't even begin to fathom his confusion on the whole matter.

"Uh, what exactly did I ruin?" he tentatively asked,

She crossed her arms, over her chest. "You ruined a perfectly fine kiss, Benny. That's what you did!"

He looked around, confused. He was starting to think he was on some kind of reality show, where people got pranked on camera.

Of course, he was also beaming a little, grinning like a proverbial cat who got the canary. But also because he was still a man, and he couldn't help but being proud when women enjoyed his techniques. He was a good kisser. He had been told so many times, so he doubted he had done anything that she didn't like… "Just, out of curiosity, if it was a perfectly fine kiss, what exactly did I do wrong?"

Sarah blew out a long breath of frustrated air as she really looked at him, a man who didn't have a sole clue. "Benny, at our age, when you get caught kissing a woman, you can be maybe embarrassed. Afterwards, there may be even be some leftover arousal. You? You are apologetic, Benny. And you want to know what women don't like? When men ask for their forgiveness for a kiss they had clearly both enjoyed!"

He shook his head, grinning. "Sarah, sometimes I really don't know what I should do with you…"

She chuckled, pouring her lips a little. "You could let me win next time we go bowling. Or maybe you could keep kissing me. Without any apology involved, though."

His eyes fell on her chest, on the tropical print embellishing her forms. Sarah was his temptation, she was intoxicating. Her kisses had been like nothing he had ever felt before, and he doubted it was something he could do without.

With all the calm in the world, she closed the distance between them, and skimmed with her right index over his injured jaw, slowly, sensually, her lips parted and her pupils dilated. "Want me to kiss it better?" she asked, with a rough voice that didn't even seem like it belonged to her.

Benny grabbed her for her free hand, and he pulled her into his lap; she nested against his chest. She run her left hand through his short hair at the back of his neck, while her right was gently skimming over his injured jaw, feeling the light stubble there. She was staring at Benny like he was some kind of apparition – like the point where she was touching him was the sole focus of her attention.

"Do you really think you can make it better?" He asked, his eyes semi-closed, his voice rough, and for a moment, Benny didn't even recognized himself. It was as if someone else had spoken the words.

"I know I can," she answered, her voice low, sensual, her smile wicked and wanton.

And in that moment, Benny believed her: he lost control of his mind, and his body decided that Sarah was right – she and she alone could save him, make it – make everything – better again.

Her gentle and light fingers wouldn't stop touching his jaw, a caress that filled his with liquid heat, and her mouth found his. But this time, he didn't allow her to kiss him – he went in for the kill, deciding that after all, Jason was right, and he had to seize the moment – they weren't little kids, they both knew what they were doing and what they were getting themselves into.

"Sarah…" he sighed, as his arms encircled her petite frame. He had broken the kiss, nuzzling her neck, her shoulders, leaving there small love-bites, while Sarah wouldn't stop to plant baby kisses where he had been injured. His body hardened as she rocked in his laps, and she shook her head, resting her index against his lips - as to silence him, reassure Benny that everything was all right – that it was as it was supposed to be.

Benny groaned at the touch of her fingertip against his lip, and looking for her eyes, he decided to be bold, and to give to both of them what they clearly wanted, this moment of bliss. He drew his tongue against her fingertips, and she gasped, stiffing, blushing of the most beautiful color to ever grace a woman. He freed one of his arms, and drew her finger from his mouth, and he directed her wet fingertip on her own skin, letting it paint a line from her neck to her collarbone, all the way into the low-cut bodice of her dress, right between her breasts.

Her pupils dilated, and her body was soon filled with goosebumps, but Benny wasn't doing any better; his breathing was harsh, and slowing down was getting harder and harder.

"Don't stop." There was no doubt, no fear, no insecurities in her voice.

"Is that an order?" He smiled, and yet his expression was still intent, filled with desire.

"It is." She simply said, serious, without breaking eye-contact.

