Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“This looks great!” Caroline gasped as she grabbed a cheesy fry and stuffed it in her mouth. “Hmmm. Hits the spot.”
“Good, huh?”
“Better than good.”
I took a quick sample of my salad, then told Caroline, “So, I think I’m gonna head home after we eat.”
“What? Why?”
“I just don’t think I’m up for playing pool tonight.”
“You don’t have to play. You can just stand there and look pretty. That’s what I plan on doing.” She giggled, then pleaded, “Please don’t go. Just stay for a little while, and I'll never ask you for anything ever again.”
“We both know that isn’t true. You can’t make it a week without asking me for something.”
“Yeah, well... This is true, but I really want you to stay. Pp-lease. I’ll do your basket duty for a week.”
“Seriously?” When Caroline nodded, I told her, “Okay, I’ll stay, but I’m holding you to basket duty.”
“No problem. I’ll be glad to do it.”
We continued talking while we ate. Caroline told me more about her childhood and how she’d grown up in a small town in Oregon with her younger brother and sister. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was an electrician, and they both were loving, doting parents. They sounded nice— vastly different from mine, and it was hard not to be a little jealous.
I never had parents who cared about me and my best interests. My mother was too busy trying to keep my father happy to worry about me and what I needed. The only time she seemed to even care was when he took things too far, and even then, she was more concerned about him. She didn’t want him to be mad that I was leaving and ran circles to convince him that it was better for me to leave.
Once I’d moved out, that was it. There were no phone calls or visits. I tried to reach out to my mother countless times, but she never took my calls. Eventually, I gave up. I’d like to say that I’d moved on and never thought about either of them again, but I did.
I thought about them all the time, which was one of the reasons why I enjoyed being with Caroline. Being with her made me forget, especially when she was pushing me to do things I normally didn’t do—just like tonight.
“You ready?”
“Ummm, yeah.” Hoping it would give me some added courage, I finished off my mule, then told her, “Ready when you are.”
“Great.” She stood and adjusted her skirt. “Do I look okay?”
“You look amazing.”
“I think my skirt might be too short.”
“It’s fine. You’ve certainly got the legs for it.”
“Thanks, babe.” She gave me a warm smile as she said, “Come on. Let’s do this.”
I followed Caroline over to the back of the bar, where the guys were playing pool. We walked up just as Hayes hit a great shot, and he and the older guy he’d been playing with shared a congratulatory high five. The man I didn’t know gave Hayes a pat on the shoulder as he told him, “Nice one, brother. One more, and we got this one.”
“Not a problem.” He motioned his hand to the end of the table as he announced, “Left corner pocket.”
Hayes leaned down and placed the tip of his pool stick at the center of the cue ball, then eased his arm back and made the shot. We all watched intently as the ball collided, and the eight ball slowly rolled into the left corner pocket. When he saw that they’d won, Hayes punched his fist into the air. “Hell, yeah!”
“Good game.” Q walked over and started collecting the balls as he asked, “Who’s up for another round?”
“I’m out.” The man looked down at his watch and sighed. “Ally is gonna have my ass if I don’t get home and fix that damn fan.”
“Come on, Guardrail. Just one more game.”
“Can’t do it. I’m already late.”
“What about you, Chains?” Hayes asked. “You in?”
“Sorry, boys. I think I’m gonna head out, too.” Chains motioned his head over to Caroline and me as he told him, “Give these two a go.”
“Oh, no. That’s okay,” Caroline stammered. “We’re just watching.”
“Why watch when you can play?”
“You don’t want us to play. I’m awful,” Caroline admitted. “I can’t even remember the last time I played.”
“That’s okay.” A smirk crept across his face as Hayes handed her a pool stick. “We’ll take it easy on ya.”
“Okay... What do you think, Jules?”
I glanced over at Q, and like before, his face was void of expression. Normally, that would’ve been enough to shut me down and have me running for the door, but tonight, it had the opposite effect and I got angry.
I was practically fuming as I walked over to the wall and picked up one of the pool cues. I twirled it in my hand, checking the weight and length. It felt pretty good, so I turned to Caroline and said, “I’m game if you are.”