The Perfect Storm 2

Chapter 141

I wake up to the smell of pancakes traveling up the stairs and into Miles's room. The silk sheets feel good against my body. 

As I try to get out of them I hear purring, only to realize that I'm trying to move something from underneath the sheets. I hear purring and meowing and as I move the sheets away I see blue eyes staring into mine.

"Memphis." I smile before picking up the black cat into my arms. The soft ball of fur lies in my arms as I carry myself and the cat down the stairs slowly, following the smell of pancakes. The cat purrs as it digs its head into my arms and rests calmly as the two of us make our way down the stairs. The pancake smell intensifies and I can finally smell where it's coming from. 

I enter the kitchen slowly as I hear dishes making a sound as they're being placed on a hard surface.

"You're awake." Miles smiles at me and just as he does, we both smell burning. I watch his shirtless torso and tattoos that cover him perfectly.

"Oh, shit." He says, quickly flipping a pancake to its other side, revealing a burned side. I give him a small giggle and he smiles.

"I wanted to uh, make you breakfast."

"This is the first time you've officially stayed the night with me and I, uh—"

"Thank you." I smile at him. The last thing I expected was for Miles to make us pancakes.

"I was going to bring it to bed but uh, I guess you had other plans." He bites his lip and I nod. Memphis meows and slips out of my hands and onto the table.

"Down girl," Miles says to Memphis who meows. His eyes are on mine for a quick second. A shiver of electricity runs through me at his raspy voice. 

I can't help but think about yesterday night, before everything—before the chaos when we were touching each other and that same raspy voice. 

I know Miles knows what I'm thinking about because the smile on his face tells me he's thinking the exact same thing. He draws out one of the chairs by the island for me to sit in and I give him a small smile, "Thank you." He nods before sitting proudly in front of me.

"So, how are they?" He asks, looking down at the plate beneath me with perfectly prepared pancakes. The butter on top is starting to melt and the syrup is running down the pancakes. I grab the fork next to me and take a piece of the pancake into my mouth, tasting the perfectly cooked dough.

"They're amazing, thank you." I smile at him and he nods with a smile of his own. We eat in silence, enjoying every bite of Miles's perfectly made pancakes. I look at my plate for a few seconds before asking, "Why did you—" I attempt but he stops me.

"I wanted to, uh, you know after last night." He says and I nod, understanding fully what he means even though the words aren't there. The thought of Miles trying to make it up to me somehow even though he had no part in my father's cheating, makes my whole body fuzzy.

"Thank you," I say sincerely and his hand reaches for mine, but it stops suddenly at the door opening.

"Valentina," Miles says softly.

"Oh, I am sorry." She stands there, looking at the two of us.

"Did I interrupt you?" She stares at the two of us with awkward eyes.

"You're good," Miles says, standing up and pulling on a shirt.

"You don't need to work today, I'll give you the rest of the week off. Paid." Miles says as he's now standing only a few feet away from her. Gratitude washes over her and a few drops of disbelief.

"What about the laundry and—"

"I got it for now," Miles assures her with that cute smile of his. She nods to him and then to me before waving both of us a 'goodbye' and exiting through the door.

"There's a storm coming," Miles tells me and I look at him confused as he stands there, leaning against the front door. I glance outside the large window in his kitchen to see snow rolling around everywhere with the wind.

"So, I guess you're stuck here." He smiles that Miles smile of his—the smile that makes me want to forget about the pancakes underneath my nose and think about him. Memphis purrs before meowing away from the kitchen.

"Pool?" He asks, approaching closer, his tongue playing on his lips before his teeth bite his bottom lip, holding it still.

"With the storm?" My eyes question, looking at the flowing snow outside the window.

"Why not?" He smirks and I nod.

"Okay." I bite my lip.

"I'll clean up, get ready." He tells me and I nod as I leave his smile slowly. Seeing Miles actually do some of the housework instead of Valentina being in charge of everything puts a smile on my face. I make my way slowly up the stairs only to hear ringing coming from Miles's bedroom and the longer I listen, I realize it's coming from my phone. 

I slowly walk into his bedroom, trying to unwrap my phone from his silky sheets. I press the green button and place the phone to my ear to my mother's phone number.

"Madison?"

"Mom." I smile as I hear her voice come through. I hear clicking dishes downstairs as my mother says, "I wanted to see how you were doing . . ."

"I'm fine, mom." I smile

"Because Jace isn't going to WSU." She finishes and I press my lips into a tight line.

"I know," I say and I can almost hear the confusion and surprise in her breathing.

"Oh." She says before adding, "Is it . . . because of Miles?" I hear her hesitating words come though but I don't want to answer the question. Jace has his own decisions to make whether they're influenced by Miles or not.

"I don't know," I answer honestly. Jace never gave me a reason and the last time we even spoke, it ended in silence. I know Jace has always thought highly of TXSU but I never thought he would move to Texas and completely leave WSU out of his list of options.

"That's a shame." My mother says and my mouth almost drops wide open.

"Mom," I say a little too harshly.

"I'm sorry, Madison, but I still believe that you and Jace are meant to be. You know how I feel about Miles . . ." she takes a small breath and I know it's difficult for her to finish the words.

"I want you to be happy, even if that's with him . . . with Miles, but I will always want the best for you and that is—"

"Jace?" I finish for her.

"Yes." She says and I bite the insides of my cheeks.

"I want you to at least visit him in TXSU, I want you to come home, Madison, maybe then you'll—" My mother stops herself, realizing that she's gone a little further than she was planning.

"I'll, um, I'll think about it," I say, letting tears form in my eyes but I qucikly blink them away.

"I'll be waiting for you, Madison." My mother says sweetly, but her sweet voice can't take back what she truly wants, it can't smooth anything over and it certainly can't fix the damage that has been done.