Chapter Text
Night One: Rock-Climbing
“So, why are you so set dead set on me going to this stupid singles event?” Rey asked Finn as she begrudgingly got ready. “I know you’re in love but that doesn’t mean I need to be in a relationship,” she told him, though continued to apply her makeup. Rey had only recently moved into town and probably did need to make more friends than just Finn and a few coworkers. It might actually be fun to watch the poor souls at a singles event thinking that they could find love doing stupid things like indoor rock-climbing, but she wouldn’t tell Finn that she was only agreeing to go so she could get a good laugh.
“Because you need to get back out there,” Finn argued. He knew all about her long dry spell that she had been going through since her last break-up over a year ago. “And, I may have information that says a hot guy that is just your type is going to be attending,” he acted innocent but she knew he was plotting something, specifically that she was trying to set him up with someone.
Rey sighed and turned to her long time best friend, “Finn, what could possibly make you think that a guy I would be interested in would go to one of these dumb things?”
“Just trust me, you’ll know when you see him,” he grinned, to which Rey just rolled her eyes. “Even if he doesn’t catch your eye it’ll give you a chance to meet people,” he told her.
Rey just shook her head, “I’m already going; you don’t have to convince me.” That was how Rey started going to single’s night events, not expecting that she’d ever go back.
When Rey first arrived all she could do was chuckle at the sad excuse for a rock climbing wall. She supposed the event was more for mingling than it was for an actual challenge so they weren’t really focusing on getting a great wall for climbing. As a long time climber Rey found she had no desire to try the wall.
For a moment Rey thought about leaving but something (someone) caught her eye. He was tall and broad, but what she noticed most was how miserable he looked. His friend was grinning, presumably at the taller man’s misery. She no longer cared about Finn’s friend; she was going to find out whom the man with the scowl on his face was. Part of her wondered if he was the man Finn was talking abut, but decided she may have to kill him if he had hidden such a man from her for months since she’d moved to the city.
As she approached she heard the shorter man say, “Lighten up, you’ll never find a girl with that kind of attitude.”
Rey grinned as she took the opportunity to interject, “He’s right, you’re very unapproachable.”
“Yet here you are approaching me,” the tall man said as he turned to face her.
Rey felt her heart pound in her chest; he was even more attractive up close. All she could do was smile when she noticed he seemed to be lost for words after seeing her. “Come on grumpy, join the events. At least pretend you want to be here,” she teased, completely ignoring his friends as her eyes stayed focused on him. “I’m sure your charming personality will make women swoon,” she joked with a laugh. Rey couldn’t help but scan his body, wanting to see what was under his clothes. Based on his clothing she assumed it would be quite a nice sight. “I’m sure you could conquer at least part of the rock wall,” she said; though she had no doubt he could probably make it to the top with ease. Really she just wanted to watch his muscles flex as he climbed the wall.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re a real hit with the men,” he deadpanned. She tried to think back if teasing was still a form of flirting when you’re in your twenties.
“Sorry, is an independent woman intimidating to you?” she retorted. His face harden and she figured that she had hit a nerve, which only seemed to make her grin widen. There was something about getting this man worked up that was extremely sexy.
“There’s a difference between a strong woman and an annoying one,” he told her. “Right now you’re being the latter.” She saw his friend elbow him in the side but he didn’t even seemed fazed by the action.
All Rey could do was laugh, “So charming, just like the scowl you’re sporting.” She smiled as she walked away, not giving him any chance to respond. Rey mingled with other people, though she hadn’t really cared what they said. In fact, if it weren’t for Ben she would have left an hour ago, however, she had felt his eyes on her all night. She liked having his eyes on her.
By the end of the night Rey had talked to everyone at the event. She even went out of her way to be nice to people whenever she felt his eyes on her, even if she didn’t particularly care about any of the people she talked to. When it was all done she was going home alone, but that wasn’t before she smirked at Ben and said, “See you next time grumpy.”
Night Two: Fondue Night
Finn had seemed disappointed when she told him that she had not seen his friend. He seemed adamant that she was wrong but she assured him that she’d kick his ass if the man she had met was his friend and they hadn’t been introduced sooner. All she could do was hope that Ben would be there again, hopefully without his friend so they could talk.
When Rey entered the venue the first thing she saw was the tall, broad, mountain of a man she had been waiting to see since the previous event. “You’re back,” she said from behind him. “Good to see you still have your charming scowl,” she added, hoping it would cause him to turn around and face her.
