her behind. Up until this point, Jessica had displayed terrible form—she just placed the cue close to the white ball, closed her eyes, probably said a prayer, and poked it. Now, though, she formed a small bridge between her fingers and slid the cue between the knuckles of her index and middle fingers. She eyed her target, which seemed to be the solid yellow ball.
Tim laughed. “You’re stripes, honey.”
Jessica’s face was serious. Focused. She ignored the man and tapped the white ball. First it hit the yellow solid 1-ball, causing it to ricochet left and tap the striped green 14-ball, which slowly moved into the far left pocket, but not before it tapped the red-striped 11-ball, which also went into the left center pocket. She’d made two balls for her team.
“Beginner’s luck, I guess,” she sassed, and sauntered to the other side of the table. Without missing a beat, she bent over the table, and two more stripes landed in separate pockets. No one spoke, but Slade noticed the shit-eating grin on his friends’ faces.
With three stripes still left, she called, “Center left.” She tapped the white ball toward the lone stripe on the left, causing it to hit the two stripes sitting side by side on the table. They broke into two separate pockets, but not before one of them ricocheted off a solid, which in turn hit the black into the center left. Calmly she put the cue down and stepped back.
Cain walked over to the wad of money lying on the table and shoved it into his pocket.
“What the fuck? She just hustled us,” Rob gasped.
“I did not. You just assumed I didn’t know how to play ’cause I have boobs.”
“Actually, cariño, I think it was more due to your ass than your tits,” Tony said with a laugh.
Slade couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. He’d assumed the same damn thing as the three assholes. Obviously his friends knew, though, and together all four had hustled the three men out of a thousand dollars. This woman never ceased to amaze him. And now he wasn’t going on a date, and it was his own damn fault.
Rob took a step forward, but Tony was quicker and grabbed the man’s arm.
“I think we’re done here, boys,” Tony said.
“Fucking cun—” Phil began.
Slade moved fast, and before Phil could finish the word he was up against the pool table with Slade pinning his left arm up behind his back.
“You really shouldn’t talk like that about his girlfriend.” Travis laughed and shook his head as he downed a shot of tequila.
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Jessica replied. Slade frowned and tightened his hold, causing Phil to let out a squawk of pain.
“Not the right time, darlin’,” Travis said to Jessica with a smile. She understood and backed away. Slade was angry enough.
Rob was not as smart. “Bitch, next time I’m going to—”
Tony moved quickly toward him, grabbed him around the neck, and pushed him up against the wall.
“Apologize to her, asshole.”
Rob said nothing, and Tony squeezed a little more.
“I really think you should apologize, man,” Travis told him.
Rob’s face was red, and his eyes were bulging. Tony, on the other hand, hadn’t even broken a sweat; in fact, he reached for a shot from the nearby tray with his free hand and downed it.
“S-sorry,” Rob gasped at last.
Tony released Rob, who half collapsed against the wall. But Slade didn’t let go of Phil. With a slight shake of the head Cain went over to Slade and pulled him off Phil.
“I don’t want to see you guys in here again,” Slade told them. Looking completely defeated, the three walked away.
From the other side of the bar, Jett hollered, “And don’t come back, hear?”
When the bar was calm again, Travis spoke first. “Good job, darlin’!” He picked Jessica up into a bear hug. Cain pulled out the cash, counted it, handed Jessica a cut, and then gave the other two some money.
“A woman that can hustle three grown-ass men? I think I’m in love, linda.” Tony put his hand over his heart.
Jessica smiled. “That was fun, guys. Well, except for the whole testosterone-fueled armlock, neck-choking thingy. Gotta get back to work. See ya!”
“Wait! What the hell just happened?” Slade asked aloud to no one in particular.
“I think you’re dateless, brother,” Travis said as he walked away, leaving Slade totally confused. He still had a lot to learn about Jessica.
Chapter 12
Slade was working out at the gym with Jack, taking his aggression out on the punching bag.
“Spill it.