by Sian Ceinwen
“I bet you never thought you’d appreciate getting a hangover, huh,” Becky laughed at him.
“Hangovers: life’s reward for stupidity,” Harrison said.
A staff member informed them their table was ready, and Sebastian carried their pool balls to the back of the room. He began to rack up the balls, asking who would be playing against him, and Hayden offered to be his first opponent. It seemed as though this was familiar for them, and she figured they must play a lot from the way they were speaking and acting.
Lita would have offered to go first, but she liked to size up her opponents before playing them. She never played the first match unless it was against someone she’d played before. Hayden broke, and their game began.
At first, Lita couldn’t tell if Hayden was bad at the game or Sebastian was good. After a while, she realized it was a combination of both. Hayden aimed for shots that were clearly not going to pan out, while Sebastian seemed to have a knack for finding the right shot on most of his turns.
She could tell, though, that he didn’t play pool the way she did. Pool was merely an exercise in mathematics for her. It was a combination of geometry, as well as the physics of how hard to hit a ball and where to hit it to make it land where you wanted it to go.
It was the first time all night that Sebastian hadn’t been focused on her. Lita found it fascinating to watch him play. She could tell that he loved the game, probably as much as she did. On the occasions Sebastian was bent over in front of her for his turn, Lita greatly appreciated the view of his ass in his jeans.
After Sebastian had beaten Hayden, he asked who wanted to play him next, and she spoke up: “I’ll play you.”
“Is that a promise, princess?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“At pool, yes. If I recall correctly, you said you wanted a challenge.”
Harrison laughed. “Good luck, Lita! You’ll need it.”
“I’ve seen both of them play,”—Becky leaned over to say this to Harrison—“trust me when I say she doesn’t.”
The other guys all laughed, but Sebastian looked serious as he chalked his cue before leaning down to take the first shot of the game and break the triangle. Lita watched as the blue number-two ball fell into the corner pocket.
“Solids,” Sebastian told her.
“Thanks, Einstein.” She rolled her eyes at him.
He raised an eyebrow at her, then leaned down and potted the orange number-four ball in the middle pocket. Sebastian seemed very proud of himself, but he missed his next shot, allowing Lita to take a turn. She looked over the table for about thirty seconds.
“Come on, princess, it’s your go.” Sebastian seemed annoyed.
“Shh, I’m concentrating.” She frowned at him before looking at the table again.
“Yeah, Sebastian’s lost this game,” Becky said with a laugh.
“Lita hasn’t even started her turn, though?” Gabriel replied, sounding confused.
“Watch.”
Lita tuned their conversation out and chalked her cue just for something to do while she looked at the table. Another ten seconds, and her plan of attack was obvious to her. She put the chalk aside, walked to the other side of the table, leaned down, and sent the white ball flying in the direction of the yellow number-nine ball.
The yellow ball rolled into the corner pocket, while the white one ricocheted off it to hit the number twelve and send one into the opposite pocket. The white ball rolled back to the middle of the table. Lita leaned down and sent it to the red number-fifteen ball, which dropped into the center pocket on the other side of the table.
“Whoa,” Harrison said. “You’re good, Lita.”
“Thanks,” she replied as she sunk the blue number-ten ball in the pocket near Sebastian. Still, she knew immediately she’d misplaced her cue on the white ball with her shot, and its momentum forced it to continue forward into the pocket. “But as you can see, I’m not exactly about to go pro.”
Sebastian sank three more balls before Lita got another turn. He was good, but he’d still managed to leave her lined up for an easy sink of the number fourteen. She frowned, then stared at the table a little longer.
“What are you waiting for, princess? I’ve set you up.” Sebastian seemed frustrated with himself.
Lita looked over at him, her eyes meeting his, and she smiled wickedly at him. “Yeah, you have. You just don’t realize how badly yet.”
She walked down the end of the table and aimed at the number-eleven ball. The fourteen would have been an easy sink but would likely have left her snookered behind one of the solids left on the table. It didn’t take long for her to finish the game, though, sinking the eleven, thirteen, and fourteen balls before nominating the opposite corner pocket for the black ball.
“Okay, who’s up next?” Lita asked, standing up from her final shot and looking around the group with a smile.
“Wait, I want a rematch!” Sebastian announced grimly.
“Fine,” Lita shrugged. “I mean, I was kind of hoping for a challenge, but sure, I’ll play you again.”
Gabriel, Hayden, and Harrison all laughed loudly at this, and Sebastian growled as he started racking up the balls again.
“I like you, Lita,” Gabriel said. “You’re feisty!”
“I’m texting Heather right now to tell her how trash you are at pool, Seb,” Harrison added.
“I’m not trash.” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Lolita got lucky.”
“Lita”—she emphasized her name—“did not ‘get lucky,’ she’s just really good at this game.”
“You won’t beat me again, princess,” he smiled at her.
“I won’t ‘beat you’ again?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Your desires for me to not beat you are noted. Now, what about the outcome of our game of pool?”
