Lost in Translation

Chapter 30: Cooking with Heat

A/N: Took us 30 chapters, but you finally get some smut. There will be a bit of a break before my next upload as I have gotten to the end of the big chunk that I had pre-written before uploading. 

If you want to skip the smut, I have the sections marked with ***

 LOABW - 5/31/24

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———Ben———

Friday, June 28th, 2019

"Um, Val... I, uh... I need some advice," I said awkwardly to Val, who was putting a frozen pizza in the oven. I could already feel my face heating up, and I hadn't even said much of anything yet. I snuck a glance up at Val to find her leaning across the kitchen island and raising an eyebrow at me.

"About what?" She asked with a grin.

"I— fuck Val, I've hardly said anything. Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Because you hardly ever ask for advice, except when it has to do with Anthony," she said with a shrug before shooting me a wink. I swore to myself before puffing air out of my cheeks and turning my gaze toward the ceiling.

"Fuck, ok. That's fair, and not... not incorrect. I guess," I mumbled. Val let out a small "ha!" in victory as I climbed onto one of the stools and leaned towards her.

"I, uh... fuck, this is embarrassing, but I don't know what to do since Anthony has more experience than I do..." I said, trailing off as I felt my face heat up further. Val gave me another wicked grin.

"And?" She prompted.

"I— how do you... Gods, I don't know how to say this," I said with a mix of embarrassment and frustration. "How do I... get things to move forward? Physically speaking..." Val's eyebrows shot up in surprise and I dropped my face into my hands, sure that I was beet red by now.

"You want to have sex?" Val asked, sounding surprised.

"No! Yes? Eventually?" I said, and Val snorted at my response. "Not that far yet, but... I'm just frustrated that things always seem to stop at a... at a certain point, and I don't know what to do about it."

"Have you tried just asking him?" Val said pointedly.

"Asking him what?" I countered in confusion.

"Asking him to touch you, blow you, do—"

"Val!" I exclaimed in horror.

"I'm being serious!" She said with a laugh. "Communicating directly is the best way to get what you want here, Ben. I don't think Anthony can read his mind half the time. You can't expect him to read yours too."

"I— there's no, like, signal I can give, or..." I trailed off desperately.

"Consent is best when given clearly and enthusiastically," Val replied matter-of-factly with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "But, if you want to better your chances, you can always try and make your request more enticing."

"What do you mean?" I asked warily.

"Be tempting," Val replied. "What does he like? You know, like, what gets him going?"

I looked at Val in horror before dropping my face into my hands again. I might die of embarrassment before this conversation reached its end.

"You are being unnecessarily dramatic for someone who initiated this conversation," Val teased. I mumbled a "fuck you" from behind my hands, and she laughed.