AUTHORS NOTE: This story has been written as part of the IN A SUNBURNED COUNTRY Story Event organised by Chloe Tzang. So, firstly, thank you Chloe for taking the time and effort to organise an Aussie flavoured event.
As it supposed to have an Aussie flavour I've used Aussie-English and included a GLOSSARY OF TERMS in the Afterword so if there is something you don't understand, just flip to the last page and hopefully I'll have translated it!
PANCAKE BOY is lighthearted and humourous. It's intended as a fun, feel good story that leaves the reader smiling.
Without further ado...
CHAPTER 01:
IT ALL STARTED OVER PANCAKES
It all started over pancakes.
Pancakes swimming in butter and maple syrup to be precise.
How, you ask, can the greatest love story of all time have started over pancakes?
Well, let me tell you.
It was the first Sunday in January in Newcastle, and it was hot. As in heatwave hot. As in heat ripples wafting up from the street hot. Definitely too hot remain in our little, sans air-conditioning flat to cook breakfast. My two flatmates, Billy and Jason, were still dead to the world—not surprising after the party we'd gone to the night before, but seeing as my stomach was demanding I feed it
now
, I decided to go for breakfast by myself at the new café overlooking the beach that had recently opened its doors. It was only a few blocks from our humble abode and therefore within walking distance and perfect.
It was a cruisy place already popular with the local surfers and beach aficionados. The owners had decked it out with chunks of drift wood and artfully draped fishing nets, and even a surfboard hung on one of the walls. Dressed in my boardies, a tee, thongs, and sunnies, I fitted right in.
I chose a table with a view of the ocean, but one glance in its direction made me offer up a silent prayer of thanks to my sunnies—my eyes were
so
not ready for direct sunlight, or, for that matter, glare. I chose, instead, to peruse the menu. It was pretty good. It had all the usual cast of characters like; bacon and eggs, french toast, omelettes, eggs benedict etc., but the old tum wasn't up for anything egg related so I was relieved to see pancakes on there too. Yep, pancakes and a caramel milkshake, followed by a coffee were exactly what the hangover doctor ordered.
Placing the menu on the table, I glanced around the café with the intention of trying to catch the eye of one of the wait staff. That didn't work, but one of them sure as hell caught my eye. Holy effing dooley he was cute.
Not that tall, maybe only five-eight or nine, but perfectly put together. Some might say he was a little thin, but I didn't think so. No, to me, he was flawless. He had messy short dark hair and big eyes. I couldn't see their color because of the distance separating us, but whether they were gray, blue, green, brown, or hazel didn't matter—regardless of color, I was certain I'd want to swim in them. Hell, they could have been hot effing pink and I'd still have dived in.
For the second time in less than fifteen minutes I had to thank my sunnies—not only had they hidden my reaction, they'd also allowed me to take a good long look. I really hoped the person who invented sunglasses got awarded the Nobel Peace Prize or something. They certainly earned it.
He scooted between the tables, swiveling to offload the last drink on his tray. He bent over... Deadseat; his ass was perfect too.
I closed my eyes to sever the connection—it was the only way I was able to stop myself staring at him.
"Are you ready to order?"
The voice asking the question was slightly raspy, like its owner had had a big night the night before.
I knew it was him.
I just knew it.
I opened my eyes and looked up.
Yes. It was him all right and, if anything, he looked better up close than he had at a distance.
I immediately zeroed in on his eyes. They were moss green, the iris ringed in black, and they seemed to shine rather than glitter. Yep, I could most assuredly drown in them. It was only as I continued to stare that I noticed how thick his lashes were. They had to be the thickest I'd ever seen.
"Your order?" he asked again, smiling.
Perfect teeth, too, surrounded by perfect lips—a bit pouty and full. Just the way I liked them. Perfect for nibbling on and sucking into my mouth. I should have known. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.
"Um, oh yeah."
Somehow, I managed to give him my order without stumbling over my words. It was a bloody miracle, seeing as my tongue felt like it had swollen to twice its normal size and was choking me.
I dragged my gaze away from his eyes and looked down at his chest.
Rory.
His name was Rory.
I sat in a daze, staring sightlessly out at the crashing waves, while I waited for my order, my hunger forgotten.
"You pancakes, sir. And would you like a side of Rory with that?"
"What?"
