Come As You Are Ch. 09

The quartet had left Amico's fifteen minutes earlier and wandered over to a sports bar near the edge of Blackcreek. After a week of skiing and dancing, Gio had suggested some low-key drinking and bar games as a sort of grand finale before the foursome split into their component pairs. Once stepped inside Garrett's attention was drawn towards the four pool tables set in the far corner of the bar. He dropped the deposit for two sticks and a rack of balls while Gio got their drinks.

Michelle had watched while Garrett proceeded to cleanly beat Irina three out of four games. While he had been all smiles with Irina, bantering with her as they played, as soon as he lined up a shot she saw the switch flip inside of him. It was the same switch all athletes turned on when it was time to play. Michelle knew it from years of skiing, and while the physical and mental aspects of skiing were inverted when it came to pool, she still recognized that switch every time Garrett bent over the table to take a shot.

The foursome changed places over the next hour, each of them taking turns playing against the others. Irina's family owned a pool table, leaving Michelle as the unskilled rookie who only won a pair of games. Gio and Irina would split their contests while Garrett racked up an impressive winning streak against all three of them. At one point Gio and Irina were sitting at the hightop flirting with one another, oblivious to Garrett's annihilation of Michelle. When Garrett bent over to sink the 9 ball, Michelle waited for him to line up his shot before whispering in his ear, "I can't wait to have you inside of me tonight." Her comment came with a subtle-but-firm slap on his butt.

Garrett didn't flinch. Instead, he drove his stick forward and buried the 9 ball in the far pocket. When he stood up and looked at Michelle, it was with a playful smirk drawn on his face. "Did you say something?"

"I said I can't wait to have you inside of me tonight." Now that the switch was off, Michelle's comment brought a faint blossom of red to Garrett's face before he headed back to the hightop.

"Alright." Gio took Garrett's stick as he passed him. "How about a couple more games and then we'll head out?"

Michelle nodded. "I suppose I can endure getting my butt kicked a few more times," she said while retrieving the sunken pool balls. "I haven't lost this much since the last time I played Sadie in Mario Kart..."

"Yo, can I get next?"

At the sound of the quasi-familiar voice, Michelle's shoulders slumped. Standing near the pool table was Steve, the blonde-haired young man who had hit on her several times this week, flanked by his friends. He was wearing a red collared t-shirt and black slacks, and for the first time since high school Michelle picked up the faint hint of Drakkar cologne. "You guys have been holding the table for the past hour. I'd like to jump in if you don't mind."

"Sure," Gio said before Michelle could interject. "We're playing nine-ball."

"For money or fun?"

"For fun."

"Bummer." Steve raised a hand towards Michelle. "Hey," he said, offering his warmest smile. "Laura, right?"

"Michelle, actually." She sat down at the hightop, joining Irina and Garrett. "And for the record, it doesn't matter that it's the last night of Spring Break. I'm still not interested."

Steve picked up Michelle's pool cue from the table and casually twirled it between his fingers. "You sure?" He snapped his hand around the middle of the cue and pointed towards Garrett with the blunt end. "I'm better than this scarecrow here by default." Michelle expected some kind of comeback from Garrett. Instead, he took a sip of beer and avoided making eye contact with Steve.

Gio racked as Steve lined up the cue ball. Once Gio lifted the triangle away Steve bent over and took his shot, dropping the 3 ball in on the break. The first game went to Steve, with Gio taking the second. Irina cheered Gio from her seat, while Michelle simply watched. Garrett remained quiet, watching the games without comment, as the two men alternated wins and losses for several contests. Michelle didn't know the ins and outs of pool but she could recognize Steve's skill - a skill which also came with cockiness. He spun his cue stick like a staff upon sinking a ball while also grinning towards Michelle.

"Not bad," Gio noted after Steve won another game. "You know how to play."

"You're top shelf yourself," he responded. "We should play for money. It would make things more interesting."

"I'm up for it if you are. Ten bucks a game?"

The two men played several more games, during which time Irina ordered another round of drinks as did Steve's friends, who kept to themselves and didn't try to mingle with or hit on Irina and Michelle. Eventually, Steve exclaimed, "How about we cut it with the back and forth? One more game, say for a hundred bucks?"

Gio nodded as he set the money on the rail. Steve took the early lead, but in the end, it was Gio who picked up the hundred dollars. "You know," he said to Steve, "I feel bad not giving you a chance to win your money back. Want a rematch?"

