Page 14 of Break My Heart (The Haydon Falls #2)

Sawyer

‘They’re out in the barn,’ Nick says as he pours himself some coffee. ‘Why? What do you need?’

‘Their pool table. I need to use it for an hour or two.’

‘You’re here to play pool?’ He sips his coffee. ‘On a Saturday morning?’

‘It’s a competition.’ I pause. ‘With Gina.’

‘Gina Slater?’ His brows rise. ‘What’s that about?’

‘I beat her in a canoe race this morning. She thinks it wasn’t fair because I’m bigger than her so she wants us to play pool to prove she can beat me.’ I smile and lean back against the counter. ‘Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t know how much pool I played back in high school.’

‘I wouldn’t be so sure of yourself. That was 12 years ago. You’re out of practice. ’

‘I’m not out of practice. Jason and I played all the time last winter. And Dad and I play sometimes.’

‘What about Gina? Does she play much?’

‘Not sure. All she said is that her grandfather taught her how to play.’

‘What happens if you win?’

‘I’m having her over for dinner.’

‘Dinner,’ Nick says, holding back a smile. ‘That kind of sounds like a date.’

‘It’s not a date. That’s why we’re eating at my apartment. I don’t want people seeing us out together and thinking it’s a date.’

‘Why are you doing this? I thought you didn’t like her.’

‘I like her. I just don’t want her putting me out of business.’

‘And how does having dinner with her help with that?’

‘You know what they say. Keep your enemies close.’

‘You sure that’s all it is?’

‘Why else would I do it?’

He laughs to himself, then takes another sip of his coffee.

‘Look who I found,’ Mom says, coming into the kitchen.

Gina is behind her, wearing black jeans and a tight white t-shirt with a long open cardigan over it in a burgundy color that matches her lipstick.

She looks gorgeous, but I’m not going to let her looks distract me from beating her at pool.

I need to win so she’ll have dinner with me and hopefully let something slip about how she makes her beer taste better than mine.

‘Hey, Gina,’ Nick says, smiling at her. ‘How were the apples?’

‘Great!’ She glances at me. ‘I might have to get some more before I leave.’

‘Gina said you two are playing pool,’ Mom says, eyeing me like she knows I’m up to something. She’s always suspicious of me. I was kind of a troublemaker growing up .

‘It was Gina’s idea,’ I say, my gaze going to her. ‘I told her we had a pool table and she insisted we play.’

‘He doesn’t think I can beat him,’ Gina says, staring back at me. ‘I’m about to prove him wrong.’

Nick chuckles. ‘I should get back to work.’

‘I’m just here to get some more coffee,’ Mom says, going over to the coffee pot. ‘Would you two like any?’

‘None for me,’ Gina says. ‘I don’t have much time. I need to get to G’s and work on my hard cider.’

‘Let’s go downstairs,’ I tell her.

‘You two have fun!’ Mom says as I show Gina to the door that goes to the basement.

It’s a finished basement that used to be nice, but my brothers and I kind of destroyed it.

Growing up, our parents would send us down here to play, which to us meant throwing around a football or baseball, which broke stuff and damaged the walls.

Dad repaired the walls but he never replaced the carpet, which is worn and stained from years of use.

‘It’s not great,’ I say as Gina looks around the basement, ‘but it’s good enough for a game of pool.’ I walk over to the table and get the balls set up in the rack.

‘I like it. It reminds me of home. My grandfather’s house looked like this.’ She laughs a little as she takes off her sweater, setting it on the couch that’s next to the pool table. ‘He was the typical bachelor. The place would be a mess and he wouldn’t even notice.’

‘Your grandma’s not around?’

‘She died when I was four.’ Gina takes a pool cue from the stand. ‘Do you care which one I use?’

‘Take whichever one you want. If you want to do a practice shot, go ahead. ’

‘I don’t need a practice shot.’ She chalks her cue stick. ‘Who goes first?’

‘You can,’ I say, grabbing a cue stick.

‘You sure?’ She smiles at me. ‘I might clear the table and win.’

‘I’ll take my chances.’

She moves around the table, right in front of me, and lines up her shot. She’s leaned down, her ass just inches from me. I don’t know if she did it to distract me, but if she did, it worked. Instead of focusing on the game, I’m staring at her ass in those tight jeans.

‘This might be a quick game,’ she says, sounding smug.

I look up at the table and see she’s sunk three of the striped balls. ‘Holy shit. How’d you do that?’

‘Weren’t you watching?’ She glances back at me and smiles.

‘I was checking my phone,’ I say, moving to the other side of the table.

I thought it’d be less distracting, but from this angle I can see down her shirt, her tits peeking out from a lacy pink push-up bra.

