The Boy Next Door

ｆｉｖｅ

Rachel

I woke up to find myself laying on a couch that wasn't my own. A blanket covered me from the shoulders down. It smelled like vanilla and cinnamon, just like Colton and his home. I realized I was at Colton's house. Oh my god. I fell asleep when we were watching TV last night. I slept at Colton's house and I didn't tell my mom where I was. She was going to freak out. I walked into the kitchen where I thought I would find my bag with my phone inside, so I could call my mom. Colton was at the stove cooking pancakes... shirtless.

"Good morning, sweet pea." He said with a smile.

"Have you seen my phone? I can't find it, and I need to call my mom. She is probably worried about me." I said.

"I don't even get a good morning. You're just wondering about your phone?"

"Good morning." I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, have you seen my phone? I need to call my mom."

"All covered."

"What?"

"I called her last night after you fell asleep on the couch." He explained.

I stared at him with a blank look. "Really? I didn't think you would do something like that."

"Why would you think that?" he looked at me.

"I didn't think you were that kind of guy. But, we have agreed to be nice to each other. I just need to get to know you." I said. He came over to me and put his arms out.

"Can I hug you?" He asked.

"I suppose?" I said. He laughed quietly before wrapping me in a hug. It didn't get any less weird each time he hugged me.

"Do you want some pancakes?" He asked me.

"I didn't know you could cook." I said.

"Well, I can. You know you learn something new every day, right? I made the pasta last night, and I made the sauce and pasta from scratch. I also made those brownies from scratch. So, is that a yes?"

I nodded my head. He unwrapped his arms from my body. I sat on one of the stools that was at the breakfast bar. He brought over a plate with a stack of blueberry pancakes. They smelled great. "When did you learn to cook? Can you cook other things too? Like fancy stuff? Oh, my god these are so good." I said stuffing my face with pancake. The pancake was so fluffy and the blueberries were squishy.

"I'm glad to see you eating." He said leaning against the counter.

I looked at him like he was crazy. "What the hell are you talking about? Food is amazing. Especially your food."

"Other girls I've seen or dated don't really eat a lot or really anything at all. They would eat maybe half of one of those pancakes. They are too worried about their appearance or something."

"First of all, I am not other girls or girls you have dated. I am me. I'm eating all three. How could you not want to eat them? They are amazing. I don't care what I look like. Well, I kind of do, but I am still going to eat them. And second of all, you didn't answer my questions from before." I said.

"Oh yeah, my dad taught me how to cook and I can cook other things besides pancakes..." He paused. "Rachel, are you staring at me?"

I was staring at his abs. It had just occurred to me that he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Uh, no. I was looking at these lovely pancakes." I said, stuffing another one in my mouth. That was a really bad lie. He knew I was lying.

"Whatever you say." He said, smiling and rolling his eyes a little.

Once I had chewed all the pancake, I decided to change the subject. "Where did you live before California?"