Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)(34)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I pointed to the back room, where a pool table had been covered in storage boxes before. Not only had I cleared it off, but I’d been playing on it every night when I couldn’t sleep. I’d even had Shelton over for beers and basketball game. “You wanna go in there?”

“What the…I don’t remember this.”

“When I originally got this place, it was the only thing I brought from my old house. The place was already fully furnished. Since I never unpacked everything, it was covered up with all my shit.” I walked back there and realized she was following me. “The only problem with uncovering it, was that I didn’t have someone to play. So, I say we play a couple games. The wager will be what it was before with an addition.”

“What if I don’t want to know anything else about you?”

“Oh, you do, Vessa. We can keep playing this game if you want, except, I’m tired of wasting time. If you’re not naked in my bed before the night ends, then I promise to leave you alone from now on.” This was going to be good. I was going to kick her ass on this table. Sure, it needed new rails and the felt was horrible, but she sucked at pool. It was a win win for me.

“She leaned on the table and looked up at me. “What’s the other addition?”

“Every time the person wins, they not only get a question, but the loser has to remove one article of clothing.”

She cocked an eyebrow and shook her head. When she held out her hand, I didn’t quite understand. Then she explained. “Give me your keys.”

My plan had backfired. I felt defeated. Why had she kissed me back if she didn’t want to be with me. “You’re just going to leave me here and go home?”

She didn’t answer as she walked right out my door. I should have ran after her, but with everything I had done to get her there, it was too much. While thinking that my chance with Vessa was over, she came walking back in the house and lifted up her pool case into the air. “I shoot better with this.”

I didn’t want her to see my excitement, so I focused on something else. “I noticed the stick when you were shooting. Where’d you get it?”

“Only the winner gets to ask questions. I think it’s time you racked the balls.” She pulled out her stick and assemble it together, while I grabbed the pool balls and got them positioned within the triangular shaped rack. I watched her chalk up the stick and something was different about her.

I was shocked when she broke a ball and made one in the side pocket. From the moment she leaned over, I could see that something was different. She made five balls before hiding me from making my shot. With a huge smile on her face, she backed away from the table.

It had to be luck. I’d seen the girl shoot before and she sucked bad.

I kicked at my shot and missed. Vessa made three more hard ass shots and then called the eight ball in a pocket she’d have to bank it in. I’d like to pass out when I saw her bend down to take that shot and look at me as she did it. That damn ball went right into the pocket. With my mouth hung open, she looked at me and re-chalked her stick. “Remove one article of clothing. Rack the balls and tell me why the hell you brought me here, for real!”

I pointed to the table. “You…you just…you’ve been hustling me this whole damn time?”

“You aren’t allowed to ask a question until you win. I believe that was the rules that you made.”

Holy shit. In all the games that I had played for money, I’d never imagined in a second that she was hustling me. The whole time I was getting to know her, she was losing on purpose, knowing that she wouldn’t get one single question. “This is the kind of mind shit your aunt plays,” I said as I removed my shirt and tossed it to the side.

She smiled and watched me kneel down and start re-racking the balls. “You owe me an answer.”

“Fuck that! I’m going stand here and be mad at you for a second.” I crossed my arms and refused to explain anything to her.

She bent over and broke the balls again, this time making three balls. She ignored me as she made each shot with perfect positioning for the next. I was dumbfounded. “I’ve been around people with problems for a long time, Ramsey. I knew you were broken by the second time we met.”

“The second time?”

“Yeah, you think I forgot about the hospital?” Jesus, who was this woman?

“I was making sure you were okay.”

“I figured it out when all the pieces started coming together. When the whole truth came out, I really understood why you just couldn’t leave until I woke up.” I felt like such an ass. She really did know me, even when I tried my hardest for her not to.” This time she broke and ran the whole rack out without giving me one single shot. “Second question is why am I here when you have clearly moved on to a very attractive brunette?”

Of course, this made me laugh out loud.

I stepped out of my pants and tossed them over where my shirt was. “Just because I love the fact that this is bothering you so much, I will answer the second question first. Renee is my deputy’s relative. She’s studying for a law degree and lives right outside of town with her lesbian girlfriend.”

Her eyes got huge and I saw the little block of pool chalk being thrown toward my head. “You dick! You picked her to get to me, didn’t you?”

I laughed even louder as it passed by me and landed on the floor. “No questions until you win again, remember?”

She shot and missed finally, probably because I had her so worked up. For the next few minutes we played safe on each other, which meant we kept hiding the ball so that we couldn’t make our shots. As mad as I should have been, I was more hot for Vessa than ever before. Each time she bent down and stroked her stick with such precision made me want to bend her over that table and rip down those tight jeans she had on.

When she missed her shot, I ran out the rack. Finally having my turn, I watched her removing her jeans, without having to ask. Her tiny little lace panties barely covered her ass. I couldn’t help but stare the whole time I asked my question. “What’s the real reason you hustled me?”

Her face got red as she stood there in a tight shirt and a pair of panties. I let the question simmer and started shooting. Like a kid at Christmas, when I ran out all of the balls without her having a single shot, I jumped up and down. I got up in her face. “Lose the shirt!”

She leaned her stick up against the wall and pulled off her shirt. Her bra didn’t match her panties, but I liked that she hadn’t expected any of this. She tried to stand so that her hands covered her body, but I could see through the sheer blue bra. “You owe me an answer, you know.”