“You couldn’t even see my face,” he pointed out with his usual scowl on his face. While she could see how his scowl may be off putting to other people, she found it hot.
“Didn’t need to, your body said it all,” she told him as she looked around the room. She didn’t see his friend from last time, whose name she hadn’t even bothered learning, “Where’s your friend?”
There was something about the look on his face that made her heart hurt. It was as if he had deflated at her question, which she didn’t understand. “Poe’s dating someone and gay,” he said, as if that mattered to her. “He only came last time to make sure I didn’t bail,” he added.
Her heart jumped at his words, hoping that she was the reason he came back. “Then why are you still here this time?” she asked.
“My mother,” he mumbled in response, which just made him more endearing.
“Aw, you’re a momma’s boy,” she smiled. “Wouldn’t have guessed that,” she looked at him, he hadn’t given off a momma’s boy vibe. The way he blushed in response was adorable and made her want to make it happen more.
“I’m not a momma’s boy, my mother is just someone you don’t say no to,” he said, looking highly uncomfortable with the topic.
“So you are intimidated by strong women,” she smirked at his reaction. It was fun for her to rile him up.
“I’m not scared of strong women,” he growled. “I’ve been around them my entire life, I think I know how to deal with strong women,” he huffed. His words made her wonder who exactly his mother was.
“What, you glare at them and hope they go away?” she joked. “Take the scowl off your face and go get some fondue,” she suggested, though she really didn’t want him to leave her side and was pretty sure that he wanted nothing to do with the fondue.
“I despise fondue,” he replied. “Everyone sticking their food into the same pot, someone is bound to do something unhygienic and before you know it everyone has caught some disease,” he explained. She understood where he was coming from because she hated fondue too. She had never thought about the hygiene part, she just had issues sharing food in any way.
“Okay so you’re grumpy, scared of women, kinda a snob, and paranoid. Any other charming quality I missed?” she laughed. She hoped it was coming off as flirtatiously as she was trying for and not just her being rude.
“I’ve been told I’m quite the asshole as well,” he said, though she wasn’t sure if he were serious or joking. His face made it seem like he was completely serious.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she asked. Rey tried to read his face to determine if he understood that she wasn’t being serious, but he was hard to read. His eyes were expressive, but the rest of his face seemed to remain neutral.
Rey took it as a good sign when Ben continued to talk to her the rest of the night and hoped that meant that he was interested. Part of her was disappointed when he didn’t ask her out, but the other part was just happy that they continued to talk. It wasn’t anything in depth; they talked about their jobs, some hobbies and other little things that people talked about when they first met a person. It was what she’d call first date conversation, which just made her wish it were actually a date. She enjoyed making him smile and found him to be even more breathtaking when he smiled.
“So why exactly are you here?” he asked, catching her off guard. He seemed to think that he had offended her and quickly clarified, “You don’t exactly look like the kind of person that would need help from a singles event to find someone.”
”I could say the same for you,” she replied, once again checking him out. She couldn’t believe that he would think he needed an event to meet women. How he was still single was crazy to her.
“I know I’m not the most attractive man, you don’t need to mock me,” he told her coldly.
“So we need to add delusional to the list as well,” she shook her head. Rey was sure that he had to have been joking because there was no way anyone was that blind. She was sure that he was just trying to come off as humble but it just made him sound like an idiot.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he change the topic.
“Nor do I plan to,” she replied. “I’ll see you next time grumpy,” Rey turned and started walking away. It wasn’t as if her reasoning for being there was bad but she didn’t exactly want to tell him that her friend was trying to set him up with someone else. She wasn’t interested in whoever Finn thought was her type.
“I have a name,” he called after her.
Rey turned to him and grinned, “I know, but there are multiple Ben’s here and you’re nothing like them,” she had purposefully not been using his name; she thought that she was being flirtatious, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. Rey walked away without further explanation, hoping him that it would leave him wanting more.
Night Three: Painting
Rey was having the day from hell. First, she had slept through her alarm making her late to work. Then, all hell seemed to break loose at work because it seemed that everyone’s car decided it didn’t want to work on the same day. As a result she was now late to the event. Of course it would be the only event that she had to be there to pick a seat, she just hoped no one had taken the seat next to Ben. Knowing Ben he’d pick an end seat to ensure that he was near as few people as possible. While she may not have known much about him, it had become clear to her that he wasn’t exactly a people person.
