Not Just the Family Business

People are Strange

"I'm telling you Mel, those two are complete suckers," Bee whispered to me.

I eyed the two guys huddled in a booth in the corner of the bar. "I don't know. The one pouring over that journal looks pretty smart."

"Yeah, but the other one has eyed every girl that walked past him. If we can get him, we'll have them." Bee's eyes glinted devilishly.

"Fine. We need the cash," I said.

Bee flipped her curly red hair over her shoulders and adjusted her top. "Ready."

I rolled my eyes and slipped off my barstool. Bee strutted over to the pool table with her chest puffed out like a peacock. This is where she excelled; this was her time to shine. 

We each grabbed a pool cue. Instead of racking the pool balls in the appropriate order—which we've both known since we were about five years old—Bee started tossing the balls in however she wanted, ensuring that the eight ball was at the peak of the triangle. While I lined up the cue ball how I wanted, the guy from the booth approached the table.

"Ladies," he said with a grin. "Interested in a friendly bet?"

"Oh, I don't know." Bee slid up to him. "We haven't really played much. I don't think we'd be much competition."

"Dean," a voice said from behind me. When I turned, the other guy from the booth was there. Even though he was nearly a foot taller than me and they both had healing wounds on their faces, I didn't feel nervous. There was something gentle and sad about this other guy. "You heard her. It wouldn't be fair."

"Well, we could give them a few pointers first." Dean inched even closer to Bee.

Poor thing. Bee is a grandmaster at this game. He will never win no matter how good he thinks he is.

"What do you think Mel?" Bee looked at me and I watched Dean's eyes quickly scan her body.

"I think we have some spare change. Even if we lose, it'll be worth the lesson, right?" I started to play my own character.

Bee turned back to Dean with a large smile. "We're good for $200. What kind of bet did you have in mind?"

Dean pursed his lips. "I think we could match $200."

"Great." Bee turned back to Dean. "Money first then lessons."

After the other guy and I had placed the money on the side of the table to prove we were good for it, Dean and Bee got right to work with the lessons. He wrapped his arm around her, and she nestled in close to his body.

"I'm Sam," the other guy said. "I apologize for my brother's behavior."

"Melanie," I pointed to myself. "Don't worry about it. Bianca likes it more than you know."

Sam chuckled. "So, uh, what are you looking for help with?"

"Um..." I leaned over the table with my cue, clearly gripping it wrong. "I have a lot of trouble with stability. I whiff a lot."

"You'll want to slide this hand back." Sam wrapped his warm hand around my left hand on the back of the cue. As soon as our skin made contact, there was something strange that happened. I felt like we were connected for the briefest moment. When he had my hand where he wanted it, he let go and the feeling left. "How does that feel?"

I cleared my throat. "Better. I think there's still something wrong with my front hand. Watch me take a shot." When I slid the cue past my front hand, I made sure it stuttered and stuck a bit. 

"They have some powder over there." Sam's face was a light pink shade. I wondered if he felt it, too. "Just put some of that on your hand and you should be good."