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“I’m not teeny,” she grumbled. That didn’t sound like a compliment and goddamn him she wanted his compliments.
“Ladies first.”
“But men just before,” Kayleigh quipped.
Ben smirked then bent forward over the table, lining up his shot. He swung his arm back and an almightythwackricocheted around the room. The balls split off, rolling over the green felt and rebounding off the sides of the table. However none dropped into the pockets. With a smug grin Kayleigh strolled around to his side and hip-checked him out of the way before leaning over and sizing up her shot.
Being that she was so teeny she had to lean as far forward as possible and there was a lot of shuffling and throat clearing behind her. She tapped the ball with the cue and it slid into the pocket with a gentleswish. She turned to find Ben watching her, his bright eyes glittering.
“What?”
More throat clearing. “Nothing, you just lookgreatwhen you take a shot.” He shot her a devilish smile.Is he flirting?She hated that she couldn’t tell. Why was he so hard to read? The only way to find out is to respond and see what he did. When he lined up his next shot, her eyes were fixed to his crotch.
“Something caught your eye?” Those mint velvet eyes glittered again, this time with a quirked brow that was all kinds of sexy. Her brain short-circuited and she relied on a flirty pun to get her through. “I was just admiring your balls.”
A poor excuse for a flirty pool pun, however Ben surprised her by barking out a laugh, a deep throaty rumble that culminated in a wicked smile, totally out of character for him and her knees knocked together.She discreetly grabbed the edge of the table for support. She liked flirting with this guy, it gave her the same feeling as GreenEyedKing96. Ben felt safe and although she hadn’t known him long, he felt like an old friend.
“Touché.” He dipped his pool cue at her in salute. She couldn’t think of anything else to say so just took her turn. “Tell me something Kayleigh, do you like gaming?”
She fumbled her shot. “No, why?” she answered a little too quickly. Was it getting hot in here or was it just her and her lies? Why was she so afraid to admit she liked gaming? She had told him about her writing but didn’t want to admit it was mostly gamer fanfiction. It was ridiculous but she just wanted him to think she was cool, and fanfiction was definitely not cool.
“No? Hmm.” His eyes swung to her, squinting like he didn’t believe her one bit.He leaned his cue against the table and pulled his sweater over his head, the T-shirt underneath getting caught and riding up with it, exposing salacious inches of taut skin and a hint of happy trail that had the grip on her cue tightening.He tossed his sweater onto the nearest table to straighten his T-shirt and it was then that she saw theByte Meon it and she honestly thought she died and went to heaven.He’s a gamer too?
“Are you sure about that?” he asked. She didn’t reply and he took her silence as affirmative. “That’s a shame. I love gaming and thought I sensed a vibe.” He lifted a shoulder, alleh, what you gonna do?And she suddenly wanted to reveal how much they had in common.
“I love gaming,” she blurted out. “My favorite is Queen’s Ransom, the quest game.”
Ben’s lip quirked up in a smile. “There we go. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He lifted his cue and took another shot, the muscles in his forearm popping as he forced the cue between his fingers.
Lord, have mercy.
He looked at her and nibbled his lip. “Why did you say you didn’t like gaming?”
She swallowed thickly. “Because I wanted you to think I’m cool.” Dang it, between them beer and Ben had loosened her tongue.
“Even though we’ve hung out a couple times now and if I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t?”
She nodded.
“Even though I said I liked gaming too?”
She shrugged, feeling a little helpless at his probing. She was so used to forcing herself not to talk about her hobbies that it was second nature to deny them.
“Maybe I should just be myself instead of pretending to be someone else,” she whispered. When the silence stretched on, she lifted her eyes and met his stare. Connection sizzled between them, and she fought the shiver that tried to slowly trek its way down her spine.
“That sounds good to me,” he husked.
Her vulnerability crawled through her skin to an unbearable degree. “Tell me a secret, something no one else knows?” she begged, needing him to be vulnerable too and even the power balance.
She thought he would deny her. Why would anyone give up a secret to a new friend? Then his mouth tipped to the side in contemplation before he offered her a genial smile, the corners of his stunning green eyes crinkling.
“I guess fair’s fair. I’ve only ever slept with one woman,” he said. She nearly spat her drink out.I mean…same, she thought to herself.
“Thoughts?” he asked when she realized she’d been quiet. She mulled his words over, wondering at the fuzzy feeling deep in her belly and the tingles branching out from her chest at the thought of him only being with one woman.
“Admirable.”
He laughed. She loved the way his deep rippling baritone echoed around the empty bar and she decided it was her favorite sound. He dipped his head and then looked up at her, a mischievous gleam in his eyes that was ever so charming.How had he only had one woman? They must be throwing themselves at him.
