Chapter Thirteen
The pizza was delivered only a few minutes before Spencer arrived at Rachel's door. At this point she had the pizza on the coffee table in the sitting room and had already changed into checked pyjama bottoms and a white vest top. Her hair was still in the messy ponytail she had it in for work. Normally she would have no intention of letting a man she had only met see her like this, but for some reason Spencer was different.
She didn't hesitate whatsoever when she flung the apartment door open, revealing the genius she had become so fond of.
He scanned her quickly, a smile forming on his face as he met her eye.
"Hello" he greeted softly.
She smiled in response, standing back to let him walk past her, into the apartment.
"Well hello there" she responded.
Closing the door behind him, she led him to the sitting room.
"So I got pizza here. I got some mushrooms on it this time. Do you like mushrooms? I actually didn't even think about it. If you don't like mushroom I can just order another one. It's really no big-" she began rambling quickly.
He caught one of wrists, making her cut off quickly, glancing at his hand on her wrist with wide eyes.
He blushed slightly, quickly releasing his grip.
"Mushrooms are fine Rach" he said, looking down quickly, avoiding her eye.
She nodded.
"Okay then, let's dig in" she cleared her throat, taking a seat on the couch.
He copied her quickly, taking a slice of the pizza, nibbling on it quickly.
"So Spencer, what are your plans for the weekend?" she asked, overlooking the tension.
He shrugged.
"I don't know, depends on how work goes. I have no idea where I could be" he explained quickly.
"Why?" he added, raising an eyebrow.
She shrugged ever so slightly.
"Well there's this horse riding place I wanna go to Saturday and I figured it'd be something you've never done before" she told him, taking a large bite of pizza after she did.
His eyes widened at that.
"Horse riding? As in horse-back riding?" he asked quickly.
She raised an eyebrow, swallowing.
"Uh-huh" she confirmed, studying his expression.
"Did you know that approximately 219 people a year are killed by horse-related accidents. And almost 30% of those happen just standing near the horse, you don't even have to be on them and-" he began rambling.
She cut him off quickly however.
"Spencer, I've been horse-riding since I was 3 years old. And I've never been injured too badly" she told him quickly.
It was his turn to raise his eyebrows.
"Too badly?"
She shrugged at that.
"Well, a few scratches and bruises, nothing too serious" she replied.
Seeing the expression on his face she decided to continue.
"I promise Spencer, you'd love it, really. It's just a fantastic feeling. You should come with me" she continued.
He sighed.
"Rachel I really don't think it's my kinda thing" he told her honestly.
She rolled her eyes dramatically.
"You never know until you try, right?" she smiled widely, trying to convince him.
"Rachel-"
He cut off when she grabbed hold of his arm, leaning closer to him to speak.
"Please Spencer? Just come with me once and if you don't like it, you don't have to go again. Just be open-minded, please?" her voice was a lot softer and she could nearly swear he shivered.
Smirking ever so slightly she tried again.
"Please Spence?" she whispered, using her finger to trace little shapes along his arm.
His eyes were wide at this point and he swallowed.
"O-okay" he mumbled softly, unable to draw his eyes from hers.
"Yeah?" she asked, a smile breaking out across her face.
He nodded.
"Yeah" he confirmed.
Her smile widened.
"Great! Well as long as you're around of course.. You'll be great at it, trust me" she continued, pulling back, to grab another slice of pizza.
He sighed.
"I do trust you" he told her.
She blushed a little at that.
"Though honestly, I have no idea why" he added quickly.
She gasped dramatically.
"Cheek!" she cried, punching him playfully.
The next half an hour they spent just chatting aimlessly. She told him all about horse-riding. That although she had moved a lot as a child, horse-riding was always something she had done a lot of. No matter where she was in the country, she always found somewhere to do it. As a young child she had a palomino horse, called Bambi.
Spencer admitted he had not really taken part in any practical extra-curricular activities as a child. He was much more likely to be a member of the mathletes or of chess club. This was exactly why Rachel felt he needed to come horse-riding with her. He may be a genius, but other than work he didn't really have much life experience.
Eventually he decided he needed to get home. He didn't want to overstay his welcome. Though honestly Rachel would easily be able to stay up all night talking to him. And she would be glad to.
She didn't say this though of course. She knew he wasn't a 'stay up all night talking about our feelings' type of guy.
"Well I'll call you tomorrow, yeah?" he asked softly once he was standing at the door of her apartment.
She nodded.
"Do. If you're free you can meet Lily and Bella" she replied.
He bit his lip at that, something which she found unbelievably adorable.
"Rachel?"
She met his eye quickly, realising she had been staring at his lips. Her cheeks flushed as he chuckled.
"I'm sorry what did you say?" she asked.
He was still smiling when he spoke.
"I really hope they don't hate me" he repeated.
She rolled her eyes.
"They won't. I mean how could they? You're..." she trailed off quickly, feeling her blush deepen.
He smirked at this, seeming unnaturally confident all of a sudden.
"I'm what?" he asked.
She narrowed her eyes, folding her arms.
"You're going home, remember?" she told him.
Rolling his eyes he shrugged.
"Fine. Goodnight Rachel" he replied.
To his surprise she flung her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug, He was momentarily shocked, but then wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"Night Spence" she whispered, once she had pulled back.
And with that she closed the door, leaving him completely dazed at what had just happened.