“Stop, Lita,” Hayden said, struggling to breathe through his laughter. “I’ve never seen someone go toe-to-toe with Seb like this. I didn’t realize how much I needed it in my life. You’re making my dreams come true right now.”
Lita laughed. If she’d known before she left Seattle that Hayden Vega would tell her she was a ‘dream come true,’ she would never have imagined that dream would involve her flirting heavily with Sebastian Fox while whooping his ass at pool.
She beat him again in their second match, though he did manage to get all but two of his balls down this time, before beating both Harrison and Gabriel easily. Hayden played her after that, and he really was terrible.
“Stop,” she couldn’t resist saying to him on his third shot of the match. “You just go for the obvious play. You need to think about where the white ball will end up, assuming you sink the ball you’re aiming for.
“Okay, so even if you sink the number six, you’re left up the opposite end of the table to the rest of the solids. All of my stripes and the eight ball will be between you. Try going for the number seven instead.”
He sank the ball she’d indicated, as well as the number five ball before failing to get the number one down. “Wow, you really are good.”
“A good friend gives you tips to try and help you get better; they don’t just relish kicking your ass every time they play you,” she told him with a wink.
“Did you hear that, Seb?” Hayden laughed, “Lita told me you’re not a good friend. I always suspected that was the case.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes at Hayden. “Talk to me if she’s still willing to give you pool-playing tips in another six months after she’s lost patience with trying to improve your skills.”
“If it helps, Sebastian,” Becky laughed at him, “Lita stopped trying to give me pool-playing tips about a decade ago. I just refuse to play against her now. Problem solved.”
“I like you, Becky,” Sebastian said, smiling at her. “You can call me Seb.”
Lita rolled her eyes at him, but Becky caught her eye and said, “Thanks, Seb.”
Refusing to give them the satisfaction of any kind of reaction, she simply sent her last two bal
ls to their homes in the pool-table pockets before saying, “Eight ball, center pocket.”
“Why wouldn’t you go for the corner pocket?” Hayden asked.
“That’s why she’s the pool shark, not you,” Sebastian exclaimed before Lita could reply, and for some reason, they all found this funny.
“Most people go for the corner pockets because they seem easier. The center pockets are actually wider, but they can present odd angles, and you don’t have two sides of the table to line up against. I’ll take a center pocket over a corner pocket any day, though, if I’ve got the choice,” she shrugged.
Their laughter had died down while she was talking, and they were all looking at her in apparent surprise, except for Becky, who had heard this all before and was clearly finding their reaction to her very amusing.
“Shit,” Gabriel said slowly. “She really is a pool shark.”
“She is the cat’s mother, Gabriel Knight,” she laughed at him. “And I’m not a pool shark; I’ve just been playing for a long, long time.”
“What did you say you do for a living?” Hayden asked her.
“I’m a video game programmer,” she replied.
“Sorry, Seb, she’s too good for you,” Harrison grinned over Lita’s shoulder.
Lita stood up from sinking the black ball and turned to find Sebastian standing close behind her. So close she was forced to tilt her head up just to look into his eyes.
“You don’t have any interest in a lowly guitar player, smart, Italian, pool shark, programmer lady?” His voice was husky, and the sexual tension was back again, crackling in the air around them.
Lita realized he had listed, in order, the things she had revealed to him about herself this evening.
“I wouldn’t say there’s zero interest,” she admitted. “Just zero intention on following through on that interest.”
“I see. Any chance your intentions will change?” he asked her.
“Stranger things have happened, I guess.”
“I can live in hope, then. Have you finished playing pool, princess?” he asked her.
He was still standing too close, and she was looking up at him. He really was incredibly attractive, and she didn’t think she’d ever met a more beautiful man.
“Sure, I’ve already beaten you twice. Unless you want to go for a third time?”
“Yeah, I’ll pass.” He finally gave her some relief by looking over at the rest of their group. “Should we go to Club Delirium now, then?”
“Sounds good to me,” Hayden said.
They paid for their table, then went back out to the limousine. Lita sat next to Sebastian again. As they drove, she watched his face in the semi-darkness of the car. Whenever they passed a street light, his face illuminated, and he looked gorgeous.
About halfway through their car ride, Sebastian turned his face to hers and raised an eyebrow at her as he said quietly, “Do you like what you see, princess?”
Lita blushed at being caught staring at him, but she decided to be honest.
“Of course, I do.” Then she shrugged and continued, “I’d be shocked if you didn’t know how attractive you are.”
He smiled at her. “Oh, I’m aware. What I’m interested in knowing is how attractive you find me and if your intentions have changed yet.”
“Yet?” Lita rolled her eyes at him. “You seem very sure of yourself, Sebastian Fox.”
“I wouldn’t be if you stopped looking at me like that,” he told her with a suggestive smile on his face.
“Noted.” She smiled at him and turned to face the rest of the people in the car, causing him to laugh and forcing Lita to ignore how erotic she found the sound.
Lita made a point of not looking at Sebastian again for the rest of the car ride. Instead, she joined in the conversation the other guys were having with Becky about the promotion they had recently finished up for Games We Play.
