It was now around 8:45. The girls were in Shiara's room, discussing their stint as towel girls.
"I know," Shiara sighed.
"Did you check out Kevin?" Julie said. "That was..... whoa."
"Julie, he's freakin' married!" Christy said.
"That doesn't mean that I can't like him. And Justin!" Julie went on. "Ooh God!"
Candice pointed a finger at her. "Don't take my phrase!"
"You should have seen the expression on your face when Howie came in, Candice," Christy said. "You looked like this." Christy imitated the look by opening her eyes wide and dropping her jaw open. Candice flung a pillow at her.
"Come on! I was not doing that! I swear, your eyes were buggin' out of your head when you gave Lance his towel, admit it."
"They were not!"
"Oh yes they were."
"Stop aruguing, y'all," Shiara said. "Hey, I got an idea. Wanna go see what the guys are up to?"
The other three girls exchanged a look. "Sure!" Candice said. "Let's go!"
*********
"Guys," Joey said as he focused on the cue ball in front of him, "we sure got some seriously hot girls." He shot the ball, and it hit the seven ball into the right pocket.
"I agree with you there," AJ said. "Have you gotten a look at Christy? That girl's hella fine."
"Damn! I missed!" Joey said.
"My turn!" Chris said gleefully. He aimed to hit the twelve ball, and managed to get it into the left side pocket. "Score!"
"I don't know, AJ," JC said. "Shiara looks pretty good to me."
"Dude," Chris said, "I don't know about you, but Candice, she's got it. Dammit, I missed!"
"Chris, you can't play pool worth crap!" Justin yelled.
"Would you rather have me play golf?" Chris asked him.
"NO!" Joey, JC, Lance, and Justin yelled.
Outside the door Candice was snickering, along with Christy and Shiara. Julie had gone downstairs in search of doughnuts, her favorite food.
Chris looked at the other guys in the room. "So Lance, which of the girls do you have the hots for?"
"Me?" Lance pointed to himself.
"Is there another Lance in this room?" Joey asked. "Yes! I got two in!"
"Joey, you suck," Chris remarked. "I'm going to beat you."
"Not if I beat you first."
"Well...." Lance began, "I don't like anyone just yet. I think they're all sweet."
"Once I find out what the hell's with Christy, it'll be easy as anything to get her," AJ was saying to Kevin. "All I've got to do is get her warmed up to the Bone Daddy, then I'll show her what I can do. Then she'll forget Jason or whatever his name is."
"He did NOT just say that," Christy fumed. "I'm going in there to kick his sorry ass." She started to go into the pool room, but Candice held her back.
"Whoa, chill, Christy. Don't go in."
"And why not?"
"Because it's not nice to kick someone's butt after you've just met them."
"And it's not nice for him to say that after he just met me."
"C'mon, let it go," Candice said.
Christy sighed. "I guess you're right," she said. "i'm going downstairs."
"Okay, Shiara, spy gig is over," Candice said.
Shiara protested. "But I want to stay!"
"Let's go," Candice said as she dragged Shiara away from the door. It was a good thing she did, because a few seconds later Lance walked out the door, and went downstairs to watch TV. He was surprised to find Christy on the couch, lounging and watching a rerun of Friends.
"Hey," he greeted her.
Startled, Christy turned away from the TV to see Lance standing in the doorway of the living room. "Oh.... hi. What're you doing here?"
"I live here now, don't I?" he said sarcastically. "I just wanted to watch TV."
"Care to join me?"
"Sure. What're you watching?"
"Friends. That okay with you?"
"Fine by me."
"The two of them sat silently on the couch for awhile. Anxious to break the silence, Lance asked, "So, what kind of movies are you into?"
"Almost anything," Christy said. "From action to comedy to horror to...... romance." She allowed the last word to come out slowly. "But mainly comedy," she said quickly.
"Really? Do you like stuff like-?"
Lance was interrupted when AJ came in. He sat down right between the two of them. "Hey guys. Whatc'ha watching?"
"Friends," Lance said. What's he doin' here?
"Cool. So, Christy, tell me," AJ said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "who's Jake, how do I remind you of him, and is the fact that I remind you of him good or bad?"
"AJ, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Christy said bitterly. "Whenever I talk about it, bad memories come back to me, and I didn't come on this trip to be tortured by my past. So please, don't bother me about it, and get your arm off of me."
"Come on! Just tell me if it's a good or bad thing that I-"
"Lance stopped him. "Look man, if she doesn't want to talk about it, she doesn't have to, okay?" he said.
Christy's heart basically melted. He's standing up for me. I can't believe it.
"Geez. I know when I'm not appreciated." AJ got up and walked back upstairs. "I'm gonna find out about Jake, even if it kills me," he muttered.
"Thanks," Christy said softly to Lance.
"No problem." He placed his left arm around her shoulder, almost certain she'd snap at him. But surprisingly, she didn't. "He's kind of nosy, huh?"
"Kind of? That's the understatement of the decade."
From the hallway, Candice watched Christy and Lance as they talked to each other. Compared to the way she had been around AJ, Christy was more relaxed around Lance. They're so cute together, she thought. "And Lance is putting the moves on her! Ohmigod!"
*********
"I told you I'd beat you," Joey said to Chris.
"Yeah, but next time I'll beat you." Chris looked up to see AJ, looking quite dejected, walk in. "What'd you say to her, or, better question, what did she say to you?"
AJ sat down in a chair. "I asked her a simple question and she got all bent out of shape about it. I don't know what is with that girl.
Brian shook his head. "AJ, AJ, AJ, when will you learn," he said.
"Learn what?"
"That not every girl you meet is going to fall at your feet as soon as you meet her."
The other guys laughed. "Haha," AJ remarked. "Realfunny."
"Mind if I join you?"
The guys looked up to see Christy standing in the doorway of the poolroom.
"You want to play pool against us?" Chris asked. "You can't play pool."
Christy gave him an "oh, really?" look. "Wanna bet?"
"How much?" Justin asked.
"Fifty bucks from each guy in this room who thinks that I can't beat Chris." Christy watched as all the guys pulled out $50 dollar bills and put them on the pool table. "Okay, let's get this started."
Less than 45 minutes later, Christy had won the game, leaving the guys awe-stricken. "Come on!" Justin objected. "Chris was easy to beat! He can't play pool to save his life!"
"You wanna try, UNC boy?" Christy asked.
"Yeah."
"Want to bet $25 dollars more?"
Justin pulled out his wallet and yanked out a 20 and a 5. What the hell, he thought. I'll win anyway.
"Any others willing to bet?"
All of the guys except for Brian and JC. "She's good," Brian observed.
"Ready?" Christy asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be. Ladies first," he said, allowing her to make the first shot. He should have known that was a mistake, because Christy beat him without letting him get any shots, except for one. "I can't believe it!" he said.
"Thank you for the money, boys," Christy said as she picked up her money. "And never underestimate a girl."
"Damn," AJ said. "I like her."