know, maybe I did.
“I’m fine,” I say, instincts taking over, making me pull away from Kris’s unwanted hand on my back. “I just zoned out for a minute. I’m fine.” I say the second part more to myself. He nods and lifts his pool stick, going back to the game.
Jennifer arrives with two ice-cold beers in her hands and I’ve never been happier to see her. “Refills!” she singsongs as she hands me one of the drinks. I take it and tell her thanks in an equally lame singsong voice. I don’t feel as cheery as I sound, but I know damned well how to fake it in front of Kris.
With Jennifer back, some of the tension is gone, and I try to participate with the laughter and jokes and I feel like I’m doing an awesome job. Kris doesn’t talk to me for the next three pool games, and I’m not upset or offended—I’m grateful.
One more beer and a shot of Patron later, I’m standing a little lopsided, using my pool stick for balance as Geoff sinks one, two, and three striped balls in a row, beating me. “You cheater,” I say, pointing my finger at him. He sweeps his arm out and takes a bow. “I’m not a cheater, m’lady. You just suck at pool.”
“Don’t we all,” Jennifer says, raising her glass in a toast.
Susan finishes the last of the cheese fries and jumps up from the barstool on the sidelines. “My turn!”
I hand her my pool stick and walk toward the table with everyone’s empty beer bottles and what used to be a plate of cheese fries but is now a sad empty dish. Right about now, the amount of alcohol in my stomach decides to tell my brain that I’m drunk. I take a deep breath and fumble for the barstool. I could have sworn it was behind me somewhere…
“Whoa,” Kris’s deep voice crushes through the sounds of arcade games and drunken laughter. “Unless you’re magic, you can’t float in the air.”
“I’m sitting on the stool,” I mumble, reaching behind me for that damned barstool, but feeling nothing. I’m vaguely aware of his hands gripping my elbows, until I take a deep breath and smell his cologne. Then I’m very, very, horribly aware of his hands touching me. He’s holding me up, preventing me from drunkenly stumbling to the floor in search of a barstool that is not there.
My hands grab his biceps as I let him steady me, bringing me back into a standing position. I look into his eyes. They’re blurry. “I think you want this,” he says, nodding to an area about three feet away, where that traitorous piece of furniture sits, mocking me.
I think I say thanks, but I’m not sure. When I look in his face, I see a grown man with chiseled features and a five o’clock shadow; a man who is a stranger to me. But when I slip up and look into his eyes, I see Kris. The boy I grew up with…the boy I loved. Beautiful auburn eyes don’t change with age—they stay just the same as you remember them, filled with memories of things that used to be.
His voice lowers until I’m certain only I can hear him. “Let’s take a walk.”
I nod.
Chapter 10
I shouldn’t have glanced back when Kris led me out of the adults’ only section and into the arcade room. Then I wouldn’t have seen the curious look of jealousy on Susan’s face and the smug look on Koby’s face as he nudged Geoff and pointed in our direction. Now everyone no doubt thinks I’m trying to bang the new boss, and they couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t even know why I’m walking with him.
We come to a stop in front of these brightly colored ATM type things that dispense cards instead of cash. Kris loads up a card with one hundred virtual tokens and holds it up, wiggling it between his index and middle finger. “Skeeball?”
Okay maybe it’s just the alcohol—no wait, it’s definitely the alcohol—because I’m kind of sort of thinking that maybe Kris and I can be friends. You know, in a strictly professional boss-employee type of friendship. The alcohol also makes me smile,
“I’m fine,” I say, instincts taking over, making me pull away from Kris’s unwanted hand on my back. “I just zoned out for a minute. I’m fine.” I say the second part more to myself. He nods and lifts his pool stick, going back to the game.
Jennifer arrives with two ice-cold beers in her hands and I’ve never been happier to see her. “Refills!” she singsongs as she hands me one of the drinks. I take it and tell her thanks in an equally lame singsong voice. I don’t feel as cheery as I sound, but I know damned well how to fake it in front of Kris.
With Jennifer back, some of the tension is gone, and I try to participate with the laughter and jokes and I feel like I’m doing an awesome job. Kris doesn’t talk to me for the next three pool games, and I’m not upset or offended—I’m grateful.
One more beer and a shot of Patron later, I’m standing a little lopsided, using my pool stick for balance as Geoff sinks one, two, and three striped balls in a row, beating me. “You cheater,” I say, pointing my finger at him. He sweeps his arm out and takes a bow. “I’m not a cheater, m’lady. You just suck at pool.”
“Don’t we all,” Jennifer says, raising her glass in a toast.
Susan finishes the last of the cheese fries and jumps up from the barstool on the sidelines. “My turn!”
I hand her my pool stick and walk toward the table with everyone’s empty beer bottles and what used to be a plate of cheese fries but is now a sad empty dish. Right about now, the amount of alcohol in my stomach decides to tell my brain that I’m drunk. I take a deep breath and fumble for the barstool. I could have sworn it was behind me somewhere…
“Whoa,” Kris’s deep voice crushes through the sounds of arcade games and drunken laughter. “Unless you’re magic, you can’t float in the air.”
“I’m sitting on the stool,” I mumble, reaching behind me for that damned barstool, but feeling nothing. I’m vaguely aware of his hands gripping my elbows, until I take a deep breath and smell his cologne. Then I’m very, very, horribly aware of his hands touching me. He’s holding me up, preventing me from drunkenly stumbling to the floor in search of a barstool that is not there.
My hands grab his biceps as I let him steady me, bringing me back into a standing position. I look into his eyes. They’re blurry. “I think you want this,” he says, nodding to an area about three feet away, where that traitorous piece of furniture sits, mocking me.
I think I say thanks, but I’m not sure. When I look in his face, I see a grown man with chiseled features and a five o’clock shadow; a man who is a stranger to me. But when I slip up and look into his eyes, I see Kris. The boy I grew up with…the boy I loved. Beautiful auburn eyes don’t change with age—they stay just the same as you remember them, filled with memories of things that used to be.
His voice lowers until I’m certain only I can hear him. “Let’s take a walk.”
I nod.
Chapter 10
I shouldn’t have glanced back when Kris led me out of the adults’ only section and into the arcade room. Then I wouldn’t have seen the curious look of jealousy on Susan’s face and the smug look on Koby’s face as he nudged Geoff and pointed in our direction. Now everyone no doubt thinks I’m trying to bang the new boss, and they couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t even know why I’m walking with him.
We come to a stop in front of these brightly colored ATM type things that dispense cards instead of cash. Kris loads up a card with one hundred virtual tokens and holds it up, wiggling it between his index and middle finger. “Skeeball?”
Okay maybe it’s just the alcohol—no wait, it’s definitely the alcohol—because I’m kind of sort of thinking that maybe Kris and I can be friends. You know, in a strictly professional boss-employee type of friendship. The alcohol also makes me smile,
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