AllFreeNovel
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I roll my eyes and jab her with my elbow. “You know what I mean. I just… I hurt this team.”
“No,” she says in a tone that sounds like she’s lecturing a second grader. “Your mom hurt the team. And she hurt you. Everyone knows that, and everyone is thrilled you and Hendrix are back together.”
My eyes drift over to him, standing with several of his teammates. They’re laughing about something, and as if he can sense me staring, his head turns my way.
Cheeks heating just a bit, I smile at him. He doesn’t return the smile but tilts his head slightly, asking a silent question. Are you okay?
We had this same talk earlier while we were getting ready at my house, and he reassured me same as Harlow. But he knows I’m nervous.
I nod and get a smile back before he turns to his friends.
“Come on,” I say, looping my arm through Harlow’s. “Let’s go celebrate the last day of this year.”
?
“Your shot,” Kiera says as she hands me my pool stick. I let her use it as we’re playing partners against Hendrix and her brother Drake.
Men versus women.
Winners versus losers.
Kiera’s not that great of a pool player, which means I’m pretty much taking on Hendrix and Drake, who’s not bad.
I walk around the table, studying what’s left of this game of eight ball. Kiera and I are stripes, and we have three balls left. Hendrix and Drake have only one solid left.
Glancing at the next table over, my heart swells full. Another glorious example of worlds colliding.
Brienne Norcross, billionaire owner of the Titans, chose to spend New Year’s in my little bar, I’m sure forsaking some fancy party in the city. Hendrix said she did it for Drake, who doesn’t feel comfortable in that part of her world, although he’d certainly follow her anywhere.
But Brienne admitted to me earlier that she much prefers this atmosphere. She’s dressed in tight black leather pants, a red silk halter top, and killer black boots with tiny silver chains wrapped around the ankles.
She’s playing pool with Jenna, and they’re taking on Molly and Karla, two of my regulars who are married to men who ride with my dad. They’re in jeans and low-cut tank tops, both of them covered in tattoos.
But the thing is… it doesn’t matter what any of them are wearing because all four women are talking and laughing as they play.
Two different walks of life united over a game of pool.
I focus back on our table, considering my shot. Hendrix sits halfway on a stool at a high top watching me. He’s got one foot propped on a crossbar and the other long leg stretched out. His pool stick is planted on the ground between his legs, and he’s holding the top with both hands. A leisurely pose, but there’s nothing laid back in his gaze as he watches me.
“I’m going to get us another round,” Drake announces.
I ignore him, focusing on my path to victory on the green felt. I have two good choices to start, but I decide to take the shot on the side of the table closest to Hendrix.
He smirks as I walk around, adding a bit of sway to my hips. My feet are killing me in these heels, but I suffer it because they’re part of the package that makes his eyes glitter with appreciation.
Giving him my back, I bend over to line up my shot. I know my dress rides up a bit, not anywhere close to indecent, but enough that I know if I were to turn around to look at Hendrix, his eyes would be pinned on my ass.
“Hey, baby,” he says, low enough for me to hear. I ignore him, concentrating on dropping that five ball in the side pocket. “Please let me take you into the storeroom for fifteen minutes.”
“You’re cute,” I say out of the side of my mouth and then execute a clean shot. The five ball disappears. I straighten and turn to him. “But if we go into the storeroom, we’ll miss out on midnight, and I’m not about to miss my first kiss of the new year.”
Hendrix glances at his watch and frowns. “Seven minutes. Definitely not enough time for what I’d want to do to you in there.”
Laughing, I fist his shirt and pull him to me. I brush my lips against his and start to pull away, but I’m stopped with his hand going to the back of my neck. He deepens the kiss and when he finally breaks apart, he murmurs against my mouth, “I love you.”
A shiver skitters up my spine over the naked truth in his statement. I lean back, stare him in the eye, and give him my own honesty. “I love you. So much.”
He grins, releases his hold, and nods at the table. “Put us out of our misery.”
