Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(24)

“Fine, you’re on,” I agreed. Camden’s evil glare shot my way and Blake perked up as if he’d won. Arrogant cocksucker. “And if I win, I want you to leave me the f*ck alone. That means no calling me, talking to me, or anything. Just pretend I don’t exist.”

“For how long?” he asked amusingly.

“Forever.” The crowd fell silent.

“Not gonna happen. How about a week?”

I groaned. “A month then.”

He chalked up his pool stick and blew off the excess. “Two weeks, B. That’s all I’m giving you.”

“Fine, you’re on. And you can shoot first. I don’t want to hear you whine because you never got a shot in.”

Everyone laughed and Blake didn’t like it. “We’ll flip,” he countered. “I call heads.” He passed a coin to Gabe and he flipped it. When he looked at the verdict, he nodded toward Blake. Hopefully, I didn’t just make a mistake.

Blake got into position and broke the balls, landing in two solids. Fuck. I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face as he traveled around the table and sunk in his balls left and right. When it came time for his last ball, he called the pocket and got into position. Luckily, he missed the pocket by a hair and it bounced back. Now it was my turn.

Taking a deep breath, I studied the table looking for the best play. Shot after shot, I sunk in my stripes until I got to the last ball. The whole crowd was watching me which didn’t help. I was sweatier than a whore at confession. Licking my dry lips, I leaned over the table and let the smooth pool stick glide through my fingers. You can do this. The cue ball went rolling down the table and hit the yellow and white striped ball with the right amount of force. Sunk.

Releasing a heavy sigh, I joined in the cheers with the others because they knew I was going to win. Blake grimaced, his stony gaze on the eight ball. All I had to do was get this shot and I’d win. “Right corner pocket,” I announced.

This was it. I got into position and sent the cue ball down the table. It hit the eight ball and . . . missed. The gasps around the room echoed in my ear. Eyes wide, I watched as the eight ball bounced off the wall and back down the table. Reluctantly, I glanced up at Blake who winked.

“It looks like tonight is all mine, sweetheart.” He got into position. “Left middle pocket.” He hit the cue ball and down the eight ball went, hitting home. I was so f*cking screwed.





“NO FUCKING WAY,” Jason grumbled. “How the hell did she miss that shot?”

She got cocky, that’s what. Once she sunk her last stripe, she lost focus. It was something that took me a long time to learn when fighting. Just because you knock someone down, doesn’t mean you won. They could always get back up.

Brooklyn trudged through the crowd toward me and Jason, her jaw firm. Hesitantly, she looked up at me and then to her brother. “I can’t believe I lost. I was so sure I had him.”

“Let me handle it,” I said and started to walk off.

She grabbed my arm. “What are you going to do?”

Tapping her on the chin, I smiled. “Getting you out of this clusterf*ck. Not to mention, you still owe me dinner.”

She sighed and nodded her head. “You’re right, I do. If you get me out of this, I’ll make up for disappearing this week. We probably need to talk anyway.”

“You mean the part where you kissed me and then disappeared? Yeah, I’d say you owe me an explanation.” Blake watched us with a venomous stare and I loved it. “I think you should kiss me now,” I murmured close, lips touching her ear. “Just imagine how pissed off that’d make your douchebag ex.”

“The only way you’re getting a kiss from me is if you win.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she agreed. A hint of a smile brightened her face. One way or another, I was going to make her realize I wasn’t as bad as she thought I was. Well . . . maybe I was.

“I’m gonna hold you to that, buttercup.” Stalking off through the crowd, I picked out a pool stick and chalked it up.

Blake came over to me and turned his body, blocking everyone out so the others couldn’t hear. “What’s your game? You don’t honestly think Brooke would be interested in someone like you, do you?”

“I could say the same to you. But I think it’s best to cut the chitchat and get down to brass tacks. If I win, your bullshit attempt to get Brooke to f*ck you tonight will be null and void.”

“Forget it,” he spat. “I’m not giving up my night with her.”

“Then I guess you really are a *. Everyone here says you’re the best at the game. It looks like they’re wrong. If you were, you’d take my challenge.” I put the pool stick back on the rack and smirked when all he did was fume and glare at me.

“All right, wise ass, you’re on. But you might want to hear my terms first.” Grabbing the pool stick again, I waited to hear the verdict with a bored expression on my face. I already knew what it was going to be. “If I win,” he began, “I want you to stay away from Brooke. Don’t look at her. Don’t touch her. Don’t talk to her.”

“You want her back that bad? What makes you think she wants anything to do with you after you f*cked her over?”

His eyes went wide. “How do you know about that?”