Chapter 5 Ben
Ben
Ben strode into the living room with a smile on his face.
His pants were feeling a little more snug in certain areas than they had when he’d first walked into the kitchen, but there was a great deal more room for his lungs to expand within the confines of his chest. He might have just met Melody scant hours ago, but he was relieved she wasn’t romantically involved with his teammate.
It was probably a good thing he and Melody had been interrupted. As much as he’d been enjoying his alone time with her, he’d felt far too tempted to dip his head toward hers and sample her generous lips.
If he was reading her signals correctly, Melody was as attracted to him as he was to her.
But that didn’t mean she would welcome a physical advance so early into their acquaintance.
Sexual chemistry was one thing—and theirs seemed to sizzle—but anything more meaningful needed to be nurtured.
And, unless Ben had missed his read on her, Melody was the type of woman who needed her romantic involvements to be treated with care.
She wasn’t a casual one-and-done kind of girl.
What’s more, if he was going to press his lips to hers for the first time and discover whether her lips were as full and soft as they looked, it would be nice not to have an audience waiting for them just around the corner.
Yes, it was a very good thing the guys had interrupted them. With that thought in mind, Ben focused his attention more keenly on the subject at hand.
“So, what is it you guys need me to settle?” Ben asked as he stepped into the living room. He hoped his voice didn’t reveal any of the lust he was still working to subdue.
“Cassidy and I are having a serious debate,” Volkov answered.
“What do you think . . .” Cassidy followed with an equal degree of seriousness “. . . is the best Star Wars trilogy?”
Ben felt his eyebrows lift of their own accord. Given the somber expressions on their faces, he’d assumed the subject matter might be more grave than pop culture.
“This numbnuts thinks—” Cassidy continued.
“No!” Volkov interjected. “You cannot influence him!”
“Fine,” Cassidy relented. “So that you aren’t influenced by the insights of the wiser among us,” Cassidy said with a smile when Volkov snickered, “even though the answer is obvious, which Star Wars trilogy do you think is the best?”
Not wanting to offend either of his surprisingly opinionated teammates, Ben took a moment to think about it. “Well,” he said with more caution than he ever thought this subject might merit, “episodes four, five, and six get big points for introducing us to the Star Wars universe.”
Cassidy’s smile was triumphant. Well, there’s one opinion discovered.
“But,” Ben continued before Cassidy started to gloat too hard, “I think there’s something really interesting about the backstory that we got to discover in episodes one, two, and three.”
Here, Volkov preened. Another opinion unearthed.
Ben hoped neither Cassidy nor Volkov liked to gamble because their poker faces were negligible.
“Still,” Ben mused, “I appreciate the resolution we saw take place in episodes seven, eight, and nine.”
Both men scowled at this. Ben fought to suppress a smile. No, there was definitely no professional poker career ahead for either of these two once they left the NHL.
“The past is both interesting and meaningful,” Ben continued diplomatically, “but, since I’m more of a here and now kind of guy, I’m going to have to go with episodes seven through nine.”
“Ehhh, stalemate,” Cassidy groaned. “At least you didn’t pick the worst of the three like this guy.” He cocked his thumb in Volkov’s direction.
“The original trilogy is the worst by far,” Volkov argued.
“They did something incredible by introducing the world to a new genre of cinema, but it was a fledgling production with poor computer graphics. The prequel was the best because it fleshed out the history of the Star Wars universe. It gave context. It also had the animation to do the world building justice.”
“Not even,” Cassidy disputed. “The prequel was grade-A garbage. The storyline was crap. Clearly, you wouldn’t know good cinema if it bit you in the a—”
Melody chose that moment to walk into the room carrying a tray of snacks. Ben moved forward to help her.
“I’ve got it,” Melody reassured him as he moved to take the tray from her hands. “If someone could just . . .” Her eyes widened when they flicked over to the covered surface of the coffee table.
Ben followed her gaze to a vibrant red see-through bra and panty set laying atop a Polaroid of a provocative woman modeling said lingerie. Cassidy must have started opening his fan mail.
Volkov leapt into action, swiping the offending garments off the table and shoving them back inside the box. The shell of his ears glowed as he replaced the lid, pressing it closed with unnecessary vigor.
Melody’s eyebrows lifted toward her hairline as she turned toward Cassidy. “Do I even want to know?”
Cassidy’s offered a lopsided smile. “Probably not.”
A look passed between them, but Ben couldn’t interpret it, so he chose to let it go. It was probably nothing.
Melody appeared to shake off the awkward moment and moved to deposit her tray on the now empty coffee table.
“Mmm . . .” Cassidy moaned as he advanced toward her offering. “This looks amazing, Mel. Nachos?”
She smiled and nodded. “You put in a request for Mexican. I just gave it a little twist.”
“You didn’t tell me you were making two types of nachos,” Ben said when he noticed a second plate of what looked to be blue corn tortillas liberally adorned with cheese, chicken, and salsa.
“If you’ll recall, you seemed to get excited enough about the promise of the sweet potato nachos,” she said, silently reminding him of his not-so-serious proposal of marriage.
Ben loved the secret smile she wore as she teased him. Even more, he loved that they were already at the point in their relationship where they shared private jokes.
“There are also bowls of plain tortilla chips, guacamole, and salsa in the kitchen,” Melody added.
“I will get it,” Volkov volunteered before Ben could think to do the same.
“Thanks, Alexei.” She smiled at his retreating back before turning to face Ben and Cassidy. “So, what movie did you guys decide on?”
“Volkov and I were thinking one of the X-Men movies,” Cassidy answered.
Melody nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Logan?” Cassidy asked him.
“Sure,” he agreed. “I like X-Men.”
“Any preferences?” Cassidy inquired. “I have all of them.”
“I’m easy,” Ben offered. “Lady’s pick.”
Melody smiled her thanks. And God, what a smile. Even her polite, everyday smiles took his breath away. They warmed in that way only real smiles do.
“In that case, how about The Last Stand?” she suggested. “I haven’t seen that one in a while.”
“Perf,” Cassidy said, as Volkov came back into the room carrying the promised bowls of chips, salsa, and guacamole. “I’m going to grab a beer. Logan? Volkov? You want?”
“Yes, please,” they chorused.
“Mel?” Cassidy asked.
“Just water, please.”
“You got it. Three beers and one water coming right up. And I call dibs on the recliner!” Cassidy called over his shoulder as he exited the room. That left Ben, Melody, and Volkov with the big and very comfortable-looking couch.
Volkov fixed himself a plate of nachos before sinking into one side of the couch. Melody took the middle seat, which left him with the other side.
Cassidy came back into the living room and passed them all their drinks before climbing into the recliner.
Melody reached for the blanket that had been thrown over the back of the couch. She spread it over her lap before offering him a portion. He wasn’t actually cold, but he accepted her offer with a smile. “Thank you.”
Ben savored the innocent brush of her arm against his thigh as she repositioned the blanket. Pleasure shot through him as her scent engulfed him. He tried not to be too obvious as he breathed her in and tried to commit the sweet floral notes to memory.
He missed the warmth of her touch as soon as she leaned back into her own cushion, but he chose to appreciate the way it seemed second nature to her to want to ensure he was comfortable.
He especially liked it since, consciously or not, she’d turned to him instead of Volkov, who sat on her other side.
He chose to ignore the fact that there was another blanket within Volkov’s reach.
“Let’s do this!” Cassidy hollered as he queued up the movie.
Ben shook his head as his teammates volleyed X-Men quotes back and forth. What a bunch of nut jobs. Still. At this moment, he couldn’t think of anywhere he would rather be than with his new teammates and the beautiful, fascinating woman by his side.