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Brenda raised her hand at the far end of the table. "This all started when you got snowed in with me, and it's been uphill ever since."

Garrett gave Brenda a warm smile which she returned. "Yeah, I guess it has been." He popped open the plastic case and pulled out two halves of a brown-and-tan pool cue. "How's Danny looking?" he asked Michelle while screwing the stick together.

"Dialed in," she answered. "We got here twenty minutes ago and Danny's been shooting the entire time. He's sinking more than he's missing." A worried look began to cross his face, only for Michelle to reach out and snap her fingers right in front of him. "Don't you dare be nervous. You've played pool hundreds of times and won more often than you lost. This is the same thing, only a little more difficult. You're going to wipe the floor with Danny and then we're going to celebrate like you just won the World Series."

Everyone else at the table nodded in agreement, with Sadie proclaiming, "Game on, West." As Garrett walked past her, she added, "You're my guy. Go get him." A firm swat on the butt accompanied her comment, the impact causing Garrett to jump with surprise. He could only shake his head before walking towards the center of the bar, where Kim and Danny awaited.

The bar fell quiet at the firm clap of Kim's hands. "Alright," she said gleefully, bouncing in her fashionable heels. "Welcome everyone to tonight's pool matchup between Danny Eastman and Garrett West!"

There was some polite applause. Garrett held his stick vertically, twisting it slightly in his hand, looking anywhere but at Danny, who was smirking at Garrett with pure, undistilled smugness. "The game is nine-ball," Kim continued. "They'll play in a race-to-five, meaning the first player to win five games wins and pockets $5000. Danny's money is currently sitting in escrow in one of my bank accounts and Garrett's given me his money." She motioned over her shoulder to a female staff member wearing a white dress shirt and black bow tie. "This is Serena. She's going to be doing the racking so there's no funny business. She's also the referee. What she says goes. Ball in hand on scratch or making initial contact with the wrong ball. Ball in hand if your shot misses every ball and doesn't hit three rails. No making noise while a player is taking their shot, no trying to distract or rile the players during the game, and remain in your chairs until a game is over. We'll be playing three games, breaking for five minutes, playing three games if needed, breaking for five, and then coming back here for the final run. Serena racks, loser breaks."

Kim turned to face Danny. "Danny, since you're technically the visiting team, you get to call it. Would you like to break for the first game, or do you defer to Garrett?"

"I don't defer to West on anything," Danny shot back. "But he can shoot first. He's going to be breaking every single game anyway."

Kim stepped back, allowing Serena to rack the nine pool balls into a tight diamond. Garrett stood at the opposite end of the table, chalking up his cue as he waited for Serena to lift the wooden triangle. Once she did, she gave him a quick nod and moved to one side. Colette watched as Garrett took a deep breath before bending over and lining up his shot.

X X X X X

As soon as Garrett drove the stick forward, Michelle closed her eyes in quiet frustration. She heard the crack of the diamond scattering, along with the general reaction of the crowd, before Danny's voice cut through it all. "Move West," he ordered his opponent. "Let me show you how it's done." The deep thunk of a pool ball dropping into a leather pocket soon followed, as did another one a moment later.

"He's turned off," she murmured.

"What?"

Michelle opened her eyes to see Sadie looking at her with both concern and confusion. "Garrett's turned off," she told her friend while Danny sank his third ball of the game. "When I saw him play at Blackcreek I could see that switch people who are really good at something have, the one that turns on when it's game time. I have it when I ski and Danny has it when he steps on the court. Garrett had it the last time I watched him play. Now..."

Garrett's dead-eyed stare was evident as he watched Danny shoot, along with his slouched posture as he used the pool cue for balance. And then there was the deep, lung-clearing sigh as Danny ran the table, pocketing all nine balls without missing a single one. Garrett didn't even move as Danny pulled the balls from the pockets and rolled them towards Serena, who quickly and efficiently racked them for the next game.

"Come on Garrett," Michelle heard Sadie whisper as Garrett leaned down. He took his time lining up his shot as best he could with the wrist splint. Once again he failed to sink any balls on the break. Michelle could feel a slight headache forming as Danny quickly worked his way around the table, once again shooting a perfect game.

"I know this wasn't going to be interesting," Danny taunted Garrett as they waited for Serena to set up for the third game, "but this isn't even a D-League challenge. I'm half-tempted to shoot one handed but unfortunately for you West, I'm not an idiot."

This time Garrett was meticulous as he lined up to break. For a brief moment, Michelle caught the spark of what she had witnessed seven years earlier. He drove the stick forward, sending the cue ball into the diamond with a sharp crack. The 4 ball rolled into a side pocket, the first shot Garrett had sunk all night.

The one ball quickly followed suit, but then Garrett missed the follow-up shot on the 2 ball and Danny took control once again. "Oh come on," Vienna groused, "this is a massacre."