Hustle Me (Bank Shot Romance #1)(66)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Did I believe that I was really in love with her as a child? Of course not, but I do believe we had a special connection that had always existed. I don’t really know the exact moment that I fell in love with her, because somehow it seemed like it was always there from that moment I walked back into her life.

One day we would get married, but for now we were happy with our relationship. We were still both learning; going through the motions together. I’d never lied to her again and I promised that I would always try to be honest.

Ever since Charlie changed her name to McNally she seemed like she was happier with where she came from. I wouldn’t say that every part of her past was that great, but as far away from the truth as she once was, somehow she had still found her way back to where she belonged.

Wherever Charlie was is where I wanted to be. After a year she could still seduce me with her eyes, and satisfy me with every touch. My parents were the exact opposite. One week after leaving my father, my mother hired a lawyer. She was a few days from being legally separated for the year necessary to proceed with a divorce.

So many times my father tried to contact her and so many times she shut him down. I think that after feeling like a prisoner for so many years, she was finally getting to live her life again. When my father wouldn’t stop threatening her, she came up with some of her own threats, some of which could send my father to prison for a very long time. After that, he backed off and the last we heard he was seeing someone new. It was only a matter of time before she realized he was an ass**le, but that wasn’t our problem.

I would like to say that her still having a thing for Charlie’s father was weird, but somehow, it brought the four of us together as a family. Ryan wasn’t Charlie’s son, but he called my mother mom-mom and loved her like a grandmother.

The sound of the door caught our attention. I rushed over to introduce myself to the interviewer. “Hello, welcome to McNally’s.”

“Good to meet you. I’m Trevor Warner.” We shook hands as my mother was coming toward us.

“How about a tour before you get started with a bunch of questions?” She suggested.

I watched my mother guide the middle aged guy all around the bar. I think she got a kick out of telling people about the history of the bar.

Like always, Charlie wasn’t downstairs yet and since she was a big part of the interview, I had to go retrieve her. I found them coming down the stairs. Ryan’s hair was semi-spiked. Since starting kindergarten he had gained some weird sense of style that Charlie found weird and I found to be pretty cool. “I was just coming up to get you.” I leaned in and kissed her shiny lips. As I pulled away I tasted the apple lip-gloss she always wore.

“I couldn’t decide what to wear.”

“I thought you decided last night when you had the whole closet pulled out.” She really had pulled everything she owned out of the damn closet.

She giggled and looked down at the little black dress that fit her in all the right places. Her hair had been straightened and she wore just enough makeup to make herself gorgeous, not that I ever thought she needed any. “Does this look okay?”

I grabbed her ass as she walked by and whispered in her ear. “I can’t wait until tonight when we are all alone downstairs and I bend your fine ass over on that pool table.”

She rolled her eyes and kept walking. I didn’t care how long we were together, her body would never get old to me.

One of the reasons that we were being interviewed was due to the new addition to the tavern. We had taken the old basement and made it a very large billiards room, including its own separate entrance. Where the tables used to be upstairs, we had made more table space, and with my mother’s help, turned the tavern into a very popular place to eat.

Basically the restaurant part was her project. We let her run things while I managed the bar. We kept the guy Chris, who turned out to be trainable enough to handle the flow of people during the day. Shaun still worked in the kitchen and during dinner hours Charlie helped my mother wait on tables.

On the weekends and when we have big parties come in, Elle and Zach would drive down and stay for the weekend. I never in a million years could have seen my life turning out this way. I had the best family anyone could ask for. I was part of the pro billiards tour and we also ran a lucrative business. No matter what Joker’s intentions were with me, I had to thank him for this beautiful life that he’d given me and Charlie. None of us were perfect, but together we were pretty f**king awesome.

The End