7. Greer #2
“I’ve spent so much time trying to think through my next steps with everything, I’m not sure I’ve taken a moment to slow down. This search. My parents’ anniversary. Everything going on with this fight and us…”
Greer nodded, understanding everything she was saying. Thanks to Troy and his stalking, she’d been on high alert, trying to plan her way out of anything he might throw at her.
Fortunately, Greer was pretty sure he could help her in that department.
“How about this?” he offered. “When we get back, you go on in and take a shower. I’ll order us some food, and then, after, I can show you how to play pool.”
“Really?” she said, her face lighting up. “You promise?”
He put his hand behind her headrest as he put the car in reverse, backing out and dipping into a few potholes as he did. “I’ll show you how it’s meant to be played, but I can’t promise I won’t beat you.”
“Well, that’s not fair,” she said. “I’m new, you aren’t going to go easy on me?”
He put the car in drive, giving her a filthy smile as he dropped his voice. “I don’t go easy on anyone, Tess.”
Greer tried hard to tamp down a laugh as he watched Tessa. She leaned over the pool table, a cue in hand, and the tip of her small tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. She was so deep in thought, he doubted she had any idea she was doing it.
Just one more thing he happily filed away about her.
After a quick drive home, both of them realized they were starving after all the day’s activities, leading them straight to the kitchen once they arrived.
He knew she’d brought some stuff and figured they’d have some snacks to tide them over until they ordered real food.
Color him surprised when she’d brought out several full meals put together by the same meal-prep-nutritionist guy who apparently knew a whole lot about the kind of diet he needed to maintain.
After a quick selection, Greer brought the marinated chicken breasts out to the deck, where a stainless steel grill practically called his name. Tessa threw together the vegetable medley, and they ate outside at a stunning patio table, enjoying the afternoon sunshine.
When they were full, they broke off to their rooms to clean up. After a quick shower, Greer pulled on some gray sweatpants and a mossy green T-shirt, feeling comfortable and ready to start the rest of their day.
“Do you think Natalie’s going to find anything?
” Tessa asked, continuing to line up her aim.
He’d already given her a crash course on pool: the solids, the stripes, the eight ball, and how to break.
She’d absorbed everything he’d told her, much like she had at the hockey game.
Or when she’d asked him before about fighting.
That was another thing that set her apart from any other woman he’d ever met.
Tessa actually listened to what he said, wanting to learn what he knew.
Anytime he’d ever been approached by a woman while he was playing pool, it was always the same line.
She’d ask him to teach her how to play, and then, conveniently, she could never hold the cue right.
Meaning he’d need to come up from behind and show her how.
Truth be told, he was no expert on perfect form.
But he also knew in those instances that wasn’t the point.
But that was the point with Tessa. Coy wasn’t even part of her language.
And he loved her authenticity.
“Hard to say,” he said, hopping up on a nearby stool to watch the tip of her tongue dart out of her mouth again. “She seemed pretty certain.”
“Yes, but even if she does find that it’s been lent and not returned, who knows where it might be now.” She pulled back on her cue and went to strike the ball, only for the tip to ricochet off, causing the stick to travel in one direction, and the ball to gently roll in another. “Darn it.”
Greer chuckled at her language, which was miles better than the guys at the gym, for sure. His own, too, for that matter. “Go ahead and try again.”
“I can’t,” she said, standing to her full height and shaking her head. “Once you hit the ball, your turn is over.”
“Tess,” he said, sliding off the stool and making his way to her. He lifted her cue and repositioned it in her hands. “You’re still learning.”
“But—”
“Try. Again,” he insisted. She must have been able to tell he meant it, as she seemed to resign herself rather quickly, repositioning her hands on the cue like he’d taught her.
She’d gotten changed into a pair of linen pants and a pink tank top, making her the most sophisticated-looking couch potato he’d ever seen.
“Um… would you mind?” she asked, looking back over her shoulder at him as she lined up her shot. “It makes me a little nervous to have people behind me. Watching.”
