Breaking Elle (14 page)

“Come on baby, I’ll teach you.” Cane stands, taking my hand. “A girl playing pool is sexy as hell. But if you’re wearing that skirt, you can only play when I’m around.” He grins, helping me out of my chair. I’m not looking forward to this as we make our way to the tables across the room.

We’re able to get a table easily since a couple of guys just finished their game. Cane grabs a pool stick from the stand while Tyler immediately racks and sorts the balls, sliding them across the table. He carefully removes the triangular rack, shoving it underneath the table before he grabs a stick and rubs it with blue chalk. I lean against the other end of the table checking my nails, waiting for them to start. My feet are already starting to hurt from standing in these heels.

“You wanna break?” Cane asks, stepping towards the table.

“Nah, you go ahead,” Tyler answers, shifting his weight to his other foot and dropping the pool stick to his side. Cane moves in to position the cue ball and eyes me mischievously before lowering his eyes to the space in front of him.

“Come here babe; this will be your first lesson,” Cane says, smiling deviously.

I tilt my head, biting my lower lip. It doesn’t matter how much I despise playing pool; how can I resist
my gorgeous
boyfriend? My heels tap on the hardwood floor as I make my way across the room. I wink at Tyler as I pass in front of him, and when he looks away, I grab his beer, and polish it off. He frowns playfully as he snatches the empty bottle from my hand and sets it on the table.

“What do you want me to do, baby?” I ask as Cane gently pulls me close to him.

“Stand in front of me like this,” he whispers in my ear, bending at the waist. He positions the stick in front of us, eyeing the cue ball on the pool table. “Place your hands on top of mine.” His breath is warm on my neck, his body burning against mine. I’m not sure how long I can stand being this close to him without attacking him. I peek at him; his eyes already pinned on me. The look he gives tells me he’s thinking the same thing and I smile.

“Damn, guys. Can you give it a rest for a minute?” Tyler grimaces from across the table, anxiously tapping the stick on the floor. I peek around the table, realizing that the crowd has grown considerably in the last couple of minutes and our little display has raised a couple of eyebrows.

“Yeah, babe, maybe you should sit down. I can teach you later.” He whispers, placing his hand earnestly on my hip, pressing my back against the front of his body.

Cane lies down next to me on the bed and gently kisses my cheek, his warm naked body against mine. Pleasant thoughts of moving in together and it being like this each and every night drift through my head. I brush the hair away from his eyes, and wrapping my arms around his waist, kiss him tenderly on his lips. I love being right here like this with him.

“Babe.” He smiles against my mouth. “We’re a good team, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we’re a good team.” I laugh softly, staring into his eyes and running my fingers down his chest. “But not at playing pool.”

“Yeah. This game’s more fun.” He smiles crookedly his eyes dark and intense. “You never cease to amaze me; every time, you get better and better.”

“Well, you’re not too shabby yourself.” I whisper, nibbling on his ear. He groans, pressing his body firmly against mine. I gasp when his hand moves between my thighs.

“Round two?” He smiles as my breath quickens. His lips part as he watches my reaction to his hand spreading my legs wider. “I didn’t hear you, baby,” he murmurs in my ear. His lips slide hungrily down my neck, down my throat, until they reach my breasts.

“Yes,” I say breathlessly, feeling his hard length pressed against my body.

“I always knew you were a team player.” He looks at me with hooded eyes that move slowly over me as I anxiously wait to play.

Over the next week, my mom polishes off a bottle of whiskey, and Corey isn’t around much. I wonder if the increased alcohol consumption is due to his absence. I’ve been spending more time at Cane’s place. Focusing on us has really allowed me to put our relationship into perspective, making me realize that what I have with him is real and stronger than ever.

“Hey, is anybody home?” Tyler peeks his head into the office.

“Funny, T.” I reply, snatching a pen that rolled under my paper-filled desk. “What do you want?” I mumble. Even though I’m in a bad mood, I still manage to smile when I see his sweet face. He reminds me of his mother, always thoughtful and thinking of others. He’s spoiled me over the years, but it’s not one-sided. He knows that I would do anything for him, too. My life would be so different without him.

“Just checking in. You have been in the office most of the week. What’s up with that?” He raises his eyebrows, throwing his arms out dramatically.

“Just catching up on some work, updating the database. I’ve been putting it off for a while. Why, you need something? If not, you’d better leave me to it.” I moan in frustration, throwing my pen on the desk. Staring all day at the piles that I wish I could set ablaze, and the barren yellow walls that I wish I could paint turquoise is giving me a headache of monstrous proportions.

“
Whoa?
Someone get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

“No actually, Cane’s bed is very comfortable. This
place
is making me stir crazy.” Leaning back in the chair, I smile while thinking about this past week with Cane; it’s been perfect.

“TMI,” he replies, placing his hand over his heart and playfully hanging his head. “Right there, Elle. You’re killing me.”

