Nando gets to his feet. ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about, man. We cool. It’s all good. Nice to meet you, Hollie.’ He slopes off, back to the bar but I watch Chase high-five him softly as he passes.
I walk over to Hollie, who is on her feet. Then, without warning, I slide my arm around her waist, lean in and kiss her. Deeply. Because, while I know I’m the kind of guy that likes to keep things to himself, I never want to feel jealousy to that level ever again. I’ve never kissed a girl so publicly before. Not to the level that I’m kissing her now, like I can’t get enough of her. And I like the fact her arms have wound their way around my neck, and she’s kissing me back with unbridled enthusiasm.
It takes me a moment to figure out that Reyes is wolf whistling in our direction, and Nicole is still squealing like a banshee.
When I break the kiss, I rest my forehead against Hollie’s, forgetting the noise level around me, and focus on the feeling of having her in my arms, not caring who knows it.
I feel Chase’s presence and turn my head. Hollie’s still holding onto me. I’m pissed at him. ‘That was you, wasn’t it?’
He gives a shrug. ‘Yeah, well. You’re too chicken to admit when you got a girl.’
‘You in any doubt now?’ I shoot back.
Chase can’t look me in the face. ‘It’s my turn on the pool table,’ he mutters.
‘Well, I don’t wanna play you at pool. Nobody wants to play you. You always win.’
Hollie lets go of me. ‘I’ll play you, Chase,’ she throws in casually, like she’s tryna diffuse any remaining tension.
I freeze. I was not expecting her to say that.
He frowns deeply at her, but she holds his gaze. ‘Don’t tell me the former nerd knows how to play eight-ball.’
‘I do, actually,’ she hums, ignoring his taunt, and suddenly I’m nervous, because when it comes to pool, Chase gave himself the dickish nickname, ‘Chase the Ace’.
‘Fine,’ he says, looking her up and down. ‘We’re up next.’
Chase walks off. I look down at Hollie. ‘You sure about this? He takes great pleasure in humiliating people. He chalks up numbers on a wall.’
She shrugs her shoulders. ‘I mean, I can have a go. I played a bit, back in London.’
I don’t care if she loses. The fact that she’s volunteered to go up against that jackass is enough. Reyes has made his way over to our side of the table. He hands me my cue. ‘We finishin’ this round or what?’
I take the stick and grant Hollie one more soft kiss on her lips, in case anyone was in any doubt about our relationship.
‘Hey, Hollie,’ Reyes says lightly.
‘Hi, Balthazar,’ she says back and I swear the sound of her voice does something to my insides.
The moment I let her go, Nicole is all over her. No doubt bombarding her with questions about us. I kinda like the idea that there is an ‘us’ now.
‘So, you and Hollie Palmer, huh?’ Reyes says in a low tone as I line up my cue. ‘Does Echo know?’
I hit the ball into the pocket. ‘Nope. And I don’t give a rat’s ass what Echo thinks.’
Reyes wins our game, only because I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from Hollie. She’s smiling while talking to Nicole. She looks happy. I hope that it’s in some small part ’cause of me. ’Cause of us.
Chase brings me back to reality when he snatches my cue stick away from me. ‘Out of the way, lover boy,’ he says, depositing his quarter. I listen to the rumble of the balls rolling out the table as he racks them up.
‘Just go easy on her, all right?’
‘Let’s see what your girlfriend’s made of. She thinks she can play? Let’s find out.’
Hollie walks over. Reyes hands her his cue. ‘Good luck,’ he says with a wink.
‘Should I break?’ Hollie asks innocently.
I don’t want him to embarrass her.