“I’ve lived on my own for a while now, princess. I think I’ll be fine.” He nodded at me. Giving him a nod back, I quickly went to the bathroom and re-pulled up my hair. It was like a bird’s nest and was hanging out of my ponytail I put it in last night. Once it looked better, I left the bathroom and headed back to the kitchen. When I entered, I froze.
In front of me was Gage covered in white powder, as well as Dylan who had a huge grin on his face. Gage’s brown hair was all white now, as well as his face, so all you could see were his eyes. Dylan didn’t look at bad as Gage, but the front of his shirt was covered and some of his face. The ground and the table were covered as well.
“What…what happened?” I finally asked looking between them, placing my hands on my hips.
“Nothing,” both boys said at the same time. I stared at them feeling like a mother scolding her kids.
“I can’t leave you two alone for one minute, can I?” Neither boy seemed sorry for what they’d done. Shaking my head at them, I moved further into the kitchen. “You two will be the death of me,” I muttered as I moved around them.
“Did any even get in the bowl?” I asked, picking it up only to see a small amount of pancake mix inside. I looked at them both.
“There’s some in there.” Gage shrugged. I had nothing to say to that.
“Let’s just finish up.” Dylan turned back to his bacon while Gage came back over to help me finish the pancakes. I was pouring whatever was left in the box of pancake mix just as Gage stood over me and shook his head, making white powder rain down on me.
“Gage Harper!” I snapped, wiping away whatever got on my face.
“Just making you fit in better.” He grinned down at me before moving around the kitchen to grab a pan for the pancakes. They didn’t have a real maker for them, so a regular pan it was then.
“I will not make you any pancakes if you keep it up.” I pointed the spoon, which was dripping with mix, at him.
“That means more for me.” Dylan cheered.
“You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?” Gage asked, moving toward me until his front was pressed to my back. His hands came around and rested on the counter, caging me between him and the counter. “You wouldn’t deprive a growing boy of food, right?” His head dipped down so his breath fanned against my neck, making me shiver.
I was at a loss for words. No words would leave my throat, and I felt my face turning bright red. Goosebumps lined my arms.
“Didn’t think so,” he said, his voice lower than before. Gage knew exactly what he was doing to me. When he finally moved away, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I forced myself to stop blushing, but it did nothing for my body feeling like it was on fire.
Trying to get my mind back on track, I blindly finished the pancake mix before going over to the other burner on the stove that Dylan wasn’t using. Gage had a satisfied look, clearly knowing what he just did to me a second ago.
“I want shaped pancakes!” Dylan said as he stood over the pan of sizzling bacon. Gage and I shared a look.
“You are the artist. You make the shapes,” Gage said, thrusting the bowl at me.
“You can make a circle as well.” I pushed it back toward him.
“But I want them from Carty!” Dylan whined. It was like I was cooking with a pair of five-year-olds. Grumbling, I took the batter while they high-fived. See? Five-year-olds. |
As I got to work trying to make the pancakes into something other than circles, Gage leaned against the counter beside me watching, and every couple of minutes Dylan would yell, having gotten grease spatter on him. No matter how many times I told him to take a step back so he wouldn’t get burned, he never listened.
With pressure from both boys, a few of the pancakes didn’t turn out how I wanted, but soon I kind of got the hang of it. I made heart shapes, flowers, a not-so-pretty Mickey Mouse, and I even made some that looked like bacon, per Dylan’s request. All in all, they didn’t turn out bad at all, and I was quite proud of myself. I had done this before only once for Luke, Ethan, and Macey, but never for anyone else.
We had enough pancakes to serve an army, and the same amount of bacon. I wasn’t that much of a breakfast person, big surprise since I loved food, but I knew the boys would eat all of it. Dylan put the bacon on a plate while Gage got plates for the rest of us. I made sure that Dylan made some of the bacon extra crispy because I hated if it was fatty and floppy. So gross. But I also found out Gage liked his bacon the same way I liked mine.
