Chance

Chapter 5 - It's Worth the Risk

I adjusted my red, bodycon dress when I heard a knock at the front door. Cami answered and when I got close enough, I saw her sizing up Ben. He had a polite smile on his lips as he looked down at her, no malice nor distaste on his face.

"Uhm hm," Camila hummed, face turned up in disgust.

Ben's eyes shifted over to me once I was beside my best friend. He towered me over but it was never intimidating. His smile grew as he checked out my outfit. I opted for light makeup so the dress spoke for itself.

"Hey," I greeted with a warm smile. He was dressed nicely in black jeans and black button down shirt.

He opened his mouth to respond but Cami started talking before he even got a word out.

"You came empty handed, Benjamin," She spat, the same expression set firmly in her features. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot.

Ben's gaze shifted back to Cami, his patience appeared to be wearing thin, "Addi never liked when I showed up with flowers, Camila." Ben's tone mirrored Cami's but he smiled at her nonetheless.

"Okay, okay. No need to fight, guys," I said as I stepped between them, "Come on, Ben. Let's go before Cami kills you." I chuckled although there was some truth behind my words. Cami was probably plotting how to hurt him from the time the door opened. She wasn't a violent person but she had a way with words and never ceased to express her opinion and when it was about Ben, she went all out.

Cami was there to see our relationship from the day it began to the day it ended and every single day that I cried after that. She was only trying to tolerate Ben so I was able to give him a taste of his own medicine but that didn't mean she was going to hide her feelings when he was around either. I never expected her to anyway.

Ben nodded and stepped aside to allow me to pass him. He glanced at Cami one more time before closing the door behind us. We walked side by side to his car. He never touched me, not even brushing his arm against mine. I knew he said that he wasn't going to do anything I didn't ask for and he was a man of his word. If this plan was going to work I needed to make the first move every time which wasn't something I was used to. This whole situation was out of my comfort zone, so what was one more thing added to the list?

I heard jingling then the beeping of a car being unlocked. My jaw dropped when Ben opened the passenger door of a Mazda BT50. I had kept my eyes glued to the floor as we were walking so I hadn't noticed it but his vehicle was beautiful. I tugged down my dress a little and Ben helped me climb in. As soon as the door closed, he quickly walked around and got into his side and started the engine.

He glanced over to me and smiled, "Seat belt," He demanded in a low voice. I nodded and clicked it into place while he did the same.

We sped off and I had to stop myself from gripping the dashboard. I had forgotten how heavy Ben's foot was. I peeked at him and saw he was looking at me from the corner of his eye, a smirk playing on his lips. I knew he was thinking about all the times I complained about how fast he was driving. I rolled my eyes, sitting back in the seat and kept quiet.

Ben turned up the radio and a familiar song came on. A smile spread across my lips before I was able to stop it. If there was one thing that I missed about him, it was his taste in music. It was so similar to mine that we always had a good time. We never had to fight about whose turn it was to control it since both of us enjoyed the same genres.

We pulled into the parking lot of a place very close to my heart. Ben knew exactly what he was doing when he came here. The sign at the front was in huge blue letters- Dan's Ice Cream Place. A huge grin spread across my face and I was practically bouncing in my seat, as Ben parked. My eyes drifted over to him. He was watching me closely, relief washing over his features. I flung the door open, unbuckled my seat belt and basically jumped out of the car.