Cario “Crow” Domingo #2
“Oh, I’m gonna win.”
“We’ll see,” she replied, pursing her lips.
The game sprang to life. Targets popped up all over the screen as we squeezed the triggers. My rifle rattled nonstop while Rebel kept firing beside me. A few moments later, the buzzer sounded, and I glanced up at the scoreboard, then over at Rebel. The biggest grin spread across my face.
“Damn.”
She folded her arms.
“What?”
“I expected more from you.”
She frowned. “You distracted me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How?”
My eyes slowly traveled up and down her body. “You kept standing over there looking all fine and shit.”
She stared at me for a second before bursting into laughter. “Boy, shut the hell up.”
I shrugged with a grin. “I’m serious.”
Before Rebel could celebrate any harder, I wrapped one arm around her and pulled her into a tight hug.
She immediately started trying to shove me off, laughing the whole time.
I barely moved. I couldn’t help but grin.
For somebody who spent half her life in the gym and the other half throwing people around, she sure wasn’t getting me off her that easy.
After a few seconds, I finally let her go.
I reached over and rubbed my knuckles across the top of her head, intentionally messing up the flex curls she’d probably spent way too much time to style her locs.
She shot me an annoyed look and swatted my hand away before trying to straighten them back out.
Before I could think better of it, I leaned in like I was about to kiss her cheek.
She didn’t even hesitate. Her palm landed square against my face, and she shoved me backward before I got anywhere close.
I stumbled back a step and laughed. Truth be told, getting under Rebel’s skin had become one of my favorite hobbies.
She always acted tough, always had something slick to say, but watching her roll those pretty eyes or fight a smile made every smart remark worth it.
Once we were done with the games, Sebastian grabbed both of our hands and practically dragged us toward the photo booth.
“Come on! We gotta take pictures!”
I looked over at Rebel and chuckled. “Guess the boss already made the decision for us.”
She rolled her eyes, but I caught the smile tugging at her lips.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get it over with.”
The three of us squeezed inside the tiny booth.
Sebastian planted himself right in the middle like he owned the place.
The moment the curtain closed, everything felt...
different. My shoulder brushed Rebel’s, and neither of us bothered to move.
We were close enough that I could catch the scent of her perfume, and for a second, I forgot there was anybody else in the booth.
The first flash went off. Before the second one, Sebastian wrapped an arm around each of us and pulled us even closer together.
“Smile!” he yelled with excitement.
Our cheeks brushed, and I looked over at Rebel. She looked back at me, and for a split second, the camera wasn’t the only thing flashing. It was one of those quiet moments that didn’t need words. Then the third picture snapped.
“Y’all actin’ weird,” Sebastian said with a laugh.
I smirked and ruffled his hair. “Mind your business, little man.”
Rebel laughed, shaking her head, while I tried to convince myself my heartbeat hadn’t picked up just because her shoulder was still pressed against mine.
It was crazy how somebody I’d known most of my life could suddenly make something as simple as a photo booth feel like the smallest room in the world.
“Nigga, you trippin’,” I muttered to myself as we grabbed the photo strip from the machine.
I looked down at the pictures and couldn’t help but smirk.
In every single one, Sebastian was cheesing hard as hell while Rebel and I stood on either side of him.
Somehow, we looked less like best friends and more like a little family, like this was normal.
Like we’d been doing this together for years.
I stared at the strip a second longer than I should’ve.
Nah... don’t start that shit, Crow.
Rebel reached over and snatched the pictures out of my hand. “Lemme see.”
She looked them over, laughing at the goofy faces Sebastian made in the last frame. Then she smiled, that real smile she only gave when she forgot the rest of the world existed. I caught myself watching her instead of the pictures.
Yeah... you definitely trippin’.
“I ain’t gon’ lie,” she said, nudging my shoulder. “These joints actually came out nice.”
“They aight.”
She cut her eyes at me. “Boy, stop frontin’.”
I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “I’m just sayin’... Sebastian carried the pictures.”
Mm-hmm,” she laughed. “Keep tellin’ yourself that.”
Sebastian looked up at both of us, grinning from ear to ear. “Can we put this one on the fridge?”
Rebel and I looked at each other for a split second before our eyes darted away.
“Yeah,” I answered, clearing my throat. “We can do that.”
The day kept rolling, and somehow Rebel and I never separated. We just kept kicking it, laughing, roasting each other, and following Sebastian wherever he wanted to go. Before I knew it, hours had flown by. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.