Page 28 of Valentine Dare

“Look, we going to make pancakes or what?”

She laughed nervously. “I forgot all about it. I lost my appetite.”

“The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach.”

She paused as she came back into the kitchen. “I thought it was the opposite way around, a way to a man’s heart.”

“It is. I just wanted to see you smile. My failed attempt at a joke worked for a little bit.”

She said, “I just hope your pancakes are a lot better than your jokes.”

I winked. “Don’t worry they are.”

* * *

She smiledas she rubbed her belly and tried and failed miserably to finish her fourth pancake. She never ate this much at dinner, so I was kind of surprised when she asked for another one, then another and another.

“I’m full. No, overfull. No, I feel as if I’m pregnant or something.”

I gasped. “You're not, are you?”

She chuckled. “No. Just I’m not much of an eater. Well, not exactly true, I was a chubby little kid. Just as I got older, I stopped eating so much.”

“Typical girls. You get older and then get more self-conscious of your body.”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. Just when you have a narcissistic boyfriend who tells you every time you eat, ‘You shouldn’t eat that. You don’t want to end up a fat girl. One I would be too embarrassed to be seen dead with.’”

“What the fuck?”

“I know,” she sighed.

“No, I mean why the hell did you put up with it for so long.”

“A long boring story. My parents wanted us to be together, and I did whatever my parents wanted like a good little girl. Now, look at me. Homeless, clothesless and boyfriendless.”

I pointed at her, thinking the last comment wasn’t exactly true.

“Not quite boyfriendless. I mean you could say that you now have two for the price of one.”

“Trent and Brent are only fooling around with me. I know that. I may have been dumb in the past, but not anymore. I mean, they’ve made no promises, and I’ve asked for none.”

Her revelation surprised me. I didn’t think of her as the kind of girl who would just settle for messing around.

“So, this is all fun and games for you.”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. When I’m with you guys, I forget about all my problems. You guys give me the courage to be strong. No one’s ever made me feel as if I’m capable of doing anything, well not till now. Even if I still haven’t been able to find a job.”

“Mom said you should just take your time in getting used to the new arrangement and it being senior year. During Christmas would be a good time to start looking…” I found myself speechless.

We were locked in our stare again, and I couldn’t help but lean across and kiss her. She was turning out to be a lot more than I’d ever envisaged her to be.

“Right, so I wash up, and you can watch me,” she purred as she pulled away.

“I’ll do a lot more than watch you.”

I became brave as my hand moved from being on my leg to hers. I slipped it up between her legs, and she didn’t even finch or dismiss it.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all morning.”

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