"Your wish is my command." He brushed the hair from her face and kissed her all over her face, slowly, sensually, small kisses that did nothing but ignite furthermore the fire between them. Sarah dug her freshly manicured nails into his upper nails as Benny nipped on her earlobe, and he groaned, as his arousal intensified.

Their eyes finally met, and without hesitation, Benny slowly lowered the straps on her dress down her shoulders; the bodice suddenly soft, he could see the roundness of her breasts, enclaved by a strapless nude bra, all silk and lacy and cute ribbons.

"Didn't I tell you to not stop kissing me?" She demanded, and Benny would have laughed, for he felt himself free for maybe the first time in a long time, and it was all because of this woman, a delicate princess, a fierce warrior, all wrapped into a tiny, deadly package.

He cupped her naked shoulders, and did as he had been ordered to. He couldn't stop kissing her – on her moth, her neck, all over her delicate features – turned on so bad that he couldn't even see any longer. He could only feel her, inebriated as he was by her flowery perfume that did nothing but just make him harder.

Sarah moaned, again and again and again, as to punctuate each and every kiss he was giving her. Her hands were pulling impatiently at his shirt, and even if Benny knew they were moving too fast, he couldn't bring himself to let it go of her, with the result that she soon had it free from his jeans, pushed upward.

Her touch on his naked skin was like liquid fuel. It wasn't enough. He had to have more of it, as stupid as it was. He pulled away, but only so that he could throw off his shirt. He immediately regained control of her mouth, as Sarah's hands explored his chest, teasing him with her light touch.

More, his brain told him, caution be damned. His fingers found the zipper of her dress, on her back, and he drew it down without stopping kissing her. He jerked the dress to her waist, then, with one movement, he unhooked the front clasp of her feminine bra, freeing her breasts, and the naked skin of her chest burned a path against his own.

"Benny…" His nerves were screaming, his breathing was labored, and he could barely hear her sweet murmur. "Benny…" She repeated. Her eyes had darkened, her pupils dilated. He cupped her breasts in his hands, eager to taste in his mouth her stiff nipples. He saw her watching him, intent, trusting.

Too damn trusting.

Closing his eyes, Benny hooked her bra, drew up her corset, zipped the dress up, and lift her off his lap. He was gritting his teeth, feeling as bad about himself as never before.

He hadn't being seizing the moment.

He had… taken advantage of her trust and her affection for him. Forgotten that she'd been hurt too many times, that she'd been taken advantage of and that he was to be her knight in shiny armor, her protector, not just another Neanderthal after her virtue.

And yet… resisting her was getting harder and harder, with each passing day.


Sarah found herself sitting in a chair, completely dumbstruck. One moment, she had been about to consummate a torrid affair with Benny, the next instant, he had gone from hot to cold, and put physical distance between them.

He had even re-clothed her, and he was now busy putting his own shirt back on, almost as if he was trying to pretend that nothing had happened at all.

She sighed, regretting that he was denying her the sight of his naked torso – he was very fit for a lawyer on a government salary. Benny run his fingers through his hair, and then scrubbed his face with his hands, and Sarah sighed again – this time probably regretting that he had stopped.

"Sarah…" he sighed, scrubbing his face yet again, but all she did was keeping sighing. "Sarah, you're not making it any easier for me…"

She made a sound of… almost as she was mad or annoyed with him. She didn't want for things to be easy for him. It wasn't easy for her to get down from her height, not after having tasted him, after having foretasted the pleasure that he could have given her.

Besides, it was just his fault. He had started the whole thing up. She had just given him frozen beans, then he had turned into an erotic novel version of himself and he had practically undressed her into her kitchen.

"Listen…" He sighed, running an hand through his hair. He wasn't stopping, and he wasn't making it easy for her – apparently, she had a thing for his hair. "Just let me tell you how so…"

She threw him a murderous look. "Don't you even dare to think about saying it."

