The Art of Life (76 page)

               
“Oh, please, tell me you were
talking about me!” Jack yells.

               
Jeremy nods his head.
 
“I will get it out of the parking lot, but
then you can drive to Side Pocket.”

               
“SWEET!”
Jack shouts.

               
“You will have to sit in back
with Eric,” Jeremy instructs me.
 
“I want
to keep an eye on at least one of my babies.”

               
I can’t help but smile.
 
We get to the car and Jeremy opens the
door.
 
Eric gets in first and Jack goes
to the other side of the car.
 
“Thank
you,” I whisper to Jeremy.

               
“Don’t say that I hinder you
babe.
 
I just want you to be happy, so go
sit in back, while I cringe in front.”

               
Getting up on my toes, I kiss
him quickly on the lips.
 
He smiles, and
I get in back.
 
Eric gives me a weird
look.
 
“I am sorry,” I sigh.
 
“He and I do that.
 
I know it seems weird.”

               
“Why would it be weird?
 
Hell, I would be happy if I had my cute girl
friends come and kiss me all the time.
 
I
need to get Jeremy’s looks and body….and car….and motorcycle…..and my own
place, and then I can get girls to do that,” Eric says, with a humored look.

               
“You could get girls to kiss
you.
 
I bet all you would need to do is
ask,” I whisper awkwardly.

               
Eric looks at me.
 
“Really, you think so?”

               
“You have a lot that attracts
girls.
 
I think if it’s what you wanted,
many girls would give in.”
 
My eyes just
stare down at the seat in between us.

               
There is silence for a minute,
and then Eric says, “If all I need to do is ask, then…..”

               
Suddenly, Jeremy gets in the car
and yells, “Everyone ready?”

               
I close my eyes and sigh,
“Yup.”
 
When I look back at Eric he is
smiling at me.
 
I instantly blush and
turn my head.

               
Jeremy drives us out of the
parking lot and onto the street.
 
After a
ways, he pulls over and looks at Jack.
 
“You know how to drive stick right?”

               
“Totally,” Jack eagerly
replies.
 
“My mom’s car is stick and I
use it all the time.”

               
“Well, my baby here has a lot of
horsepower so take it easy at first, but come on, get out of the car.”

               
We watch them switch sides.
 
Jack looks like he is going to have a heart
attack.
 
“Alright,” he says, “Are you
ready?”

               
“Yup, if you crash her, I will
give you a pretty big bruise on your face,” Jeremy states, patting Jack on the
back.

               
“I will be really careful, I
promise,” Jack replies.

               
He guns it a little in the
beginning but then does fine.
 
I can’t
help but laugh.
 
I have never seen anyone
so excited about driving a car before.
 
It must be bothering Jeremy a little bit, because he grimaces a few
times.
 
I hope he knows how much I
appreciate this.

               
When we get to the pool hall,
Jeremy gets out
to park
the car.
 
He doesn’t trust Jack enough to do that.
 
We all walk up to Side Pocket talking about
how of a good job Jack did driving.
 

               
Now, I have never been in Side
Pocket before and am pleasantly surprised.
 
It’s
dark like how I thought it would be, but
surprisingly clean.
 
There is a haze of
cigarette smoke though that makes me sneeze.
 
Jeremy walks up to the bar.
 
“Hey
Bubba, can I have my stick, there will be four of us playing.”

               
I turn to Eric and mouth,
“Bubba?”

               
The big guy behind the bar hands
over a box and then a rack of balls.
 
“You can have table 12.
 
No buying
them beer Jeremy.”

               
“I would never,” he gasps
sarcastically.
 
“I will try and get
Isabelle drunk later.”

               
“Jeremy, shut up!” I snap.
 
He just wiggles his eyebrows at me and starts
to walk to a table.
 
When we get to table
12, Jeremy sets the balls down and the box.
 
It is a long thin box.
  
I pick it
up and open it.
 
There is a beautiful,
dark blue pool stick inside.
 
Furrowing
my eyebrows, I ask, “Why is it in two pieces?”

               
“Because,” Jeremy replies, “You
screw them together.”
 
He takes the two
pieces out and does just that.
 
“Here,
hold this.”
 
I take it from him.
 
Jeremy looks at Jack and Eric, “You two
should pick out sticks.
 
They are over on
that wall.”

               
Frowning, I ask, “What about
me?”

               
“Lift up my stick,” Jeremy
instructs.

               
“That sounded dirty,” I giggle.

               
Now, the shocked look passes
over Jeremy’s face.
 
“ISABELLE, you do
have a sassy mind, naughty girl!”
 
I give
him a huge grin.
 
Shaking his head,
Jeremy laughs, “My CUE STICK, pick that up.
 