Oh crap. “Sorry,” he said, instantly moving into her line of sight once more. He should have seen that one coming, where she’d just spent the better half of her year being stalked by her ex. Of course, being watched would be a trigger for her now.
“It’s not your fault,” she said, deftly knocking the ball into the corner pocket.
“There ya go,” he said, proud of her. “You’ll be hustling tables before you know it.”
“Hardly.” She smiled, the color staining her cheeks as she took in his praise. Lining up another shot, she struck the ball, only for it to miss the pocket this time. “But I’m learning. I really feel like this place is helping me to get a better perspective on things.”
“How so?” he asked, chalking his cue as he drank her in. She was naturally pretty with her short-cropped blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and lungs full of laughter. But when she believed in herself, as she did right now, he couldn’t recall having seen anyone more beautiful.
“I feel more like myself again,” she said, her eyes traveling back to him. Just where he liked them. “I can tell you right now I wouldn’t be playing pool if I hadn’t come on this trip.”
“Oh yeah?” he teased, dropping down to the table and lining up his own shot. Solidly knocking a ball with his over-chalked cue, he managed to get it to a nest of three balls off to the side. They scattered, and one sank in the side pocket. “What would you be doing if you weren’t here?”
“That’s just the thing,” she said, her eyes tracking him as he made his way to the other end of the table, lining up his next shot.
“I’d probably be at my parents’ house doing the same things I normally do.
I might go out and sit by the pool, maybe tuck into a book for a few chapters.
I’d probably eat something. Talk a little bit with my family. Wash, rinse, repeat the next day.”
“What would the old Tessa be doing?” Greer struck the ball, sending it into the next group and causing a scatter again, only this time, nothing sank.
When he first met her, she had been rather skittish, her eyes always checking out a room to see if her ex was off in the distance somewhere, watching her.
Since they’d been together, Greer’d had the pleasure of watching her come back into herself, her bubbly personality and zest for life reappearing.
She shrugged, giving him a small smile. “This.”
“You’d come up to the Adirondacks?" he asked, giving her a grin as he waited for her to take her shot.
She looked over the table, choosing a ball and walking toward him.
Bending over the table, she lined up her cue as he made sure to stay in her periphery.
Leaning toward her, he gently tucked her elbow back, any excuse to touch her. “Keep this close to your body.”
“Right,” she said, realigning her elbow as she focused in, knocking the ball across the felt.
She stood up once more. “Maybe not necessarily traveling up here, but traveling in general. I used to fill my breaks from school with all sorts of trips. Sometimes I’d go stay with my friends…
” she said, drifting as she realized most of them were gone, firmly on Team Troy now.
“But I used to love picking a place I’d never been to before.
Immersing myself in a culture and just people watching for a time. ”
“We should totally do that,” he said.
She chuckled. “I doubt there’s much for people watching in this sleepy little town.”
“Next time, then.” He’d love to go somewhere else with her, given how much fun this trip had been. “I’ll bring you back home to Southie with me. There’s plenty to watch there.”
Tessa burst out in laughter, making him smile widely. He loved seeing this version of her shining out. He’d always suspected it was there under her prim, timid exterior. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. People watching is about blending in, and I’m not sure I would there.”
The way she said it was less about the good people of South Boston and more about her own worry about not belonging.
There was something they both had in common.
“Nah, you’ll be with me,” he said, which spoke volumes. If he brought her home and anyone messed with her, that’s the last thing they’d do. “You’d be one of us.”
“One of you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him despite the smile on her lips. “That sounds wonderful.”
He grinned back at her, chalking his cue once more.
“What about you?” she asked, just after he cruised around the table, neatly sinking three balls in succession. “What would you be doing if you weren’t here right now?”
He struck a ball, hoping to bank it off the side and into a pocket. Unfortunately, his angle was off, and it rolled across the felt, coming to a stop on its own. “I’d probably be training.”
“But you’ve got a few days off, remember?” she said, approaching the table near where he was. “A long weekend.”
“Right,” he said, turning toward her and leaning his hip against the table. “Then I guess that’d be a cause for celebration.”
“Well,” she began timidly. “What would you do to celebrate?”