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Part 4
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Pedro had finally fallen asleep, his head tilted slightly back against the soft curve of the booth, one hand resting lazily in his lap, the other still wrapped loosely around a cooling mug. His breathing was slow and steady, his expression relaxed in a way Maria hadn't seen before. She watched him for a moment, how peaceful he looked, how human. Something in her chest tightened. Maybe tenderness. Maybe guilt.
"He finally passed out, huh?"
Maria turned her head.
Ben Affleck was still wide awake, elbow on the table, a half-full glass of whiskey balanced between his fingers. He nodded toward Pedro, amusement flickering in his eyes. "He always holds out too long. Like sleep is something he has to beat." Maria smiled softly. "Yeah, he does that." Ben shifted his weight, angling his body slightly toward her, as if instinctively drawn in. "And you? Still awake. Still here." She raised an eyebrow. "Should I have left?" He grinned. "Not unless you're planning to break my heart."
"You know," he said, tilting his glass a little in her direction, "when you walked in the café, you had this air about you. Like you belonged here and didn't care who noticed. I respect that." Maria quirked a brow. "Is that your way of saying I looked out of place?" Ben grinned. "No, that's my way of saying you looked... interesting. Like someone who doesn't realize how much gravity she has." Maria met his eyes and didn't look away. "And now," he went on, voice lowering, "here we are. The world's gone quiet. He's asleep" he nodded toward Pedro, "and I'm still sitting across from someone I can't stop watching."
She felt the heat rise to her cheeks, though she held his gaze. "You're pretty straightforward, huh?"
"I don't like wasting time," Ben said. "And I don't believe in pretending not to feel something when it's right in front of me." He leaned in a bit more, the table suddenly feeling far too narrow between them. "Want me to lie and act like I haven't been imagining what your laugh sounds like when you're fully relaxed? Or how your voice would sound whispering something that's just for me?" Maria's pulse jumped. "Do you always say things like that to women?"
Ben's smile widened. "No. Usually I flirt harder." he joked.
She laughed, actually laughed, and immediately covered her mouth, not wanting to wake Pedro. The sound was soft, breathy, but real.
Ben's smile deepened at the sound. He set his glass down with a soft clink and rested his forearm on the table, fingers loosely curled. "You've been watching my mouth," he said suddenly, low, confident. Maria froze for a fraction of a second. "Not judging," he added, voice smooth as velvet, "just... noticing." She tried to brush it off. "Maybe you imagined that." Ben chuckled. "Maybe. Or maybe you're thinking the same thing I am." Her gaze flickered to his lips again, quick, involuntary and he saw it. His expression shifted, grew heavier, slower. More heat than tease now. "Mm," he murmured. "There it is again." Maria felt her throat tighten slightly, not from discomfort, but from the way the air suddenly seemed thicker between them. Tension wrapped in silk. Ben leaned in just enough for her to feel his voice rather than hear it. "I've kissed women who stared at me with less interest than you just did."
She didn't answer.
Not right away.
Instead, her fingers toyed with the edge of her glass, as if trying to ground herself in something tangible. Ben sat back slightly, eyes still locked on hers, but now with a hint of a smirk. "Hey... I'm not gonna do anything reckless. Unless you want reckless." His voice was almost a whisper, but it slid through her like a slow current. Maria looked at Pedro again peaceful, unaware. Then back at Ben. And her silence said more than words ever could.
Maria didn't move.
Not yet.
Ben's presence beside her was impossible to ignore. Quietly magnetic. She could feel the way his eyes lingered on her profile, not in a hungry way, but in that maddeningly patient way. Like he already knew she'd look back. Like he was giving her space to decide how far she'd let it go.
Finally, she did.
She turned, slowly, to face him again, her chin tilted ever so slightly, challenging him without a word. Ben's smile deepened. Not smug. Just... knowing. "You're not like the rest of them," she said softly.
He raised an eyebrow. "The rest of who?"
"The ones who talk like you. Act like you." Ben leaned in, forearms resting on the table, voice low and steady. "I don't act, Maria. Not around people I actually want to know." She hesitated. The way he said her name, it was like he was tasting it, slow and deliberate. Like it meant something, even if it was the first time he'd used it aloud.
"You don't know me," she said. "Not really."
"I'd like to," he replied, without missing a beat. Maria's pulse jumped, again.
He reached out, not to touch her, but just to close the space slightly, his fingers resting lightly on the table between them. "You could walk away from this conversation and never look back. I wouldn't chase you."
Her eyes met his, questioning. "No?"
He shook his head. "No. Because I don't want to be another man chasing something he doesn't understand. I'd rather wait for the moment you lean in, because you want to."
Maria's breath caught.
He wasn't bluffing. He meant it. It wasn't a game, wasn't a setup. Just a slow, unfolding tension built on timing and instinct, and a sense that maybe, in this strange sliver of night, something real had cracked open.
A minute passed. Then another.
Finally, she spoke soft and steady.
"I probably won't stay at your house and the other guys ." Ben nodded, unfazed. "I didn't ask you to."
"But," she added, "I'm not ready to leave yet either." He smiled at that, warm, wide, and a little surprised. "Good," he said quietly. "Because I wasn't ready for you to go."
They sat there in silence after that. Not awkward.
Just... charged.
And somewhere beside them, Pedro shifted slightly in his sleep, still deep under, blissfully unaware. Maria glanced at him, then back to Ben.
And this time, she didn't look away.
Ben's eyes never left hers neither. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he shifted a little closer, barely enough to erase the last thread of distance between them. The warmth of his presence was magnetic, but the tension was built on something more subtle than desire, it was trust, patience, and unspoken understanding.
Maria's gaze drifted lower, tracing the line of his jaw, then the faint shadow of stubble, before finally resting on his lips. She caught herself, feeling that familiar flutter rise in her chest. Ben's voice broke the silence, low and deliberate. "You keep looking at my mouth."
She swallowed, cheeks warming. "Maybe I'm wondering what it'd be like... to kiss you."
Ben's smile softened, no longer teasing but genuine. "I've been hoping you'd say that." His hand lifted slowly, fingers brushing lightly against her wrist, a touch that sent a ripple through her skin. Maria didn't pull away, instead, she leaned in, drawn by the steady gravity of him.
The space between their faces vanished, their breaths mingling in the quiet room. Ben's eyes flicked shut for a moment, savoring the pause before the inevitable. Then his lips met hers, soft at first, exploratory, like a question asked in silence.
Maria responded, letting the tension unravel with a gentle sigh, her fingers curling around his forearm. The kiss deepened slowly, no rush, no pressure, just two people discovering something real in the stillness of the night.
Somewhere behind them, Pedro shifted slightly but didn't wake. Ryan, Oscar, and Chris had long since succumbed to sleep's embrace.
For a while, there was nothing but the warmth between Maria and Ben, the world outside fading until only this moment remained, fragile, electric, and full of possibility.
But then Maria remembered something. Her skipped a beat thinking about it.
It was Pedro.
How he had looked at her before he had wandered to sleep.
And she couldn't stop seeing the sight of him while kissing Ben.....
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Next part soon
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