Page 8 of Tanner's Forever

Butterflies swarm in my stomach as I wonder if he’s even still over here—or if he’s already hitting on someone new. Much to my surprise, when I spot him, he appears to be hitting balls by himself. He knocks in two and looks up at me.

There’s that smile again.

“Hey, you,” he says.

“Hi,” I nervously reply.

He holds the pool cue in both hands, leaning against it. “I don’t think I properly introduced myself. I’m Tanner.”

“Erin,” I say in return.

“Did you change your mind about pool?”

I nod. “I figure I could use a little fun, but I haven’t played much pool.”

“Eh, me either,” he says, but I don’t believe him.

He walks over and sets up the balls in that triangle thing. He asks, “Your friends didn’t get mad that you came over here?”

“No, they encouraged it.”

He grins. “Remind me to thank them.”

As he looks at me, I can see Tanner’s eyes are the most crystal shade of blue I’ve ever seen. I’ve always been a sucker for blue eyes.

Tanner walks over and grabs a second pool cue and hands it to me. “Do you want to break?”

“Nah, I’m good. Go for it.”

A waitress walks by and stops to ask Tanner if he needs anything. She acts like I’m not even there.

Thankfully, Tanner doesn’t follow suit. He looks at me. “Are you ready for another margarita?”

I should probably say no, but at this point, I’m on a roll.

“Sure.”

He tells the waitress and orders himself a beer before handing her a twenty and telling her to keep the change.

As he hits the balls on the table, they go flying in different directions. A couple fall in the corner pockets.

When it’s my turn, I step up to take my own shot, and of course, I hit nothing.

Not surprising.

When my next shot ends up the same way, Tanner walks behind me. “Can I help?”

“Please,” I giggle. “But I warn you I don’t know that there’s any help for me.”

“Line up your shot,” he tells me. “But don’t actually hit anything yet.”

I do as he instructions and wait for him to tell me what’s next, but when I feel his hands touch my arms, I realize he intends toshowme instead.

One of his hands repositions my arm while the other moves to my hip.

“Lean forward,” he says in a low voice.

I swallow the lump in my throat as I bend over so the top half of me is parallel to the table. I can’t help but notice my ass is pressing into Tanner’s groin. Trying to see if I can feel what he’s packing, I wiggle around a little bit.

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