Chapter 26
Elizabeth stood back, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip, totally unaware that is was driving Lucky crazy. He scolded himself for thinking like that and forced his eyes away from her, before he did something foolish. Liz studied the table for a few more seconds, then lifted her stick to take her shot. So far, she had been good, and hadn’t used any magic. She was winning anyway, so why bother?
“Eight Ball, side pocket,” she muttered, pointing toward the one she was referring to. Lucky nodded and stepped back, waiting for her to shoot. He still couldn’t believe she was beating him. He had decided that he wouldn’t use any magic this game, but if she won, he would pull out all the stops in the next one.
Liz took her shot, holding her breath as the 8-ball made it’s way to the pocket, then curved slightly, missing it. “Damn,” she cursed under her breath. She looked up at Lucky and shrugged. “Your turn.”
Smiling at his good fortune, he studied the table. He still had three balls left to sink, and after careful consideration, made his choice. As he walked around the table for his shot, his arm brushed up against Liz, sending a small shock through both of them. He cleared his throat nervously. “Darn static,” he muttered.
Liz smiled sheepishly and stepped out of the way so he could take his aim. Cheering as he sunk the ball, he moved on to the next one, sinking it as well. He looked up at Liz and grinned.
“One more, and we’re tied,” he said smugly, moving around the table as he carefully chalked the cue. “Here goes,” he muttered, leaning down to shoot. It was a clear, easy shot, and the ball fell right into the pocket. He stood up and smirked at her.
“Like butta,” he said, feigning a New York accent. Liz rolled her eyes, but chose not to respond. She knew that if he made this comeback and won the game, she would never hear the end of his gloating.
“Eight ball, corner pocket,” he announced, pointing at the pocket in question. Liz smiled in acknowledgment and watched as he leaned down to take his shot, letting her eyes linger on his backside a little longer than necessary. The sound of the balls clinking together snapped her out of her trance in time to see the eight ball heading straight for the corner pocket.
‘Oh no, you don’t,’ she thought to herself, waving her hand behind his back. The ball slowed down and halted right in front of the pocket. ‘So much for winning without magic!’
Lucky frowned, then turned to her and shrugged. She smiled innocently and made her way over to the table. “Same pocket,” she said, taking her shot and giggling to herself as it went right in. She turned and grinned.
“I win!” she said, trying not to gloat too much. Lucky just smiled and went around to rack the balls for the next game. ‘You may have won that one, but this time I’m taking no prisoners,’ he thought to himself. Once the balls were in place, he looked up at her.
“You want to break again?’
She shook her head. “No, you go ahead this time.”
Lucky took his shot, sending the balls scattering across the table. One rolled into a side pocket, and he smiled. He didn’t want to be completely unreasonable, so he had decided to reserve the magic for more critical shots.
They played out the game until each of them had only 2 balls left. Neither had used any magic yet, saving it for the more important part of the game: the end. Liz leaned down to make a tricky shot, hoping it would go in without any “help.” She shot, then stood back and watched as the ball ricocheted off the bumper, and headed straight for the corner pocket. She grinned, bouncing up and down in excitement as it slowly made it’s way to it’s target.
Lucky watched the ball head for the pocket, and decided it was time to play dirty. His hand twitched slightly, and suddenly the ball curved to the right. Liz groaned, staring at it in disbelief, then turned to look at him, frowning. “What happened? It was so perfect!”
He shrugged, trying to act casual, and made his way to the table. “Maybe there’s a bump in the felt or something.”
“No, we would have noticed it by now. Oh well,” she muttered, sighing as she stepped back for him to take his shot. His ball went in, and he quickly made his way around to shoot again. Liz watched quietly from the other end of the table, trying to decide if she should interfere yet. Luckily, his shot was off, and the ball went crooked, so she didn’t have to do anything.
“Too bad,” she said with a laugh as she sauntered past him for her next shot. Lucky rolled his eyes and stood aside, deciding to leave her alone this time. Her ball went in, and she shot again, sending her last ball into the pocket. She grinned up at him, chalked her cue, the leaned over to take her final shot.
“Eight ball, right there,” she said smugly, pointing at the corner pocket. Lucky stepped out of the way as she took aim, noticing the way her hair fell softly around her face as she leaned over the table. He quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of his thoughts as she shot. They both stood quietly, watching the eight ball trek across the table. Lucky casually put his hands behind his back and smiled as the ball sped up slightly, hit the corner of the pocket, and then rolled away.
“Hey!” Liz said. “That was a perfect shot!” She looked up at Lucky and frowned. “You cheated!”
He chuckled and shook his head, holding up his hands. “I was over here the whole time, how could I cheat?”
She pouted, staring at the ball as it slowed to a halt in the middle of the table. “I don’t know, but you did something!”
He laughed and walked around to take his next shot. “Did the thought ever occur to you that maybe you aren’t as good as you think?” he taunted.
‘Oh, that does it!’ she thought to herself as he studied the table. ‘This is war!’
“Side pocket,” he announced as he leaned down for the shot. She smiled to herself as the cue ball connected with the eight ball, sending it sailing across the table to the pocket, picking up speed the entire way, then jumping off the table and rolling across the floor. She giggled as he chased after it.
“Careful there,” she said. “You really didn’t have to whack it so hard.”
He retrieved the ball and made his way back to the table, placing it in the center. “I didn’t,” he grumbled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you cheated.”
“But I was all the way over here,” she said innocently, a small smirk on her face. “How could I cheat? So, does that count as a scratch?’
“Not in this game.” Lucky rolled his eyes and pointed to the table. “You going to shoot or what?”
“Of course,” she answered happily, moving around to find the best angle. “Corner pocket!” There was a loud crack as the balls made contact, sending the eight ball straight for the designated pocket. She smiled as it made its way, certain of her impending victory, but Lucky had other ideas.
About a foot from the pocket, the ball veered to the left. Liz gasped in shock, then quickly moved her hand behind her back, and it veered back, resuming it’s earlier course, right into the pocket.
“That was close,” she said, looking up into Lucky’s stunned face.
‘What just happened?’ he thought to himself as he went to rack the balls again, determined to win the next game, no matter what.
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