"I'll do you a little better." Steve took out his wallet and proceeded to count out five hundred dollar bills. "My five hundred vs the two hundred you're holding plus three more."

Gio tilted his head with uncertainty. "Are you sure? That sounds like a lot of money."

"You wanted to make it interesting. You can cover it, right?" In response, Gio dug out his wallet and counted out three hundred dollars worth of twenties.

"Holy shit," Irina whispered. "That's a lot of money."

As the winner of the last game, Gio racked so Steve could break. There was a swagger in Steve's step as he stepped up to the rail and aimed his shot. On the break, he dropped the 6 ball into a side pocket. From there, the cocky young man proceeded to run the table, easily sinking all nine balls with nine shots. "And thank you," he taunted while grabbing the stack of money.

Gio shook his head with disappointment. "You beat me fair and square. I thought I had you."

"You never had me, man. You only thought you did." With a smile showing the whitest of teeth, Steve held the wad of money up towards Michelle. "So how about letting me buy you a drink with your friend's money?" he said, fanning the money with his fingers.

"How about I play you?"

It was the first thing Garrett had said since Steve's arrival. He lazily twirled his empty pint glass on the table while looking at Steve. "You have, what, a grand there? I'll play you for the whole stack."

"You got a thousand bucks on you?" snorted Steve.

"Let me hit that ATM over there and I will. Although in that case let's make it one thousand and twenty dollars to cover the withdrawal fee."

Steve shook his head. "Nah. I got your friend's cash. You got to know when to walk away."

Michelle turned to Irina. "See what I mean? All bark and no bite."

"No bite? I just took your boyfriend for five hundred bucks. That's gonna leave a mark."

Michelle pointed at Irina. "One, her boyfriend, not mine. Two, you took my friend," she said with emphasis on the word, "for four hundred dollars since you were down a hundred at one point. And three, you're walking away with a thousand dollars combined in hand when you could be walking away with two thousand." Michelle gently shook Garrett's shoulder. "You've been talking smack about my friend behind his back all week. Unless you don't think you can beat him?"

"If he plays pool like he skis I could beat him with one arm tied behind my back." Steve rubbed his chin. "If I win, I buy you a drink and we sit and talk for a bit. No chugging it and walking away, no asking for a shot. A drink and fifteen minutes of conversation."

Michelle thumped Garrett's chest with the back of her hand. "Go get your money."

"I'll eat my losses so you don't have to deal with this guy," Gio said with gritted teeth as Garrett crossed the crowded sports bar.

"What, you don't think your buddy can take me?" Steve laughed as he chalked up his pool stick. "Don't worry, at least it'll be quick."

When Garrett came back up to the table, he flopped a sizable stack of twenty-dollar bills onto the rail. "There you go. One thousand and twenty bucks. Best of three so both of us have a chance to break."

"Fine by me." Steve turned to one of his buddies. "Give me twenty bucks." His friend protested but eventually, an even amount of money joined Garrett's stack. "Your cute friend here can hold the purse," he said while combining the two stacks. "Do me a favor and make sure it's all there." His request came with a wink that Michelle ignored. As Garrett racked the diamond of pool balls she began counting the money, quickly ensuring that she was holding two thousand and forty dollars in her hands.

Garrett flipped the rack away from the diamond and stepped out of Steve's line of sight as not to distract him. His eyes watched every motion his opponent made as Steve carefully lined up his shot before driving the stick forward. The diamond exploded at the impact of the cue ball, sending the 7 ball into a corner pocket.

Michelle pressed her knuckle against her lips as Steve sunk the first three balls, only to miss his shot at the 3. When Garrett began scanning the table, lining up his shot on the 4, she saw the switch flip on. One moment he was standing, both hands on the cue as it stood on the floor. The next he was bent over. In a matter of seconds the 4, 5, and 6 balls were all buried in different pockets.

Steve looked worried until Garrett's attempt to bounce the 7 ball off the rail didn't have enough force behind it, leaving Steve to easily pocket it. He offered a cocky hum while bending over and briefly lining up his shot on the 8 ball, only for it to careen off the edge of the pocket and roll back towards the middle of the table. Garrett was right there, driving the 8 into the same pocket Steve had been aiming for before switching his cue to the other hand and winning the game when the 9 ball followed on his next shot.

