and it was perfect

Chapter 9

The following day, I woke up starving. It was only seven thirty, and the others had to be fast asleep. I quietly went downstairs to make myself a coffee and decided against oatmeal today. Instead, I made pancakes. I craved some sugar after last night. When I was about to finish, Aiden walked in. I shrieked as I was focused entirely on turning the last one without any liquid dough ruining it. "You're... home." he said and sounded surprised. So he'd expected me to sleep with Gene? I shrugged and didn't know how to react. I couldn't believe he had spoken to me.

"And you're home early today." He just grumbled in response. "Do you want some?" I pointed at my pancakes. He shook his head. "I'm good." I started bubbling as I was nervous. "Now that's just rude. You're missing out on Seattle's best pancakes. You're gonna regret this." He scoffed, but the corner of his mouth crinkled a little while he pressed the buttons for the coffee machine. "Fine, I'll take one." I smiled and opened the fridge to look for things to put on top of them. "What you're looking for?" he asked when I frowned. "I don't know. Anything. How comes I live with three guys, but all of them are on a diet? We don't even have Nutella in here." He laughed a little, and it was beautiful. "Hold on."

I was still standing in front of the opened fridge when I suddenly felt his presence right behind me. He lifted his arm above my head to open the high cupboard on top of it and reached for something. He was so close that I could feel his breath on my hair. His scent was killing me. I forgot how to breathe, and closed my eyes for a brief second to steady myself. "There you go." he murmured, handing me a full can of maple syrup. I took it, praying that my hands weren't shaking. He still hadn't moved. Finally, I turned around and looked up into his bright blue eyes. "Thank you." I replied. He was even closer to me than he was back when he hung up my lamp. His eyes widened for a second, then he blinked, and the moment was over. He stepped away without looking at me and grabbed his full coffee mug from the counter.

Then I heard him switch on the Xbox in the living room. It took me a few minutes to regain a steady heart rate. What did just happen? Was it so obvious that I was attracted to him, and he just wanted to prove a point? I decided this wasn't the time to overthink and put my pancakes on two plates. I added some blueberries and syrup and headed over to the couch. He was busy setting everything up for his next game. When I sat beside him, he looked up, his eyes stopping at my legs. I only wore my pyjama, an oversized band tee as always, barely covering half of my thighs.

"Now, are you actually a fan of Creedence Clearwater Revival, or did you just like the print?" he asked while taking the plate I handed him and giving me a little nod as a thank you. I couldn't help but lightly nudge him with my elbow. "Do I look like a wannabe hipster fangirl?" He simply shrugged. "Hey!" I nudged him a little harder until I saw a little smile playing around his lips. "I'm not. It's my Dad's favorite band, and so it also became one of mine. When I was a kid, we sang our hearts out on every drive. It was great." I leaned back and started cutting my pancakes. For a moment, I could see that weird look in his eyes, combined with ... pain?
"My Grandad loved them as well." he quietly added after a moment. I could tell he didn't want to share any details, and I respected that. He must have meant a lot to him. "A man with great taste." I smiled. His mouth crinkled at the corner, but he didn't reply. "You never talk about Seattle." he simply stated. I lost my smile and tried to take the focus away from me again. "Well, I don't even know where you come from."

"Texas." – "That explains that cute little accent." He looked up, amused. "My accent's cute?" Oh. I rolled my eyes and tried not to turn red. "Shut up and eat your pancakes." He laughed. Then I heard a door squeak, and the moment was over. Josh came out of his room, still half asleep. His eyes widened when he saw our plates. I pointed my fork towards the door. "There's more in the kitchen."
"I love you, Jenna." he yawned happily and disappeared into the kitchen. Aiden had started playing his game. I watched him until Josh came back and joined him.