"But…"

"Don't!" She crossed her arms. "If you even just try to say that word, I swear to God that I'll turn on some AC/DC so loud I'll make the walls come down." She couldn't even start to think about him excusing himself. Couldn't he see that asking for her forgiveness would have been a hit to her pride?

Scratching the back of his neck, Benny left his seat, and turned in direction of the front door; he wasn't even halfway when Sarah, pouting, stopped him. "Can I at least make us some coffee?"

Benny sighed, turned. He was looking at his feet, and even if he wasn't talking, his whole demeanor screamed apology. "Look, Sarah, if you don't want to talk, maybe I should go…"

Sarah sighed – the kind of sigh that signaled defeat and that she was getting sick and tired of the whole thing. "I just want coffee, Benny. And yeah, maybe we could, I don't know, talk." She was sick and tired of this whole thing. Couldn't stand any longer how hot and cold the man she wanted for so long was.

But… it was Benny. He was her friend. And Jason's. She owed him at least that.

"He narrowed his eyes, still battled. "No AC/DC?"

"Nope. No AC/DC, nor humming, or breaking into song. Just coffee." She answered, serious.

For the first time since their kiss in Jason's kitchen, she saw him relaxing. She breathed in relief. She didn't want his apologies, but she didn't want for Benny to be so tense around her, either.

She turned on her tiny espresso-maker, an orange number that worked with Italian capsules, and bit her lips, feeling battled herself.

Benny was her friend. She had known him half her life – but for just as long, he had been the man of her dreams, her one and only. And now, after so, so long, he was finally seeing her as a woman!

She knew that she wasn't wife material when it came to Benny Colón, that she would be just one of the many women he had shared his bed with, but frankly, for once in her life, Sarah didn't care. They were friends, and if she played her cards well enough, they would have been able to salvage that friendship even after…. even after an affair.

She slid two coffee mugs between them, ceramic numbers that could only belong to a woman, and smiled of her best smile, trying to look as friendly as possible. He wanted to talk? It was fine with her. Especially because her idea of talking was showing Benny that she was a woman – an adult woman – and that she knew the name of the game.

Benny tapped with one hand against the table, while he couldn't bring himself to sip the coffee. Just one look, and Sarah knew things weren't going her way. "Look, Sarah, about what just happened…"

She groaned, slamming the cup against the tiny table. "Now what?" she asked. Like she didn't know already where he was going. Excuses, just excuses, and some more excuses.

"I just think we should talk about what happened." He sighed. Sarah grimaced. He was always sighing, and never for the right reasons. Also, she was starting to get an headache, because, seriously, the man wouldn't stop suggesting how damn sorry he was for all those good things he had done to and with her.

"Not sure there's really anything to say. It happened, it was good. There's no need for recriminations."

"Good, then, I'd say, let's forget about it, shall we?" He grinned, breathing in what seemed like relief, and it drove her mad – so, so mad that she was that close to kill him. Because she could already see where he was going. He wanted to forget… and for those heated kisses, those hot caresses, to never happen again. "It's just that we're in different places in our lives, and I think…."

Yep. It was exactly as she had feared. He had arrived at the point where he had made sure she knew his intentions. And that she wasn't dating material when it come to him. Because, God forbid, no one could compare to wonderful and perfect Amanda!

They didn't say a word for the longest time, and when Benny left his seat, the breath died in Sarah's throat, and she feared he was about to leave. But instead, he stopped in front of the fridge, whose doors were filled with family pictures and mementos.

"I think," she said, a little sad, like she was lost in her own thoughts. "That you may come up in one or two."

Benny nodded, as he silently traced a picture of Sarah with her mother. There was just one, and one picture only – all the others featured Sarah with her beloved brother. Sarah's mother… he barely remembered her. But a thing he remembered for sure: both she and her daughter were beautiful women.

He grinned, as he took a picture that was hanging on the cupboard. "You haven't changed much…"

She groaned. "Bad hair, ugly glasses and Band-Aids on my knees? I surely hope you are mistaken!"

