Rivals 🌈 ✔

55 - Pancakes and Princes

While pretending to solve a crossword, Skye watched Raine and Juice from the corner of her eyes. They were baking pancakes, and more than one pancake got burnt because they paid more attention to each other than to their breakfast. Usually, Juice enjoyed a light breakfast, but he had given in immediately when Raine told him he was hungry for pancakes. 

Seeing how these two competed for the highest flipped pancake, warmth her heart. Thereafter they tried to craft bike-formed pancakes, ultimately resulting in enough pancakes for a week. She loved seeing them like this. It was a side of Juice she adored; a bit brash and goofy — some kind of innocence the club had almost destroyed. It felt like she saw a ghost of the boy she'd befriended all those years ago. She was happy Raine and Juice brought out this side in them; that they could have fun while doing something as simple as making breakfast. For her, this was proof that they really belonged together. They dared to be who they were and it was a sight to behold. 

For the first time, she felt a sliver of jealousy. 

What Juice and Raine had, was something she hadn't found yet. She was happy for her friends, but deep inside she realized she was getting a glimpse of a future between Raine and Juice right now. A future without her. Before the break-up, her best friend had already been looking at wedding rings. He wanted a life with Raine. He would leave this place. 

And that was a healthy thing — and if there was anyone who deserved such stability, it was Juice. 

But Skye had grown really fond of Juice and considered him as the perfect roommate. She would leave a message for a new roommate — for living alone wasn't it for her — but it remained to be seen who she'd get in return.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Juice flopped down next to her. 

"Why are you looking so sad? Afraid you'll get messed up pancakes?" His eyes were shining, but there was a tiny wrinkle between his eyebrows, showing his concern. 

"I'm surprised you noticed. Thought you'd only have an eye for Raine." She stuck out her tongue. 

"Of course not. You're my best friend."

Skye leaned into him and kissed his cheek. "I'm just happy for you, sweetie. It feels like magic; the way you two glow when you're around each other. Maybe it's time I continue my search for my Prince Charming. Or Princess," she added with a crooked smile.

"Well, I do have a single friend." Raine put three plates on the coffee table, together with a bottle of syrup. "He's a handsome dude."

"And I guess I have permission to castrate him when he turns out to be a disappointment?"

Raine sat down on the other couch, chuckling. "Come on, I'm not settin' you up with that dickhead of an Esai. You deserve better."

"I sure as hell do." Skye laid a pancake on her plate, whose form rather looked like a shoe than a circle. "Is he a Mayan?"

"Yeah."

Skye grinned. "Juice doesn't let me date bikers. Although — maybe you changed your mind about that?"

"Nope."

Laughing, Skye started to eat her pancake. She did like adventurous types, but she had her share of bikers. "Maybe I'll go for a cop this time. That promises an exciting love life as well, with two criminals among my friends."

"By then, I'm a law-abiding citizen," Juice answered with a blank face. 

"That's true... Then you'll be head of the Parents' Council and busy helping grannies cross the road."

Juice smirked. 

"How's your search for a successor goin'?" Raine asked. "You still continued that when we were... apart?"

Juice shook his head. "No," he muttered. "Before we broke up, I had some talks with some of the hang around. There were a few gamers among them, but none of them gave me the feeling they knew how to hack stuff."

"I have an ex who was good with computers, always trying to find incriminating intel about people like it was some kind of game," Skye said.

Juice studied her face. "But?"

"It's a girl."

 "Ah." Juice leaned back in the couch, clearly disappointed. "Well, that suggestion comes in fifty years too soon. I can't introduce a girl to them. Even when she's able to hack the fuckin' feds — she still won't get a patch."

"Hmm, maybe she doesn't need one? They could hire her, come up with a confidentiality agreement. That way, she'll only run commands — without asking questions."

Contemplating her words Juice chewed on his pancake. "You got a point. I have no idea if they would outsource that shit. Might have its benefits too. I'll take it to the table."

Skye smiled. It would save Juice a lot of time, for he wouldn't have to share his knowledge with someone. The sooner he could quit, the better. For some reason, Skye was scared to death that things would go terribly wrong between the two clubs and that Juice and Raine would have no choice but to stand in front of each other. She couldn't wait until at least one of them was out.

. . .

Sorry for the short (and not very exciting) update, but this felt like a good moment to stop. In the next chapter, Skye and Raine will spend some time together, with little Sasha. (: 

If you have any suggestions for future scenes I'd be happy to hear them! 

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