Rey burst through the door looking a like a mess. She was out of breath from running from her car to the venue, her hair was a mess, and she was still covered in grease from work. Despite looking like a mess, the look on Ben’s face told her that he didn’t care what she looked like; he was relieved to see her show up. Rey was about to smile but then she noticed the woman walking towards him who clearly wanted to take the only seat next to him. In that moment all she knew was that she was not going to let that woman take the seat next to Ben. That was her seat.
It probably wasn’t the most adult thing for her to do, but she stomped her way over to Ben, drawing the attention of the woman. “Thanks for saving me a spot,” she said as she basically pushed another woman out of her way, taking the seat next to him. She threw a glare at the woman who walked off grumbling about how they shouldn’t be there if they are already in a relationship.
“Uh, you’re welcome,” Ben didn’t seem to know what else to say. He seemed completely confused as to why she would scare the other woman away. Either the man was completely clueless as to her flirting or he was really good at acting surprised, she wasn’t sure which.
Rey was determined to make her day better with some flirtatious banter with Ben, “Glad to see you’re actually participating grumpy. I’m gonna go grab a drink make sure to save my seat.” Rey went to get herself a beer, needing to calm down after her exhausting day. What she really wanted was for Ben to just ask her out so they could leave and never come back.
“So you just wanted to sit next to me that badly, huh?” Ben asked when Rey returned. She was a little embarrassed by her reaction, but she didn’t regret it.
“Uh, I was just doing you a favor,” she blushed. “I think she’s slept with like every guy here, I wouldn’t want you to catch something,” they both knew she was lying; she had never seen the woman before that night.
“So, do you like painting?” Ben asked, making Rey happy that he it slide rather than calling her out. She almost expected him to call her out, but was relieved when they were able to move on.
“No, I suck at painting. I’m sure by the end of the night there will be more paint on me than the canvas,” Rey laughed. Her heart pounded harder when Ben laughed as well. His laugh was even better than his smile. “You know you’re not so bad when you don’t have a permanent scowl on your face,” she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear nervously. The truth was she wanted to make him laugh as often as possible just to hear the sound of his laugh again.
“I’ll keep that mind,” he smiled. “You know you never did answer my question as to why you come to these things,” he didn’t seem as if he were going to let it go. She didn’t understand why it was so important to him that she tells him her reason for being there, but she refused to tell him the whole truth. Finn’s friend was not important to her, Ben didn’t need to know about him.
“Well, at first it was to appease my friend Finn,” she told him, keeping it as vague as possible. “But now I’m not so sure,” Rey was trying to hint to him that she was only sticking around to see him. “Are you coming to the event on Saturday?” she asked. Finn had asked her to go out with him and some friends, but if Ben were going to be at the event she was sure that he would understand if she didn’t join them.
“No,” he shook his head. “My friend is having a game night, plus it’s dancing and I don’t dance,” Ben told her, which was disappointing. “Looks like we fell a little behind.”
Rey turned her attention to the front of the room and shrugged, not particularly caring about the painting lesson. “Oh well, it’s not like it was going to turn out well anyway,” she smiled, though it wasn’t quite genuine. She was disappointed that she wasn’t going to see him on Saturday.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. Ben seemed concerned, which was sweet.
“Honestly? Now I have no excuse not to go out with my friend on Saturday,” she admitted. She hoped her words would be enough for him to realize that he was the only reason she was still coming and that he should just ask her out so they didn’t have to come to the events.
“Isn’t that better than spending your night at one of these events?” he asked, though he didn’t quite meet her eyes.
“I don’t even know what Finn has planned or who is going to be there. He said something about his boyfriend but I haven’t met the guy and I don’t want to be a third wheel. I just recently moved here and he’s really the only person I know other than my co-workers,” she explained. She thought it was pretty self explanatory that she wanted to spend time with him. Rey didn’t think that she needed to actually spell it out for him so it made her wonder if she had read him all wrong. He seemed interested but he still didn’t ask her out.
Ben was silent for a moment before saying, “Well, maybe you’ll meet someone while you’re out and won’t have to come to another one of these things.” Her heart sank that Ben thought it would be fine for her to meet someone else or that she’d even want to meet someone else.
“I think we both know I already met someone, he’s just too dense to ask me out,” she blushed, hoping he’d get the hint.