We all sat at the bar with Gage on the corner, me in the middle, and Dylan on my left side. The plate of bacon and pancakes sat in front of us. I had barely sat down before both of them were already eating a pancake each. Boys will be boys, I guess.
The first few minutes, we were all quiet as we ate. The pancakes tasted really good, and it made me smile seeing how nice the shapes came out. The silence didn’t last too long, as Dylan started talking.
“So, may I ask what happened here last night?” he asked, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth and looking between Gage and I.
“Nothing happened. We came back here, watched a few movies, then went to bed,” Gage answered, shrugging. And that was true; nothing else happened between us, although a small part of me was saddened by that.
“You sure?” He wiggled his eyebrows at us. I sent him a look.
“Where were you last night?” I asked instead, changing the subject. “We went to bed pretty late and you weren’t home. When did you get in?” I placed my arm on the table and propped my head up so I was looking right at Dylan.
I was more than surprised, and I bet Gage was too, when Dylan stared to blush. Yes, Mister I-am-such-a-badass blushed at my questions! Even the tips of his ears were turning a soft pink.
“Nowhere,” he mumbled, stuffing his mouth with bacon. I glanced over at Gage, who sent me a half smile before turning back to Dylan.
“Nowhere? You sure about that, Dyl?” I pressed, leaning closer to him. He was clearly hiding something from us, and given his reaction, I wanted to know what it was. If he hadn’t blushed, I would have let it go, but not this time.
“Gage, tell your girl to stop looking at me like a creeper,” he said, looking at Gage.
“Where were you last night?” Gage asked, leaning forward as well. Both of us were teaming up on poor Dylan. With the looks we were sending him, it didn’t take long for him to crack.
“I was with a girl, okay?”
“Dylan with a girl? Is the world ending?” I asked Gage with wide eyes.
“I think so.”
“Ha-ha, so fucking funny,” Dylan mumbled.
“Who’s the girl?” Gage looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow, trying to figure out if he had seen Dylan with any girl.
“She’s no one.” He kept his gaze down on his plate. I couldn’t help but feel bad, so I placed a hand on his arm.
“Dylan, you can tell us if you want to but if not, we respect that. We are just joking with you.” He was quiet for a moment before he opened his mouth.
“Her name is Johanna, but she goes by Anna. She’s in my geography class and sits right next to me. She seems really quiet and shy but she isn’t, and she has these really cute glasses that take up half her face, I swear,” he said, smiling. He seemed to have forgotten we were right here. “She didn’t like me at first, and even surprised me by being rude and ignoring me.”
“Did you take her out on a date last night?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He smiled at me. “I finally convinced her to go out with me. It has taken almost a month, but she said yes.” The way he was talking, I knew he had a crush on this Johanna girl. I wouldn’t call it love, but he sure liked her. She didn’t seem like the type he would go for, but I liked that. I liked that he wasn’t going after the usual tall, blonde, big boobs, airhead type of girl. Dylan needed someone to put him in his place once in a while, and it sounded like this girl did that. It made her perfect.
“Dylan, I am saying
this as your friend, okay?” I softly squeezed his arm. He nodded, waiting for me to continue. “Don’t mess it up. She sounds perfect.” I smiled at him. His smile brightened at my words. It was actually nice that he finally had someone, since the rest of us did.
I went back to my plate and grabbed a piece of bacon. Gage caught my eye as he shook his head at me, but he had a smile on his face. I stuck my tongue out at him and continued on eating.
About five minutes later we all leaned back, groaning. All of the pancakes and bacon were gone. I ended up eating more than I thought I would, and I felt like I was going to burst. Even more shocking was that the boys were finally full for once. The sound of a phone buzzing broke the silence, and all of us looked over at Dylan, whose phone it was. I watched as his face lit up like a Christmas tree. Must be his crush.
