Cario “Crow” Domingo #3
For the next hour, we talked about everything and nothing.
We laughed about the stupid shit we’d done growing up, argued over who had the better motorcycle, and reminisced about people we hadn’t seen in years.
It felt good and easy. That’s how it had always been with Rebel.
Then the mood changed. The smile she’d been wearing all night slowly disappeared.
She stared down at the bottle in her hands for what felt like forever and didn’t have any words. That wasn’t like her.
“You good?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She slowly unfolded it and stared at it like she was trying to memorize every little detail.
“What is it?” I asked.
For a long moment, she just looked at it before finally handing it to me. I looked down and saw it was a sonogram. If she was pregnant by another nigga, I would lose my shit. It was like she was reading my mind.
“I’m not pregnant. This was Rose. I found her sonogram. Honestly, “I’ve been trying to make sense of it ever since.”
Silence settled over the room. Then let out a soft laugh, but there wasn’t an ounce of happiness behind it.
“I would’ve been an aunt.”
The words barely made it out before she broke down again. I looked back down at the sonogram before looking back at her.
“I still can’t believe Rose was pregnant.”
Rebel wiped at her eyes. “Neither can I. If I had known...” she whispered, staring at the sonogram. “I never would’ve let her do the heist. And she wouldn’t be dead.”
My chest tightened. I didn’t know what to say.
Hell, there wasn’t anything I could say that would make this better.
So instead of talking, I scooted closer until our shoulders touched.
She didn’t move away. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and for the first time since I’d known Rebel, she let herself fall apart.
She buried her face against my chest while I simply held her.
Neither of us said a word. There wasn’t anything left to say.
I tightened my arm around her a little more as her cries slowly quieted.
My eyes drifted down to the top of her head.
Without even thinking about it, I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead.
She froze for the briefest second. Then I felt her relaxing against me again.
I wasn’t trying to make a move. Hell, I wasn’t even sure why I did it.
Without thinking, I scooted closer and wrapped my arm around her.
She didn’t pull away. Instead, she leaned against me, and for a long moment neither of us said a word.
The music continued playing softly in the background while we sat there in silence.
When I looked down at Rebel, she slowly lifted her head until our eyes met.
I stared into those same brown eyes thousands of times over the years, but tonight... they were different.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I leaned in and kissed her lips.
The second our lips met, she climbed into my lap and kissed me again.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her close, afraid that if I let go, the moment would disappear just as fast as it’d started.
When we finally came up for air, I rested my forehead against hers.
Neither one of us said a word. We didn’t have to because our lips had spoken for us.
She slowly pulled back and searched my face, her eyes moving over me like she was trying to figure out when everything between us had changed.
“You’ve completely lost your damn mind,” she whispered.
A grin tugged at my lips. “Probably.”
She let out a nervous laugh before shaking her head. “This... isn’t supposed to happen.”
“Maybe it was.”
“We will ruin our relationship. And I can’t have that.”
“I love you, Rain,” I said, staring straight into my eyes. “Been loving you for a long damn time. I ain’t afraid to say it anymore.”
For another long moment, we just looked at each other.
Reality finally caught up with us. She climbed off my lap so fast you’d have thought the couch had caught fire.
She took two quick steps toward the front door, clearly trying to put some distance between us.
When she reached for the doorknob, I was on my feet before I even realized I’d moved.
I caught her hand just before her fingers wrapped around the knob.
She instantly froze as I gently intertwined my fingers with hers, silently asking her to stay a little longer.
I gently laid her back against the couch, giving her one last chance to change her mind. She didn’t. Instead, she reached for me, her fingers curling into my shirt as our eyes locked.
“You sure?” I asked quietly.
She answered by pulling me down into another kiss.
Every doubt I’d been carrying disappeared the moment our lips met. We’d been best friends for years, but this... this was different. There was no pretending anymore.
“Can I taste you?” I asked.
She nodded without hesitation.
I pulled down her underwear before kissing between her legs.
At first, she was shy, but then she relaxed and allowed me to do my thing.
I slowly moved my tongue against her as she gripped the sheets beneath her.
I couldn’t believe I was tasting my best friend, yet I couldn’t stop myself.
She moaned loudly, and her body began to tremble beneath me.