Past the Tipping Point

\ Chapter 18 /

As time went on, the liquid in that fateful wine bottle diminished, and Rebecca and Colby became more and more delirious.

"No way, man! That was all your fault!" Rebecca laughed so hard she almost fell out of her seat when she tilted her head back.

Colby shook his head while laughing. "Oh yeah, sure. I put my red hair dye, which so obviously belongs to me, in the shower next to the normal shampoo."

"Hey, it was a good look for you!" Rebecca nodded adamantly while fumbling around to open her phone.

"I think you're the only one who thought that." Colby poured the last of the wine bottle into their glasses.

"No!" Rebecca exclaimed, shoving her phone into his face. "Look! You looked good."

He grabbed her wrist, holding it back a bit so he could see the phone screen clearly. When he did, he saw a picture of the scene, and everything paused. His mind wasn't wrapped around the situation within the picture at hand. Instead, Colby's focus shifted to the fact that she still had it in the first place. "You kept pictures."

"Of course I did." Her laughs became quieter until they faded. "Why wouldn't I?"

It was clear that Rebecca had drunk herself to oblivion because even as intoxicated as he was, Colby knew she would've been sharp, and the picture wouldn't have been shown in the first place. "No reason."

She suddenly stood up and watched longingly as a few random people danced in the open area. Suddenly, Colby felt his hands being held. "Come dance with me."

"Oh, come on." Colby laughed as he shook his head. "You know I've never been much of a dancer."

Nevertheless, he stood as she tugged him in her direction and followed her lead. He wasn't lying. He really wasn't a dancer. She was always the one comfortable with it. His rhythm wasn't one for the books, but he knew he could survive by swaying easily.

Colby let her take charge, just like he used to, and was managing well, all things considered. The half-spinning floor and sweat beginning to form weren't making him feel the greatest, but he was doing what he could.

Not bad, Lopez.

All was well until Rebecca moved closer and turned her back to him as the song changed.

Oh... fuck.

Colby didn't know or care to ask whether it was intentional or not, but Rebecca's back was almost directly against his chest, and each time she moved her hips from side to side, he felt it against him.

His hands instinctively made their way to her hips, yet even with his mind as far out as it was, he had enough common sense to pull them back the second his fingertips touched her waist. Yet he found Rebecca hastily grabbing them with her hands and putting them back.

Instead of fighting it, he selfishly embraced the rare closeness and allowed his head to find the crook of her neck and stay there while they continued to dance. Colby watched Rebecca's hands leave his and move to rustle her hair, which led to her fingers getting tangled in his.

Colby hoped she couldn't feel his heart hammering yet wondered if hers was too. Not that he was able to dwell on it for long because moments after that, she was leading him to the far corner of the bar.

Colby couldn't let his mind roam too much—out of fear of liquid delusion and bodily reactions—so he stayed quiet. She brought him to a partially secluded pool table and turned at him with a grin.

"Let's play." Rebecca grabbed two cues and passed him one.

"Alright." He took it cautiously, watching her set up the balls. "This isn't like the strip poker version of pool, right?"

"Why?" Her smile was the epitome of mischievous. "You didn't put on your lace panties?"

"Bold of you to assume I have any on." Colby chuckled and leaned against the wall.

Rebecca moved towards him, leaning against the edge of the pool table, which Colby was finding out was only a sliver away from the wall, her legs brushing his. "Is that an official challenge?"

"I dunno." He replied quietly, his attention moving toward her smirking lips for just a moment. "You tell me."

"Don't wanna embarrass you." Rebecca lifted her cue to poke him in his midsection with it playfully. "You were never the pool pro."

He grabbed her pool cue with a hand, accidentally underestimating his strength. The act caused her whole body to jerk forward toward him. That was when he could feel it: her heartbeat.

Chest to chest, eyes meeting eyes. The two stood against one another in silence, and Colby noticed Rebecca's eyes continuing to dip. Suddenly, her grip on her cue was let go, and Rebecca's hands gravitated toward his chest, leaving Colby to wonder if she was trying to feel his heart in return.

The moves they made forward were in mere inches, but they were both closing the gap. Until Colby felt himself subconsciously lowering his head to meet hers and stopped in a slight panic. "We're not... we shouldn't. We're not good for each other."

Rebecca must've found some power in his hesitance because her cautious expression turned into another sly grin. Her hands remained still as she stood on the tips of her toes, now being the one to reduce the gap since Colby had retreated slightly. She let her lips roam by his neck before placing them against his skin, feeling the pulse of his heartbeat reverberate through her lips.

Rebecca felt Colby's entire body stiffen, his hands dropping the long-forgotten cues. She heard him release a shaky breath and slid her teeth across his skin from his neck to just under his ear, whispering slowly. "Then I'll stop."

"No." Colby's response was immediate, and his hands grabbed at Rebecca's midsection in an attempt to keep her close. "Don't."