Love Novice (Completed) Season 1 In Ben and Am's Romance

Chapter 54: Practice

Ben: Also, take a bath with some Epsom salts. It will help with your sore muscles.

Discombobulated. That's how I feel. A sense of unfamiliar longing greets me when I get home to a Tuesday evening without him. Lying in a steaming bath, I text Ben.

Me: the bath was good advice.

Ben: Good. Can't talk right now.

I need my Ben fix. Ben not being around is ... lonely and stressful. I must be patient. But it's not a virtue I possess. Every side of my life demands it and my patience resources are depleted. At least the wait with the Universities is over. But my thesis is not. I lift my aching body out of the now cool water and tug on a comfy old sweatshirt.

The time I've been spending with Ben is the time I haven't been spending with my thesis. There's no way around it. I'm behind on my editing, and it'll require some all-nighters for me to catch-up. Thanksgiving is weeks away, and I have a couple of months of work on my hands.

Me: happy hump day. i can move again. sort of.

Ben: Start on stretches.

Me: can you show me some *winky face*

Ben: *winky face*?

Me: i'm suggesting i can come over.

Ben: Not tonight. Soon.

Me: spent all day at the library. At the checkout i forgot what day of the week it was.

Ben: It's Thursday.

Me: i know it now. Try spending all day in thirteenth century france and then remember the current date.

Ben: Making progress on your thesis then?

Me: i try. are we doing anything this Saturday?

Ben: I don't know yet. I will let you know.

Friday morning, I wake up to a text from Ben.

Ben: I had to cancel the game night with Mike tonight, but I will be waiting for you at my place after your shift ends. Please, plan to spend the night.

Me: are we swimming tomorrow morning?

Ben: I do not know.

Me: walking then?

Ben: I am not sure.

***

"I have a request for you tonight," Ben greets me when he opens the door.

I clear my throat. "Sounds ominous, but tell me more."

"I did some research, and I'm ready to try things."

"Research, huh." A quick, high-pitched laugh escapes my throat.

"I got all the versions and translations of Kama Sutra that the local library had, and Linda even ordered some from the central library."

I choke on my saliva a little.

"Are you okay?" Ben steps closer and helps me out of my coat.

"Linda advised you on Kama Sutra?"

"No. She ordered different versions of the book for me. I was hoping you will advise, or lead the practice, or both."

I roll my eyes. I could roll them twice in a row, but that doesn't have the same effect. Linda is not going anywhere. They were friends before. She is his librarian. They never even kissed. But even if they did, it was fair game. I have nothing to worry about. Jealousy is not a pretty feeling, and I'm not going to start on it. But Kama Sutra? How's that for high expectations?