Page 4 of So in Love
“Thatis a very good question,” Cam said.
Crystal went back to the cues to replace The Humiliator and select another.“No problem, I’ll just pick a different one.”
“No!”Sean and Tori said this in unison, both coming toward her.
Tori shook her head emphatically.“You can’t do that.It’s the rules.”
“Enforced by who?You can’t seriously want me to use this if it’s cursed.Aren’t we on the same team?”
Tori winced again and apologized again.“Archer rules.”
“Nobody here is an Archer,” Crystal said.“Except you, and like I said, it only hurts you if I can’t use another cue.”
Sean looked apologetic but also resolved.“You have to understand the sanctity of the Archer rules.Trust me when I say it's not worth fighting over.Just take your lumps this game and never, ever use that cue again.”He turned to his wife.“Perhaps you allshouldconsider removing it from—”
Before he could finish, Tori put her finger over his lips.“Sacrilege.You know we can’t break the rules.”
His gaze softened.“I know.”Then he kissed the pad of her finger.
She smiled at him and took her hand away, turning toward Crystal.“Maybe you’ll break the curse.But first, we need Scotch.Who’s in?”
“I’m sticking with wine,” Brooke said.
Everyone else raised their hand for whiskey.Tori went to the well-stocked bar to pour, and Sean helped pull down glasses.The Archers had a ton of liquor, two taps, and the massive wine cellar wasn’t far away.
Crystal chalked the end of her cue, feeling disgruntled.
Jamie sidled up beside her, a perfectly pleasant cue in his hand—or so she assumed.
“I suppose your cue is curse-free?”she asked.
“Yep,” he said.“I know better.Sorry about The Humiliator.”
Crystal wondered how it had gotten its name and whether it really deserved it.Maybe it had somehow been maligned.She looked at the cue and said, “Tell you what, Humiliator, let’s switch things up a bit.How about we work together to humiliate everyone else?Then everyone will fight over getting to use you, but the joke will be on them because you’re going to be so amazing that I’m going to steal you for my very own.Deal?”
The cue did not respond, of course, but Crystal felt a thrum beneath her fingertips.Or imagined she did, anyway.
“Did you really just give that cue a pep talk?”Jamie asked.
She finished chalking the end.“I’d rather think of it as a motivational speech in the vein ofBraveheart.”
He laughed.“Let’s see if it worked.”
As they gathered drinks, they set the rules: straight pool to fifty points.
“Ladies first, right?”Kelsey asked, batting her eyes at Luke.
Luke laughed.“Nice try.We’ll flip a coin.”
“We usually go by age,” Tori said.
Crystal stood near the bar and sipped her whiskey.“Is that another hard and fast Archer rule?”she asked, rolling her eyes.“Or are we allowed to do things differently?”
Tori shrugged.“It’s not aruleper se…”
“Good, then we’re flipping a coin.”Luke pulled one from his jeans pocket.“Kelsey, call it in the air.”
He tossed it up and Kelsey said, “Tails!”
