Hung Up

Jesse

Joe laughed as I totally missed the ball I was shooting for and sank the cue ball in one of the pockets. I swore loudly, knowing that I had basically just handed him the game. Sure enough, Joe carefully placed the cue ball where he wanted it and managed to sink the eight ball. “Come on, you didn’t actually think you were going to win, did you?” he teased.

I rolled my eyes at him and glanced around Gabby’s. The place was crowded on a Saturday night, but I didn’t see anyone else floating around like they were waiting to take over our pool table. I started racking the balls. “Let’s go again,” I told Joe, even though I was sure that I would just lose again. I could count on one hand the number of times that I had beat him at pool, and we must have played thousands of games over the years.

Joe clapped me on the shoulder. “Sure thing,” he said. “You might get us a couple of beers first, though. Loser pays.”

I snorted but grabbed our glasses, heading up to the bar. Annabelle was workin