Free Hustle Me by Jennifer Foor Page A

sleeping with you. I don't even know you!"  
    "After this shot you're going to get to know me." He was so sure of himself that I wanted to punch him, but I was so certain he was lying about being able to make the shot that a wager didn't even matter.  
    "Since I know you are going to miss, what are you thinking about wagering?"  
    "I'm shooting a match here later tonight. If I make this shot, then you have to come watch."  
    I think I was more shocked that he didn't tell me I had to blow him, or something completely ridiculous. "Why would I want to do that?  
    "Just agree so I can sink this already."  
    "Fine, let’s watch you miss!" I leaned against a stool and watched him line up his shot. I looked again and it was completely blocked. Jammer smiled at me and shook his head as he cocked up his stick in the air, instead of it being level. As he poked on the cue ball it spun around the ball blocking it and went over to knock in the eight ball. I stood there in shock. It seemed impossible and he'd made it look so simple.  
    "We start shooting around ten. If I were you, I’d close the bar then, so you can watch me take every single shot." He had a half smile on his face that I wanted to punch off.  
    "I am not doing that!"  
    "I made the shot fair and square."  
    "You hustled me!" I poked him in the chest when he got closer to me. He was close enough that I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to. "That isn't fair."  
    "Nothing is fair in hustling." The door sounded and I knew I had to get back to tending the bar. "You better be here at ten, or I will come looking for you."  
    I walked away and said nothing else. I wasn't going to watch him play. He was the biggest baboon I'd ever dealt with. I hated him.  
    Once our lunch rush was done and over with, I noticed that I no longer heard the pool balls being hit around. I waited twenty more minutes to go back and check on the billiards room, on account of not wanting to be set up by that asshole. When I got back there the pool light had been turned off and he was gone. On top of his plate was a fifty dollar bill and on his napkin was a note that read 'ten p.m.'.  
    I crumbled up the napkin and tossed it on the plate, before carrying the mess to the trash. I couldn't believe he'd left me a fifty dollar bill. It had to have been a mistake. Maybe he just wanted to get his change when he came back in tonight, or maybe that was his way of making sure I showed up to give him that change.  
    I shook my head and realized I'd been played. "Damn!"  
    I spent the rest of the day sulking over having been played by that jerk. When Ryan's daycare bus dropped him off, it was the first time I let myself smile. I don't know why I was letting that creep get under my skin. He was probably some criminal.  
    Ryan grabbed his bag and started pulling papers out. "Look Charlie, I made you a picture."  
    I looked down at the paper and noticed that it was three people holding hands. The biggest person was in the middle. I pointed. "Is that Zach?"  
    "No, silly, it's me and you and that's our daddy in the middle." He pointed to where our feet were on the paper. "See, we are on top of the clouds. My teacher said we had to draw a picture of a special place. Since we can only see daddy in heaven, that is where I wanted to draw."  
    What the hell do I say to that? "I think that is so sweet, Ry."  
    "If we could visit daddy in heaven, would you want to go with me?" He was so innocent and probably the cutest kid I'd ever seen.  
    "Kiddo, I'd go wherever you wanted me to as long as I could see you smile."  
    He giggled. "Charlie, I'm hungry."  
    I loved how he could change the subject like it never existed. "Go back to Shaun and tell him what you want. Don't forget to wash your hands before you come back out."  
    After Ryan ate all of his chicken tenders, he decided that he wanted to color. Shaun worked until seven and then headed home to be with his family. He was already such a big