The sound of her own words almost had Keyuri backpedaling to set the conversation as anything but the line that had the potential to be as awkward as almost anything could be. But there was nothing in Ben's expression that led her to think those niggling doubts could prove as true as she thought they might, not when he was looking at her open and encouraging, bolstering her own desire to be bold and say what she had been thinking of for months.
"No," the word came out rushed and she nearly faltered in what she meant to say, flushing slightly at her own awkwardness with something that seemed so easy on paper. Talk to Ben. Suggest to Ben they take up a 'with Benefits' part of their friendship. Finish dinner, have cake and orgasms, in whatever order they felt like. "Not the party, actually," and that almost side-tracked her as she considered that lapse in what otherwise was a crystal memory of that night, but she dismissed it and moved on, her fingers fiddling with one of the satay sticks. "Actually, I was wondering if...well, if you'd be interested in doing that again."
It sounded flimsy even to her ears and she all but rolled her eyes at herself before her lips tipped up into a smile that was not entirely not sly. "It was good. Better than good, and I'd like to do that again sometime."