Page 13 of Forever Cursed

“What arefancypancakes?” I ask with a slight chuckle.

“You don’t know whatfancypancakes are? Oh, this is going to be great.” Chrissy jumps up and down as she approaches the fridge. “I’m about to blow your mind!”

“Chrissy, stop squealing!” Zack groans from the other room.

“Fuck off!” she hollers back, not caring about the level of her voice.

She beams when she looks back over at me. “Okay, mister.” Standing on the edge of her toes, she spins me around, grabs me by my shoulders, and escorts me to a stool on the other side of the kitchen island. “You’re going to sit right here.”

I plop on the stool while she goes back to the stove.

“And watch the master at work.”

I observe Chrissy as she chops up bananas to add to the pancake mix. My disappointment becomes evident because banana pancakes are notfancy.It’s only when she dumps half a bag of chocolate chips in the mix that I perk up. Watching Chrissy cook is comforting. She hums a familiar tune and sways to the rhythm as she flips the pancakes effortlessly. It’s not long before she has an entire stack set to the side, resting on a plate.

“Ready to have your mind blown?” she asks as she slides a dish across the counter with a neat stack of pancakes toward me.

The scent is heavenly—browned butter, melted milk chocolate, and ripe bananas. My mouth salivates as I patiently wait while she gathers a plate, utensils, and maple syrup.

Sitting next to me, she does a little shimmy, the kind of tiny dance a girl does when she gets food. “Go ahead,” she says with a sweet grin.

Drizzling syrup over my food, I cut a rather large piece and cram it into my mouth. My eyes flutter closed, and my head rolls back.

“Fuck,” I moan. “These arefancypancakes.”

She must have some special ingredient hidden up her sleeves. There’s no way she only put bananas and chocolate chips in the mix. There’s also a hint of cinnamon, vanilla, and something I can’t identify, but it’s on the tip of my tongue. Swallowing the piece in my mouth, I quickly go for another bite, not caring about the syrup leaving the corners of my mouth.

“So, you like them?” she giggles.

Nodding my head, I let out a “Mhm.” Because that’s all I can do at the moment.

“You’re adorable,” Chrissy mumbles with a sweet smirk.

Pointing at myself, I feign shock, and she laughs. “Me?” I ask while finishing the food in my mouth.

“Yes, you.” She snickers while punching my arm. “Oh, god dammit.” She shakes her hand off, and I chuckle. “I fucking forgot already. Apparently, I didn’t learn my lesson last night.”

“Sorry, not sorry,” I tease.

Chrissy takes a bite from her food and continues to dance in her stool. How can she make such a simple gesture look so cute?

“I have a question for you.”

Yes, thank god. Please distract me from these thoughts.

“My mom used to make these when Zack and I were kids. Did your mom or dad have a special recipe they shared with you?”

I take it back. Can we go back to the distractions that were racing through my mind?

“No,” I mutter, my gaze automatically shifting away from her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—”

“It’s okay. I just prefer not to talk about my parents.”

The room falls silent, so quiet you could hear Pickles scratching at someone’s door upstairs.

“Zack and I got lucky with our mom and dad. Gwen’s parents don’t pay much attention to her. Ash and Max’s parents are toxic and secretive. I sometimes forget that not everyone grew up around rays of sunshine and rainbows.” Chrissy reaches over and squeezes my thigh. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

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