Page 73 of The First Cut
“Pretty.” She smiles.
“Yeah,” he mutters, lining up a shot and narrowly missing.
“My turn?”
He nods as she moves around the table. Spotting me, she bends over, giving me the perfect view of her shapely ass.
“It’s tricky with my belly in the way.”
“No pressure, Lola. It’s supposed to be fun. Just give it a shot.”
She nods her head before hitting the white ball against a red stripe, potting it easily.
“Nice. You’re a natural.”
“You think?” She smiles, moving around to take her next shot and potting that one too.
It isn’t until she’s potted the next three balls in a row that Byte narrows his eyes at her. “Got something you wanna tell me, Lola?”
“Yeah, this is fun.”
He sighs and looks over at me. “She’s a fucking shark. You didn’t warn me?”
“How was I supposed to know?”
Manny walks over and places a fruity-looking drink down on the table in front of me, along with a bottle of beer.
“Be grateful you didn’t put any wagers down. She never loses.”
He walks away just as Lola pots the black and hands Byte the pool cue with a smile.
“Thanks for the game. Do you want to play again? No pressure?” she teases.
He grumbles something about being fleeced and stomps off. She shrugs and walks over to take the chair beside mine.
I drag it closer so I can lean down and talk to her. “I can’t believe you hustled Byte.”
“In my defense, he was the one acting like I couldn’t play.”
“That was hot by the way. For a minute, I thought he might cry,” I joke.
“What can I say? I’m a woman of many talents.”
“That you are, doll. That you are.”
Elmo drops down in the chair opposite and steals my beer, drinking it down before I can protest.
“Razzle’s gone. Stripped her tattoo, though Jessie was nice enough to bandage it for her. Tossed her out with the rest of her shit and told her the next time she steps foot on Ravens’ soil, we’ll bury her under it.”
“Good. Bitch is lucky I didn’t kill her.”
Elmo grunts before his eyes move to Lola. “You play pool?”
“I mean, I’m willing to give it a go.”
“Come on, I’ll teach you.” He stands up as I look at Lola and laugh.
“Make this one cry.”
