“Your turn,” I said, without taking the shot. No way was I doing it with him watching me.
Jenna smiled and hit a solid that had been lined up perfectly for her.
“Cheater!”
Jenna laughed, and I laughed with her, but then her eyes widened at something over my shoulder. Not something. Someone. My skin started to tingle, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I knew before I turned around that it was him.
“Hey, Juliette, Jenna. Mind if I cut in?”
Jenna’s gaze flew to mine, sharp and ready to come to my defense.
I gave her a tiny nod. I had this.
“I was just about to go back to Nicky and everyone. You good, Juliette?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”I think.
Dylan racked the balls, and I couldn’t help but admire how the muscles in his back and arms rippled as he reached acrossthe table, even as nerves filled me. How was I going to make it through this game without embarrassing myself? This wasn’t anything like playing with Jenna.
“You want to break?”
I nodded and took my time, carefully lining up my shot and hitting it as hard as I could just to push a few of the balls out by a couple of inches. He went next and sent two balls sailing into the corner pocket while the rest scattered around the table.
I forced out a laugh. “You do it next time.”
He grinned back with that adorable smile and perfect teeth.
“You’re an OT like the rest of them?” he asked as he lined up his next shot.
“Yeah, I work in a school,” I answered as he studied the table.
“And you know Nicky and Jenna from college?”
“Yep, we met freshman year and have been best friends ever since.”
He was still looking at the table as he walked around to shoot from the other side. I don’t know if the game provided a distraction which took some of the pressure off, or if it was Dylan himself, or just that all the stars were aligning for me, but so far—knock on wood—my speech was coming out fine. The twisty slide that screwed up the messages from my brain got more twisty when I was nervous and eased up when I was relaxed. And in some bizarre, inexplicable miracle, playing pool with the sexiest man I’d ever met seemed to put me at ease.
So I kept talking. “They came home with me during some of the breaks and they loved it. I was so happy when they decided to stay here instead of returning to Georgia and New York.”
Dylan sank another ball and flashed a smile at me. “Where did you take them to show off our city?”
“The Riverwalk, of course, and the Japanese Tea Garden. Market Square. The best day we had was when we did the hop-on, hop-off bus tour. It was us and a bunch of tourists, but it was fun.”
Dylan finally missed, and it was my turn. I missed, of course, even when he let me take two extra shots.
“Was Whataburger part of their decision?”
“Of course, and tacos too.”
My God, his laugh. How could such an ordinary thing sound so amazing?
We continued playing, talking, and laughing the whole time until all but one of his solids were in and none of my stripes were. I was close a few times, though, and once I even cheered because I was so excited that a ball almost went in, but it stopped just millimeters shy.
“May I help you?” He watched me closely, his eyes dark and intent.
My stomach dropped and a nervous laugh snuck out. “Yeah, I…uh, I could use a little help.”
Dylan stepped closer, so close I felt the heat of his body against mine, and placed a hand on my shoulder, the weight and warmth of it stealing my breath. Then his other hand trailed down my wrist to cover my hand. My heart raced and my skin tingled everywhere he touched. Part of me wanted to move away, confused by my reaction. A bigger part of me yearned to press closer.