“Oh,” Ben looked as if he were trying to process his words. “You know, as a strong, independent woman you could make a move,” he suggested. Rey rolled her eyes, she felt that she had been clear that she was attracted to him; there was no reason she should need to make a move. It hurt when Ben almost immediately changed the subject. The rest of the night was filled with tension that made Rey wonder if she was reading him wrong. She thought they were flirting but now she wasn’t very sure.
“Bye grumpy,” Rey said at the end of the night feeling as if she would never see him again. She sighed as she walked out of the venue wondering if maybe she should just have Finn introduce her to his friend.
Game Night
Rey wasn’t in the mood to go out but she had promised Finn that she would join him and Rose. “We’re going to my boyfriend’s house,” Finn had told her. “He’s having a bunch of people over, it’ll be fun. I think you’ll like his roommate,” he had a mischievous smile. She knew that he probably planned to introduce her to his friend that night. She wasn’t thrilled about the thought, but after the last singles event she had a feeling that whatever she thought was there with Ben wasn’t really there.
She was feeling impatient as Finn knocked on his boyfriend’s door for what must have been the fifth time. The door finally flew open and she immediately recognized the deep voice before she even saw him, “Why the fuck did Poe give you a key if you aren’t going to use it?”
“Well, I knew Poe wasn’t home yet and for all I knew you could be walking around naked,” Finn told him. Part of her was annoyed that Finn had made them wait in the hall when he had a key.
“It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before,” Ben retorted, which surprised Rey. She didn’t think that Ben was bisexual, but it wouldn’t bother her if he were.
Finn suddenly burst out laughing the stepped aside, “I have, but they haven’t.” Rey bit her lip as she stared at a shirtless Ben. If she had seen Ben naked she sure has hell wouldn’t have picked Poe over him.
Ben turned bright red as he stuttered, “He, uh, thought Poe was in the shower and just walked in while I was showering,”
“Poe almost died laughing when he found out,” Finn added. “So, are you gonna let us in or make us wait in the hall?” he asked. Ben moved aside motioning for them to come in.
“Ben, this is Rey and you know Rose,” Finn introduced them. He acted like he thought they hadn’t known each other but she was starting to suspect that Ben was the friend Finn had been talking about.
“We’ve met,” Ben blurted out, causing Rey to shoot him a look. He looked at her apologetically, but she didn’t understand why he would think she was mad at him for saying something. Rey was annoyed with Finn, but Ben seemed to think that she was annoyed with him.
“How did you guys meet?” Finn asked as he took off his jacket and shoes, though he didn’t seem like he was really interested, probably because he already knew.
”Remember that guy I told you about from the events?” Rey asked, though she wasn’t sure why he was even putting up the front anymore. The dumb look on his face told her everything she needed to know about his part in it all.
“That’s Ben?” Finn asked before laughing. “That makes so much sense,” he told her. She was ready to smack him upside the head.
“What exactly did you say about me?” Ben glared, clearly not realizing that she had been gushing about him every time she talked to Finn.
“That you’re an idiot that doesn’t know when to ask a girl out,” Finn told him, making Rey blush. She thought that she had made what she wanted very clear, but clearly she was wrong. “Which is so true, you’ve always sucked at knowing when women are interested in you,” he told Ben. Finn turned to Rey to explain, “Ben does not realize he’s attractive. He wasn’t trying to seem humble, he really thinks that people think he’s ugly.” She wanted to yell at Finn that if he had just told her that Ben was the friend then he could have clarified the situation much earlier.
“You thought I was joking?” Ben asked, to which Rey just nodded. She couldn’t believe that he actually thought he was unattractive. Whoever told him that he was ugly needed to have their eyes checked. “You’ve seen me right?”
“Have you seen you?” she asked, her eyes flickering down to his chest before looking back at his face. She was having a very hard time concentrating on his face when his perfectly toned chest was on full display. If anything it made her want to just drag him into his room and fuck some sense into him. He truly was delusional if he didn’t realize exactly how attractive he was. She made a mental note that they’d have to work on his confidence.
Rey’s actions seemed to remind Ben that he was still shirtless, “You guys make yourselves comfortable, I’m gonna go put on a shirt.” Ben hurried out of the room to put a shirt on, which she felt was both good and disappointing at the same time. It was good because it would help her concentrate, but disappointing because his chest was truly glorious.
“So, you and Ben?” Finn grinned. Rey almost felt bad for Rose, who was just standing there awkwardly not understanding what was going on.
