Page 15 of Daring Destiny
“Cool.” I put my glass down and rack the pool balls. “You’re in my hood now. I come here to unwind every so often. No pretenses, no pressure. Just cheap beer, bad lighting, and pool tables with shitty cue sticks.”
I set up my break shot and feel Brennan watching me, like he’s trying to figure me out. The truth is, I’m trying to figure him out too. He’s not wrong about being crazy busy, I’ve been following his progress in the tech world. CognifyAI seems to be at a real tipping point.
It’s ridiculous, really—becoming invested in a guy who essentially ghosted me. Something about Brennan draws me in, even though I hate to admit it to myself.
“Nice break. You’re defo a ringer.” He claps loudly when I scatter the balls across the table and sink both a solid and a stripe.
“You’redeforight.” I wink at him after I sink all but three of the solids. “You play much?”
Brennan lines up his shot. “No, maybe you can teach me a thing or two.”
He takes his turn, managing to sink a stripe, but doesn’t set himself up for success. When he misses wildly on the next one, Brennan shakes his head glumly. Then winks at me with a self-deprecating smile.
I can’t help but laugh. “Well, at least you’re honest about your skills.”
“Honesty’s important.” He shrugs.
I chalk my cue and pocket my final three solids in rapid succession, followed by a behind my back, eight ball in the corner, shot for the win.
We play another round and the conversation once again flows easily—light and playful. We chat about stupid, innocuous stuff with, surprisingly, enough subtle flirting to keep things interesting. Like a really good first date.
Which is weird, isn’t it?
Over the course of the evening, Brennan loosens up quite a bit. He astutely observes how I line up shots and learns shockingly fast. He even manages to get close to winning a game or two. His competitiveness shows me a different side of him—confident, witty, and a bit mischievous.
“So,” he asks as I lean over the table, “how’d you end up in high-end real estate?”
I pause, not expecting the question. It’s not like I’m going to give him my whole back sob-story, but he seems genuinely curious.
“It’s the kind of career I have control of, to be honest.” I look up at him. “College wasn’t an option for me so I needed a job where I could use my people skills to make decent money. Real estate fit the bill. Turns out I’m skilled at selling people their dream homes.”
He folds his arms across his chest. “Yeah. It seems to have worked out well for you.”
“It has.” I sink the shot and move around the table. “As of last year, I’m officially one of the top-selling agents in the country.”
Brennan nods approvingly. “Congratulations. What a wonderful accomplishment.”
“So, I’ve been following you in the tech news. I get why you’re spread thin—you seem to be pulled in a lot of directions.” I chalk my cue.
He looks a bit surprised. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me?”
“It’s not hard.” I decide to play it cool. “Your name keeps popping up on my feed.”
“Yeah, the past couple of years have been pretty intense.” Brennan’s smile constricts and he looks away.
Catching the tension, I decide to give the man a break. No more tests, the guy’s wound tight. “So much pressure. I hope you find better ways to release it than a game of pool.”
He looks at me quizzically and hesitates. Shit. I realize he thinks I’m asking about his sex life instead of letting him off the hook for leaving me hanging for six months.
Finally, he answers, “Not really. Been too focused on work, I guess.”
“Someone as driven as you…” I give him a knowing smile. “It must be hard to find time for anything else. I appreciate you meeting me tonight.”
Then, almost casually, he shocks the fuck out of me. “What happened between you and Jake?”
“Jake? My ex from high school?” I miss my shot so wildly, the cue ball clatters off the side and rolls across the floor.
Brennan picks it up and places it back on the table, looking slightly embarrassed. “Um…yeah? I never comprehended what you saw in him. He was kind of a jerk, honestly.”