Steve's cockiness was replaced by muttered anger at the loss. Even though Irina was smiling, Gio had joined Michelle in casually pressing the side of his finger against his lips. "Come on," Steve urged, motioning with his hand for Garrett to rack the diamond for the next game. Garrett instead took his time, making sure the diamond was perfect before lifting the rack.

Steve's break failed to pocket any balls, but so did Garrett's follow-up shot when he scratched on the 1, sending the white cue ball into the side pocket. Steve immediately took advantage and ran the table up to the 7 ball. Instead of pocketing it, however, Steve used it to send the 9 ball into the corner pocket, winning the game without sinking the 8 ball. "Winner racks," he smiled at Garrett, "loser breaks."

After chalking up his cue, Garrett waited while Steve quickly racked the diamond. Nervousness draped over Michelle. The two men had played good games of pool, but all it took was one bad bounce for the other player to step in and win. Garrett could sink the first eight balls, but if he missed then Steve only had to sink the 9. Then Gio and Garrett would be out a substantial amount of cash, and Michelle would have to endure fifteen minutes of conversation with a guy she wanted nothing to do with.

"Your shot, scarecrow," Steve taunted as he lifted the rack. Instead of getting out of Garrett's line of sight, however, he stayed in place, holding the rack against his stomach while waiting for his opponent to shoot.

Michelle could see Garrett's eyes keenly studying the table. After a moment he rolled the cue ball to one side so that it would hit the diamond of balls at an angle instead of head on. "What are you doing?" Steve inquired.

"I'm still in the break box," Garrett answered calmly. He lowered himself with almost supernatural precision and placed his hand on the green felt. With the cue resting between his index and middle fingers, he carefully ran his stick back and forth several times, lining up the shot with agonizing slowness.

When he finally hit the cue ball, it flew forward with less velocity than it normally did. Still, the diamond of balls cracked open. The 5 and 7 balls split apart. As Michelle watched the 9 ball began rolling slowly towards the corner. Her heart leaped with excitement even as Steve's eyes shot open wide. "No fucking way," he spat as the 9 hung on the lip of the corner pocket for an eternity before gently falling in and landing with a soft thump. "No fucking way!" Steve stared daggers at Garrett, who was calmly collecting the other balls on the table. "You cheated! No one sinks the 9 on the break!"

"Check out YouTube," Garrett answered casually. "It happens all the time. Especially when you leave a gap in the back. I've been watching you rack and you never put the 6 and the 7 flush with the other balls. Piece of advice, if you're going to try to hustle somebody, learn how to rack properly first."

"Seriously. You think we didn't see you coming a mile away?" Gio threw his arm over Garrett's shoulder. "I'm from Chicago," he said before thumping his friend's chest, "and this guy here's a natural pool player. We know a hustle when we see one."

"Fuck that. You cheated when you moved the cue ball before the break." Steve began walking towards Michelle. "I want my money back..."

Michelle put her foot out, stopping Steve in his tracks. "Don't be a sore loser," she urged him. "Garrett beat you fair and square. Learn a lesson from this and drop the attitude. You'll be better off, trust me."

Steve barked with laughter. "Learn a lesson? The lesson here is that I shouldn't have spent my time this week chasing after a bitch like you..."

A moment later, after a blur of black hair and tan muscle, Steve was bent over the pool table, crying out in pain while Michelle twisted his arm behind him with a wristlock. Steve's friends were immediately in motion, only to come to a halt as Gio raised his hand. "Here's another lesson," she growled. "Never call a girl a bitch unless she's permitted you. Got it?"

She lifted his arm a hint higher, causing him to tap his hand against the pool table. "OK, OK," he cried, "I'm sorry!"

As soon as Michelle let go Steve retreated towards his friends. While his mouth had issued an apology, his eyes told an entirely different story. She decided to twist the dagger a final time by peeling off forty dollars from the stack of money. "Here," she said while tossing the bills towards him. "Some gas money to get you back home."

Steve's eyes narrowed at the insult, but he still swept the forty bucks from where it had fallen on the pool table before spinning around and stalking towards the bar, his friends in tow. "Damn girl," Irina whistled proudly, "way to put that guy in his place."

Gio held up his hand so he could give Michelle a high-five. "Seriously, my brother's a sheriff's deputy and I've never seen a better wrist lock." He turned and gave Garrett a high-five as well. "Dude, you just paid for your Spring Break."