I lifted my gaze to look at him, blinking a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I knew I couldn't be having a sugar induced auditory hallucination—I hadn't had any sugar yet. But was I still drunk? I was certain I couldn't have heard him correctly. It had to have been wishful thinking on my behalf. He couldn't possibly have asked what I thought he had.
"Would you like a side of Rory with your pancakes?"
Okay, no hallucinations. He'd really said it.
"Yes, please."
See, like I told you. It all started over pancakes.
CHAPTER 02: HIDE AND SEEK
Don't ask me how I ended up in King Edward Park playing hide and seek with him, because, in all honesty, I wouldn't be able to tell you.
One minute
,
I was blowing my budget and having
something like my tenth cup of coffee while waiting for him to finish his shift—yeah, I know, fat chance of getting to sleep later—and the next its three in the arvo and I was looking at him leaning against one of the big old pines with his hands over his eyes, slowly counting to twenty.
He looked so bloody cute, I just wanted to kiss him till we were both stupid. Hell, I just wanted to kiss him period. Those pouty lips of his puckering and pressing together as that raspy voice of his whispered the numbers seemed to me like they were just begging to be kissed. I swear the number seven, let alone eight, nine, or ten, had never sounded so effing sexy before.
And don't get me started on his pink little tongue, peeking out to tease me. You can't tell me it didn't want me to lean in and suck it into my mouth.
I was mesmerized. I honestly couldn't make myself move.
He stopped counting and chuckled. "I can tell you're still standing in front of me, Pancake Boy. You need to go hide, or how can I find you?"
"Haven't you ever heard of the strategy of hiding in plain sight?"
He laughed again and it sounded as sweet as the taste of the pancakes and maple syrup he'd served me for breakfast.
His voice when he spoke, though, was anything but sweet. No, it was deliciously naughty.
"I want to have to work hard to find you. I want to have to hunt you down so I can wrestle you to the ground and earn the kiss I'm going to steal from you."
I wasn't sure he was going to have to steal the kiss. I'd definitely have to work on my resistance, but regardless, I was on board.
"Start counting again."
I hung around long enough to hear him get to number three just so I could see his little pink tongue poke between his teeth again—damn, I really would have my work cut out for me to drum up some resistance—and then I took off.
I sprinted for the formal gardens which were bordered by thick, low hedges and threw myself to the ground behind the nearest one, pressing myself as close to them as I could.
As he searched for me, I could hear him telling me he was going to find me soon. That he was going to have his kiss. That husky voice of his was like a bleeding siren song. The tension was killing me. I wanted nothing more than to stand up and say, 'here I am.'
"Pancake Boy, I want my kiss," he cooed for the umpteenth time. Yep, I swear, he flipping-well cooed.
I couldn't stand it any more. I leapt to my feet. "Well, come and get it!"
I spun around and ran between the flower beds with Rory hot on my heels.
It was ridiculous. I couldn't remember the last time I'd played hide 'n' seek. Eight? Ten? And I def couldn't remember wanting to get caught so I could get kissed. And damn did I want to get kissed by Rory.
I was laughing.
He was laughing.
And then I ate dirt.
Well, grass, actually.
But I didn't care because Rory was climbing up my legs, flipping me over onto my back and pinning me down.
"Now for the kiss you owe me, Pancake Boy."
I remembered I was meant to be putting up a struggle. I had about four inches on him and maybe twenty pounds, so I prob could have tossed him, but when one is cracking a boner and hanging for a kiss one is not that great at thinking up escape plans. Hell, what man can think at all when he has a big fat throbbing chubby in his pants? I admit it—I can't.
I did my best. I wriggled and bucked, trying to get free.
Okay, that's a generous description. I did shuffle my butt a bit, though—yeah, yeah, I know. Piss poor effort, but I'd challenge Romeo to try to get free if he'd been tackled by Juliet. Same goes for Tarzan and Jane, or Superman and Lois Lane. Exactly. Not happening.
Rory cupped my face, pinning me to the ground and, man oh man, did his fingers feel good in my hair.
And then those pouty lips of his slowly descended.
The sun must have made the grass pretty bloody hot. Why else would I have melted into the ground the moment his lips made contact with mine?
Couldn't be because they were the plumpest, softest things I'd ever felt against my lips in my entire life.
Couldn't be because his tongue tasted like hot chocolate and marshmallows.
Or because his breath in my mouth was sweeter than a chocolate Snickers bar.