After a year and a half of trying to move on from the what-ifs, the tides have pulled Alexandra Rivera and Zachariah Kim back together again.
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In the h...
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"Try me, bitch."
My eyes narrowed in on the black disk floating across the table. I'd been staring at it for so long that the lines began to blur behind my gaze of competitiveness, but I wasn't about to let Calum of all people win. He'd never let me live it down if he did.
Calum glared at me from the other side of the air hockey table. "You got nothin' on me, Lex."
Something about hanging out with Calum for the past few months, a man who took a video game challenge as a personal threat against his entire existence, proved to turn me more competitive than I was before I'd met him. Whenever we hung out, if we weren't cashing in on our friends-with-benefits status, we were playing some game to help us pass the time. For the most part, he was still better than me at most games, but I was working on my skills, especially with Zachariah's help. He spent a lot of time hanging out with us as well and he had the skills to match his friend.
When Calum smacked the disk toward me, I ricocheted it off the right side and into his goal.
I swayed around the table and held out my hand for high-fives from our spectators. My opponent, on the other hand, was not as graceful in defeat and acted much like he did when he'd lost at beer pong.
"Guess you got tried, bitch." My winning smile was smug. "I think it's about time you get me that Cinnabon I've been waiting for."
Calum grabbed his backpack from the ground with a frown. "What is it with you and Cinnabons?"
The four of us walked out of Fun Factory after picking up our small batch of prizes from the counter, and as we neared the food court, the breeze rushing in from the mall doors cloaked us in the smell of fresh rainfall beating down on the island all morning.
"I don't know why people hate when it rains," I commented as we stood in line for my reward while Emmie and Zachariah went to find us a table.
He peeked at me from the corner of his eyes. "Maybe because most people don't come to Hawai'i to see rain?"
"But it's so beautiful." I countered. I watched jackets being lifted in the air as shields and a rainbow of umbrellas scattered about. "Have you ever driven to Kaneohe while it's raining? It's stunning."
"Leave it to you to find beauty in a rainstorm," he remarked with gentle laughter. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me out of the way of a family trying to walk past.
I shrugged as we parted. "There'd be no rainbow without the rain."
"I have the house to myself this weekend." The line moved forward a few steps and the smell of rainfall competed with the aroma of cinnamon and icing. "I know how much you love marathons."
My body tingled at the thought of it. When I peeked up at him through heavy lashes, he stared down at me, equally as excited, though it faded when the next words came out of my mouth.