"No, that guy just paid for my Spring Break. Would you do the honors," Garrett requested of Michelle, "and split the winnings? Twelve hundred fifty for me, seven hundred fifty for Gio. I'll settle our tab so we can get the hell out of here."

As Garrett headed for the bar, Irina, chin in hand, gave Gio a saucy glance. "You two are trouble," she proclaimed.

"Oh, you think we're bad now, you should see us when our friend Vienna comes along."

X X X X X

"Can I say something?"

"Yes, that was incredible."

Michelle lightly poked Garrett in the ribs, causing him to squirm on the sweat-soaked sheets. "I don't need to say that. No, this is kind of serious."

"That's never good."

"It's not bad." She rested her chin on his chest. Her fingers lightly beat a steady quiet rhythm against his chest in time with the music coming from the speakers on the nightstand. "But I don't want to upset you."

Somehow they had beaten Gio and Irinia home. Their attempt to change before hitting the hot tub had instead led to a furious shedding of clothing and a rough tumble into each other's arms. Now, they lay intertwined on Garrett's bed. He stroked her hair while telling her, "Just say it. I won't get mad."

"I want you to think about what you're going to do once the people you're living with don't need your help anymore." Reaching up to cup his cheek, Michelle quietly said, "Not right now, obviously, but as I told you if you're killing time, it's killing you right back. You're not the same guy I remember from high school. I like this you. But if we run into each other again down the road, I don't want to run into this exact same you." She lay her head back on his chest. "Sorry. Had to get that off my mind."

"No apology necessary." She felt his lips against the crown of her head. "I like this you as well."

"Naked, sweaty, and satisfied but wanting more?"

"Can we add strong, confident, sexy, and still a demon on the slopes? Do your parents ever get upset that you go skiing? Do they say you should be focusing on school full time?"

"Hell no. My studies are my top priority, and they know how much I love skiing. If my grades slipped that would be one thing. There's two things I'm good at and I'm lucky that I get to do both."

"Which one do you prefer more?"

"Oh skiing, obviously! If we hadn't hooked up I still would have gone from one rush to the next. Nothing feels quite like the top of the hill." With a wistful sigh, Michelle ran her fingers through Garrett's tangled mop of brown hair. "It's times like these I wish I had gone pro, but I'm glad I didn't. Just promise me you'll find your thing, OK? The worst thing in the world is when someone has talent and never tries to utilize it. Better to take a swing and miss than letting it lie fallow in your soul."

"What, like playing pool?"

"You are pretty fucking good at it. You're also a great listener. You might make a good counselor."

She watched as Garrett chewed on his lower lip for a moment. "I'll try," he eventually answered. "I can't promise I'll find an answer any time soon, but I promise, I'll try to find one."

Michelle gave him a reassuring kiss, which he returned in kind. The pair proceeded to make out for the next few minutes, giving Garrett's body time to recover from their recent bout of sex. Michelle pressed down on him with a good bit of her body weight. Her legs straddled his hips, her treasure teasing his stiffening cock.

Garrett was drinking every inch of Michelle that he could in their final night together. His hands roamed up and down her body. They slid down her back before coming back up her chest. He gently pinched and rubbed her nipples, bringing them to full hardness while making her moan quietly. He then ran his fingers along her side and flank, squeezing her tight butt with authority before moving back to her shoulders.

As she dragged herself along Garrett's shaft, an unconscious and unintended mathematical equation solved itself in Michelle's head. "Do you have any more condoms?"

A crestfallen look fell over his face. "God damn it," he sputtered. "We just used the last one in the pack. I didn't think I was going to get THIS lucky this week!"

"Falling asleep on the job there, West." Michelle punctuated her statement with a playful yet firm tap on his finger against his forehead. "Guys are just as responsible for birth control and protection as girls are."

"Well, do you have any condoms?"

Michelle dropped her head against his shoulder. "No," she chuckled.

"Falling asleep on the job there, Min. It's still early, we could run into town and grab some."

"I don't want to get dressed." Michelle glanced in the direction of the master bedroom. "Think Gio and Irina got a spare?"

"Yeah... yeah! Gio told me they cracked open a twelve-pack this afternoon. I don't think they're back yet, and they probably wouldn't miss one or two."