“You know the deal, T. Always friends. I love you to death,” I reply, getting up to fill my cup with water from the cooler.

“Well, you make it hard for a guy when you dress like that,” He says, shooting me a pointed look.

“Are you giving me shit about what I’m wearing to work?” I mock, throwing my hand on my hip, modeling my white shorts and black tank top. No skirt today. Thank God.

“Geez, let me rephrase that; you look very attractive today. Better?” He raises his eyebrows and grins. “So anyway, we need to order some first aid kits.” He says, reading some plaques that are hanging on the wall.

“We’re running low already?”

“Yeah, I guess. I know Reed needed one. He fucked up his hand today.”

“Is he okay?” I ask, surprised. Swamped at work, I haven’t seen Reed since I heard about his one-night stand with Mindy. I remember her name from Evelyn’s ranting. I’m keeping a low profile at the center since what happened with him; avoidance is my best bet. Who knows how many others he has had over the past few days? This is the first time I’ve actually thought about him. I haven’t had the opportunity or desire to interact with him unless it involved work related issues.

“Yeah, I saw him punch the wall out on the courts. I didn’t press him because he looked like he didn’t want to talk about it,” he says, nonchalantly poking at the forms covering the desk. He sits down on the old plastic armchair facing me, propping his size thirteen’s on the desk. I wonder what has Reed all bent out of shape that he would hurt himself like that. I hope everything’s okay.
There I go again.

“Okay, I’ll put an order in. Is there anything else?”

“Nah boss, just that for now.” He grins rubbing his hands together. “So on to some serious business.” He pauses, placing his elbows on the desk and smirks. “A bunch of us
and Cane
are going to meet at the pool later, so when you get a chance to come up for air, why don’t you meet us?” He agilely rises from the chair, winking as he steps back.

“It all depends on if I get this work done.”

“Just get it done. We’ll be out by the pool at seven thirty, after hours. No kids. If I don’t see you, I’m gonna come and drag you out.” He counters, rising from the chair.

“Yeah, I’m sure you would love that.” I smile coyly.

“I’ll do anything to get you in a bikini.” He grins scratching his head thoughtfully.

“Cut it out,” I reply. Just like that, he’s managed to change my mood. I don’t know what I’d do without him as I stare at the piles of papers. The idea of relaxing by the pool after work actually doesn’t sound so bad. I dig through on a mission to get the work done so I can rejoin the living.

Wow
, she’s
making this difficult. I know that she heard, because almost everyone at the center has. I’m pissed at Evelyn for flapping her gums, but more pissed off at myself. It kills me to see her looking at me like that. Sure, I may have screwed up, but I don’t deserve the silent treatment or the evil eye. It’s been a week, and she still won’t talk to me. Not even a hello or good morning. Shit. I cozy up to other girls here,
but they aren’t Elle.
I’ve gotten stares and winks all week from some of other female counselors. I could bag those girls if I want,
but again, they’re not Elle.
No woman can resist me once she gets to know me. Not to sound like a dick, but it’s true.

This type of thing has never stopped me before. I’ve had plenty of these one-night stands. Shit passes and we all move on. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Pretend those feelings that passed between us never happened? Why does it matter to her who I sleep with anyway? She has Cane. I should let it go, leave her alone, and just do what I set out to do when I moved up here. Keep things simple and be with whom I want to be with. But it’s not that
simple, not with
her.

Evelyn gave me shit about her friend Mindy and the way that I left her hanging by having my roommate kick her out. But what was I supposed to do? I had shit to do. I don’t have time to babysit my one-night stands. I kind of feel bad leaving her like that, but she’s a big girl. She seemed to know what she was getting into and I know she enjoyed it.

“Watch it!” A tennis ball whizzes by my ear. That’s what I get for daydreaming about how to fix things with her.
Fix what, though?
She’s the one making a mountain out of a molehill. This is why I didn’t want the word to get around. I can’t fuck up again. My personal and work life can’t overlap. I’ve got to be smarter next time. I hope that another story will come out that will eclipse mine, and life will go back to normal.

“Stop zoning out there, Reed or you’re gonna suffer a serious injury.” Tyler warns me a second time.

“Yeah, yeah.” I wave him off, laughing.

“Seriously, dude, this kid has got a wicked forehand.” Another ball shoots across my line of vision, and I duck anticipating another bullet.

“Alright, alright!” I step out of bounds and monitor the progress from a safe distance. My phone starts ringing. I don’t recognize the number, but I break my rule about not answering unknown callers. Who knows? It might be someone important or maybe something about my family.

“Hello?” I answer. As soon as I hear the throaty voice, I want to hang up. I say nothing as I trudge over to a secluded area under a tree, and wave to Tyler that I need five minutes. A large pit has settled in my stomach, and all I can think about is Momma and my friends back in Texas. I clench my fists, pacing back and forth across the court listening, only responding when necessary. I want to keep my contact with this person to a minimum.