After school Bryce was waiting for you outside the school doors: "Wanna let me drive you home?"
You couldn't help but look around for Kio to be climbing into Riley's car but you hadn't seen him since he left during lunch. When you got to your house, Bryce put on a movie and cuddled up. You knew your dad wouldn't be home for hours and to be honest you were just really excited to spend time with Bryce because he made you a lot happier than you expected.
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He wrapped his arm around you and kissed you before pulling you against his chest as you watched the movie. You loved that he didn't always make it about fooling around the way Noah had. He seemed genuinely happy just cuddling you.
As much as you were enjoying the alone time, you couldn't help but check your phone repeatedly. You were so worried about what happened with Kio after he left school. When Bryce asked if everything was ok, because you kept checking your phone, you lied: "Yeah, I'm actually really hungry. I was thinking about ordering something."
Bryce: "Don't be ridiculous. I can actually cook pretty well. Whatcha feeling like, baby?"
He headed into the kitchen to look around and started pulling out a few ingredients as you shrugged your shoulders: "I don't know what we even have to make?"
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Bryce: "What about some garlic pasta? You have everything for that..."
You jumped up in shock that he was able to find the stuff to make something real. He was stirring up a sauce and pointed towards the boiling water. You dumped some pasta in there and then pulled a bag of salad out of the fridge.
You: "I forgot I bought salad yesterday. That could make this dinner."
Bryce smiled and kissed you like you were his favorite person in the world. The thing you liked about him most is there were no complications and no games. He'd told you he wanted you, and he showed it every chance he got. Bryce finished up his dish as you sat the salad bowl on the table. It was so weird having such a grown up meal together at the house.
Noah used to take you out to eat a lot, but he never was willing to spend time at your house. You couldn't really blame him, your dad always ended up making a scene and it was so uncomfortable for you both. In fact the last time you two got back together, you didn't even bother telling your dad because you knew Noah wouldn't come to the house anyway.
Right on cue, the front door swung open and your dad was already in a bad mood. Luckily it didn't seem like he was drunk. You were really worried he would be mad you had company, but hoped since you weren't in your room he wouldn't make a scene. Bryce walked around the corner and introduced himself: "Hey, I'm Bryce. We were hanging out and decided to make dinner. You should eat with us."
You: "You want my dad to eat with us?"
Bryce: "Well yeah, how else am I supposed to win him over so he lets me date you."
Dad: "He cooks and asks permission before asking you out? I like him already."
You were shocked when your dad didn't grab a beer before sitting at the table. He was never sober going into dinner. Then again it'd been years since you had real company. Whenever your friends were over you kept in your room even to eat.
Dad: "She does most of the cooking around here. Since her mother left we'd have starved if it wasn't for her."
Was that a compliment? Who was this man and what had he done with your father. Bryce smiled and continued talking about how he makes his garlic cream sauce. You took notes because there must have been some secret ingredient that caused a personality shift in your dad. You did the dishes while listening to them laugh about the local high school football team.