Rey didn’t have a chance to respond because Poe walked into the apartment. Her suspicions that Finn and Poe tried to set them up were pretty much confirmed by the grin on Poe’s face when he saw her. “Oh Rey, I didn’t realize you knew Finn,” he grinned.
“Sure you didn’t,” Rey rolled her eyes. “Stop the act guys, you guys clearly were trying to set me up with Ben,” she crossed her arms. “Why didn’t you just introduce us in a normal setting?” she asked not understanding all of the deception.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Poe grinned, refusing to acknowledge what they all already knew. Before she could argue with him Ben walked back into the room causing Poe to say, “There’s Ben! Hey Ben, who would have guessed that Rey knows Finn?”
Ben glared at him, “I have a feeling that you did.” He seemed to have the same suspicions as her.
“Me? How would I know? I just met Rey,” he tried to play dumb, but he was a horrible actor. “I mean I might have had my suspicions, but I didn’t know for sure,” Poe acted innocent but no one was buying it.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Ben grumbled before grabbing himself a beer. He walked away from the group to sit on the couch by himself.
Rey decided in that moment that she was going to get what she wanted. She walked over to Ben, sitting closer than necessary, “So, grumpy is just your default setting? It’s not saved for events?”
“Must you always make fun of me?” he huffed. Rey couldn’t believe one man could be so clueless.
“I’m just teasing,” she told him as she grabbed the beer from his hand, it had become clear to her that she was going to have to be as direct as possible. “Isn’t that how people flirt?” she asked as she took a drink of his beer before handing it back to him.
“Flirting?” he asked. She wanted to strangle him for being such an idiot. Clearly she did have to spell it out for him.
“Ben, are you serious right now? Even after all Finn just said you still don’t get that I want you to ask me out?” she asked. Rey shook her head with a sigh, “Let’s go for a walk.” Rey grabbed the beer from his hands once again and put it down on the table in front of her as she stood up. She was going to make her intentions very clear. Rey grabbed his hand and pulled him to come with her, she was a woman on a mission and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Ben complied and followed her out of the apartment without either of them saying a word to the other occupants of the apartment. They walked for a while in silence, neither knowing exactly what to say. “So,” Ben started, but it was clear that he still wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t even sure if he knew what she wanted.
Rey stopped walking, forcing Ben to stop as well. She stepped closer to him without letting go of his hand and never breaking eye contact. She squeezed his hand hoping that it was reassuring. “Let me make myself very clear,” her voice was stern, determined to ensure there would be no confusion. “I am interested in you and would very much like to date you,” she told him, stepping forward until there was very little space between them. “Is that enough of a move for you?” she asked, remembering when he said she was a strong independent woman that was able to make a move. It made her wonder if that was his way of saying that he wanted her to be the one to make the first move.
“Yeah,” he confirmed before closing the gap between them. Rey didn’t care about anyone around them; all that mattered was the man that was kissing her. The kiss was so much better than she could have imagined. Her hands tangled in his hair, relishing how soft it was in her hands. When he deepened the kiss her body felt like it was on fire and all she wanted to do was climb him like a tree.
“Get a room!” a man yelled as he passed them, causing them to pull apart. Rey started laughing while Ben blushed as he looked around at the people staring at them. She found it adorable how embarrassed he was by the man’s comment.
“Well, since your place is currently occupied, maybe we could take this back to my place,” she suggested with a smile and a wink. She wanted to get him home and work on washing away all of his insecurities by showing just how bad she wanted him. “Wouldn’t want to get arrested for public indecency,” she added, making her intentions as clear as possible.
“I’d like to take you on a date first,” he said, surprising her. Most men would have jumped at the opportunity to go back to a woman’s place and have sex. “I know a good Italian place nearby,” he suggested. Rey wondered if maybe she should send Finn and Poe a thank you gift rather than berate them for interfering. While they didn’t go about it the best way, their actions still got her Ben.
“Sounds perfect,” Rey said as she ran her hand down his chest. It was sweet that he wanted to take her on a date. It felt like it was his way of saying he wanted more than just sex with her, which excited her. She wanted to get to know all of him and make him hers.
Ben stepped away but said, “I do plan to take full advantage of you after dinner.” The huskiness in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. When he started pulling her in the direction of the restaurant she smiled as she happily followed him. While she was happy to have dinner, she was far more excited for the dessert.
The End.