Tyler says nothing, just smiles as she lays out the cups at her end of the table. She plucks a ping pong ball from one of them, and turns to Josh.
“Well, he’s about to meet the queen,” she says, meeting my eyes and tossing the ball in her hand to my end of the table. The room collectively gasps when the ball sinks into one of the cups in front of me.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, staring into the cup. When I look back up at her, I realize that these feelings I have toward her are far more complex than I wanted to make myself believe. This isn’t a just crush or an infatuation with someone I had one night of mind-blowingly good sex with. This is more. So much more.
I’m in love with her.
And I am totally fucked.
“Who goes first?” she asks, a confident smile curling her lips.
“Ladies first,” I say, fishing the ball out of the cup in front of me and rolling it back down the table to her. She lifts it into her hand and tosses it back down the table, sinking it into the cup in the back left corner. Before I can blink, the next ball is in the air and lands in the same cup.
Well, fuck me.
“Bring it back,” she says, wiggling her fingers at me as everyone hoots and hollers and starts giving me shit. I sendboth balls back down the table and remove the cup she made her shots in.
“Which other one am I removing?”
“Opposite corner,” she says, and I remove it, leaving the cups in a diamond shape. She throws in quick succession again, landing them both in the back cup. I throw my head back, half in disbelief, half in complete awe. Her usually quiet and reserved demeanor has morphed into confidence, and it’s such a fucking turn on that I’m already fighting the urge to tell everyone else to leave and taking her back into the bedroom, contract be damned.
“What one?” I ask.
“Surprise me,” she says with a shrug. I remove the first cup, leaving the remaining two sitting side by side on the table. She laughs before tossing the first ball, landing it in the cup on the left. My jaw hits the fucking floor.
“Jesus Christ,” Josh says from beside us. “I can’t believe this is happening. No one beats Eric. Like…no one.”
“No need to be dramatic,” I say. “You’ve beaten me.”
“Once,” Josh says.
This beautifully wicked creature staring into my soul with icy blue eyes is about to run the damn table on me. She makes either cup and it’s all over: my chance to kiss her again, at least once, before this tour is done. To keep ribbing her about our night together. To watch her squirm as she fights not to think about it.
“Tell you what,” she says, resting her palms on the table and leaning her weight into them. She presses her arms together slightly, pressing her perfect tits together and giving me a glimpse at her cleavage. She waits for my eyes to drift back to hers and looking me in the eyes from across the table she says, “Since I didn’t really give you a chance, I’ll make adeal with you.” I close my mouth a swallow nervously. “If I make this shot and run the table, I’ll let you cash in on your side of the wager anyway.”
Fuck me. I’m dead. She’s going to win this and let me kiss her anyway.
“What did you bet? What did you bet?” Josh asks, his drunk ass bouncing up and down on the couch like a kid at Christmas. Tyler says nothing, just tilts her head to the side, letting me answer him only if I want to.
“Deal,” I say without hesitation, not looking away from her. Eyes locked on mine, she makes her throw, and I refuse to tear my eyes from hers as the ball sails through the air as if in slow motion. I fully expect to hear the plop of the ball sinking into the cup in front of me but am jolted out of the stupor I’ve found myself in when instead, I hear the click of the ball hitting the table.
I look down at the ball rolling off the table and onto the floor beside me before looking back up at her. She grins and crosses her arms in front of her chest.
“You want to win? Then you better fucking work for it.” She winks at me, fuckingwinks, and I’m instantly, painfully hard. Who the fuck is she tonight? This isn’t the Tyler that started the tour. This is the Tyler that was in my hotel room in New York. The one who had me on my knees and completely at her mercy.
I know I need to make both of my shots. I miss one, and it’s truly over, because there’s no way she’s missing again. I’m fully confident she missed that last shot on purpose. She’s toying with me. I take a deep breath and let the first one fly, landing it in the center cup.
Taking a deep breath, I jump in place and shake my hands out before grabbing the other ball from the table and letting itgo, watching in abject horror as it bounces off the rim of the center cup and off the table.
She tisks as she reaches for the cup I made and moves it aside.
“That’s disappointing,” she says, looking back up at me. “I thought you’d fight harder.” She tosses the ball through the air, sinking it into the final cup and everyone erupts.
Oh Tyler,I think, watching the chaos unfold around us.You have no idea how hard I’m willing to fight.
TWENTY-TWO
Ty
