Zach clapped him on the back. “We’ll get a game started. You have time to play a round?”
“Sure. Theo’s back there taking some practice shots, waiting for an interesting game.”
Zach snorted. “Not sure we can promise that, but we’ll give it a go.” He pointed to the pool table farthest away and the large man working it. “Theo paid his way through college hustling pool, or so the rumors go.”
“I prefer the rumor that he was a gigolo,” Peter said as he signaled a waiter to bring them beers.
Laughing, Zach led them to the man in question, who, Adam discovered as they began to play, was indeed good enough to have been a hustler. Adam and Zach lost the first round, though not necessarily as badly as they could have. Peter was an okay player, Adam was a bit better, Zach was good, Theo was great. But they had a good time and he only thought about Myra and what had happened every other minute, instead of constantly. Should he check up on her, make sure she was all right? She’d been distressed by what had happened.
He gave Peter a good-natured jab to the shoulder when the other man scratched, took his time placing the cue ball and selecting his shot. A woman wandered by, stood chatting with Peter, angling herself in such a way that Adam couldn’t miss what she had on display. He blocked her from his mind and took the shot, pleased with the result. When he moved around the table for his next move, she casually shifted over to conversation with Zach so that she was still in his line of sight.
Again, he ignored her and made the shot. It was a trickier move, the only one available that he could see, and he actually almost made it, but not quite. He gave Zach a shrug.
“It’s cool, I’m sure we’ll run them off the table next time,” Zach said, laughing. “Let me introduce you to Michelle. She’s just come home from college for a long weekend.”
The woman, who he had to try hard not to think of as a girl—fuck, he was getting old—managed to be both sultry and submissive at the same time. While he found her red hair and amber eyes, well-displayed full figure, and direct but respectful gaze attractive, he was mostly unnerved. She was nearly twenty years younger than him. Christ, he reallywasgetting old.
He chatted long enough to be polite, then moved back to the table, pretending more interest in Theo’s next shot than he actually felt. The other man gave him a knowing look, but Adam was pretty sure there was a shit-eating grin lurking behind the solemn facade.
When he turned back to find his beer, Michelle picked it up, handed it to him with one hand while running her other up his arm. “How long are you going to be in Mountain View?” she asked.
He couldn’t keep from shrugging off her hand, even if it would have been polite. His reaction was almost visceral, and while he held back the growl that would have been overreaction, he wasn’t cool with her touching him—and she knew it. She took a small step back, dropping her hand and her gaze, biting her lip.
Shit. He didn’t want to be an asshole. “School, huh? What are you studying?”
She lifted her head, shyer now, crossing her arms over her chest. “Engineering.”
They spent the next little while with her excitedly telling him her plans for the future, while he was careful to communicate that his interest was purely friendly. Once she realized that, she became more relaxed, more animated, with Zach joining in the conversation, two elders expressing interest in the future plans of a young one. Fuck. He shook his head at himself as he and Zach lost the second game.
The bar had filled up and all the tables were full. There were sure to be others waiting for a table, so he signaled Zach.
“Ready to head out, or you want to grab a table for another drink?”
“This was nice, but more than enough for a hermit like me.”
“Yeah, about that. You’re going to ruin that hermit reputation with all this socializing. Got to say, man, you weren’t exactly the life of the party, but you weren’t sitting in a corner glaring at anyone who dared approach you, either.”
“I like doing my thing, living my way. I deal with people on my own terms. Doesn’t mean I don’t like people.”
They walked to the truck and headed back. “You were good with Michelle back there. Easing her back, redirecting her without stomping on her ego.”
“She’s a good kid.” He snorted.
Zach’s laugh was a full one. “Yeah, we’re getting old, for sure. The young ones that are going to be strong, they’re attracted to the power, on a subconscious level sometimes.”
“You don’t think it was my manly good looks and incredible charm?”
Zach’s snort was answer enough, and Adam smiled as he looked out the window and considered where his life had turned. Things had changed in the last week, but he couldn’t say he minded any of it. And now that he wasn’t surrounded by kids and strangers, he let the thoughts of Myra that hadn’t ever quite gone away, push forward. The phone call with her had been tough, mostly because he’d still been recovering from the assault of sensation that had seemed to come from nowhere. He’d been putting his things away, about to head out with Hillary to go meet Alexis and Tracy, when the heat and need and want had hit him. He’d gone hard and had to work to hold back his release as he’d felt Myra achieve hers.
Then his phone had buzzed and he’d known it was her. She’d sounded worried, not the reaction he’s expected considering she’d clearly just had an orgasm. Obviously she’d realized that she’d somehow connected with him and was concerned he’d have a freak-out. Maybe he should have, but he’d still been struggling to ease the throbbing in his system and keep from coming like an adolescent in his jeans. He’d rushed her off the phone and tried to push her out of his mind while meeting the kid and her family, then at the bar. Now he kind of felt like an ass.
“You doing okay, here?” Zach asked.
“Here?”
“Well, with that whole hermit thing. We pushing you on other people too much?”
“I’ll tell you no when there’s something I don’t want to do. Mommy.”
