Chapter 9 For the Pancakes #2
We eyed each other, then Sarah shifted toward Jamie, cutting me out of their conversation. “Since he’s here, I’m going to head home.” She pointed at the ceiling.
“Noooo,” Jamie whined, bending down to get eye to eye with her. “We’re supposed to get pancakes.” He looked at me over her head, his eyes pleading. “You’ll take us to Pancake Town, right?”
I had no idea I’d signed up for pancake duty, but after the night I’d had, pancakes actually sounded great. If it meant cornering Sarah into a conversation she might hate? Even better.
“Sure, why not?”
Sarah spun, her long hair whipping both Jamie and me in the face. “Huh?” She wobbled, so I grasped her elbow to steady her.
“We’re getting pancakes. You in?”
She frowned. Her little button nose scrunching up as her lips pressed into a tight line.
Jamie leaned on her shoulder and begged. “Please, Sarah. Don’t leave me with him. Alone.”
Her lips curved up as she cocked an eyebrow at my brother. If it took him talking shit about me to get her in my car, then I didn’t care how much trash Jamie spewed.
“Fine. I’ll go. Let me run upstairs and get my purse.” And then she was gone. For a drunk girl, she moved fast.
A lot slower, Jamie followed her outside. We stood in the gravel driveway, listening to the party and the sharp laughter of the girls on the roof, until Jamie looked at me with unfocused, bloodshot eyes. “Did you fuck Sarah?”
“Whoa.” I jerked my head back. “No. And why are you talking about her like that? I don’t think she’d appreciate you asking if I fucked her.”
He blew out a breath. “Relax, I don’t mean it like that. Poor choice of words. I’m just catching a weird vibe between you two, and I want to make sure I have all the facts.”
“You like her?” My gaze naturally drifted to the back of the house, waiting for her to resurface. It didn’t hurt that I didn’t have to watch Jamie as he answered.
“I do. But it’s not going to happen. She’s been pretty clear about that since minute one.
I get the feeling she doesn’t date much, let alone do casual.
Hell, I don’t think she knows how to have fun.
Right now, I’m just trying to be her friend.
” Jamie turned away from me at the sound of crunching gravel.
“Ready to go?” Sarah looped her arm around his and smiled my way. And fuck, did it do something to me.
“Yep, we need—”
“Don’t be out too late, Sarah!”
“Two brothers? How scandalous!”
“I’ll take whoever’s left over!”
“Oh, shut up and go back inside.” Sarah’s cheeks turned red as she yelled back at the girls on the roof. “Sorry about that. A girl gets herself invited to late-night pancakes with a couple of hot guys, and they can’t control themselves.”
Jamie waved at them and then snuggled Sarah to his side. “If you’re going to choose him over me.” He glanced over his shoulder as we went down the alley. “I don’t think I mind being a leftover.”
Sarah laughed and slapped his arm. “They’d eat you alive, young man.” Walking in a line, she had to lean around Jamie to see me. “So, where are we going?”
Finally, it was my turn to be part of the conversation.
“To Con’s car. His apartment is next door to the Wel,” Jamie answered, his speech garbled.
Never mind.
“Cool.” Sarah leaned back, and I was once again forgotten.
We walked the few blocks in silence. Their steps were irregular and clumsy while I tried to keep them on the sidewalk.
“I need to take a piss.” Jamie dropped Sarah’s arm and went to the external door of my apartment, disappearing inside.
Sarah looked at me, uncertain of her next move.
“We should go up and make sure he doesn’t get distracted or lost,” I said.
“Lost?”
I held the door open and followed her up the stairs. The sway of her ass was all I could focus on.
Are her shorts painted on?
“There’s another apartment up here. He’s already tried to go in there once.”
“Ah. That happened to my friend in the dorms. Guy came inside in the middle of the night and pissed on their floor. I’ve checked my locks ever since. No way I’m cleaning up stranger piss.”
“But you have a different stance on friendly piss?”
“Sure. I’ll clean it up, but I won’t like it. I figure if they’re pissing on my floor, they probably aren’t in a place to clean it up. Acquaintance piss? I’ll get the cleaning supplies, but it’s up to them to get the job done.” She flicked her wrist to accentuate her point.
“Makes sense.”
