We walked over to the pool table, and she racked the balls just like a pro. I grabbed a stick, put some chalk on it, and did the same for her. I passed her a stick, and gave her the opportunity to break.
She cracked into the balls so hard they went all over the table. “Wow, great break,” I said. She sunk a few different balls, so it was up to her to pick what balls she wanted to go for.
“Solid,” she announced.
We kept taking turns making shots for the win. Before long, it was obvious that I was getting my butt whipped. Although I felt like I was a strong player, she killed me, leaving me with four balls I still had to sink. I laughed. “Well, that didn't go as planned.”
“Order us up some shots. Would you like to lose again?”
“No way. Let's try our hand at darts this time. I doubt you're as good at darts as I am.”
The waitress came over to replenish our beers, and I asked her if she could bring over a couple of shots of tequila. She headed off in search of them.
Natalie made a face at me. “Now, you didn't have to go and order the nastiest shot available.”
“Hey, I'm the loser. I can pretty much do what I want. If you want to pick the shot, then I suggest you lose.”
She laughed. “Not going to happen.”
The waitress came back with the shots and set them down on the table. I looked up at her as she walked away. “Hey, where's the lemon and salt?”
She started laughing as she walked away. Apparently, they didn't serve that stuff with tequila.
“I told you that you shouldn't have ordered it.”
“Well, I didn't expect that they were inhumane here.”
She giggled. “Well, man up, sunshine. Let's do this, because you have another game to lose.”
We picked up our shots and both downed them. As soon as it hit my throat, I gagged. Thankfully I wasn't the only one, or I may have lost my man card permanently.
“Yikes, that definitely wasn't Patron.”
She laughed loudly. “Let's go.”
We headed over to the dartboard, took the darts off the board, and she handed me ones that were a shade of yellow while she kept the ones that were red.
We started taking turns throwing darts, and it became obvious that Natalie is a strong player. It was like looking at the girl for the first time. I already thought she was really cool, but not only was she cool, she was a pool shark, and she could handle darts like a pro. Although I felt like I was a pretty good player at darts, I hadn't played in forever, and the girl smoked me long before I realized she was going to win again.
When she threw the last dart and it stuck straight in the middle, I couldn't help but laugh. She turned to me with a huge grin on her face.
“So, what are you buying me this time?”
I walked right up to her, wishing to God that I could kiss her without worrying that she might slap me across the face.
“Well, I'm definitely avoiding tequila this time. Let me think about it.”
I left her there at the dartboard, and made my way over to the bar. When I saw the waitress, I ordered a couple more beers, and told her I wanted two shots of whiskey and made sure to specify that I wanted Crown Royal.
“Ohhhh, a fancy guy, aren't we?”
“Well, my dear, you almost killed me with the last poison you brought to our table.”
She smiled sweetly at me.
“Tell me, is there any game that girl is not good at? She just whipped my ass twice without mercy.”
She chuckled. “No, I'm afraid not. Her dad wasn't much of a dad, and the only time they had quality time together was here, if you can imagine that. He taught her everything he knew when it came to winning games that you could bet money on.”