“Thank you for breakfast, Car, but I am going to go, um, make a call,” he said before slipping out of his chair and heading for his room, his head down and his fingers flying over his phone.
“I want to meet the girl that has him all in knots,” I said, looking after him.
“It is a first, that is for sure,” Gage said.
“I like it,” I said, smiling and standing to clean the dishes.
“It is weird.”
“How is it weird?” Gage followed after me with his own plate.
“He’s practically giddy. Dylan doesn’t do giddy.” The way he said it was like it was the worst thing in the world.
“Men and their whole ‘men have to be men’ type thing. It is okay to have feelings and to cry once in a while, you know.” I put the plates in the sink and started washing them.
“I don’t care about that crap, but it just is weird seeing Dylan like that.” He grabbed a towel and waited beside me to dry off the dishes. I held back a smile at that.
“Better get used to it I think.” He was silent as we continued washing, and the closer we got to being done, I didn’t know how to bring up what happened next. I needed to go home, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to leave yet. Yes, I was already making myself at home here.
“So…” Thankfully he broke the silence first. “You owe me a date still.” I handed him the last dish to dry and leaned against the counter with my hip.
“Do I now?”
“Yes, and expect it to be an awesome date by the way.” He flashed me a smile.
“Who says I will even take you on a date?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
“I do. And today is the perfect day to.” From the corner of my eye I could see it was a little after eleven, so it wasn’t too late to do something. I might have slightly forgotten about the bet we had, so I had no clue what I would do for this date.
“Uh, yeah, okay, let’s do it,” I answered before I could really think about it.
“Really?” He glanced at me, almost surprised I said yes.
“Why not? I need to go home to shower and change, but we have plenty of time.” I shrugged. I would just be sitting around at our dorm all day not doing my homework, so might as well do something with Gage.
“Okay. Sounds good to me.” I grinned as I placed the hand towel by the sink. “I better head home then.”
Since we were done doing the dishes and putting them away, I headed back to Gage’s room to grab my clothes. I bundled them in my arms and slipped on my flats, looking absolutely ridiculous in my outfit, but I wasn’t going to change into my clothes from yesterday. Plus Gage’s clothes were soft and warm.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home?” Gage asked for the tenth time in five minutes.
“Yes, I am fine. You need to get ready anyway,” I said, going to his door.
“But—”
“Gage, I will be fine. I’ll even text you when I get there, okay?”
“Okay, fine. But do text me.” I smiled at his concern for me. Even if he didn’t admit it, Gage cared somewhat for me.
“I will. I’ll be back to pick you up for our date.” It sounded funny, saying that I would be picking him up for a date.
Saying a goodbye to him, I headed out of his building, a bright smile on my face and my mind full of ideas.
***
“Take him go-carting.”
“But, Mace, we have already been there before.” I leafed through my closet trying to find the perfect outfit. “Remember, it has to be unique and fun.”
Macey was lying down on my bed while I tried to find something to wear, and giving me ideas on where to take Gage. I didn’t tell him when I’d pick him up, but it was already a little after twelve, so I had to get going.
The moment I got home, Macey asked me where I’d been, and she told me she tried calling me but I didn’t answer. After I told her I stayed the night at Gage’s, she basically flipped and almost jumped on me to learn all about my night. When I told her I didn’t sleep with Gage, she calmed down a little but still made a huge stink about it.
“Where have you and Luke gone on your dates?” I asked, getting desperate. While she thought about it, I finally just grabbed an outfit to put on. I didn’t think Gage would care what I was wearing, since I looked like shit this morning. I was just going to go casual and try not to worry about how I looked.
“Let’s see. We’ve gone to a movie, laser tag, oh, and the best one was going to the aquarium. There he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was the best date ever. Why don’t you take him there?” she suggested.
