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You came with no warning,
as my soul heard your cries.
My heart begged me to run from you,
but now I’m lost in your eyes.
“Brace yourself,” Ridge beams, snapping me out of my slumber as he lifts the lid on the larger platter, “because I doubt you ever expected…” His voice rises in pitch. “Pancakes for dinner.
“Oh my god, Ridge,” I laugh, covering my mouth, “you did not!”
“Oh, I did. Because I know how much you love pancakes. And, of course, we have lemonade for our beverage tonight.” He lifts the lids on the smaller platters. “And bacon and eggs.”
“This is…amazing. Really,” I tilt my head to the side and stare at him adoringly, “I couldn’t ask for a better dinner.”
“Knew you’d like it.” He jabs one of the pancakes with a fork and drops it on my plate.
“Syrup.” I pick up the clear bottle. “That’s what this is. I was wondering.”
“Not just any syrup. That’s lukewarm maple syrup.”
His excitement for all of this makes him that much more adorable. I can tell he put so much thought into tonight, and he is one hundred percent getting laid when we get back to my room.
We get our pancakes ready in silence, every once in a while making eye contact. I take the first bite, and it’s heaven. A deep hum of pleasure vibrates from my chest. “So good,” I tell him, licking the thick syrup from my lips as I stick another bite in my mouth.
Ridge jabs his fork in the air. “Knew you’d like it.”
“You can never go wrong with pancakes.”
Biting another piece of pancake off his fork, Ridge asks, “What are some other things I can’t go wrong with?” He taps the side of his head. “I’m taking notes for the future.”
“Hmm.” I think about it, trying to pull from memory all the things I love. “Poetry. Sweet little notes.” I nod toward the flowers. “Absolutely love roses.”
“And what is it you love that isn’t a thing or an object?”
I take a big bite, chewing while I think. “Rain. I love the sound and the smell, and watching it fall from the window.”
“You ever danced in the rain?”
“Can't say that I have.”
“We’re gonna have to change that. Now tell me something you hate?”
“Easy. Silence. There’s just something about being alone with my thoughts that makes me anxious. Unless I’ve got a pen and paper handy to jot down my thoughts, I prefer to be surrounded by noise.”
“I could argue that silence is beautiful if you’re in the right company.” He lifts a smile. “So many times I’ve sat in silence while watching you, and it was my most favorite sound.”
I can feel my cheeks blushing. Ridge compliments me all the time, and I’m not sure his compliments will ever stop making me feel giddy. I hope they don’t. The feeling I get in my stomach—that tingling butterfly flutter—it reminds me of the feeling you get in a new relationship. That ‘can’t eat, can’t sleep, daydream of him’ sort of feeling. Now that I think about it, I’ve been getting that a lot with both Ridge and Maddox. And a couple days ago, I felt it with Lev.
“You're turn,” I tell him. “Start with something you dislike.”
“So many things. But most of all, lies.”
“Same. The true colors of people begin to show through their lies. Okay. What’s something you love?”
“You,” he says without hesitation.
I reach across the table, my elbow landing in a pile of syrupy goo, but I don’t even care. I take his hand, thumb grazing the calloused skin on the top of his knuckle where one of his tattoos is. “You make me feel so special, Ridge.”
