Page 66 of Rat Park
“Fine, but don’t say later that I didn’t warn you!”
They spotted Fiona, Kali, and Alfie at a table by the wall and ordered some drinks before making their way towards them. Nobody would’ve been able to guess Flor’s insecurities as he replied cheerfully when Dominic introduced him to the trio, sitting beside Kali as Dominic took the opposite seat.
There was no shoptalk allowed in their free time, so the conversation flowed easily to include Flor. It didn’t take him long to click with Kali, cackling about a murder podcast they both liked. Dominic should have seen it coming, each of them having amischievous sense of humour and outspoken way of communicating. Alfie looked a little overwhelmed as they both started engaging him in conversation at once, making Fiona shake her head and laugh.
“Let’s play some pool,” Fiona said to Dominic after they’d been there for a while. The rest of them turned down the invitation, and Fiona and Dominic moved to the pool table near where they were all sitting.
They took a few shots in silence, which was how their games usually went. As much as Dominic liked and was used to other people carrying the conversation for him, he enjoyed the peaceful silence Fiona brought, too. Less desirable was the way her keen eyes saw everything and her uncanny ability to poke people right where it hurt.
“Your boy looks like he’s going to eat you up,” Fiona said. Dominic finished his shot before turning subtly to where the others were drinking, where Flor was indeed boring holes into him with his eyes.
“He’s not my boy,” Dominic said as he turned back to Fiona, who snorted back.
“Whatever you say. I like him, though. I’ve never seen that smile on your face before,” she said.
“I…”
“And as I said. He looks like he’s two seconds from dragging you away but, sure. Whatever you say.”
“Just take your shot, will you?” Dominic grumbled, feeling warm and unsettled all at once.
Fiona bent over the table and expertly hit one of her balls into a corner pocket. She smirked at him, and Dominic rolled his eyes.
He took back everything he had said about his friends being nice. They were a nightmare.
Dominic played the rest of the game feeling Flor’s look like a touch.
Flor was a little tipsy when they got back into Dominic’s car at the end of the night. They’d discussed how alcohol wasn’t a trigger for Dominic, though Flor still checked in with him regularly about the matter, but Dominic was confident in his decision. Bars had never been somewhere he’d frequented when he was using.
“I think they liked me,” Flor whispered conspiratorially. Dominic snorted.
“Told you.”
“Let’s go back to yours?”
Dominic nodded. In for a penny, in for a pound. “All right.”
Flor practically skipped inside Dominic’s apartment, perhaps a little more intoxicated than Dominic had thought. Dominic turned on the lights and left his keys in the bowl by the door as Flor headed to the kitchen, opening the fridge to peer inside. He came up with a Tupperware box in hand that Dominic recognised at once as containing some of the leftover crumble from his last dinner at the Romeros’.
Dominic took the plastic box away from Flor, putting it out of reach when Flor went to grab it again.
“Hey!” Flor protested.
“That’s mine,” Dominic said.
“I made it! You’re not even going to share?”
Dominic looked between the box and Flor’s imploring face before sighing. “Fine, but…not all of it,” Dominic grumbled.
Flor grinned, squishing Dominic’s face between his hands. “My sweet, sweet-toothed ball of sweetness,” he cooed.
“I’m going to bite you,” Dominic said, his voice coming out muffled from the position.
“Oooh, baby. Does that mean you think I’m sweet?” Flor replied, dissolving into giggles before taking the Tupperware from Dominic.
“Careful!” Dominic admonished as the dessert rattled inside the box.
“It’s a crumble, Dominic! Honestly…” he laughed.
