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My first shot slammed the cue ball into the others, breaking them swiftly and sending several into pockets.
“Oh fuck,” I heard one of the guys say, but I ignored them as I zeroed in on my next shot.
And then my next.
And my next.
I swept the table without letting them take a shot, and when I landed the eightball in a center pocket, I straightened and smiled at their shocked faces. Then I scooped up the money and fanned my face.
“Five hundred, was it?”
Chip—no, that one was Dale—looked at the empty table, humiliation and anger replacing the initial outrage as he turned back to me. The realization he’d just been taken hit him like a swift uppercut to the jaw.
Huh, would you look at that? It seemed all this time spent around Daire had me thinking like him.
“You played us,” Dale said, narrowing his eyes.
“Technically, I didn’t play anyone.” I leaned against the table. “I’m just that good.”
“You’re a fucking cheat.” Chip stepped up beside his buddy, balling his hands into fists by his sides, and this was usually the part where I cut and run. As soon as I sank the eightball and pocketed the cash.
But I figured with Daire standing watch, I’d take a second to enjoy my moment in the spotlight.
“I didn’t cheat.”
Dale threw his pool cue on the table. “Then what would you call it?”
“Reading the room. You sized me up as someone you could beat. I sized you up as wrong.”
“You hustled us. You’re a shark.”
“You held the table ransom for five hundred. I just freed the hostage.”
Dale stepped toward me all but vibrating with fury, and before I could blink, Daire was in front of me, the discarded pool stick in his hand, the tip of it under Dale’s chin.
“Take another step and I’ll shove this thing so far up your ass you’ll be using chalk as a Chapstick.”
My eyes widened at the threat, but I couldn’t help but think how hot it was to have Daire defending me. Likesuperhot.
“Fuck you and your little blond bitch.”
An ominous growl rumbled out of Daire, and I quickly sprang into action, reaching for his arm.
“D, stop. It’s just a game.”
I tugged on his shirt, hoping to get through to him before this turned into anaboveground fight club. That was the last thing I wanted.
“Let’s just go,” I said. Daire looked down at where my hand rested on his arm, and I squeezed. “Please?”
He grunted and threw the pool stick aside, reaching for my hand.
Dairewas holding my hand.
My breath caught as our fingers touched, and it was as if the entire world vanished and we were the only two there. The heat from his hand raced up my arm and infused my whole body. He tightened his grip and led me away from the table, away from danger, then pushed out onto the busy street.
The bustling sounds of the city were immediate as the doors swung shut behind us. Cars sped by and horns honked, but it was my thumping heart that filled my ears as Daire’s palm rubbed up against mine. The rush from minutes ago pulsed through my body as he pulled me into the alley that ran up the side of the pool hall.
What a fucking trip.