He looked at the picture of the teen, as it was a treasure. "You had fallen from a tree. You had been trying to… rescue a little kitten, I think? When Jason and I saw you fall from the tree…." He shook his head, sighing. He was closing his eyes, as if he was trying to concentrate, or as if the memory was particularly painful. "Jason was panicking, he was pulling out his own hair."

She remembered as it was yesterday. She closed her eyes, hummed, and took a dreamy expression, smiling a little. "You wiped my tears, and held my hand. Even helps me bandaging my knees."

He had been her hero. Her shining knight. Howe could Benny expect her to forget everything, and behave like nothing had happened at all? She had cared for him, worshipped him- and she had loved him. What she felt now, she couldn't say. But how could he expect her to label those emotions, if he wasn't willing to let her explore them, at his side?

"Well, well, well, if this doesn't look familiar…" he grabbed another picture from the cupboard, one of the three of them together, and he placed it on the table, right under Sarah's nose. Then, he retrieved from his back pocket his wallet, and went through a stack of piece of papers, business cards, receipts and the likes, and tossed something at her.

It was the same picture – Jason and Benny, two young men, and between them, a teenage Sarah. "I was about to start Law School when you gave it to me." Benny sighed, and as he held the picture between his fingers, she saw something flicker in his eyes – but it happened so fast, that as soon as she tried to look for it again, it was already gone. Still, it made her heart ache, and it filled her with something she couldn't point out.

He went to put the picture back in his wallet, but the stack of things he was still holding scattered on the table – credit and debit cards, receipts of all kinds, business cards.

Then, a studio shot of picture perfect Amanda, that did nothing but make Sarah's heart stop beating.

"Sorry." Benny said, clearing his throat as he reached for Amanda's picture. "I don't even know why I still have this."

I do, Sarah thought. He had spent so long loving Amanda. And she was, in her own way, lovely. Maybe she wasn't the most tender of the creatures, but she was perfect, modern, never with an hair out of place, always wearing the right clothes and the right jewels and perfect make-up. Of course he would still love her.

"You were already dating her when Jason and Isi got married, right? I think I saw you two dancing…" Sarah skimmed over the picture, like lost in her thoughts. "I bet she was even prom queen…" Everything Sarah had always wanted to be, and had never been. Feminine. Loved. Desired. She hadn't even gone to prom. Nobody had been interested in inviting her, as she was just "one of the guys".

"C'mon Sarah, you are perfect the way you are!" He chuckled, pinching her cheek as she was a kid. He even dared to look smug and superior, just like when he had been a young man denying her a kiss.

He was an idiot, and she was on her way to punch him even stronger than Jason had done if he didn't close his mouth now.

Her temper, already ignited by his pinch on her cheek, rose to a level she could hardly contain. She wanted to scream and cry and just hit him and forget everything about Benny.

He was a bloody idiot and he didn't deserve her… her feelings!

"You mean, that I'm more suited to jeans and lime and grease than dresses and nail polish." She said, clenching her teeth, gripping with her fists the fabric of her skirt with all of her might, and yet she sounded calm, very matter-of-fact.

"Well, yeah." Benny answered, still smug and arrogant and that damn smile she wanted to erase from his face.

"You are probably right." She said, smiling of the fakest smile she had ever sported in her whole life. She stood, and tapped with an hand against the table, while the other stood on her side. "Also, you better go. I've got tons of work to do and so little time! I don't need to show you the door, right?"

"Right." Benny repeated, biting his lips. He walked to the door, and when he was on his way out, he turned to look at Sarah. "So, I guess that I'll see you when I'll see you?"

"Oh, you can count on it!" She replied, still with the fake-smile, and the urge to either kill him or slam the door in his face.

But she didn't do neither. She closed the door, and then collapsed on her couch, hugging her knees – and thinking about how the man who had almost given her an orgasm had decided that she was just a little girl to be condescend with.