330

"Simple." Garrett directly met Danny's eyes. Once again there was no apprehension, no uncertainty, not even a glimpse of the fear that once dominated this scrawny ass loser. "If I make this shot AND if I beat you, you have to shake my hand, look me in the eye, and say 'good game, Garrett.' Those exact words, including my goddamn first name."

All Danny could do was motion to the table. He watched as West reached into his turtleneck and pulled out some kind of silver charm. After holding it between two fingers for a moment West kissed it before dropping it back down his shirt. Taking a deep breath, West sat on the edge of the table. He took a few seconds lining up his shot before suddenly sitting up straight. "You know," he laughed mockingly, "I've been doing something wrong this entire time. I've been shooting with the wrong hand."

Ice water filled Danny's veins as West undid the Velcro straps on his wrist splint. He pulled it from his hand and dropped it to the ground before grasping the jump cue in his right hand. "No," Danny whispered as West quickly lined up his shot, holding the jump cue at a high angle, before driving it down and giving the cue ball enough spin to send it soaring a short distance over the 9 ball. Upon landing, the cue ball rolled into the 8 ball, sending it easily rolling into the corner pocket.

"No," Danny repeated as West grabbed the full-sized cue and quickly walked to the other side of the table. "Bullshit," he proclaimed when West casually, without barely aiming, lined up his shot and dropped the 9 ball to take the game. "This is bullshit! Your wrist was fine the entire time! You hustled me!"

"Of course I hustled you." Scarecrow was unscrewing his pool cue, no doubt ready to cut and run like he always did. "You think one race to five was enough to pay you back for everything you put me through? This is karma for fourteen damn years. How's that for humiliation?"

The ice water had boiled away, leaving Danny brimming with white-hot rage. That rage only grew hotter when the bastard dared to extend his hand... his fucking right hand... across the table. "Good game, Danny."

"You think I'm going to shake your fucking hand? After you fucking hustled me?"

"It's not about hustling you," West replied with annoying cockiness. "We made a bet. If I had missed that shot, I'd be planning on shaving my head. But I made the shot and won. Good game, Danny."

Danny glared at West's hand without saying a word. "Come on, man," West muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "The way you act right now is how everyone here's going to remember you for the rest of your life. Do you want to be remembered as a good sport or a sore loser?" West held out his hand one more time. "Shake my hand, tell me what you agreed to say, and let's bury this hatchet once and for all. Please"

For a brief sliver of a moment, Danny wanted to take it. But that would make him wrong. And West right.

"Sorry," Danny said, his voice low and threatening so only West could hear. "If you had lost then maybe I would have forgotten you. But you hustled me, West. As far as I'm concerned, all you proved is that you're not man enough to take me on in a fair fight."

With that, Danny shoved his way forward, using his good shoulder to push West out of the way. He needed to be somewhere, anywhere, far away from Garrett fucking West.

X X X X X

Garrett had barely sat down before Sadie threw her arms around him. "You won!" She laid a loud, wet smack of a kiss against his cheek before pulling away. Instead of a wide, beaming smile, however, Garrett looked morose. "Are you OK?" she asked. "You don't look like someone who finally got one over on their high school bully."

He nodded. "I'm just drained. Like, this entire weekend's finally catching up with me, and all of a sudden I'm emotionally empty. Not my gas tank, but my battery. A good night's sleep to recharge and process and I'll be fine."

"If you think you're getting any sleep tonight, think again," Sadie proclaimed with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"Let me rephrase. All I need is a good night and I'll be fine." Rubbing his face, Garrett sighed deeply. "I can't believe he didn't shake my hand..."

A balled-up bar napkin bounced off Garrett's shoulder. "Stop it," Michelle ordered, "right now. You won. Act like it."

"What she said," added Vienna. "I'm going to speak for all of us here. Danny's been torturing you actively and passively for fourteen damn years. You just plunged a wooden stake through his heart. Take the splinters, build a coffin, and bury him once and for all."

"We've had your back this entire time," Gio added. "It's your turn to start having your own..."

"YOU WON!"

Garrett barely had time to brace himself before Kim barreled into him. "You won, you won, you won, you won!" she cheerfully proclaimed while wrapping him in a tight hug. "I knew it would work! I was so totally worried when Danny demolished you those first three games, but I knew it would work out in the end!"

Garrett politely kissed Kim on the cheek as she kept squeezing him. "Meet my backer," he told his friends. "This whole thing was Kim's idea. I wouldn't have won without her."

"All I did was tell Danny you were covered! Everything else was all you! I'll wire you Danny's money tomorrow morning. Oh, and here's your phone back!" Kim dropped Garrett's smartphone on the table and pecked him on the cheek before making a spritely exit.

"Every time I talk to her," Garrett remarked, "I don't know if I dreamt the whole thing or not."