Zero Strings

ZS 3

Casey

The sweet smell of pancakes with maple syrup and freshly-ground coffee wafted through my nose, instantly waking up my system.

For the first time since my schedule got messed up and I started having a social life, I woke up without my head pounding like crazy.

I mean I didn't spend every weekend getting drunk and partying of course. Some other times were spent just hanging out or some other stuff with Hailey and our other friends.

It took a minute before I finally opened my eyes, and once I saw the unfamiliar surroundings, I quickly jolted up.

I quickly looked down and once I realized why I was naked in an unfamiliar room, I sighed in relief.

Right, I spent the night at River's apartment. No wonder I could smell pancakes and freshly ground coffee. Caleb would never.

I looked around the room, and once I spotted my panties, I quickly got up and put them on.

I couldn't find my dress anywhere, so I just grabbed the next best thing—the shirt that River wore last night and put it on before walking out of the bedroom, only to be met with a half-naked River with his back facing me.

"Good morning" I said, making him turn to face me before flashing me a smile.

"Good morning" he said as I walked over to the other side of the kitchen counter so I was in front of him and I could watch him cook "How'd you sleep?"

"Great, actually. For the first time in years" I tell him as he closes the omelet on its side and slides it down a plate.

I then look at everything that was on the kitchen counter and everything looked so good! From the pancakes to the omelet.

"Damn you made all these?" I asked as my mouth watered

"Yeah" he answered "Freshly squeezed range juice or coffee?"

I mean I'm usually a coffee-first-thing-in-the-morning type of girl, but as soon as he said freshly squeezed, I wasn't gonna pass up on that.

"Orange juice" I tell him. He then passed a glance at the glass of orange juice before sliding it towards me.

"I hope you don't mind, the pancakes and everything on it is kind of... organic but it tastes good I promise" he said before sliding the other piece of omelet on the plate and turning the stove off.

"I'm not a picky eater, don't worry" I tell him before reaching to grab a fork and dripping down maple syrup on it before slicing a piece from the stack of pancakes, making sure to get some of the blueberry jam on my piece.

And he wasn't kidding about it being organic, because everything about it tasted homemade and not like the kind of stuff you get at the grocery store.

"Oh my god what is in this?" I asked, still with a mouthful of pancakes before quickly slicing another piece. This however, only made River let out a laugh before he grabbed his own fork and leaned forward so he could start cutting a piece off the stack of pancakes as well.

"Uh... oat flour, coconut milk, some salt, some sugar, eggs, homemade blueberry jam, just the usual" he answers nonchalantly before sliding the omelet towards me "Try this"

As soon as I swallow the pancakes, I move my fork to slice a piece of the omelet and put it in my mouth.

"Oh my god you are amazing" I moan out as I chew on it, instantly tasting everything at once. It had cheese, tomatoes, onions, and the egg melted so easy on my mouth oh my god I can't explain it.