Page 110 of The Scars We Heal

“Do me the honor of being my pool partner?” I winked, nudging her with my elbow.

She linked her arm with mine, and we followed the rest of the group over to the pool table. “Gladly.”

“Who wants to go first?” Ellison asked.

“Longest couples go against each other!” Juniper tossed out.

Isa shrugged. “Works for me. We’re going to run the table, right, Cowboy?” She winked at Reid.

“You’re on.” Ellison took a big sip of her tequila soda then grabbed a pool stick. “You can break, since we’re going to wipe the floor with you guys,” she teased.

The rest of our group chuckled before finding some chairs to sit in or leaning against the wall to watch the game unfold.

Before long, we’d all chosen sides to cheer for. Caitlin and I were obviously rooting for Colter and Ellison—blood family loyalty and all that. Hayden and Sierra were split, with Hayden cheering for Isa and Reid, and Mikey and Juniper had disappeared somewhere. Probably the bathroom for a quickie.

I chuckled to myself at the thought.

The game was just about over, with Ellison and Colter leading. Ellison had the final shot, picking a pocket to aim the eight ball at.

“Don’t mess up, Ells,” Isa sing-songed. “Ooh! What if I told the story about when⁠—”

Ellison pulled back her cue stick at an angle, hitting Isa in the butt.

“Ow! What was that for?” she yelped, pulling laughter from the group.

“Whoops.” Ellison smirked. “My hand slipped.” Then she actually took her shot, hitting the eight ball into the pocket she designated and winning the game.

Colter and Ellison cheered, giving each other high fives as Reid and Isa booed teasingly.

“Since Mikey and June are off boning somewhere, we can have Hayden and Sierra play you two.” Ellison pointed at me and Caitlin.

“All righty.” I gestured between me and Caitlin and Hayden and Sierra. “Who wants to go first?”

“Rock, paper, scissors for it?” Hayden asked, to which Caitlin and I shrugged in agreement.

Caitlin and Sierra played for the first turn, Sierra ultimately winning with paper over rock.

“Sorry,” Caitlin sighed.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, mumbling, “It’s all right, we’ll give them a head start.”

The game went back and forth pretty evenly at first, but then Caitlin and I turned up the heat on them, hitting three of our balls into the pockets in a row. Soon enough, we had left Sierra and Hayden in the dust, and I knocked in the eight ball to win the game.

Mikey and Juniper didn’t come back by the time our game was over, so we decided the championship would be a family affair between Colter and Ellison, and me and Caitlin.

Rudy jokingly turned on upbeat music you would hear on SportsCenter, acting as though this was a televised event and not just a bunch of friends fucking around in an empty bar on Thanksgiving.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” I cupped my hands over my mouth, pretending to be an announcer. “The final round of the Rudy’s Pool Tournament is upon us. On one side of the table, we have Colter Carson and Ellison Carson. And on the other side, we have Caitlin Carson and Jake Flynn!” I dragged out my name.

“How are you going to be the commentator and competitor?” Isa cocked her head.

“Easy.” I waved her off. “Just like this.” Turning my announcer voice back on, I said, “Who will be the first team to make their shot? Will they do rock, paper, scissors like the last round, or will one team waive their turn?”

Colter and Ellison whispered to one another before Ellison confidently replied, “We’ll let you two go first.”

“It’s Jake and Caitlin’s turn!” I called out, following it with a series of oohs and ahs.

Caitlin shook her head, amusement clouding her gaze before she poked me with her pool stick. “Go ahead, hotshot.”