Angela looked me up and down, bit her lip, and smiled ever so slightly.
“You know, you said something very sweet,” she said. “You said you want to bring honor to your father and Shannon. I can empathize with that. I grew up not really being looked at much. Shannon was always the pretty one, getting the guys’ attention. I was the nerd, wearing glasses and focusing on my schoolwork, who didn’t get much attention from the boys. I want to fight for those who can’t speak for themselves, and Shannon is like that. I know this is a tangent, but just thought you should know.”
I wanted to hug her, thank her, maybe even kiss her... on the forehead, that was. I just wanted to show my appreciation without it getting weird. The more time I spent with her, though, the harder that was.
“But yes, I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “It won’t be hard, especially since Beth has wanted me to look into the drug activity of the Saints.”
“Well, there you go,” I said with a laugh. “I can tell you we don’t do drugs. We fight, I mean, work to keep that out of Springsville.”
“Keep it that way,” Angela said with what I swore was a flirtatious look. “I’d hate to think I’d have to come down on you for that.”
“Oh, heavens no,” I said, suddenly feeling a little more playful thanks to Angela’s look and my laugh just moments ago. “If you want to come down on me for something, you could come down on me for... ”
I looked around the room and spoke to the first thing I saw.
“For beating your ass at pool.”
“Oh?” she said, arching an eyebrow. “You know you’re talking to someone who was a known pool shark in her law school, right?”
I didn’t mean to, but I laughed so hard that my shoulder actually started to hurt.
“All respect, darling,” I said, only realizing half a second later that I’d given her a pet name. “But you’re not going to beat me in pool. A bunch of rich kids who play in the basement of their school’s student center got nothing on some motorcycle enthusiasts.”
“Prove it.”
She’s bold. It’s little wonder that she came up to me that day at the shop. You don’t do that if you don’t have guts.
“Alright,” I said. “Loser has to buy the winner a drink.”
Angela more than accepted the deal, initiating the handshake with a firm grip. She even asked the bartender for the balls while I went to get the pool sticks. It was only then that I realized this was probably a bad idea, given that I had a bum shoulder, but it was definitely too late to back out now.
The real question, of course, was if this was a bad idea for more reasons than just the bum shoulder. Had I really called her here because I wanted to talk about the Saints? I didn’t think I’d given her anything new compared to our discussion yesterday.
Or... had I done so because I wanted to further explore the feelings I’d gotten when I held her?
I had to admit, much as it still felt a little sacrilegious, it wasn’t like going to the club for that meeting had done much good in not thinking about Angela. I was focused during the meeting itself, but as soon as Patriot had walked out, my mind went right back to her. I think my logical mind created a justification for texting her and arranging something, but I knew the truth.
I was starting to like her.
She was cute, she was sweet, she could now apparently spitball a little bit over pool, and she had a fire I had only seen in one other girl. I had taken a lot of caution to make sure I didn’t constantly compare Angela to Shannon. I had to make sure I didn’t try and create Angela into the second version of Shannon, but...
It was something that, for better or for worse, I was now pursuing, my emotions steering my actions much more than my rational mind. Granted, we were a long, long way from doing anything that would create real confusion, but there was one problem with that.
I knew too damn well how to get to that spot where feelings would get involved, and things would get confusing. I was too good at understanding and flirting with women. Just because I hadn’t done so in the past year didn’t mean I had forgotten anything.
But at this point, all I could do was just remain present, because frankly, even with the bum shoulder, the present was pretty good. The members of the club were starting to respect me more, and I currently had a great woman before me.No talk of the club. Just flirt and have fun.
“So, Angela,” I said as she approached with the rack of balls. “Tell me, how does one become a pool shark at a law school? I can’t imagine that you all have such a challenge when most people are so afraid to say things for fear of implicating their careers.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, pretty boy,” she said.
Oh, so she’s feeling the same way I am. This is going to be interesting.
“Just because everyone else plays a soft game and is only competing for bragging rights doesn’t mean I am too. I may find out that you’re a great white, but I’m still a tiger shark at worst.”
“Alright, alright, beautiful,” I said. “If you’re so good, I’ll let you break. Just be careful— for someone who looks like you, I’d hate to have you cheat by distracting me so.”
Angela smirked at me, deliberately bent over, and landed a break that knocked in two solids. And just like that, I was already behind.
