Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)(31)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“I was wondering if I could join the pool league. I have a partner already and we understand that you are already a few weeks in, but we still would like to play.” Was he really asking if he could come here to have a good time in front of my face.

“You’ll have to ask my aunt. I don’t run the league and if it were up to me I would tell you no! I thought you didn’t socialize.”

“Things change. People change.”

“My aunt is at home if you want to call her. She took over the night shift so that I could be with the kids in the afternoons.”

“How are things going for you?”

“I thought you didn’t care about anything anymore. Do you really want to know about my business?” If he thought that he could come in here and act like we never happened, like I hadn’t slept with him, he had another thing coming.

“It doesn’t have to be this way between us Vessa. I never lied to you.” He hadn’t lied, but he sure didn’t have to give me false hope.

“I’m fine about what happened between us. It’s water under the bridge. We had a one night stand. I’ll chalk that off of my bucket list and move on.”

“I’m sorry if I hurt you. The timing was wrong.”

I held up my hand to make him stop talking. “I’m a big girl, Ramsey. We slept together once, it isn’t like I fell in love with you. Just drop it. You want to come in here and shoot, so be it. I’m just telling you right now that I can’t be your friend.” Did I just say the “L” word? Had I really let myself fall in love with this broken man?

It killed me to say it out loud and to talk like that night hadn’t been one of the best moments I had ever experienced. The whole situation had hurt me when I was already at my lowest point.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but I understand why you do. I’ll call your aunt to make sure it’s alright for us to join. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

When he finally walked out the door, I buried my face in my hands and started to cry. Who was I kidding? My feelings for Ramsey were still there and maybe even stronger from the time that had gone by. I missed seeing him and trying to get the truth out of him. I missed the way he kissed me and how he touched me.

Two nights later I was sitting with my partner waiting to see if he was going to show up. I couldn’t imagine who had offered to be his partner. Since we had five teams before they joined, their team made it even and nobody had to sit out. Unfortunately, the way the schedule fell, I had to shoot him first.

When he came walking in, my heart stopped. Beside him was a tall brunette. Her hair was down her back and she looked like a damn model. She was smiling at something he said.

My eyes met Ramsey’s and I knew that he knew I was jealous. He threw me a wink and I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t going to let him get to me. I’d tried so hard to be there for him when he pushed everyone else away. Now, he was going out and doing things in public with some beautiful chick at his side?

I grabbed my stick that had belonged to my father, and headed toward the two of them. My partner hadn’t showed yet, so I had to go about things all alone. “We should flip to see who breaks.”

Ramsey leaned into the table, so nobody else could hear us. “How long are you going to pretend that the night we spent together didn’t change things?”

“Says the guy who came here with another woman and disappeared for weeks, after he told me that he couldn’t be with me,” I whispered.

“If you’d let me explain then you wouldn’t be so mad about it,” he said under his breath.

“I’m trying not to think about that night anymore. Can we just play this match before everyone in this place thinks something is going on between us?” I didn’t get why he was doing this when he was with someone else. Was he trying to torture me more?

“That would be a bad thing?” When I raised my eyebrow he shook his head. “Fine, I call tails, because in those jeans all I can think about is the way you looked when you were naked on top of me.”

I was shocked that he’d said something like that to me. This couldn’t be the same man that I fought to get to know. This man was cocky and sure of himself. I flipped the coin and rolled my eyes. “It’s heads. I guess you lose.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” He walked back over to his partner and right away I felt jealous. I never met the woman and I already hated her. She was with Ramsey and as much as I was fighting my feelings for him, seeing him brought them all back.

I wanted him.

I wanted to touch him and feel his naked body against mine again.

I was so relieved when my teammate finally came walking over, because I was about to walk over and just put myself out there.

We played our match, but the female and I never spoke. Since it was only one shot partners, Ramsey wouldn’t be able to tell my skill level. Luckily my teammate shot better than usual, so he never noticed that I was the higher ranked player.

Still, I couldn’t help but notice that he just kept staring at me. I tried to act like it wasn’t bothering me, but the truth was, it was driving me crazy. After we played two of our five games, I excused myself to the bathroom. I didn’t really have to use the restroom, but I did need to catch my breath. He was making me crazy and I think he knew it. Hell, I think he was doing it on purpose.

When I heard the bathroom door opening, I just figured it was another female coming in to use the facilities. Hands wrapped around my waist and I was instantly spun around to be face to face with Ramsey. “You can’t be in here.” I never moved away from him.

“I need to talk to you.”

“People are waiting for us. You’re here with someone.” When I said that it made me upset and I pulled away from him.

“If you’d hear me out, I think it would make a world of difference.” He was so adamant about me listening to him. I just couldn’t deal with hearing that he’d moved on.

“No!”

He grabbed me and pulled me back into his arms. Our faces were only inches apart. I could feel him breathing. His lips were so close. I could feel my eyes starting to close, like I was waiting to accept my kiss. Instead of feeling his lips against mine, He moved his mouth next to my ear. “When you’re ready to listen, you know where to find me. I’m not going anywhere.”

He left me in that bathroom panting for him. There was no way in hell that I could handle being around him once a week like this. It was going to kill me.