Is it heavy?”

               
I lift it into the air and
reply, “No, why?”

               
“Then you will use my STICK,”
Jeremy declares, winking at me at the same time.

               
That makes me blush and I look
at the floor.
 
When I look up, Eric is
staring at me, so I blush even harder.
 
He and Jack walk over to pick up their cues.
 
I watch as Jeremy racks the balls.
 
He is bending over in front of me and I can’t
help but check him out.
 
Then I squeeze
my eyes shut.
 
I need to stop doing
that!
 
He is just so…..hot.
 
No, no, no, you can’t think that way.
 
STOP IT!

               
“What in the world are you
thinking about?” I suddenly hear.

               
Opening my eyes, I find Jeremy
staring at me.
 
“What do you mean?” I
squeak.

               
“You have the most peculiar look
on your face.
 
I want to know what was
going on in your head.”

               
“Nothing, absolutely nothing,” I
mumble.
 
“Here’s your pool stick.”

               
He takes it from me, but seems
to watch me carefully.
 
Finally, Jack and
Eric make their way back.
 
“Are we doing
teams?” Eric asks.

               
“I have never even tried this,
so I am going to watch,” I state, stepping back.

               
“Uh, uh,” Jeremy says, pulling
me forward.
 
“We will first teach you to
play.
 
Then I will kick their butts
individually.”

               
Jack interjects, “Dude, Eric is
really good at this.”

               
“I played almost every night
growing up,” Eric states very calmly.

               
The look that passes over
Jeremy’s face is suddenly very serious.
 
“Well then, we will have to go toe to toe and see who comes out on top,
but first, MY Isabelle needs to learn how to play.
 
I will rack and break for you and then we
will let you take a shot at it.”

               
“Okay,” I groan.
 
“I am just going to embarrass myself.”

               
“No you won’t,” Eric
replies.
 
“It’s like geometry.”

               
Frowning, I say, “I hated
geometry.”

               
“Trust me, don’t stress about
it, or you will throw yourself off.
 
Just
relax,
we are here to have fun.”

               
I smile at him.
 
“Thanks for the advice.”
 
We patiently wait while Jeremy sets up the
table for me.
 
When he breaks the balls,
I groan.
 
“Now, what I am supposed to
do?”

               
“Come here,” Eric says.
 
I walk up to the table with him.
 
“This is the cue ball.
 
You need to knock this into another ball and
try to knock that ball into a pocket.”

               
“Oh, jeepers, that sounds easy,”
I sigh.

               
“Here, just watch me.
 
First, if you are right handed you put your
right leg back and bend your left one.
 
Then you put your left hand on the table and that is where you place
your cue stick.
 
Your right hand controls
the momentum of the stick.
 
So, come try
it.”

               
Begrudgingly, I walk over to
him.
 
“Now what do I do?”

               
“Here,” I hear Jeremy say
hotly.
 
“I will show you.”
 
He walks up directly behind me.
 
“Someone needs to SHOW you.”
 
Pressing us towards the table, he grabs my
leg and brings it back.
 
“Now, bend at
the waist.”
 
As I do that he follows with
me, so our bodies are tight against each other.
 
Dear Lord
have
mercy on me.
 
“Now, let me show you where your arms
go.”
 
After those words, I don’t pay much
attention to what he is saying, because I feel him all over me.
 
The heat of his hands on top of mine is
sending my nerves on fire.
 
Finally, he barely
whispers in my ear.
 
“Are you paying
attention to anything I am saying to you right now?”

               
Gulping, I whisper back, “Not
really.”

               
“That’s what I thought,” his hot
breath sweeps past my ear.
 
My eyes
actually close.
 
“Isabelle, why aren’t
you concentrating right now?”

               
“Why do you think?” I
snort.
 
“We are in a very compromising
position, pressed up against each other, over the side of a table.
 
It’s a little…….distracting.”

               
He places his lips on my
neck.
 
“I am not even going to comment
back on that.”

               
“Just shut up, and teach me how
to do this,” I growl playfully.

               
“I can teach you a few things,”
he replies.

               
That makes me buckle and
laugh.
 
“Oh
my gosh
,
we need to stop, this is ridiculous!”

               
Jeremy grabs ahold of me and
presses me back down into position.
 
“No,
you are going to learn.
 
Now, REALLY
listen to me, or I will be so on top of you the rest of the night, your boy
won’t think he has a prayer’s chance in hell.”

               
“Jeremy!” I hiss quietly.

               
“Now, listen to me young lady,”
he chuckles.
 
This time I do.
 
We hit the ball and it actually makes it into
a pocket.
 
I jump up and wrap my arms
around Jeremy.
 
He just picks me up.