The Bet

The bar had been full tonight; ladies’ night always brought in the men as well. The mix of alcohol, music, and the desire to find a Mr. or Ms. ‘Right Now’ left an electric feel in the air.

Lina hung up the last of the cleaned glasses and began to wipe down the bar, glancing at the clock on the wall. Three in the morning. She had always been a night owl, but this job had completely changed her body clock.

At the sound of footsteps, Lina turned and watched Mateo drop a crate of beers by the fridges. They often found themselves closing the bar together, and Lina had grown accustomed to his company in the early hours of the quiet morning when they were alone.

“Lina, catch!” Mateo called out, tossing a beer to her. “We definitely earned it after tonight.”

Lina caught the glass bottle easily and, with expert hands, flicked out her bottle opener from her waist and popped the metal lid off. She watched Mateo copy her with his own beer and flick his head at the pool table, gesturing for them to start their usual game of pool before heading home.

“You ready to get your ass whooped, Papi?” Lina laughed, stretching her arms above her head and loosening her shoulders. Her work uniform consisted of a flimsy black spaghetti-strapped top and tight denim shorts. While she didn’t have the largest rack in comparison to others, the push-up bra she wore made for great competition. Mateo grabbed her cue stick and poked her shoulder with the tip, leaving a chalk imprint on her skin.

“Don’t think you can distract me with those puppies to get ahead, Lina. I’m not gonna fall for it,” Mateo laughed, eyeing her cleavage.

Lina quirked her head and looked down at her chest. Sure, the lace edges of her bra poked up above her top, but it was nothing risqué. Lina mentally shrugged and took a deep gulp of her beer. “Excuses, excuses. What’s the current score? Twelve wins for me and ten for you? You’re really gonna need to step up your game.”

“How about we make this one interesting then?”

Mateo was chalking his cue stick, though his eyes were honed on Lina. The bar was dim, and the few lights above the pool tables cast shadows in all the right places over Mateo’s body. With every motion of his arm, Lina found her eyes following the flex of his muscles too. Lina’s eyes were currently stuck on Mateo’s bicep when she asked absent-mindedly, “What do you mean ‘interesting’?”

“We could make a bet?”

“A bet?” Lina echoed, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, a bet. I win, you have to do whatever I say for... twenty-four hours,” Mateo grinned devilishly.

“What are you, eight?” Lina laughed. Mateo and Lina were working together tonight as well, so with a bet like that, he probably wanted to feel like her boss. “And if I win... you owe me breakfast, lunch, AND dinner wherever I want.”

Mateo leaned in close to her, staring deeply, as though he was trying to figure something out, before his grin returned. “Done.” He held out a hand, and Lina shook it, sealing their bet, when suddenly Mateo pulled her hard against his chest. “But I never said I would play fair.” He stepped forward, forcing Lina to lean back against the edge of her pool table. His hands came around to hold the edge, caging her between his arms. “I think I’d enjoy seeing you do whatever I say... So, there’s no way I’m losing this game tonight, Sweetheart.”

Lina was well aware Mateo had charm, but she definitely got a full blast of his charisma at his words. Why did they sound so… sexy? Did he mean for it to sound that way? Her short breaths were way too loud for her liking, so she pushed Mateo back with her hand splayed across the middle of his chest. “Big talk for someone losing the game tally.”

Mateo’s hand reached up to her shoulder and rubbed at the chalk mark he’d left earlier before stepping back to set up the balls. Lina breathed deeply, shook her head, and drained her beer. It was Mateo’s turn to break tonight, and she listened to the crack of the white ball as he hit it expertly, sending all the balls ricocheting in different directions and pocketing two solid balls and one striped.

“I call solids,” Mateo called as he bent over again to line up his next shot. Lina took that moment to really look at Mateo. His shoulders and arms flexed under his fitted shirt, reminding her that he’d always seemed at ease carrying crate after crate of alcohol up from storage to the bar. Another crack of the balls, and Lina laughed when his shot just missed its pocket.

“Shit.”

“Tough luck, Papi. Guess it’s my turn.” Lina quickly found her shot, lined it up, and before Mateo could finish his beer, she had sunk one of her striped balls. She walked around towards Mateo, readying to take her aim from his side.

She leaned over, aiming her cue when she noticed Mateo leaning close to her side. She felt a light brush of his hand up the side of her thigh, tracing the edge of her denim shorts around the back of her ass. Goosebumps erupted across her skin, her nipples tightened at the unexpected touch.

“What are you doing?” Lina didn’t move her position, just slightly tilting her head to peer at him.

“Just making it interesting,” he murmured with a smile. “Don’t tell me I’m distracting you?”

Without taking her eyes off him, Lina flicked her cue. The white ball snapped forward and sunk its target. “That’s two and two, I believe,” she whispered.

Mateo smacked her ass with a laugh. “Damnit, you’re good.”

“Oh, I’m good at many, many things,” Lina flipped her hair. Mateo followed Lina around the table as she looked for her next shot. This time she missed.

The game continued, and with each turn, Mateo touched, caressed, and tried harder to distract her. It was beginning to work, and Lina missed shot after shot, allowing Mateo to keep up with her. They were finally tied, and Lina was on edge. His touches had become bolder and bolder. Not just brushing his hand and fingers, but where he’d touch her and the things he’d whisper in her ear as she tried to focus.

Lina leaned forward at the waist, lining up her straight forward shot. It was almost impossible to miss. All she had to do was sink the eight ball, and she had free meals for a whole day. She pulled her elbow back and startled when Mateo’s body stood flush behind her, groin to ass. His hands gripped her hips, and he leaned forward, pulling her ass back against him.

“Don’t miss...” He whispered in her ear, grinding his hips against hers. “This is the winning shot.”

There was no hiding it. She could feel his erection against her, grinding against her. His grip on her hipbones sent electric shocks directly to her pussy, and she felt breathless. Lina attempted to focus and flicked her cue. She missed. Entirely. As in, she missed the eight ball and sunk the white.

“Fuck...”

Lina went to stand up, but Mateo put a hand to her back and pushed her back down to the same position. “Stay there, this won’t take me long. Don’t move a muscle.”

He trailed his finger down her spine and walked around to collect the white ball. She didn’t know why, maybe in preparation for her losing the bet, but Lina did what Mateo ordered and stayed in the exact same position. In a matter of seconds, Mateo sunk the eight ball and grinned, looking directly at Lina.

“I win, Sweetheart. You have to do everything I say for the next twenty-four hours.”