Love Me More

Chapter 1

I pressed my earbuds into my ears, closing my eyes. The amount of times I'd done this were quite high as I tried to ignore the moans of my roommate. Coupled with his low groans were the whimpers of some random girl he'd brought home with him.

I turned on my back, opening my Spotify app. I sighed and flicked through a random playlist, clicking on the first song I saw that caught my eye.

As the first of the lyrics filtered into my brain, I sighed. I had been friends with Ren for so long, I probably knew him better than he knew himself. Unfortunately, because of that, we had vowed to stay together until we died when we were kids. Ren took that vow very seriously, so I did, too.

I turned up the volume, the music not quite loud enough to disguise another groan from his room. Sighing, I turned on my side and glanced at the clock on my desk.

12:43

An exasperated groan escaped my lips. They'd been at it all night. I exhaled slowly, snuggling into my blanket and shutting my eyes. The loud rap music cruised into a soft love song, and I relaxed into my comforter.

I'm not sure how long I laid there, in that odd state when you were sleeping but also completely awake. My airpods died in my ears, and I heard silence. I let one eye slide open, glancing at the clock again.

2:02

Sighing, I let my lids flutter shut, this time, falling asleep easily.

...

I hummed as I flipped a pancake expertly, my free hand wiping a bit of flour off my nose. I let the pancake sizzle, turning to grab a towel and wipe the rest of the batter off of my arms. I sighed as I realized just how much there was, scrubbing hard but to no avail.

I surrendered to the dried pancake batter, turning back to my breakfast just in time to see the edges slowly crisp. I cursed and grabbed the pan, sliding it's article onto a stack. I placed the pan back down on the stove, grabbing the plate and placing it on the counter.

I heard a quiet groan and looked up to see Ren stumbling out of his room, shirtless. I grinned. "Morning, whore."

Ren looked up, blinking groggily, before grinning. "Morning, loser. How'd you sleep?"

I laughed without humor before giving him a look. "Had about the same hours of sleep as you did."

Ren smirked, then sighed. "My bad. But you should've seen her," he said, whistling. "She was a Latina!"

I rolled my eyes as he waggled his brows embarrassingly. Ren smirked, then raised his hands, surrendering. I stuck my tongue out at him before turning, grabbing a plate, and tossing three pancakes on it. When Ren noticed the food, his eyes sparked greedily.

"You made pancakes?"

I scoffed, shooting him an "Oh, no shit," look. "No, I made waffles. There's a difference, y'know."

Ren waved his hand dismissively, and I scowled. I sat at our small table, drenching my pancakes in syrup before tossing the bottle to Ren, who caught it easily. He eyed me as he squirted the syrup over his pancakes methodically, tilting his head as I shoveled the food in my mouth. I was determined to finish quickly, and Ren obviously noticed. He clicked the syrup bottle shut, grabbing his knife and fork and cutting a small triangle of pancake out.

I swallowed my third pancake just as he took his first bite.

"What's the rush?"

I chewed a bit more, attempting to empty my mouth of food before talking. I swallowed hard, then replied, "Job interview."