I could definitely see what Sam meant by "not official, but may as well be."
The four of us ended up at the saloon the next Friday night, and when I walked in (Sam hadn't gotten there yet), Sebastian and Abigail were on the couch, Abigail less than inches from Sebastian and Sebastian having put his arm over her on the back of the couch. I almost considered backing up and waiting for Sam to get there before barging in on them, but they saw me as soon as I entered the saloon.
I only had to act as the third wheel for a total of two minutes, though, before Sam walked in with a Joja Cola, said his hellos, then immediately leaned closer to me to whisper something.
"See what I mean?" he whispered.
"Oh, I see it," I whispered back, feeling tingles run through my body at how exciting it all was... and Sam's being so close to me and whispering helped, too.
Before we were done whispering, Abigail had stood from the couch.
"Sebby," she said, turning to who was probably her new boyfriend. "I challenge you to a round of pool."
"Alright," Sebastian replied with a smile, standing up as well. "You're on."
Sebastian was probably the happiest in this moment that I'd ever seen him. At the very least, he was beaming with confidence. Normally, it always seemed like something was weighing on him, but not this time. This time, one could legitimately argue that he was... happy. I sincerely hoped their alleged relationship worked out, and I felt my heart get a little fuller.
The lovebirds set up the balls and grabbed their sticks, and Sam and I sat on the couch.
It turned out that Sebastian and Abigail were pretty much equals when it came to billiards talent. Meaning Abigail could probably whoop Sam's ass at pool, too. I couldn't help but make a decent exhale through the nose at the thought.
It was eventually coming down to the wire. Sebastian was winning by one ball. They were both staring intensely at the table, Abigail lining up her shot. At this point, the whole thing felt like a professional tournament.
In retrospect, that makes what Sam did next extra hilarious.
Out of nowhere, he belched. I'm not kidding when I say this belch was so loud that it made me jump a little in my seat. When the fear wore off, though, it was replaced by overwhelming amusement. I started laughing silently. Silently, as I didn't want to interrupt Abigail.
"That was gross," she said, in what sounded like genuine disgust. "Like... actually, ew." She then looked at me, and noticed I was laughing. "Wait, you thought that was funny?!"
"More than anything, it just caught me off guard," I laughed.
"...Fair, I... guess..." Abigail shrugged, turning to face Sebastian again.
I looked over at Sam, admittedly trying to gauge his reaction to the fact that I'd laughed at his belch. A little part of me hoped I had scored some brownie points with him, even though that wasn't the intention. He seemed to be turning his head back to the billiards game at the same time that I turned my head to look at him.
When I saw him sitting there, using his hand to keep his Joja Cola upright on his leg, I couldn't help but think about how professional, yet casual he looked at the same time. Honestly, it was kinda hot.
More than it was hot, though... it made me think of something else.
"I dunno why, but I feel like that would make an awesome Joja Cola commercial," I said. "Just burping, then holding up the can or something. And that's it."
At this, Sam suddenly started laughing pretty hard.
"You know, you're right," he laughed. "What if I just burped into a microphone, then held the can up and went 'Want a Joja Cola?'"
His delivery of that last part struck something in me, and soon, I was laughing with all the air I had in my lungs. I was far past the point of tears.
My heart filled with joy and excitement when I heard Sam losing his shit right along with me. If I hadn't gotten those brownie points before, they were all mine at this point. If there was nothing else bringing me joy in that moment, it was that laughter that I'd probably desperately needed.
Author's note: I have aged. Like cheese. I'm only 22, and I feel like I deserve a senior discount.