Page 51 of Choosing You

“I know. And I don’t think it’s stupid. So how about breakfast? Let’s go out. I’m craving a really big stack of pancakes.”

“They have pancakes in the dining hall.”

He rolls his eyes. “I wantgoodpancakes. Light, fluffy pancakes. Not ones that stick to the wall when you throw them. I’ve tried that by the way. And they do stick to the wall.”

“They’re not that bad.”

“If you like the pancakes at the cafeteria, then you’ve never had good pancakes. Allow me to introduce you to Al’s Pancake House, the finest pancakes in Connecticut.”

“I don’t know. I think I should just eat in the dining hall.”

“Because it’s paid for, right?”

I don’t answer, but I don’t need to.

“Okay, here’s the deal. I’m really craving the pancakes at Al’s Pancake House, but I hate to eat alone at a restaurant, so if you went with me you’d be doing me a huge favor. And to show my gratitude, I will buy you breakfast.”

I tilt my head as I consider it. “So I’m really helping you out here?”

“Totally helping me out.”

“All right. Let me go shower. Come down in 10 minutes.”

As I’m leaving I hear him talking. “I still can’t believe you can get ready that fast.”

* * *

“Okay,you were completely right about this,” I say as I bite into the fluffiest buttermilk pancakes I’ve ever eaten. “This placedoeshave the best pancakes. And I don’t think it’s just in Connecticut. They might have the best pancakes in the whole country. Maybe the world.”

“I told you.” Garret ordered the blueberry pancakes, which also look good. “You know, we should make this a Sunday thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like every Sunday we’ll come here for breakfast. It’ll be like our own little tradition.”

“I don’t have money to eat out every week. And since I can’t seem to find a job on campus, I don’t see Sundays at Al’s Pancake House in my future. Although that would be really good. I could eat these pancakes every day.”

He sighs and sets his fork down. “Why won’t you just let me pay for stuff? You know my family has more money than we can ever spend. And I’m not trying to buy you a car here. It’s just pancakes.”

“I’ve told you before. When people buy me stuff, I feel like I owe them. And I don’t want to owe you anything.”

“What if we were dating?” he casually asks. “If we were on a date, you’d let me pay, right?”

“I don’t know. When I’ve let guys pay for dates in the past they expected sex. So again, we have the owing problem to deal with.”

He smiles. “You won’t owe me sex. We’ll put that in the terms of our agreement.”

“So we’ll have an agreement?”

“Just a verbal one. You can set whatever conditions you want.”

“We said we’d just be friends, remember? Spend time getting to know each other?”

“Then forget the dating idea and just go with the fact that you’re doing me a huge favor because you know I can’t sit here and eat by myself.”

My plate of pancakes is now empty and I’m already craving more. “Hmm. Iwouldlike to come here again.”

“And I would as well. But I can’t without a dining companion.”

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