She stepped to the side so we could go up the stairs together. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“What’s your piss stance?” Her expression was thoughtful, as if we were having a totally normal conversation.
“I clean up nobody’s piss but my own.”
Sarah sagely nodded. “Fair.”
We got to my door, which was wide open, and I could hear Jamie in the bathroom humming. Exhausted, I plopped down on the couch and watched Sarah move around the space, cataloguing everything. She stopped at a family photo my mom had framed and given to me when I moved in.
“Is this your mom?”
My leg bounced as I fought the urge to go stand next to her. “Yep. Colleen McCormick. Single mom, badass, saint.”
Sarah looked over her shoulder and smiled. “A mama’s boy.”
“Two mama’s boys!” Jamie yelled from the bathroom.
Good to know he’s listening.
She chuckled and ran a finger over the spines of the books stacked next to the picture. “Sci-Fi and—” She bent over to read the title. “Fantasy?”
“He’s a nerd,” Jamie offered as he came out of the bathroom. The front of his shirt was wet, like he’d been sick.
“I cut my teeth on Tolkien, now I’m all about N. K. Jemisin.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up. “I love her books!” She stuck her tongue out at Jamie.
My heart thumped. Of course, we liked the same books. I knew that didn’t mean we were soulmates, but it did mean we’d have shit to talk about.
Jamie flopped down next to me, folding his tall frame in half as his eyes slid closed. “Fuck me. The girl of my dreams is my brother with tits.”
Sarah’s mouth curved to the side, her eyes full of humor.
I nudged Jamie’s shoulder. “Jamie?”
Snore.
“Jamie?”
Snore.
“Jackass?”
Jamie let loose a larger-than-life, sawing-logs, suck of air, and Sarah lost the battle against laughter. “I guess pancakes are out.”
My stomach sank. I didn’t want the night to end. “Why?”
She gestured toward my passed-out, drunk brother. “Mr. Pancakes is out for the count, and we’re . . . whatever we are.”
“I’m game if you are.”
Sarah put her hands on her hips and stared me down. Her pink lips pouted as she narrowed her eyes. “What about Meg?”
“What about her?”
Does she think I’m with Meg?
“Are you talking? Dating? Shacking?”
I frowned. “Shacking?”
Her lips twitched. “Are you hooking up?”
“Not that I’m aware of. What about you?”
“What about me?” Sarah lifted her eyebrows.
“Are you and Jamie talking? Dating? Shacking?”
Her face relaxed, and she dropped her fists from her hips. “No. We never have, never will. He knows that. He’s just being goofy.”
“Then I see no reason why two single people can’t go get pancakes at two thirty in the morning.”
Rubbing her stomach, she nodded. “Okay. I’m in. For the pancakes.”
“For the pancakes.”
I covered Jamie up with a blanket, stretched his legs out the length of the couch, and set a trash can by his head. Going to the door, I couldn’t stop smiling. The night went from shit to pretty damn good. “Shall we?”
“Let’s shall.” She floated past me with one hand in the air like a princess.
When we got to the car, I hurried to the passenger side and opened the door for her.
Sarah put her hand on her chest. “Such a gentleman.”
“I try.”
I closed her door and jogged around the front of the car, smiling like a fool. I got in, and as we drove out of the square, I turned on the radio.
“I like this song.” Sarah faced the window, tapping her fingers on her knee.
“What is it?”
She swung toward me, eyes wide and mouth agape. “You’ve got to be kidding!” She cranked the volume up as if that would jog my memory.
I fought to keep my expression neutral. “Nope.”
“Everyone knows ‘Come On Eileen’. It’s a classic.”
I kept my eyes forward until the chorus started back up, then turned to Sarah and belted out the lyrics.
She slapped her thighs and barked out a laugh. “You’re a liar! Good to know.”
We sang along until I pulled into the Pancake Town parking lot.
Jumping out, I rushed to open her door. She ducked her head as she got out, but I caught the blush on her full cheeks and the big-ass smile that nearly split her face in half.
I hadn’t been this excited about someone since I was fifteen. Sarah made me feel young, which was ridiculous to say considering I was only twenty-three.
We got seated on the old-school diner side of the building and quickly ordered drinks and food. I tried to catch her eye, but she kept staring out the window. Frustrated by her lack of attention, I opened one side of my straw and blew the wrapper at her, hitting the corner of her lush mouth.
