Page 119 of Set Me On Fire

Millie was going down, I decided, as I circled the table, seeing all the different plays I could make. Or rather, I’d be going down on her when I won. Knox got knocked out and so did Noah, leaving just me to claim victory. I leaned over the pool table, ready to make my shot, seeing all the ways the white ball could go. If I knocked the red in, it could send the yellow into the other pocket and boobs.

Boobs?

Millie bent over the pool table right in front of me, the deep v of her blouse revealing mounds of beautiful breasts that were just dying for my touch and for a second, I couldn’t think of anything else. How hard her nipples got when I sucked them. The cute little noises she made when she was close to coming. Her fingers raking across my scalp, holding me right in place, even though she’d never need worry that I’d pull away. I shook my head, grinning and then narrowed my focus back to my shot.

“Anyone would think you don’t want me to win,” I told her.

“Well, I do hate to lose.”

She folded her arms under her tits, plumping them up so they looked like fruit on a tray, ready to be eaten.

“Who says you’re going to lose?” I potted the red if not the yellow ball, then moved closer, my mouth almost brushing her ear. “Pretty sure we’ll both win over and over.”

“Can we wrap this up?” Knox appeared by the table, spinning his finger in a circle. “Millie can kick your arse and then choose where she’s sleeping tonight.”

He said that with a confidence I didn’t feel. Noah was her childhood sweetheart, Knox rescued her, but what was I? I grinned as I leaned over the table, drawing my cue back. A man who’d spent way too much of his misspent youth playing pool with his mates. I worked methodically, sinking ball after ball after ball to the sounds of Millie’s exclamations, then stood up, putting my cue behind me and shooting the black in blind, grinning when I heard a familiar clunk.

“Holy crap, I didn’t stand a chance, did I?” she said, staring up at me.

“I was gonna warn you,” Noah told her, “but Knox said no.”

Millie turned to face our team leader. He smiled down at her, arms crossed.

“Seems neater this way. You spent last night with me, the other one with Noah?—”

So I was all that was left. I didn’t love that idea, watching Millie bristle.

“So, what, you’re going to pass me around between the three of you, each one of you claiming a night?”

She was trying for outrage, but I heard that note in her voice. A little tremble that said she didn’t hate that idea as much as she was saying. I stepped forward and so did the others so we could have this conversation a little more discreetly.

It hurt to maintain the distance between us. I wanted to pull Millie against me, making clear to every bloke that took a second look at her that she was mine.

Ours.

But there were too many eyes on us here, so I pitched my voice low.

“Maybe we will,” I told her, all the need and desire I’d been keeping back coming rushing out. “Maybe we’ll work it out between the three of us who you need on a given night. Maybe we’ll be there with everything you need waiting for you. From a long hot bath to a gentle massage to…” I swallowed hard, able to see it now. Her naked, beautiful, and flushed with pleasure. “Something more vigorous.”

She sucked in a breath, ready to reply, when the sharp sound of laughter came from further in the pub. The wives were cackling about something between them, but the spell was broken. Millie looked from them to us with a question in her eyes.

“So what do you want me to do, walk out of here on your arm?”

Yes, I wanted to say, yes, exactly that, but that wasn’t how this was going to work. I swallowed, struggling to keep smiling but I achieved it.

“No.” Why did it hurt so much to say that one little word? I couldn’t spend time wondering at that. I’d won and it was time to claim my prize in any way I could. “You’ll make your goodbyes.” I turned her around to face the wives sitting around their table and gossiping. “Say you’re tired and need to head home to bed. Instead you’ll stop at the service station for fifteen minutes. Grab yourself a drink or something and then I’ll meet you there.” Knox nodded, making clear he approved of this plan. “Sound do-able?”

Her lips parted and I knew then she was feeling the same way. Millie wanted to say fuck it, to go up on her tiptoes and kiss me in front of anyone. My arms moved, ready to catch her, to pull her closer, but instead she nodded and turned to do just that.

“If I won, why do I feel like I’m losing something?” I muttered.

“It won’t always be like this.” Noah put his elbow on my shoulder and I wondered why the hell it was more socially acceptable for him to touch me than the mother of my child. “We’ll work something out.” That was no consolation, I knew it, he knew it, but he grabbed the triangle and racked the balls again. “In the mean time you can crush me at pool again.”

I watched Millie smile and wave to the women, but when she pulled away from them, it felt like it was me she was walking away from, not towards, like she should.

“I’ll give you a couple of shots to make sure you don’t have to show that lily white arse to the whole pub,” I told him.

A snort and a shake of his head was all I got in reply as he took the first shot.

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