Could this really work? Chapter 4:

The teams finished their final game of the season and met in a meeting room for the trophy ceremony. Nicole couldn’t sit with Jonathan, no matter how much she wanted to, because it would cause suspicion among everybody in the room that something was going on with the new lustbirds. Everybody in the league walked away with some cash, and a trophy, but her dad wasn’t happy with what he received in prize money. After the teams broke apart and went their separate ways, Nicole and her mom and dad we’re discussing dinner plans or at least her mother was. Edmond was ranting about how the ticket drawing was fixed.

“I’m here with Tyler, I’ll have to see what his dinner plans are but I’ll surely have dinner with you sometime this weekend.” Nicole agreed. Her parents walked off towards their room when Jonathan came up to Nicole.

“Well not only are you my bowling goodluck charm, you’re my money honey too.” He smirked at her. She laughed so hard she felt her heart pumping out of her chest.

“Is that the best you can do?” She replied after calming down.

“Apparently.” He gave her a dorky smile. She leaned up against the pool tables that were stationed just outside the bowling alley. He leaned against her, wrapping his masculine arms around her svelte waist and innocently pinching her butt. She smiled too brightly her pearly white almost blinded him, literally. He kissed her, and nibbled on her lips, ears, and neck.

“Care to go back up with me?” He asked. She smiled deviously, broke apart from his grip and grabbed one of the pool sticks.

“How about I play you for it? You win, I’m your genie – your wish is my command. I win, and you’ll pretty much be my slave.” The twinkle in her eye sparkled like a brand new penny. He snickered and agreed to the competition

“Since you set up the first rule, it’s only fair if I set up a rule.” He started. She kinked her eyebrows in wonderment; anticipating what his rule would be.

“Every time you miss a shot, you tell me something about yourself. Same goes for me.” He proposed.

“And what if I never miss?” She chuckled. He moved closer to her, as she laid a manicured hand on his shoulder.

“I played you yesterday, I know how you shoot.” He bluffed.

“We didn’t finish the game.” She whispered.

“It got waaaaaaaaay too hot for us. And only us.”

“mmmhmmm.” He agreed as he started to maneuver in, so he could kiss her neck. She pulled away before he met his target.

“Why must you do that?” he sneered. She grinned innocently at him and began racking the balls. He took the first shot, making in the 11 ball.

“Stripes.” He called. He shot again, the nine ball was sunk. Again he shot, the solid red 3 ball fell into the left, top corner pocket.

“My turn.” She smiled. She lined her stick up with the ball and found a bulls eye: The solid blue 2 ball. She moved the stick in between her index and middle finger, swiftly. To screw up her shot, Jonathan interrupted her concentration.

“You know, you owe me a fact about yourself.”

She hit the cue ball, but the cue ball banked off the side and hit a striped ball.

“Now you owe me two facts.” He beamed.

“We never made that rule, that if you hit my balls I owe you a fact.”

“Okay fine we didn’t, but now it’s a rule.” He stated.

“I think if you hit my ball, you owe me a fact about yourself.” She replied.

“Fine…” he trailed off.

“When you’re not bowling, working, or sleeping with me what do you do in you spare time?” She asked.

“Working on cars. Chevy’s are my favorite.” He answered as he lined up his next target. He scratched instead of pocketing his target.

“I owe you another fact. Don’t I?” he asked. She nodded her head.

“Tell me something nobody knows.”

“I played water polo all four years of high school, had a scholarship to Seattle Pacific University, but my girlfriend at the time got pregnant, and I gave up the scholarship to take care of her.” He explained.

“So I take it, you’re a dad?” I asked, not looking at him but concentrating on the game.

“No. She had a miscarriage, due to some complications. Afterwards she strayed from me, started sleeping around in our home, I caught her and we were through.” He responded. Before Nicole shot in her next target ball, the 4 ball, she gave him a quick, loving, hug.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“I’m fine. I’m with one of the most beautiful girls in Vegas, right now. Any man who wants more than that is crazy.” He half smiled. She looked at him straight in the eye. He gazed back into her topaz-hued eyes. Nicole lifted herself up onto her tiptoes and pressed her luscious lips against his tender lips.

