Unfinished Ex (Calloway Brothers, #2)(29)

“I’m sure that’s not true. But I’d better get back to Paige. She made me come, and now I’m ignoring her.”

He pulls me close. “Not until you agree to go out with me.”

Is there something in the water? Or the tequila more likely. “I’m really trying to focus more on my job right now, Tony. But thank you.”

“Just as well. I do kind of value my balls, and that ex of yours looks like he wants them on a platter. Talk to you later, Nicky.”

“Thank you for the dance.”

Paige is all smiles when I return. “I told you.”

She pushes a fresh shot of something in my direction. I down it. “I’ve been hit on three times in the last five minutes. And that doesn’t count Hunter.”

“That’s got to be some kind of Calloway Creek record. If you think about it, it makes sense. You and Jaxon were together since middle school. Nobody else ever had a chance with you. Maybe they’re trying to make up for lost time.” She laughs. “Or maybe there really was a club.” She takes my elbow. “Come on, those guys finished their game. Let’s shoot some pool.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You need something to keep your mind off everything.” She motions to Donny. “A few beers at the pool table?”

“You got it.”

It’s pointless to make an argument not to play. The last thing I want to do at this point is start a conversation about Jaxon. So I stand here studying the pool cues as if it matters which one I choose.

But it keeps my eyes from wandering. I only need to make it another half hour.

Male hands appear from behind, holding a cue. “This one,” a man says.

I crane my neck. “Oh, hey, Carlos. Long time no see.” I turn to Paige in surprise. She mouths, “Wow.”

Carlos Wilkerson was a bigger science geek than I was, complete with coke bottle glasses and a pocket protector. He moved away after high school. The years have been generous to him. Talk about an ugly duckling turning into a swan. The glasses are gone, replaced with contacts presumably, showing off his striking brown eyes. And by the looks of it, he exchanged his library card for a gym membership.

“Mind if I play with you?” he asks.

Unlike every other guy here, I actually believe he’s not talking in innuendos.

Paige puts down her cue stick. “You two play. I’m going to talk to Lauren and Missy at the bar.”

She winks at me. I roll my eyes. I know what she’s doing and it’s not going to work. I have no intention of dating, hooking up with, or even flirting with anyone in this room.

Donny puts two beers on the edge of the table. I offer one to Carlos.

“Saw you on XTN,” Carlos says after taking a sip. “I knew you were into meteorology, but I wasn’t aware you wanted to be in broadcasting.”

“I wasn’t either. I took a few classes in it at NYU, but it wasn’t until a producer back in Oklahoma took a chance on me that it started to become a reality. What have you been up to?”

“I work for NASA, actually.”

“Oh my god. That’s amazing. You should be on the CCHS Wall of Fame, not me.”

He laughs. “I didn’t even know such a wall existed. Anyway, I’m not an astronaut. I got an internship with them my junior year in aerospace engineering at the University of Florida, and they hired me after graduation. Even helped me get my PhD.”

“You’re a doctor?”

Carlos chalks his cue and leans over to break. “Looks like we both achieved our dream jobs.”

Behind Carlos, back against the far wall, Jaxon is watching me. He’s talking to Calista and a few others, but his attention is all on me. And Calista doesn’t fail to notice. She pulls him onto the dance floor and tries to keep him as far away from me as possible. Does she think I’m back here for him?

“Nicky?” I look up. Carlos is waiting on me. “You’re solids.”

“Great. Thanks.” I lean over and position myself behind the cue ball, but I can’t focus because all I see in the distance is him. Watching. Staring. Judging.

Is he remembering all the times we played on this very table? How it was like foreplay the way he helped me with my shots, his arms around me, positioning the cue stick.

I shoot and completely miss. My stick doesn’t even make contact with the cue ball.

Carlos comes up behind me. “Here, let me show you.” I stiffen as he bends me into position and adjusts the stick in my hands.

He doesn’t make it sexual like a lot of guys would. I think he’s genuinely trying to help my game.

But Jaxon doesn’t know that based on the deadly look on his face. He’s still on the dance floor, hands around her. No other couples are between them and me. It’s as if karma is forcing me to watch. I take a breath, close my eyes, and shoot.

“Hey, look at that,” Carlos says. “You got one.”

I turn away from the dance floor. “Apparently you’re a good teacher.”

We play the rest of the game the same way, him showing me the best angles and shots, and me trying to ignore my ex’s hands on the head cheerleader. Once, when I glance over, I swear I picture her wearing the short little blue-and-white skirt and carrying pom-poms.

I hand Carlos my stick. “Thanks for the game.”