When they reached the club, they all got out, and two of the bodyguards led the way to the entrance, with the other two following behind their group. Lita felt as though every person lining up to get in stared at them, and she was horrified when they made their way to the front of the line and walked straight in.
Lita hated queue jumpers, but nobody batted an eyelid at the move, not even the people standing at the front of the line. They just whispered amongst themselves, and a few people got out their phones and took pictures of them all.
Once they were inside, they got drinks from the bar, then headed to the VIP section.
“I can’t fucking believe we're going to the VIP section with Cruise Control,” Lita whispered to Becky.
“I’m dying, dude,” Becky whispered back. “And I still think you should sleep with Sebastian.”
They stopped talking as they entered the VIP area. There were a few other celebrities there who greeted the guys, but they made their way to a couple of sofas which were free. Lita sat in between Becky and Hayden on one of them. Their sofa faced the main dance floor, while the one the others sat on was to the left of them and faced the rest of the VIP.
They’d been sitting there and chatting while they drank their drinks for a few minutes when Gabriel’s eyebrows raised. “Heads up, Hayden, Blake just arrived.”
Lita looked to her right and saw a handsome, blonde man she recognized as Hayden’s ex-boyfriend, Blake Stirling, standing near the entrance to the VIP with a group of men and women who all seemed to be very wealthy from the look of their clothes and accessories.
“Well, there goes my night,” Sebastian said acidly, rolling his eyes. Then he looked at Lita. “Hey, princess, want to dance with me?”
“She definitely does,” Becky told him with a grin.
“Shut up, Becky,” Lita muttered, nudging her with her elbow.
“Is that a yes?” Sebastian asked.
“I’m still drinking my drink.” Lita raised her cup to her mouth and took a sip.
“You had the opportunity to be my knight in shining armor, princess, but it looks like you’re too late.”
Sebastian shook his head, and Lita followed his gaze to see Blake walking toward their group. He smiled at them, and Lita wondered why Sebastian seemed so annoyed by his presence.
“Hey, guys. Hi, Hayden, how are you?” Blake asked as he stood next to the end of their sofa.
“Hey, Blake. I’m fine; are you having a good night?”
“Sure am, new girlfriend?” Blake indicated to Lita, and she couldn’t stop the nervous laugh which escaped her, causing him to look at her and ask, “Is something funny?”
Lita cringed at being put on the spot and said, “No. We won a competition to meet them.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go dance with me, Lita?” Sebastian asked her with a grin on his face.
“Why am I not surprised you’re trying to sleep with a fan, Sebastian?” Blake smirked at him.
Lita decided she would rather eat chain-restaurant Italian food than spend another second in Blake Stirling’s presence.
“Sure, Sebastian, let’s go dance.”
She ignored Blake’s smirk as she stood. Sebastian stood as well, then placed his hand on her lower back as they walked toward the exit of the VIP. His small touch set her senses on fire, and she was disappointed when he removed his hand as they approached the dance floor.
It was noisier once they were out of the VIP, and Sebastian leaned over and said in Lita’s ear, “Thanks for giving me an excuse to get out of there.”
“I was more than glad to. No offense, but Blake seems like a dick,” she told him as they reached the dance floor.
Sebastian grinned at her as they began to dance. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know, princess.”
Lita’s senses were being overwhelmed. Lights were flashing, and the music was too loud. Sebastian moved in time with the music, and the people around her occasionally shoved Lita as they danced.
They began to dance closer as the songs passed, and when there were only mere inches of di
stance between them, Lita gave in to her desire to touch him and reached her arms up to put them around his neck.
Sebastian smiled and placed his arms around her waist before dipping his head to her ear and saying seductively, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
“Thanks for the warning. Are you saying sleeping with you is hell, then?”
If she’d thought Sebastian Fox was dangerous before, the look he was giving her now was positively terrifying.
“Do you want to sleep with me, Lolita Ciccone?”
A million warning bells rang in her head, but she ignored them and answered him with the truth: “Yes.”
He gave her a seductive smile, then leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Posso baciart
She nodded, and her heart began to race as he moved his face toward hers. She could see the lust in his ice-blue eyes and feel every muscle in his body as they were tangled together. When their lips met, she felt all of the air escape her lungs, and she was stunned by how good his lips felt against hers. They felt as soft as velvet, and his kiss was electrifying, but it was over all too quickly.
He raised his head again and continued to dance with her. Lita found she didn’t care at all if he’d slept with half the world’s female population before her, or that she would simply be yet another groupie in a long list of groupies for him. She wanted more of this, wanted him to touch her in far more private places, and she wanted it now.
She reached her hand up, pulled his head down to hers, and said in his ear, “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Where would you like to go, Lita?” He grinned wickedly at her.
“Somewhere quieter,” she suggested.
“My place is pretty quiet,” he said and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Sounds good.”
He took her hand and led her back to the VIP. Thankfully, Blake had left their group to go back to his friends, and she saw the blonde man smirk at her then say something to his entourage when they walked past him.
“I’m going to take the limo back to my place with Lita,” Sebastian told their friends. “It’s too noisy here. We’re going to have a coffee and talk.”
