Page 35 of Break My Heart
‘None for me,’ Gina says. ‘I don’t have much time. I need to get to G’s and work on my hard cider.’
‘Let’s go downstairs,’ I tell her.
‘You two have fun!’ Mom says as I show Gina to the door that goes to the basement.
It’s a finished basement that used to be nice, but my brothers and I kind of destroyed it. Growing up, our parents would send us down here to play, which to us meant throwing around a football or baseball, which broke stuff and damaged the walls. Dad repaired the walls but he never replaced the carpet, which is worn and stained from years of use.
‘It’s not great,’ I say as Gina looks around the basement, ‘but it’s good enough for a game of pool.’ I walk over to the table and get the balls set up in the rack.
‘I like it. It reminds me of home. My grandfather’s house looked like this.’ She laughs a little as she takes off her sweater, setting it on the couch that’s next to the pool table. ‘He was the typical bachelor. The place would be a mess and he wouldn’t even notice.’
‘Your grandma’s not around?’
‘She died when I was four.’ Gina takes a pool cue from the stand. ‘Do you care which one I use?’
‘Take whichever one you want. If you want to do a practice shot, go ahead.’
‘I don’t need a practice shot.’ She chalks her cue stick. ‘Who goes first?’
‘You can,’ I say, grabbing a cue stick.
‘You sure?’ She smiles at me. ‘I might clear the table and win.’
‘I’ll take my chances.’
She moves around the table, right in front of me, and lines up her shot. She’s leaned down, her ass just inches from me. I don’t know if she did it to distract me, but if she did, it worked. Instead of focusing on the game, I’m staring at her ass in those tight jeans.
‘This might be a quick game,’ she says, sounding smug.
I look up at the table and see she’s sunk three of the striped balls. ‘Holy shit. How’d you do that?’
‘Weren’t you watching?’ She glances back at me and smiles.
‘I was checking my phone,’ I say, moving to the other side of the table. I thought it’d be less distracting, but from this angle I can see down her shirt, her tits peeking out from a lacy pink push-up bra. I swear she did this on purpose. Who dresses that sexy to play pool in someone’s basement on a Saturday morning? I guess it’s just jeans and a t-shirt, but on Gina that’s as sexy as lingerie.
After two more shots, she’s sunk the rest of her balls and the eight ball. She won. I didn’t even get a chance to beat her.
She stands up straight and gives me a smug grin. ‘When do you think you could be over to fix the table?’
‘That’s it? You’re not even going to give me a chance to play?’
‘I won. The game’s over.’
‘C’mon.’ I walk over to her. ‘Just one more game?’
She pauses a moment, then sighs. ‘Fine, but if I win, you have to hang the mirror above my dresser along with the pictures and fix the table.’
‘I’m good with that.’ I quickly gather up the balls and rack them before she changes her mind.
‘I’ll let you go first this time,’ she says, smiling, ‘so you at least have a chance to play.’
‘It’s you who won’t be playing this time.’ I make my shot and the balls scatter across the table. I sink a solid-colored ball, then another.
‘Not bad,’ Gina says.
‘I’m just getting started.’ I go around the table for my next shot. I sink two more balls, impressed with myself. I haven’t played in a few months, and last time I did I wasn’t very good. I almost came down here to practice before she got here but then decided to just wing it, assuming Gina was overstating her pool skills. Turns out she wasn’t, but if I win this game, we’d be tied and I’d have a chance to break the tie and win.
‘When was this taken?’