“But isn’t that a little cliché, though? My parents went there for their first date, got engaged there too, you and Luke went there, and now us. I’m not so sure.” With her distracted by her cellphone, I quickly pulled on a pair of capris; well, they kind of looked more like jeans since they were longer on my small frame. Along with that, I pulled on a long-sleeved white shirt. It was super casual, but it was the best I could do on short notice; plus I didn’t really feel like dressing up too much.
“You may be right. Oh wait! How about taking him to that race car track where you drive the expensive cars!” I remembered the place she was talking about, but it was too expensive.
“That may be too much money for us.”
“You once said he enjoyed astronomy. Why don’t you take him to the museum downtown? You can actually sit in a room that shows the stars right above you.” I stopped at that idea. It actually sounded fun and was unique. I remembered Gage helping me at the party a month back and sitting in an empty field talking about stars and planets. Maybe this would be a great idea.
“Mace, you are a genius.” I beamed at her as I grabbed my white Converse.
“I know I am.” She grinned back and me and flipped her hair. “I’ll look up the address and send it to you while you finish getting ready.” Thanking her, I hurried to the bathroom to finish getting ready.
Because I washed my hair just a little bit ago, I let it air dry and hang down my back. I only put on a little bit of makeup today because I was literally too lazy and rushed to do much more. With a swipe of mascara and some lipstick, I was good to go. Thank the Lord my face was cooperating today and I wasn’t left with a huge zit on my face. Making sure my hair was brushed and looked okay, I was ready to go.
I grabbed my shoulder bag, putting plenty of money in it, my ID, and my phone and keys. My phone lit up with a text from Macey telling me the address of the museum. Giving Mace a quick hug and a bye, I was out the door in minutes.
Almost giddy and with a bounce to my step, I walked to Gage’s dorm building. I was just hoping he would like where we were going, and I was going to keep it a secret until we got there. I wasn’t sure if he had ever been, but I just hoped he didn’t find it stupid.
I knocked on his door and bounced on my heels as I waited for him to answer. The door opened a minute later, revealing Gage. I was surprised to see him in something other than his normal jeans and white t-shirt. Instead he was wearing a blue and black shirt. The sleeves were long, hiding his strong forearms and tattoos, but they seemed to make his arms bigger. He was also wearing blu
e-washed jeans. He looked just as hot as he always.
“Hey.” I breathed out.
“You know I expected roses,” he said looking at me expectantly.
“Roses?” I echoed back, confused.
“It is customary that when a person picks up someone for a date they have roses or something to give to the other person,” Gage explained. “So…where’s my roses?”
“I got to say that at least you are sexist,” I commented because I had nothing else to say to that. I knew he was joking with me, but with the way he said it with a straight face, I wasn’t so sure.
“Anyway.” I clapped my hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road.” I was once again giddy.
“Someone is excited,” he pointed out as he shut the door behind him and followed after me as we headed for the stairs.
“Because you are going to love where we are going.”
“And where is that exactly?”
“Can’t tell you. It is a secret.” We headed in the direction of the parking lot, where I’d parked my car. Since I knew where we were going, I was going to drive this time. And my car needed to be started, since it hadn’t been in almost a month.
“What kind of date is this?” he asked, but he was smiling.
“A unique yet fun one, just like the deal said it would be.” I wanted so bad to grab his hand, but I controlled myself as we reached the parking lot. When I started in the direction of my car, Gage got confused.
“My car is that way.”
“I know. I am driving this time.”
“I’m not driving?” The look on his face was like I just insulted his car or something.
“Please tell me you are not one of those men that just always has to drive or else their masculinity is in jeopardy?”
“I’m not! I am just surprised you are driving. That’s all.” I knew I dented his ego a little bit, but I let it slide as we came to my car.
“And here she is.” I beamed and gestured to it.
“How do you know ‘she’ is a she?”
“Because she is awesome and girls are awesome, so there you go,” I reasoned, although it made no sense at all. We got in and buckled up, and I had to admit it was weird sitting in the driver’s seat with Gage in the passenger’s seat. We had only ever driven in his car.
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