I swear she did this on purpose. Who dresses that sexy to play pool in someone’s basement on a Saturday morning?

I guess it’s just jeans and a t-shirt, but on Gina that’s as sexy as lingerie.

After two more shots, she’s sunk the rest of her balls and the eight ball. She won. I didn’t even get a chance to beat her.

She stands up straight and gives me a smug grin. ‘When do you think you could be over to fix the table?’

‘That’s it? You’re not even going to give me a chance to play?’

‘I won. The game’s over.’

‘C’mon.’ I walk over to her. ‘Just one more game?’

She pauses a moment, then sighs. ‘Fine, but if I win, you have to hang the mirror above my dresser along with the pictures and fix the table.’

‘I’m good with that.’ I quickly gather up the balls and rack them before she changes her mind .

‘I’ll let you go first this time,’ she says, smiling, ‘so you at least have a chance to play.’

‘It’s you who won’t be playing this time.’ I make my shot and the balls scatter across the table. I sink a solid-colored ball, then another.

‘Not bad,’ Gina says.

‘I’m just getting started.’ I go around the table for my next shot.

I sink two more balls, impressed with myself.

I haven’t played in a few months, and last time I did I wasn’t very good.

I almost came down here to practice before she got here but then decided to just wing it, assuming Gina was overstating her pool skills.

Turns out she wasn’t, but if I win this game, we’d be tied and I’d have a chance to break the tie and win.

‘When was this taken?’

I look up and see Gina holding one of the pictures from the wooden ledge that goes around the basement. My dad installed the ledge for my mom to put pictures on and other decorative stuff.

‘Bring it over. I can’t see it from here.’

Gina walks over to me, close enough that I can smell her perfume.

It’s a light flowery scent and reminds me that I didn’t wear cologne today.

I didn’t even think about it. But now I wish I had.

Gina’s clearly trying to distract me from the game and I should’ve done the same, although I’m not sure it would’ve worked.

She doesn’t seem the least bit interested in me.

‘That’s Jason and me,’ I say, looking at the picture. ‘We were playing baseball. I was probably nine or ten.’

‘You guys were adorable.’ She stares at the picture. ‘You almost look like twins in this picture.’

‘No way. I’m better looking than him.’ I turn back to the table to figure out my next shot.

‘How old is Jason?’ she asks, putting the picture back .

‘Twenty-eight.’ I lean down, assessing my shot from a different angle.

‘Does he have a girlfriend?’

I glance up at Gina. ‘No. Why?’

She shrugs. ‘I just wondered. What’s he do for a job?’

‘He’s a teacher. High school science, and he’s the baseball coach.’

‘Here in town?’

‘Yeah.’ I rise to standing. ‘Why all the questions about Jason?’

‘No reason. I was just asking about your family. What about your other brother?’

‘Nick? You already met him, and I told you about him.’

‘The younger one.’

‘Brody? What about him?’

‘Is he single?’

‘Yeah. Why are you asking?’

‘I’m just curious.’ She has this devious smile on her face that makes me wonder if she’s only asking about my brothers to make me jealous, another ploy to distract me from the game.

And I hate to say it, but it’s working. She should be interested in me, not my stupid brothers.

Gina and I are the same age and we both own breweries.

We have a lot more in common than she does with my brothers.

I make the next shot. The balls scatter and one almost goes in but stops before it does.

‘My turn,’ Gina says, her devious smile now a smug grin as she leans down to the table to take her shot. She gets three of her balls in, then continues to her next shot. I watch in awe as she sinks her remaining balls, ending with the eight ball.

‘Nice job,’ I say, truly impressed with her skills.

‘Thanks!’ She goes to put her cue stick away. ‘That was fun! ’

‘You sure you don’t want to play again?’

She puts on her sweater. ‘I think I’ve beat you enough for today.’

I walk over to her. ‘I could’ve won if I’d warmed up a little. I haven’t played in months.’

‘I haven’t played in over a year. So when can you come over?’

‘Tomorrow, if that works. I could be there in the morning.’

‘Tomorrow’s perfect. I don’t have many tools so you’ll need to bring your own.’

‘What time?’

‘Nine, or eight if that’s not too early for you.’

‘It’s not too early. I’ll be there at eight.’

She turns to leave.

‘I’ll walk you out.’ I go up the stairs, following behind her, trying not to check out her ass, but of course I do. She’s got a great ass.

When we get upstairs, we run into Jason and Brody on their way to the kitchen.

‘What are you doing here?’ Jason asks me.

‘Playing pool. Why are you two here?’

‘Nick asked us to help get stuff ready for the festival,’ Brody says. ‘Jason’s painting signs and I’m doing the wood cutouts.’