"Have you ever baked a cake? 'Cause I have tried and it didn't turn well". I asked Dean when we were putting away the ingredients from our shopping trip.
"Yeah. Once. For my father. But he couldn't eat it so I ate the whole thing and got sick". He looked like he was remembering the incident fondly.
"Oh my god. I chose the wrong person to ask for help, didn't I? I don't want to get sick. But wait, this is for my friends. So let's do this."
"Haha. So why did you pick me?" He asked with a curiosity.
"For helping? I don't know. You were the one who offered". I answered truthfully.
He just nodded in an absent-minded way. Did I say something wrong?
I wouldn't have asked anyone else because I always liked to do things alone. Other people called it loneliness but I enjoyed solitude. But why was I letting him in and breaking my rules of solitudity? That didn't sound right. Solidarity? Whatever.
That awkwardness didn't last as he played some music and started to throw in lyrics that didn't make any sense. Take a look at this sample.
"I baked a cake with rainbow sprinkles.
And danced with doughnuts, eating pickles.
My oven sang a silly tune,
While cupcakes landed on the moon!"
I was laughing until tears came out of my eyes. I was clutching my stomach and begging him to stop.
"Come on, baby. You know you like it".
I did. A lot. Instead I said "You wish".
He looked at me softly and said "I do".
I gathered my courage and asked, "What do you wish for?"
He considered that for a moment and grinned. "For now, the cake to come out good".
I groaned. Did I expect something else? Why did he do that when things get intense? He would make a stupid comment and change the topic.
"Baby, come on! Beat these eggs. We need to mix it with the flour".
Suddenly he was all business. I just couldn't read this guy. Maybe that was what kept me interested. Was that just an attraction? Curiosity about the mysterious guy?
I was not sure anymore. I thought of worrying about the cake first. I had all the time in the world later to analyze our situation.
He put on a playlist on his mobile and left it on the counter. He called it the "cake mix".
We worked without saying anything for a few minutes until the batter was ready.
He put the batter on the baking tray and set the oven timer. He turned to me and said, "That's it. Now we wait for 45 minutes". I was beginning to beleive that the cake would actually turn up good.
"Cool. I will clean up in the meantime. You can go and watch TV".
He said he would stay and help. I shrugged and began to collect all the used vessels to wash them.
He was packing the remaining flour in a container and decided it would be fun to flick some of it in my direction.
The flour landed on my hair and I was triggered. Food fight? Bring it on! I have seen people do that on movies and I remember thinking "Who would clean it up?"
But now I couldn't care less. I opened the tap and sprinkled some water on him.
He grabbed my hand to stop me from getting more water. His sudden movement startled me. And I ended up skidding across the floor and landed on my back.
Ouch, that hurt. It was not how I imagined things would go. Wasn't it supposed to be turn romantic? Who was writing the script? Could we talk?
Dean was shocked and he was muttering a string of curses. It was the first time I heard him curse and it was, um, hot. "Baby, I am really sorry. Did you hurt your back?"
I said I was fine and tried to get up. Dean gave me a hand and I winced when I got up. It was nothing serious but I felt some pain in my back.
"Don't strain your back. Let me help you". With that he lifted me like I weighed nothing and carried me to the couch.
"Dean! Put me down. I can walk". He didn't mind my pleas and gently sat me down on the couch.
"Can I lift your shirt? I want to check if there is any scratch or cut".
There was tension in the air and I didn't trust my voice to be normal.
I turned and he gently lifted my shirt and placed a finger at my back to check if there was any serious damage.
I just shivered at his touch. I didn't feel any pain so I thought I was in the clear.
"Dean, I am ok. Let's get the cake out and decorate it with something. Did we buy some sprinkles? Or chocolate chips? I think I have sy-"
I stopped rambling because I turned at that moment and his face was too close to mine. I could feel his breath on my face and it was minty.
He was staring at me. Or more precisely at my lips.
Was I dreaming? No, my dreams were never this nice. If it was a dream, I would be pissed if I wake up now.
A/N: I know this is a bad place to end the chapter. But you can just scroll and read the next one right away!
But wait. Here's something for YOU. Wait, is this something to do with the next chapter? Maybe.