King leans over the bar to talk past me and I take that as my cue to save Tessa from whatever ridiculous sideshow Gage is subjecting her to. Leaving King and Remy to talk, I get up and look around the common room, taking in the party. All the Brothers are here, even those few that have Old Ladies are here, along with all the Fallen and a healthy dose of hang-on’s. It’s gonna get wild tonight, you can feel it in the room, and see it in the piles of bottles stacking up.
I make a mental note to get Tessa out of here before things get too out of hand. Scanning the room, I see Tessa and Gage at one of the pool tables. He’s holding out a cue to her, looking like he’s giving her a lesson and she is nodding along and giving him a sweet, sincere smile as she takes the cue and tosses it from hand to hand. I make my way over to the high-tops next to the tables.
She shoots me a little wink and a smile that jump-starts by body. Intrigued, I sit back to watch, curious to see how this little scene plays out. Gage racks the balls for a game of eight-ball. He turns back to her, pointing at the table and I assume offering to break and show her how it’s done. She returns his smile and nods her agreement. The asshole preens like he is doing her the most amazing favor by teaching her to play tonight. I can’t help but laugh at his showboating. This should be good.
Gage breaks and sinks one ball. Yes, one. Then he turns back to her and explains what to do next, even going so far as to start showing how to hold the cue and make a shot. She follows along, looking almost in awe of what he’s showing her, and the idiot is eating up every second. My little minx has something up her sleeve though, she is a little too eager, too in awe of my dipshit best friend.
The sound of a chair being pulled out draws my attention and I see Axel drop into the chair next to me. “She’s playing the dipshit, isn’t she?” the VP asks.
“Probably,” I say, returning my attention to the scene at the pool table.
“He’s going to lose his mind when he catches on,” Axel chuckles.
“She’s gonna have his shirt before he even knows what hit him,” we both laugh and settle back in our chairs to watch.
Tessa keeps up her act for a few more shots, letting him sink a few more balls and missing a few of her shots by just enough that I can tell she’s pulling them intentionally. By the time Gage is down to his last two balls, he’s strutting around the table like a damn fool and Axel and I are hardly keeping our shit together trying to not giggle like damn schoolgirls as we watch his posturing. Why he’s so happy about beating a chick that he is supposedly teaching the game is beyond me. Tessa pulls a pout at Gage after she “misses” her next shot and it clearly works on him because he resets the shot and gives her another chance. As soon as Gage turns his back, that pout turns into a viscous smile just for me. I slap Axel’s knee a couple times to get his attention. Not that I need to, he’s just as far in this as I am by now.
“It’s about to go down man,” I whisper, barely containing a giggle. Yes. A goddamn giggle.
Tessa steps up to the table, her face schooled and looking tentative, like she can’t decide what shot to take. Then she sweeps up the chalk, dusts the tip and snaps into a perfect form, snapping a shot straight into the side pocket. Up until this point, she has missed every single one of her shots, so she still has all seven of the striped balls left in play. She attacks them one by one, sinking every single shot with perfect precision. My Babydoll runs the table and then like freakin’ Babe Ruth, she calls her shot and proceeds to slam the 8 into the corner pocket with so much finality, I see Gage reflexively cover his junk since he’s right behind it.
Standing she turns to him with an innocent look, batting her eyelashes and asks him something we can’t hear over the music. Gage is staring in complete shock at the table and it’s only after she says something that he starts ranting, tossing his cue on the table and throwing his hands in the air as he laughs hysterically. Even over the din of the party, I can hear him hollering for a rematch. Axel and I lose our shit, hooting and cheering, laughing our asses off and chanting Tessa’s name like a victory cry. When she hears us chanting, she turns toward our table and takes a little curtsy.
I can’t just stand back and watch this next round, at the very least I need to be close enough to hear what the leprechaun is saying. And let’s be honest, who could resist getting the chance to be closer to her? I slap the VP on the shoulder as I stand and make my way over to the pool table. When I get close, I lean in to press a kiss to Tessa’s temple and can’t contain the hum of appreciation I let out when she leans into me.
“That might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen Babydoll,” I say against her skin and she laughs, making me smile and pull her against my chest. Tessa settles against me as I loop my arms around her waist. We watch Gage pace back and forth at the other end of the table, still ranting about her cheating and wanting a rematch.
“Should we just let him go?” she asks, clearly pleased with herself and the reaction she elicited.
“Eh let him go for a bit, he’ll tire himself out. Toddlers do that ya know,” I say matter of factly through my smile. Before I can suggest the two of us play a round while we wait for Gage to get his panties out of their twist, Axel comes over to him and offers to play two on two with us and Gage quickly agrees, needing a chance for redemption.
After the third round, and third win, for myself and Tessa, Roxy comes up and throws an arm around her shoulders. Roxy is a force of nature in her own right. She’s an amazon of a woman, and she loves her man and the Club with her entire being. While she is King’s Ol’ Lady, God help you if you ever call her anything less than her own damn name. And truth be told, all of us are more than a little afraid of her.
“Sawyer, stop hogging Tess. It’s time she hears the real story of what you assholes get up to around here. Gotta give her a chance to save herself from your sorry ass,” Roxy says, pulling Tessa closer.
“Please! Take her. Save us, and my wallet, from this damn shark,” Gage pleads.
“Oh, please Gage. We all know my granny could whip your sorry ass with a pool cue; you just hate losing to a woman,” Roxy snaps back, hardly keeping the smile from her voice. “Come on Darlin’, it’s time for some girl-talk away from these Neanderthals.”
As Roxy steers her away, Tessa shoots me a smirk before turning back to Roxy and I can hear her say, “tell me everything.” with a shake of my head, I turn back to the game.
About halfway through our next game, Crissy, one of the more… willing… Fallen shows up with a fresh round of beers. She sidles up next to me and hops up onto the pool table, her bony ass sending a couple of the balls rolling and fucking up our game. She sets both beers down on the table, not caring if they leave rings on the felt as Gage and I dive for them. With a grumble I stare her down and ask, “what the fuck do you want Crissy?”
“So serious Sawyer! Sounds like you could use some stress relief,” she says, shooting me what I assume she thinks is an enticing look; it just looks like a raccoon eyeing a piece of food.
“Not interested,” I say, dismissing her.
“Don’t be like that; I’m sure we can find something you’re interested in,” she looks over at Gage and beckons him closer, “I’d be down for more of a… group activity if that’s what you’d rather,” she purrs. Gage looks at me from the other side of the table and all I can do is roll my eyes at him. She can’t be serious.