She whipped her head toward me. “You did not just do that.” Her eyes were pink, making the blue even more startling.
God, I liked looking at her.
“I did.”
She slowly nodded. “Okay. You’re going to pay for that.” Her lips curved up.
“Can’t wait. So . . .” I leaned in as far as the table would allow.
“So . . .” Sarah unrolled her silverware and smoothed the napkin on her lap. With her chin pointed down, she looked up at me through her long eyelashes. “You don’t hate me?”
I sat back. “I never hated you. You hated me.”
She shook her head violently. “No. I was awkward and embarrassed, and then acted like a total weirdo. I didn’t hate you.
I just didn’t want to be rejected.” She paused and then tilted her head.
“A second time.” She took a sip of water and frowned.
“I don’t do random hookups, so I was completely out of my depth.
One minute you’re asking me to go home with you, the next, poof, you’re gone.
I could only imagine that I’d done something wrong to have you bail on me. ”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an old man watching us, so I lowered my voice. “It wasn’t by choice.”
“Psh. Yeah, okay.” Sarah rolled her eyes, twisting the paper from my straw between her fingers.
“No, really. I chased drunk ass Jamie when he ran away from the party. By the time I got him to my place, it had been an hour, and I was sure you’d be gone.”
“Actually, I was still there, only completely shitfaced.” She laughed and took another big gulp of water. “You know what? The nights that I’ve gotten this drunk are always the nights when I see you. Coincidence?” She arched her perfect eyebrows.
“Well, I’m sorry for that.”
“Buy these pancakes, and I’ll call it even.”
An olive branch. Hallelujah.
“I was already going to.”
“Okay, then we can be friends.” She happily slumped down in her seat, giving me the sweetest smile.
Friends. I didn’t want to be her friend. I’d had no plans of getting into a relationship, but the night I met her changed everything. Now, what I wanted more than anything was to explore this thing between us.
Our food came, and we dug into our pancakes with gusto.
“So, you’re going to the lake on Saturday, right?” Sarah asked, taking a sip of water.
I bit into my eggs, not acknowledging the beautiful blond in front of me.
Sarah popped a bite of pancake into her mouth. I could feel her staring, but I kept my attention on the food in front of me. Normally, I would immediately shoot down partying with the Greeks, but . . .
“You mean to tell me you have no interest in partying with the rest of us Kirksville summer rejects? Jamie’s going,” she added as if that was a good thing.
I lifted an eyebrow while I chewed. Taking my sweet time, I swallowed and took a drink of my piping hot coffee.
When did the waitress refill it?
“Not exactly the selling point you think it is. My brother was also at that masked party. I think we can agree his taste is questionable at best.”
Her lips twitched. “Fair. But this will be way more fun and way less menacing.”
I hummed thoughtfully, and Sarah let out an exasperated sigh.
“How can I get you to come to the lake with us?”
Sitting back, I rested my forearms on the edge of the table. “I don’t know. What are you offering?”
Her face went from pleasantly pink from drinking to bright red.
She bit the inside of her cheek and dropped her chin.
That was her go-to move. I couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or if she was genuinely second-guessing herself.
“How about I promise to be your official escort? I’ll take care of everything and make sure you have an awesome time. ”
“Hm. So I’d be getting the Sarah Tilney experience.”
Nodding, her smile grew. “But better. It’ll be a blast.” She grabbed my free hand with both of hers. “Come on. Say yes.”
Obviously, I was going to say yes. How could I say no to a whole day with Sarah? Didn’t mean I would make it easy on her. “We can leave whenever I want to?”
“Of course. I’m sure if you want to leave, I’ll be right there with you.”
I took a drink and stared at Sarah. To her credit, her glassy eyes never left mine. “Okay. It’s a date.”
She gave me a surprised look and let go of my hand. “A date?”
I shrugged and picked up a piece of bacon. “Why not? Friends can go on dates.” Taking a bite, I chewed slowly, maintaining a calm exterior while inside I was nervous she would reject me.
Her face relaxed. “Okay. A friend date.”
Not exactly what I wanted, but at least my foot was in the door. I promised myself that by the end of our “friend date,” I would be solidly out of the friend territory and in the future boyfriend camp.