Sleeping next To You

Chapter 4

As the timer starts blaring through the café, I quickly got up, hiding my face. My was face red, but from blushing, not from embarrassment. I slowly ran to the oven, taking them out. I looked at them proudly as he came up behind me, "they don't look too bad." He grinned playfully and I smiled "well, I did way better than you could have done."

"Says the one who lost to me every year." He got me there.

After we finished icing and decorating them all my mum came through the door gesturing us outside so that we could all get together to start the contest. 

The whole front of the café was crowded by people all bundled up in their coats and there was a ballet box by each one of the setup tables. The customers were to put a ticket in one of our boxes and whoever has more at the end wins.

Addis and I put all our cupcakes on display then sat at our table playing with the icing and stealing a cupcake here and there. "Who do you think is going to win?" I asked. 

"Us." Of course, he thought that. 

Letty came over and put her arm around me slowly taking a cupcake, eating it. "Mm, not bad." Then she went hopping back over to Ryan, kissing all over him and trying to get everyone to vote for their cupcakes. 

That's when Addis smirked and started playing music from a small speaker that he had. "Music adds fun to any event." I definitely agreed to that. We sang and messed around the whole rest of the hours.

The voting...

We all gathered around the center table in the café, Letty started jumping up and down in excitement, "we have 142!" She yelled out. Addis and I were still counting ours as everyone else has way less than Letty and Ryan had. We looked at each other, "well we have one hundred, forty..." I hesitated, "141." 

We lost. 

Letty jumped onto Ryan and basically started bragging about winning right away. "Hey, at least we were close, right?" Addis nudged me and I pulled him close whispering in his ear, "well at least I know that it's Letty who could bake and not you." 

I smirked walking away leaving him stunned as I congratulated Letty and Ryan.

They were really made for each other and you could tell they were the perfect fit. That's the kind of love everyone wants and wishes for. Lindsey didn't really say anything and she didn't even end up saying goodbye. I sent her a quick text asking if she was okay then put my phone back in my pocket.

Bowling was next and Letty was already saying how she was going to beat all of us. I think winning the cupcake contest had gone to her head. Addis sat next to me, "for your information I can bake pretty well, Scarlett just helps... a lot."

"Okay sure. Then one day I want you to bake me the biggest cake, preferably all chocolate with strawberries and I want ONLY you to make it." 

He bit the side of his lip, "challenge accepted."

Next, was bowling and we had to all get in teams. This time though I decided to team up with Jane and my dad. Addis was with Ryan and Letty. 

"Greysen, we should make a bet," Letty suggested as she came up to me. "Depends. What's the bet?" I look at her.

"If I win you owe me $20 and you have to actually come out to our parents." That hit hard because Letty and Lindsey were the only ones that knew I was gay. I was scared to tell mum and dad. My dad was kind of this really big Trump supporter and was always agreeing with what Trump had to say about the lgbtq+ community. Then there was my mum, she was always saying that she "doesn't know how she would feel if one of her kids were gay." So, it put a fear in me to tell them. Even though Letty said she knows that they will love me and accept me for me.

I just didn't know if that would actually happen, but I hated hiding from the people I love the most. 

"Okay, if I win though I get $30 and I get to show Ryan embarrassing pictures from when you were younger." I smiled and we shook on it. "Deal," she said. Jane wasn't that bad at bowling, but Letty had Addis on her team. He was the best at bowling and I was starting to feel uneasy. 

It wasn't even close. They won and my heart sunk. 

I just hope Letty was joking and isn't going to actually make me come out to my parents. They jumped up and cheered when Addis make the winning strike, but besides that, she didn't bring up the bet. The movies were the only thing left that we had to go to. It was the ending of every annual family day. Letty and I usually always argued with who gets to pick the movie we see, but this time she let me decide even though she ended up leaving in the middle of it with Ryan.

After the movies...

We all went back to the café to make sure we cleaned up everything before heading home, but my mum said she was tired and that she was just going to relax in the car for a little. When I finished cleaning though the only one I seen outside the cafe was Addis as, getting ready to hop in his car and leave. 

"Thank you for being my partner," Addis said as he smiled. "The pleasure really was all yours." I laughed and gave him a big hug as he got in his car.

"Wait, do you need a ride? I think your mum already left." I shook my head and he shrugged his shoulders as I started to walk away and he slowly followed behind me in his car.

"Addis, what in the hell are you even doing?"

"You're not walking home by yourself. Get in the car or I'll just do this the whole time." Stubborn ass.

Addis was always like this when we met he literally would bug me over and over until I gave him my homework to copy off of. When he wanted something he made sure he got it.

"Fine. You know I love walking though."

"Oh well," I jumped into the passenger seat and pulled out my phone to make sure Lindsey was alright.

I haven't heard from her after she left and I assumed she was mad at me, which she gets mad very easily. She could have just got mad because of the whole Addis situation because I know she would have rather been working with him on the cupcake contest instead of Jane. 

She left me on read.

"Addis, I have a question," I said as he asked what it was. "Why don't you like Lindsey?"

He took a minute to reply. "I like her, just not in that type of way that she likes me. Why?"

"I don't know, she's just a really great girl and I didn't know why you wouldn't like her." I laughed slightly as I was trying to be a good wingman and get Lindsey the man she wanted. He glanced over at me for a second before focusing back on the road. He really was handsome and his smile was so warm.

Stop.

This is Addis, your best friend. Also, including your other best friend's crush. Still, though, my mind kept wondering. "What was the real reason you wanted me to be your partner today?"

"I just felt awkward if it was Lindsey and me alone. Plus, I really wanted the second-best baker to try to help me win." Him and his witty self.

After that, there was silence as we pulled up to my house, "thank you, Addis."

"No problem. Also, Lindsey really is a great girl... my interest is just somewhere else."