Page 96 of The Lair

I rest my lower back against the pool table. “I can see that. Why did you want me to come with you if you’re only gonna make me watch?”

“Bye, boss!” Charlie hollers from the front, and I wave at him as he exits the bar. But before he’s gone, the little shit winks and adds, “I’ll get you a hot date this weekend, Allie Cat. Don’t sweat it.”

My cheeks redden, and my first instinct is to look at the man beside me. But Travis doesn’t even lift his head. And why would he? It’s not like my love life—or the lack thereof—interests him in any way.

I probably imagined our almost kiss too.

While he cleans up, I take a closer look at the pool table. I’ve never played before. My father had one in our basement, but I wasn’t allowed to go near it because he didn’t want me to break it. As if a child could do such a thing.

“See you tomorrow, you two,” says Sandra.

I turn back around just in time to say goodbye to her and Jude.

It’s not the first time Travis and I have been left alone at The Lair, so I don’t think much of it until I hear the sound of the broomstick being placed against the wall. And then I feel his presence at my back, getting closer, warmer.

“Wanna play?”

I meet his gaze over my shoulder before turning around to face him. “I’ve never done it before.”

His nostrils flare at the same time as my pulse accelerates.

“I can teach you.”

Those words shouldn’t sound so dirty.

“Okay.”

Neither of us move. Eyes locked, I wonder if we’re still talking about pool. But Travis doesn’t flirt, and he most certainly doesn’t flirtwith me. He doesn’t do innuendos or cheesy lines.

“Let’s get you a cue,” that raspy voice says before he walks to the opposite side of the table. “Come here.”

His soft command shouldn’t send a thrill down my spine, either, but here we are. My mind is lost, and for the first time, I don’t care to find it.

Travis grabs one of the smallest cues and passes it to me. “You have no idea how pool works, then?”

My fingers brush his when I grab the cue. “I didn’t even know this was called a cue until two minutes ago. I’ve been calling it a stick this whole time.”

He shakes his head as he passes me by, not hiding his amusement. “Let me get this ready, and I’ll teach you how to play.”

I’m not ashamed to admit that, in the next few minutes, I only understand 20 percent of the words that leave Travis’s mouth. Maybe less.

“What do you mean I lost?” I frown after I make the first shot.

Well, technically, the second—the cue slipped from my grip on the first one, and I swear I heard a laugh behind me. I can’t even be mad about it because I like the sound way too much.

The massive bear-man next to me has his body propped against the table, a smug look on his face I also can’t be mad about.

“You sank the black ball,” he explains.

“So what?” I scoff. “Doesn’t that give me a point? I’ll take a pity one if necessary. I mean, the aim of this game is to sink the balls into the holes.” I pause. “Like, the pool balls into the pool holes. That’s what I meant.”

Kill me now.

Travis shakes his head in amusement. “The eight ball has to be the last one you sink. Otherwise, you lose.”

“That doesn’t feel right. Does that mean we have to start again?”

He places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze, the heat of his skin kissing mine through the thin material of my work shirt. “I’ll bend the rules for you.”

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