Hunter Academy - Book 1

POOL HALL ESCAPADES

A/N: ^^^ That's Matt!

I'm waiting for Matt to come over for our pool date. I've been ready for awhile. I'm wearing a simple pair of jeans, my Jamal Charles jersey shirt and a pair of red Converse. I'm just chilling on the couch, listening to some Green Day, and doing a little pre-gaming by the way of Crown and Coke. My front door opens. It can only be one of four people who have a key, and since I was only expecting one, it can only be Matt. I turn to look and sure enough, it's him. He comes over and sits next to me, throwing his arm over my shoulders. I lean into him and lay my head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Sweet Cheeks, whatchya got there?"

"Crown and Coke. Want some?"

"Does a gay man love Judy Garland?" I laugh.

"Be right back." I get up and go to the kitchen. I refresh my drink and make one for Matt.

"So, you'll never guess who came to see me yesterday. Or the reason why," I tell him as I settle back on the couch and hand him his drink. "Also, did you book us a ride with Jesse at KC Ride?"

"Who? Why? Yes, he'll be here in about ten minutes. Spill, girl."

"Sparta." I wait a second. He can't forget a gorgeous face any more than I can. It doesn't take him long.

"The giant guy that was with Chocolate Thunder at the bar?"

"The very one."

"Oooh, girl! Did he track you down for some sexy time?" he says as he waggles his eyebrows. I laugh and smack him on the shoulder. Not that I would have minded, really, if that's why he showed. Shut. Up. Jess. You are not a slut. But you would be for him, or his two friends, my inner dirty bird muses. I shake myself from my dirty thoughts.

"No," I laugh out, "remember the guy who got hit by a bus? He was here questioning me about it. But that's not even the best, or weirdest part." Matt's phone chimes.

"Jesse's here. You will continue this." We rinse out our glasses and grab our jackets. I make sure I have everything. Card. ID. Keys. Phone. All set, I make sure everything is turned off and locked up, and we set out.

***

"Thanks, Jesse, we'll text about thirty minutes before we're ready," I say as we get out of the back of the town car. We've been using KC Ride for a couple of years and the owner, Jessie, has become a friend.

"Sounds good, Jessica! Have a good time, you two!"

"Bye, Jesse." Matt calls out and closes the door. He turns to me, "If that man didn't have a good woman and kid at home, I would try to convert him."

"Stop," I laugh out as we walk up to the pool hall. We go through the door and make our way to the back to our reserves table, and signal the server that we'll have our usual. Matt goes and gets our pool sticks from the bartender. We have our own, and keep them here, since this is the only place we play. This is also our karaoke spot, so we pretty much know everyone here.

When he comes back, he hands me my stick. I take it, chalking up the end with the little blue cube of chalk, while he racks up the balls in the familiar diamond shape. We only play nine-ball. It's a bit more fun than the standard eight-ball. In nine-ball, you still take turns, but instead one being solid and the other being stripes, you take turns hitting the balls in numerical order, one through nine. The goal is to hit the nine ball in. If you can make a combo, hitting the lowest ball on the table first and the nine ball goes in, you win. It's a lot of fun.

"So," Matt says, as I line up the cue ball to break, "continue your story."

"Okay, so my bell rings, and when I ask at the intercom who it is, it's a guy. He says his name is Parker Peters. Says he's with the FBI and has some questions about what happened with the bus guy. I buzz him in. When he gets to the door, I make him show me his badge through the peephole. No way I'm opening the door without seeing some credentials."