"We're gonna get slaughtered, Seth. I'm going to get another drink."
Instead of responding to Eli, Seth sips his beer. Jenny makes a good attempt on her next shot, but her angle is slightly off and she misses. Seth is up next.
He studies the table, looking for a shot while absentmindedly running a hand through his thick, dark hair. I feel a clenching in my stomach and realize that I'm imagining it's my hand brushing the hair away from his cheekbone. I don't realize that my mouth has dropped open an inch, until his eyes catch mine. I quickly snap my lips shut and form them into a hard line.
Seth sets up for his shot, and I'm careful to keep my eyes off any areas of him that might show my interest in anything other than his pool skills. It seems safe to focus on his forearm, until I feel my gaze wandering up to the corded muscle in the bicep peeking out of his shirt sleeve as he stretches over the table. Clearly, there's nowhere safe on his body for my horny eyes, so I turn to Jenny instead.
"How do you know Seth?"
"We work together," she says, confirming my guess. "I'm pretty much his work wife. We're usually on shift together, although sometimes they change the schedule, and I'm with Ernie or Lou."
There's the solid clunk of two balls connecting with each other, and Seth makes his shot. As he sets up for his next one, I can tell he's watching us out of the corner of his eye.
"Is he a good work husband?" I ask her.
"Seth? He's awesome. He doesn't talk all the time, always has my back, and doesn't complain all day like Lou. Plus he ate arepas for lunch for a whole year for the sake of my love life."
"Ooh, tell me that story."
Seth sinks another shot and smiles to himself. He's a decent player, although his elbow drops a little during his stroke and that's going to hurt his game.
"Seth and I used to go to the food truck Luisa owns," Jenny says. "She makes these amazing arepas with fish, meat, veggies—anyway, we started going often, like two or three times a week, because I had a crush on Luisa, but I was too shy to do anything about it. My idea of flirting is ordering extra plantains and tipping really well. Seth finally took matters into his own hands and gave her my phone number, without my permission, of course."
She says that last part loudly so Seth can hear her. He's moved around to our side of the table, and I know he’s listening to us even though his eyes are assessing the balls on the table.
"She was clearly into you, otherwise I wouldn't have done it," he says.
"I was so pissed at him, but after she called me, I forgave him and the rest is history, as they say. You probably wouldn't think Seth is a romantic, right? But he totally is."
Seth leans over to take his next shot. "I was just tired of eating arepas all the time."
I dust the tip of my pool stick with chalk while I watch him intently. I'm not surprised when he misses the pocket. That elbow drop messed him up. He also nearly pocketed the cue ball, and he doesn't look pleased.
Rhett and a couple of his friends walk over to the table to watch our game. I smile at him before taking my turn and manage to sink the rest of our balls, then put away the eight ball for the win. Jenny and Rhett clap when I make my last shot, and I'm pretty psyched. This was one of the best games I've ever played.
Seth gives me a steady look. "Nice game."
"Thanks," I say, sticking out my hand.
He closes his hand around mine and squeezes gently, and it's like everything else in the room suddenly goes silent. It's just the two of us, his warm hand in mine and our eyes connected. Then the world breaks in again, and I pull my hand away. My face is warm, and I carry my pool stick to the stand so no one will see my red cheeks.
"Hey, Rhett," Seth says.
Rhett lifts his beer in greeting. "Hey, Seth. How's the cabin? Ashley told me you're building a place out there at the goat farm."
"It's coming along," Seth says. "How's school?"
"I graduated in May," Rhett says with pride.
I take a sip of my beer so I don't have to acknowledge Seth, who I know is enjoying this moment. I draw back my shoulders and refuse to look at him because so what if Rhett is six years younger than me? Dudes date younger women all the time. Plus, I'm not even on a date—we're just friends hanging out at a honky tonk (which I think is a noun, but it might be an adjective).
"You two know each other?" I direct my question to Rhett.
"Seth graduated from school with my oldest sister, Ashley."
"How many sisters do you have?" I ask him.
"Three. I'm the baby of the family and the only boy. So I pretty much got away with everything."
