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They’d really been the perfect couple

But the two of them hadn’t been the perfect couple at all, and it had broken Calliope’s heart to see both of thes don’t work out They were better apart than together Cassie had e

But the past was the past and she’d hoped Wyatt was over it by now Nobody orth pining over for three years--not even her sister

She pulled up to the offices Wyatt’s truck wasn’t there

Huh She got out anyway and went to the front door, tried to open it, but it was locked up tight She peered through the glass It was dark

Maybe he decided he’d coot back into her car, deciding she’d co him the clipboard

On her way back down Central, she spotted his truck parked in front of Stokey’s bar

Oh That’s where he was She’d drop off the clipboard to hi to adjust her eyes to the darkness

She wasn’t much of a drinker, so she’d never been in Stokey’s before There wasn’t a whole lot of at, bottles of alcohol stocked behind a very dark wood bar There was a pool table off to one side, a dart board on the opposite wall and a couple televisions scattered about showing various sporting events

There were only a handful of people inside--all ain it was a Tuesday and not even seven-thirty yet Maybe the big crowds didn’t show up until later

The ive her the once-over as she made her way to the bar

Wyatt had a beer in hand, his focus on one of the televisions mounted behind the bar She cli He didn’t even acknowledge her Then again, the television was turned up pretty loud, so ot your clipboard"

He finally turned his head, then frowned "Calliope What are you doing in here?"

She slid the clipboard across the bar to him, then smiled at hiht need it to work up those numbers for me"

He looked at her like he had no idea who she was Then he gave her a quick nod "Yeah, right Thanks"

He used to be so full of life He’d laugh and his face would light up when he s what he looked like when he saze to the bartender, a heavyset guy with male pattern baldness

"Oh Uh You know, I don’t know" She turned to Wyatt "What should I have?"

Wyatt stared at her "How should I know?"

"Well, I don’t really drink that often, so I’est?"

Wyatt raised his bottle to his lips "Beer"

She nodded and looked at the bartender "I’ll have a beer"

The bartender flipped the top off the bottle and slid it to her She reached into her purse for thean extra dollar for a tip Then she slid around on the stool to check out as going on while she took a long s of the beer, shuddering at the taste

Soda would be better, but this would have to do

She slipped off the barstool and walked over to the pool table to watch the two guys play She’d never played pool, either, though there’d been a table at her dore

The cool people played She’d never been one of the cool people Now that she was a single adult, she should learn to do cool things instead of always being wrapped up ork

One of the guys--a burly, halfway decent-looking type wearing jeans and a plaid shirt, shifted his gaze to hers and grinned at her "Want to take me on, honey?"

"Oh, I’ve never played before Can you teach rabbed his beer and came over to stand beside her while his partner took a shot "Honey, I can teach you anything you want to know"

"Great Then I’d love to learn how to play"

They finished up their gauy--who introduced hi He called it "racking the balls" Once they were all set, he put the white ball in front of the forith the pool cue

She watched as he shot the white ball toward all the other balls They scattered, so into the holes around the table

"We’ll play siht ball," Joey said "I’m solid, you’re stripes I shoot until I et your ball into the pockets"

"Seeh"

Except Joey didn’t miss very often He put four of his balls in one of the pockets before she had a chance

Of course that otten to watch his technique It seeh She bent over the table and tried to hold her pool cue the sah, and couldn’t quite rehed "Here, let ned his body next to hers, his pelvis shoving up behind her

She ht be naïve about pool, but she wasn’t du on her in the most basic of ways, and wasn’t subtle about it at all

He could teach her to play pool, but she wouldn’t be going hoht

"Just do it so it’s comfortable for you" He put the cue in her hands, showed her the proper positioning And that wasn’t the only positioning he showed her

Really? Soaze drifted over to Wyatt, who had swiveled around on his barstool and glared daggers at them

He looked upset At her

She rolled her eyes

And sohtened, s of it now, and if you shove your--" she looked down at his crotch, "--assets atto knee you in the balls Understood?"

His eyes widened, then he grinned "Loud and clear"

Now that they had that straight, she took her shot And a, the ball fell into the pocket She let out a loud whoop and the guys around her cheered and high-fived her

She aood at it, but e of er to help her out

Within a half hour there were six guys hanging on her And ouldn’t? She had a great ass, perfect brsts and the kind of hps a o She looked you straight in the eye and sh hten Deep and throaty, and she threw her head back and let it go for all she orth

Cassandra had always been subtle She only had to enter a roo And she loved the attention She barely noticed Wyatt was in the roouessed the sisters were alike in that respect