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“Put your money where your mouth is.” She eyed him as she positioned the triangle and filled it with the balls.
“A bet?” He rubbed his hands together and grabbed a pool cue. “This just got a lot more interesting. What are you thinking? Fifty bucks?”
“That’s all you want to bet? But you’re so confident you’ll beat me tonight.” She removed the triangle, took a pool cue, and purposely leaned across the table in a provocative way as she aimed for the cue ball. “I thought you’d at least bet a hundred.”
He seemed at a loss for words as he watched her, and he swallowed hard, jumping when she sent the cue ball cracking into the others.
She chuckled as she straightened, knowing her flirting had worked to throw him off. But he still hadn’t said a word, and it wasn’t like Franky to be speechless.
“One hundred then,” he finally managed.
“Hmm, what will I spend my winnings on?”
“There will be no winnings for you.” He came up behind her and gave her ribs a quick tickle, and she shrieked.
They were evenly matched, both skilled at the game. Things were close all the way through until each had only a few balls left.
Skylar paused and eyed Franky, who was chewing on his bottom lip. The pressure was on, and he was obviously afraid he was about to lose a Benjamin. She took her turn, hitting the last of her remaining striped balls into the pockets.
The next shot wasn’t an easy straightforward one, with two solids blocking the path to the eight ball. Her only option was to bounce the cue ball off the rail and pray it hit just right.
Franky chuckled. “Oh yeah! Daddy needs a new pair of shoes.”
“Shhh! You’re breaking my concentration.”
“You might as well forfeit now.”
Skylar narrowed her eyes at him. “Eight ball in the corner pocket.” She positioned herself, lined up the cue, said a quick prayer, and hit the cue ball. After it bounced off the rail, she thought she’d hit it at slightly the wrong angle, but as it neared the eight ball, she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet in anticipation. The cue ball hit just so, sending the eight ball straight toward the corner pocket, where it easily dropped in and disappeared.
“Nooo!” Franky dropped the stick on the floor with a clink, and Skylar threw her hands in the air.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
He groaned and folded over with his upper body across the table.
Skylar rushed to him and pounded a rhythm on his back with her palms like she was playing the bongo drums.
He straightened, and she wrapped her arms around him from behind. “I won! Pay up!”
“Let go of me.” He pretended to fight her and act defeated.
She laughed and squeezed him tighter. “You showed a valiant effort.”
He chuckled as he twisted to release himself from her grip, wrapping his arms around behind her waist, and pulling her in until their faces were inches apart. And in that instant, everything changed. His laughter faded, as did hers, as he held her body against his. The heat coming off of him made her knees weak. Their breaths mingled as the tension between them crackled. Neither said a word for long, emotionally-charged moments. Neither made a move. They breathed together and held each other, and she could feel his heart beating hard along with hers, which was so loud in her ears, she was sure he could probably hear it.
Skylar had no idea what to do next. She feared if she moved or spoke, she would break the spell, and this felt way too good to risk it. Franky didn’t seem in any hurry to let her go either, which made her giddier than her thirteen-year-old self every time he had paid attention to her.
The chime of Skylar’s cell phone sounded, successfully breaking the mood, and Franky dropped his arms. Disappointment overcame her as she moved around the table to see who had texted. Her heart was still beating rapidly, her skin tingled everywhere, and she felt a chill from the loss of his warm body against hers.
“Good game,” he said softly.
She smiled. “You too.”
And then she saw Adelia’s text.
Adelia: Thought you’d want to see this if you haven’t already.
Attached was a link to an article with a photo of her and Franky out and about in Grand Rapids with a headline that read “Conflict of Interest? Schultz Heiress Dates Lawyer Involved in Brother’s Lawsuit.”