“How in the world did you end up here in Vegas, and in my arms?” He asked once prying his lips off of hers. “You literally popped out of nowhere, and I don’t even know where you came from.”

“Dying to know?” She teased as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

He set her back down on the ground, she walked away looking for a perfect goal, but before she was out his arms reach he humorously spanked her apple shaped behind.

“Hey!” She exclaimed.

“That’s what you get for teasing me like that.” He provoked.

She shot in the 4 and 6 balls, but missed when aiming for the orange 5 ball.

“You know who my parents are, you know that my family lives in Seattle, but I reside in Boston, Massachusetts.”

“Now how in the hell did you end up 3000 miles away from your hometown?” Jonathan asked.

“Private school. Lalaine Academy. My parents sent me there the first year my dad decided to run for senator, which was about six years ago. That was about the last time I saw my parents until now.” She explained.

“Wow… Why have you three spent so much time away from each other?” He asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m not meant to know. I have parents, but I don’t consider them my family. Michelle, my best friend she’s my family. Tyler, the guy who brought me here in the first place, he’s sort of my family. He’s never let me down, especially when I wanted to be happy. He came through again, I met you.” She said and gazed in his direction. He gazed in hers; he wanted to kiss her again but she broke the glance before he had a chance too. Her heart was pounding as fast as a hummingbirds wings flap. This sensation was unusual to her, she never felt this way around Tyler, Could it be the early blossoms of love for this guy she just met?

He finished his turn by scratching before sinking the eight ball. He dug out the cue ball and passed it to her so she could shoot. She placed at the back end of the table, with a clear, diagonal shot to hit her last ball, the burgundy 7. She hit the ball but didn’t sink it.

“Now you have to tell me the one thing you want most in the world.” He negotiated.

“You saw my body last night, and I know you loved what it looked like, complete with the lingerie set I was wearing underneath those black pants and red top I was wearing yesterday…” She started. He began to look for an open spot to sink the eight ball.

“You’ve seen how gorgeous the Victoria Secret Models are…” She added.

“Uh huh.” He muttered.

“Well I always wanted to be a part of their line up for their fashion shows.” She admitted. He directly hit the eight ball, sending it sliding into the corner pocket.

“Game over and you would be a great asset to the line up.” He said as he hung onto her waist and his hand wandered down to her butt, giving it a quick squeeze. She blushed and laughed then argued that she’d never make it.

“One more?” she inquired, holding up the triangle.

“You make in the eight ball on your first shot, you have dinner with me.” He proposed.

“And if I don’t?” She asked.

“Then I’ll have dinner all by lonesome self, while you have dinner with your parents.” He suggested.

“Deal, but where exactly would we eat?” She asked.

“Describe your perfect dinner with a date.” He replied. She went around the table collecting the balls.

“Umm… let’s see. A table all to ourselves, candlelit Italian dinner. And most of all being with you.” She responded as she let the cue ball slide across the table breaking the pyramid. The other balls bounced off the sides of the table, zigzagging all over the place before stopping in their new spots. The eight ball didn’t go in. Nicole and Jonathan looked at each other with despair.

“I guess this is where we go our separate ways.” He replied, breaking the ice.

“I guess so.” She agreed.

“Come on, where are your parents having dinner; I’ll walk you there.” He offered. She told him they were eating at the French bistro on hotel grounds.

“So what time do you leave tomorrow?” She asked.

“I don’t have anything planned for Monday, So I probably won’t leave until sunset tomorrow.” He answered. “How about you have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“I’d love to but Tyler and I have a 1 p.m. flight to catch back to Boston.” She sighed.

“Oh.” Was his only poignant reply. They put the billiard balls back into the case, hung up their sticks and started walking towards the main restaurant of the hotel. Little did they know, Tyler came around from the bar and saw his girlfriend in the arms of someone else. Oh the fury raged inside him, but he didn’t let it come out. Wittiness always trumps actions, emotions, and words.