Page 9 of Redemption

CALEB

"Wanna give that pool table a go?"I hitch my head over to where a pool table sits in the corner of the room. There's a quiet relaxation that hasn't been there between us in a long time, and I don't want to let it go. At least not yet.

She raises her eyebrows. "When you say give the table a go - do you mean playing pool - or something else?"

Amused, I give her a grin. "I mean, I've never fucked on a pool table, have you?"

"No," she laughs. "But I'd be willing to try anything with you once, Caleb."

"Oh yeah?" My eyes travel to her lips, where her tongue comes out to lick them. When was the last time she trusted me like that?

"You know I've also never played pool, right?" She takes a drink of her beer, before sitting it down on the table. "So if you'd like to teach me, I'd love to learn."

She's talking about learning to play pool, and I'm standing here half hard. "You've never played pool? Yeah, we're going to remedy that tonight." It's something that'll keep my hands busy, and maybe my mind off of what we need to talk about.

"No." She shakes her head. "It was something that all the guys in college would try to get the girls to do so they could watch our asses. I got grabbed once, and I decided never again. Never mind I hadn't even hit the ball yet."

"Someone grabbed you?" Doesn't matter that it was literal decades ago, I'm still annoyed.

"Yeah, but don't worry, babe. I didn't like it. Not the way I like when you grab me."

I realize that we're flirting with one another because we don't want to talk about what we need to. It's always kinda been our way of dealing with things. "Well, let's go over there, so I can play grab ass while you learn to shoot."

She drains her beer and slams it down.

"So,is this what I'm supposed to do?" She licks her lips as she uses the cue chalk on the tip of her cue. "Isn't this supposed to help me hit better?"

I lean against the back of the couch, watching her, beer in my hand. "If that's what you think it's supposed to do, go ahead."

"Why are you looking so damn smug?" She pushes her hip out, throwing me the attitude I love.

"No reason." I grin, shrugging as if it doesn't matter.

My eyes track her as she glances at the baize, trying to see what her next move is. I broke for her, and got a solid one in a pocket before scratching. She looks over her shoulder at me. "Is this a good one?" She points to a solid ball.

"You're stripes, remember?"

"Oh, that really matters?" She pouts.

I laugh, shaking my head. "Yeah, it does. Would you like to make a bet on the game?"

"No," she growls. "You're going to beat me, and then if we bet, you're going to get something that'll piss me off."

What I'm actually thinking of is having her legs wrapped around my waist with absolutely no clothes between us, but maybe she's not ready for that yet. "Here." I put my cue down, and walk over to where she stands. "Let me help you with the first few."

"Why should I trust you?"

This is the wife I remember. The one who liked to tease, never gave in easy, and always called me on my shit. Hooking my finger under her chin, I pull her to me, dropping a kiss on her lips. "You shouldn't. I don't know why you would, but if you'd like to learn how to shoot, I can help you. Remember when I taught you how to shoot a gun?"

She closes her eyes, a shudder going through her. "That was a fun night."

It had been. We'd ended up with our clothes off, and rolling around in our big bed. This was back before we'd had children, when we were spontaneous and didn't have to schedule time together. "We could do something like it again, but only if you want to."

We haven't been together since Valentine's, we've barely even talked. But those few hours are what caused me to take a chance on this. The chemistry is still there between us, and I refuse to let it go. It doesn't come along like that more than a few times in your life. Of course I knew that when we got married, but I've come to understand it more, the older we've gotten.

"Let's see where the night takes us, Caleb. We have a few days. We don't have to get naked right away. I'm not opposed to it, but I don't want us to rush into something that we're both going to regret."

Those words, a few days ago, would've stopped me in my tracks. They would've made me feel as if I'd failed. That she'drejected me right as we were starting to make headway, but I'm starting to realize that was part of the problem. I didn't trust her, still don't all the way because I haven't talked to her about the main issue at hand. Then again, maybe she doesn't trust me either. I haven't exactly been forthcoming. Just as we need to learn to be with each other again, I need to show her I'm serious about building what we've lost. "Sounds good to me. If all you want to do is learn to shoot pool, then that's what we're gonna do."

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