All Bets Are Off

Chapter Fourteen - Ella Fordman & Phoenix Adams: Denial

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            Dedicated to livinginsolace for the awesome banner to the side! I love it so much! Best part is that the girl in the banner plays Candi in the book, so amazing work on that! I love it so much!

 

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Phoenix’s POV –

 

            “So, you thinking about Ella?” Seth said, thrusting his pool stick forward and teeing it up with the cue ball. He squinted slightly, before shoving it forward and sending it barreling into the other balls. They let out large clunking noises as they barreled forward and hit each other, and he easily sent a red one flying into the upper hole of the pool table.

            With a triumphant grin that he shot in the direction of Josh and myself, he walked around the edge and repositioned himself cockily, readying himself for the next shot.

            “Of course not,” I replied, grabbing my beer from the edge of the table and taking a swig of the bitter liquid. Right now Seth, Josh and I were holed up in Josh’s basement, which just so happened to have a pool table and a refrigerator neatly stocked with beer.

            “Oh, come on, man,” Seth snorted, once again repeating his actions and sending the white ball pitching forward. This time, however, it failed to make any balls fall down the hole, and he swore, stepping away from the table. However, he recovered from his loss pretty easily by turning his attention to me, his hazel eyes meeting mine evenly. “You’re just in denial.”

            I chuckled, shaking my head ruefully and stepping up to the table. On a Friday night, if we weren’t attending a party, we always seemed to end up here instead of doing something else. It was most likely because pool was the one thing Seth was guaranteed to beat me in, since I pretty much sucked at the tedious game.

            I lined up the wooden stick and stared at the white ball, willing it to hit the yellow one. “Whatever, man. It’s not like that between Ella and I. She’s like my annoying sister.”

            But, for some reason, it felt weird calling her my sister. After what had nearly gone down at the lake, the thought of her being related to me was enough to make me cringe in nausea.

            And, just like that, I was back at the lake, submerged in the water with Ella pressed tightly against me, swaying around in the lukewarm water. Listening to her laugh, the soft tones of her voice, the guarded smile. All things I’d never seen before in her.

            And then that last moment, when we’d been so close to kissing, and it was like we’d been trapped in a trance, our lips mere inches apart…

           

            “Oh, yeah?” Seth challenged, smirking at me. “Well, then, why is your phone not on silent?”