CHAPTER SIX
Elliot
Cold fresh air was exactly what I needed. I needed to clear my head, I had to stop thinking about her in her lacey white underwear if I had any hope of getting rid of the raging hard-on that was throbbing in my pants. I'd had it from the moment she asked me to take off her dress.
This wasn't like me. Frankie jeering at us just tipped me over the edge.
Taking a peek over my shoulder, I made sure Juliette hadn't disappeared out of sight as we rumbled through the city streets trying to find Frankie's favourite pool bar - Saxie's.
She was still there, laughing and joking with her boss at the back of our huddle, she caught me staring but didn't do anything about it. Looking at her only made the throbbing worse.
Maybe I'd overestimated the situation, maybe she was unaffected whilst I was there trying to get rid of the visions of all the things I could have done to her in that bathroom if we hadn't been interrupted.
I gave myself a shake, the unforgiving thoughts refusing to budge from my head as I trudged along next to my brother. I thought about pulling him to one side, finding out what he had learnt about Ashley Goulding in the time I'd spent in the bathroom stall with Juliette.
Frankie was too busy laughing and joking with the big woman named Carol and her date.
"So Carol, you just met Kevin tonight?" He asked her.
Carol was incredibly drunk, and Kevin seemed to be lapping it up like a dog. No doubt excited that he was going to be taking her home with him, if she didn't pass out first that was.
"Yeah, isn't he gorgeous!" Carol clumsily grabbed at Kevin's sleeve, losing her footing slightly as we crossed the road and stepped up on the curb.
Frankie shrugged at her like he wouldn't know if Kevin was gorgeous or not, and everyone except myself laughed. I just overtook him, eager to get to the next bar and get another drink down my neck.
Noticing my mood, he was quick to turn on his heels and stride up next to me. I braced myself for the irritation I knew was to follow.
"Hey there big bro." He poked a long index finger in my side, giving me a shit eating grin. "I see you've stolen my dance partner."
"No Frankie, she's not my type, dance with her all you want." I growled at him under my breath so only he can hear me. He found my temper amusing, as always.
"Why, because she doesn't look like Maya?"
I stopped dead in my tracks, the mention of her name making me feel sick to my stomach, a sinking feeling taking over my entire body. That certainly got rid of my erection.
I squinted my eyes at him, "Don't say her fucking name."
He held his hands up in response, as if it was some sort of surrender. I wanted to hit him square in his stupid fucking face, but we'd gained an audience, everyone had slowed down to see why we had stopped; Juliette was watching us intently.
"I'm sorry Elliot, I didn't think." He'd gone all pouty, like a little child who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Carol was too drunk to pick up on social queues. "Who's Maya?" She asked innocently, her words slurring out of her mouth.
I was trying not to see red, but controlling my temper was turning out harder than I needed it to be. "Just an ex." I ground out.
Nobody said another word until we got to Saxie's. When we were inside, I headed straight for the bar, not bothering to look behind me to see if anyone was keeping up. The place was pretty dead, as you would expect a pool and snooker bar to be on a Saturday night. The bar man cocked his brow at me as he cleaned a pint glass with an old rag of a cloth, "What can I get you?"
"Two whiskies, the best one you have." By the looks of the place, I knew the best was going to be average. "And a round of tequila shots." I added on for good measure.
When he racked up the first whisky, I threw it down my throat and slammed the empty glass down. Then did the same with the second glass.
"How many shots you want?" The bar man asked.
When I turned, Frankie and Kevin had caught up and joined me at the bar. The girls had gone to reserve a pool table in the back. "I'll take the bottle and six shot glasses."
"Somebody's here to party." Kevin pulled up the stool next to me and shot
me a crooked smile. He looked like a sleazy salesman, and I was pretty sure the Rolex on his wrist was fake.
"Hey Joe, please will you start a tab." Frankie waved over at the bar man, "I'll take a lager for myself and my good friend Kevin over there, when you get a sec." He gave Frankie a nod and headed off to get our drinks.
Leaning up against the bar, Frankie picked up a coaster and began to annoyingly tap it against the sticky tabletop. "Look El, I really am sorry about bringing up Maya I-"
"Shut it Frankie." I cut him off, grinding my teeth together to the point I thought they might turn to dust.
"I know its raw right now, I just thought-"
"You don't think, that's the problem. I'm over Maya. End of story."
Frankie let out a sigh, before he could say anything else on the matter, Bar Man Joe returned with a large bottle of tequila. Grabbing the bottle from him, I gave him a fake smile and turned my back on all of them.
" Add this and the whiskey to my brothers tab." I held up the bottle of tequila like a trophy. "Bring the glasses when you come over." I call over my shoulder to Frankie, dodging Kevin's outstretched leg and heading in the general direction of where I could hear the girls laughing in the distance.
When I found them, Juliette was already racking up the pool balls, leant over the pool table and moving the rack around the baize to line everything up. Ashley was eyeing up the cue cabinet hung on the far wall, looking at each one like she was trying to find the one that would go best with her outfit or something.
