One Last Shot

[32] Pancakes

             Iris

I wake up in warmth. I feel big hands around me, and immediately recognize my situation. He's smiling while sleeping, weirdo. Almost as if he feels my gaze, he opens his eyes.
"You smile in your sleep, weirdo."

"Only when I dream of you," he jokes groggily. "Do you remember last night? When you begged me to stay with you?"

"Beg is a strong word, I, in my tired, vulnerable state, requested you to stay with me. No begging happened, that's for sure."

"Well, I think there was begging, but then again, I was the more awake one, so I'm more credible."

"But, it's also you, so how credible are you," I joke, before getting up. The bed was warm, he was warm, and if I could stay there forever I would. I pull the damp soda soaked hoodie off me, and the volleyball jersey, leaving me in just my sports bra.

"Here," I feel something soft hit my back as I face my closet. I turn around and see a t-shirt laying on the floor. His t-shirt.

"You want to walk around my house shirtless?" I cock an eyebrow.

"Well, I think you look better in my clothes, so it's a sacrifice I'm willing to take." He smirks, walking over to me. He looms over me, but not in an intimidating way. My eyes scan his bare chest, how perfectly chiseled it is, how even when he breathes, and his chest rises and falls, he still looks like a chiseled god.

"If you're ready for the questions," I sigh, pulling his shirt on. I like wearing his clothes too. His shirts and hoodies are comforting, and I feel cared for when I wear them, as weird as that sounds. Walking into the kitchen, Lilly, Thomas, and Violet are all talking while drinking coffee. Lilly sees us walk in and chokes on her coffee, the other two look in response, shocked. "Morning," I laugh awkwardly.

"I'll make breakfast," Liam suggests, immediately pulling various ingredients out of the fridge and cupboards. "Pancakes," he says, smiling at the group, still slightly stunned. While his back is to us, Lilly points to him and mouths "Oh my god?"

"I know," is all I can mouth back. Recently I've had a change of heart. I don't do the whole sex thing anymore, and ever since that moment in the hallway of my house after Sarah's party I've been thinking. But those unexplainable, unintelligible thoughts have gone nowhere. I hate being in a thinking rut. It sucks, especially when it's about a guy. What have I turned into? Thinking about a guy? This is not what I wanted or planned, and I do not understand.

"Breakfast!" Liam reveals a giant stack of pancakes, and we all dig in.

"Liam, these are great!" Thomas exclaims.

"Thanks for breakfast!" Violet smiles.

"Since when did you know how to cook?" I scrunch my nose.

"Is it not good?" His arms are crossed, and since he's literally shirtless in my kitchen, I can see every flexing muscle in his chest. Good god this is torture.

"No they're good, I'm just surprised you can cook, considering we've never seen you cook before."

"Maybe I've gotten a few lessons from an expert. If I have to be at my parents' house a lot soon, I'd like to know how to cook the basics for Kai." My playful feeling fades and my smile drops.
"You're going to be spending a lot of time at your parents' house soon?" I'm sad, I guess this means I won't see him as much. Even if my feelings are confusing, I know that I've learned to tolerate his presence, and he brings a certain energy with him. I'll miss that if he's gone.

"Yeah, we can talk about it later." Wrong place, these three don't know about everything, and it'd be wrong of me to bring it up and put Liam in an awkward position. As I'm helping him clean plates, my phone rings.