“That’s what I like to see…a smile,” his rich voice rumbled.
Looking up, I recognised him instantly. Derek was here. I know I’d only seen him hours earlier in the hospital, but then he’d been all decked out in his uniform, making him seem cold and unapproachable, but now wearing worn jeans and a button down shirt, he just seemed like one of the guys.
Jumping off my stool, I threw my arms around his neck with wild abandon and hugged him tightly. It took a second for my brain to catch up with my body and realise what I was doing, but still it didn’t make me pull away.
“Wow!” He laughed as he settled me back on my feet. “Zoe, you should come home more often. You’re good for my ego!”
“Your ego is fine,” Spencer’s voice echoed over my head.
For some reason I felt like I’d been caught. Although I wasn’t doing anything wrong, although Spencer and I weren’t together, it still felt like I’d been caught cheating. It left a sour taste in my mouth.
“How you doing there, Pippi?” Spencer asked, finishing off my water.
“Seriously! Pippi again?”
Derek laughed. “You two ever going to grow up?”
We looked at each other before we both cracked up laughing. “Nope,” we said in unison. It felt both good and bad to laugh. It felt good right down to my toes, but fuck it made my ribs ache. When I clutched at my side, suddenly Spencer’s face became deadly serious.
“I should get you home,” he stated matter-of-factly.
I wasn’t ready to go. Despite everything, I actually was having a good time. As long as I didn’t venture too far from Spencer, I was okay. He was my lifeline, and as long as he was in grasping distance, I knew I’d live.
“Nope! Not yet.” I smiled up at him defiantly. I watched as his eyes darkened and he straightened himself out preparing for a fight, but tonight I was one step ahead of him. “I want to play pool.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Pippi, you can’t play for shit,” Spencer reminded me.
I wanted to tell him he was wrong. Hell, I wanted to prove to him wrong. It would never work. He was right. I was the world’s worst pool player. The truth was I got bored too easily and gave up. But he loved it. And he loved winning. I knew challenging him to a game would bring out the competitive streak he had hidden just beneath the surface.
“Maybe I’ve learnt…” I taunted, gulping down the last of my drink and signalling Jenna to pour me another.
“Doubt it.”
“Care to make a bet?”
“A bet?”
“Yep, a bet!”
“Let me get this right, Pippi. You want to challenge me. To a game of pool. Not only that, you think you can beat me. You want to bet on it?”
“That sounds about right,” I confirmed, watching as his face contorted into a devilish grin.
“Okay then, I’m in,” he agreed, sticking his hand out between us to shake mine.
As soon as I dropped my hand in his I regretted it. It was so warm and comforting I didn’t want to let go. Shit, I was in trouble. “Don’t you want to hear the stakes before you commit to something? I mean I could make you do something truly terrible.”
“I’ll take my chances.” He grinned smugly as he grabbed his drink and led me across the pub to the empty pool table in the back.
We reached the pool table and Spencer dropped my hand. I grabbed the pool cues and watched on silently as he racked up the balls. I was in big trouble. He’d done this so many times he dropped the balls into position with practiced ease. Derek and Kane joined us and grabbed stools.
“What are you two doing?” I asked nervously.
I wasn’t afraid of looking like a fool. Hell, I’d looked like a fool most of my life in front of these boys, but right now I didn’t need to be humiliated. The smirk on Spencer’s face reassured me that I would be.
“Going to watch you beat my big brother,” Kane taunted. Spencer flicked Kane the bird before grabbing a cue from me.
“Want to break?” he offered.
“Nah, you can,” I declined in what I hoped came off as a casual, I-couldn’t-care-less tone, which was one hundred and ten percent fake. I just didn’t want to break because I knew I couldn’t. Every time I’d tried I’d barely moved one ball from the cluster in the centre of the table.