"Oh is that Tequila?" Carol was propped up on the runner underneath a switched off TV on the wall, trying to keep herself upright. "I love Tequila."
She pushed herself upwards and lurched forward towards me, grabbing the bottle from my hand and twisting off the cap with her teeth before I could protest. She made short work of it, and in no time, she had her mouth around the bottle and was taking a glug of the clear white spirit like she was a baby with a bottle of milk.
"Jesus!" Was all she could manage when she finally freed herself from the bottle and shoved it back in my hand. Juliette looked up from the table and let out a little laugh. When her eyes flitted to me, she must have caught my unimpressed expression, her smile instantly dropped.
"Save some for the rest of us Caz!" Frankie appeared over my shoulder, a tray of shot glasses, salt sachets and a few slices of lime thrown about on it. Kevin was closely behind him, their two beers in hand.
Ashley had finally selected a cue and joined the rest of us circling the pool table. "I don't really know how to play..."
"Well I say we each do a tequila shot, then play a bit of boys v girls 8 Ball Pool." Placing the tray down on a nearby table, Frankie had already started pouring out the tequila into the glasses clumsily before anyone could protest.
"I can't really play pool either." Carol added, placing her hand on Kevin's upper arm to steady herself and also to stake her claim on him.
"That's okay, I'm not great either." Kevin smiled down at her and put the beers down next to the tray.
"Well then," Frankie handed me a shot, clapping me on my back with his other hand. "Looks like its down to the Truman Brothers. This is going to be a breeze; it hardly seems fair."
"Hey what about Jewel, don't count her out yet." Ashley chimed in, giving Juliette an encouraging nudge, beaconing her to come over and get a shot from Frankie. Juliette didn't say a word, she just put the rack back under the table and took a filled shot glass out of Frankie's outstretched hand.
After providing everyone with a line of salt on the back of their hand and a wedge of lime, Frankie proposed a toast.
"To a wild night." He smiled; his words loaded with some kind of promise.
"To a wild night!" Everyone else repeated, then licked the salt, took the shot, and bit down on the lime. I didn't bother with the extras, just threw the tequila back silently and watched as everyone else's faces screwed from the bitterness of the lime.
Juliette's face scrunched up so tight, her nose pinched up as she tried to stop herself from spitting the shot back up. "Jeez that was rough." She eventually coughed, slamming the glass down and taking the pool cue from Ashley's hand.
"Who wants to break?" She asked matter-of-factly.
Frankie let out a whoop and practically ran to the pool que rack, grabbing two cues and a cube of blue chalk. "I'll break. Here Elliot, catch."
He threw the longer of the cues at me, narrowly missing Ashley's head. I just managed to catch it with the tips of my fingers, shooting him a look of disapproval as the chalk also flew through the air and I firmly secured it in my palm.
Brushing past Ashley, Frankie disposed of his suit jacket on the back of a chair and palmed the white ball, placing it central to the perfect triangle of balls Juliette had created. Then, with a force, he pushed the cue forward and it slammed into the white ball. It connected with its target and sent the coloured balls flying around the table. After they knocked together for a bit, the solid red number 6 rolled into the top left pocket.
"Looks like you're stripes ladies." Frankie smiled triumphantly, winking at Ashley and tapping her on the arm with the end of his cue making her squeal. Frankie leaned over the table once more to take his second shot, but he was too busy smiling at Ashley's reaction to his childish attempt at flirting to properly line up his shot. The white ball went wide and hit nothing it was supposed to.
"You're up Jewels, show us what you got!" Frankie leaned back and threw an arm around Ashley's shoulder, a blush creeped up on her face.
Juliette ran the pool cue through her fingers, testing its weight as she silently went to take her shot. Her wild copper hair fell in front of her face as she bent over, cascading over the top of her breasts and pooling on the felt of the table as she lined herself up. My intrusive thoughts came back thick and fast as she bent over the table and rested the cue between her index finger and thumb. The edge of her lace white bra peaked up over the top of her dress, the sight made my hands tighten and flex in my pockets.
When she was happy with her position, she took her shot. More power than I expected came from her as the white ball span and split two striped balls apart, both firmly finding the back of a side and far pocket. Carol cheered from her sideline seat; Ashley beamed a knowing smile.
"Wow, where did that come from?" Frankie quipped.
Juliette shrugged, "I grew up in a working men's pub, I've played my fair bit of pool."
I took off my suit jacket and neatly placed it on the back of a chair, knowing my turn was coming up next. Juliette sauntered around the table, studying her vantage points as she moved. If I had known better, I'd have thought she was teasing me the way she dipped and bent herself down for what felt like for my eyes only. She eventually found her spot, positioning her body directly in front of mine so she could aim, her body just metres from my own. When she leant over and adjusted herself on the table, her ass stuck up in the air. I tried not to look, but my better judgement failed me. The sight was distracting, I barely even noticed when she missed the ball she had been aiming for and sent the white flying across the baize. She pursed her lips and turned her head back at me, her body still poised perfectly.
"Looks like you've got lucky, Elliot. Enjoy it while it lasts."
"Oh, I will." I hummed under my breath.