36. Soul Searching (1/2)

36 – soul searching

"ben."

"what?"

kurt cuffed him in the shoulder. "is it cool

with us?"

surprised that he cared enough to ask, ben

said, "sure, whatever."

"good, 'cause i've got a girl for you to meet."

ben shook his head as he and kurt trailed

behind jason and eric, walking toward the movie theater. "not now, man."

"you still pining

for felicity?"

ben glared at him, readying himself for

another battle with kurt over his dating decisions.

kurt grinned and held up his hands. "easy,

pal, i'm just trying to get you to think about your other options."

"options. options you decide will work for me," ben

spat.

kurt laughed. "come on. she's cool. you'll

like her."

ben looked around the table. jason shrugged.

eric nodded, smiling.

defeated, ben gave a long sigh. "all right,

whatever. who is she?"

"jeez, don't make it sound like a death

sentence." kurt waved to the left, where two young women sat at a table in the

food court sipping slushies. he beckoned them closer.

the women stood up and came toward them.

they were leggy, blond, curvy…and identical. ben looked askance at kurt.

with a self-satisfied smile, kurt put his

arm around the waist of one of the girls. "ben covington, meet robin and

jennifer emerson." he gave the girl beside him a playful squeeze. "uh, this

one's jennifer."

ben held out his hand to shake each of

theirs. "hi. nice to meet you."

"robin's into swimming, by the way. you

being a fan of it, yourself, i thought you'd have a couple things to talk

about. see you in the movie." kurt and jennifer sauntered away arm in arm.

robin gave a nervous laugh. "uh…sorry. i mean…this wasn't my idea. i'm not usually…" she

trailed off and pushed a lock of her long blond hair behind one ear.

the gesture reminded him forcibly of

felicity, and he couldn't help but smile. "don't sweat it."

she looked up at him through long eyelashes

and gave a shrug. "so, do you want to go see this movie, anyway?"

- - - - -

robin was decent company. they laughed at

the same things in the movie, and compared notes on the best and worst movie

junk food. afterward, ben offered to drive her home. on the way, they talked

over the movie, and what they liked and hated about swimming. ben found he had

a lot in common with her.

he put the car into park in her driveway

while she gathered up her purse. she looked up at him again. "i, um… i just

want to say thanks for the movie, and all. it was really nice of you to drive

me home, too."

"no problem." he grinned. "i think it was

one of kurt's better ideas. i had a good time."

robin dimpled, a

quick flash of a smile that piqued ben's interest. he was struck by how pretty

she was. "me, too." she tucked a wisp of hair behind

her ear again. "if you ever want to be on the awkward end of a double date again,

you're welcome to call me." she hesitated, seemed to think something over, then

leaned across the seat and kissed him.

ben kissed her back, passively at first, but

when she slid toward him across the seat, he took her face in his hands and

kissed her more thoroughly. the feeling of a woman's soft hair and soft skin

under his hands swept any other thoughts out of his head.

for a while, anyway. robin sat back with a look of

embarrassment. "i—i'm sorry. i'm just…" she shook her head apologetically. "i'm

not exactly in the dating arena."

"what, you've got a boyfriend, or

something?"

she sighed. "well…sort of. not really. no, i don't."

her answer surprised ben into laughing.

"what do you mean?"

"there's this guy i like back at college,

but i don't think… i'm not sure it's ever going to go anywhere."

"why not?"