“I mean here,” she said. “In the club. With Ricky.”

“He seems to think otherwise.”

I said it calmly, but as I reached to line up for my shot, Lily suddenly took hers, the ball cracking hard against my hand.

“Whoops,” she said.

“Lily . . .” CJ warned under his breath.

I turned to her. “I’m not in your way.”

“Huh?”

I met her gaze. “It wasn’t happening, even without me here.”

I was trying to convey the message as obliquely as possible, but when I went to line up my shot again, another ball smacked into my knuckles.

“Let me put that more bluntly,” I said, setting down my cue. “I’m not stopping you from getting Ricky.”

Her cheeks reddened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My mistake. If you’ll just play pool, then so will I.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

CJ cut in. “That if you don’t shut your mouth, neither will she, and I don’t think you’re going to like what she has to say, Lily-girl.”

I lined up my shot. She brought her cue down hard on my hand. CJ grabbed it from her, but a look from Wallace warned him to stay out of it.

“Okay, let’s clear the air,” I said. “The day I walked in here, you were no closer to having Ricky than the first time you laid eyes on him. That’s no insult to you. You just aren’t his type. You could dance naked on the table and pour tequila down his throat, and you still wouldn’t—”

She flew across the table at me. Or she tried to. It isn’t a maneuver to be attempted by anyone without gymnastics training. So it was more of a “scramble onto the table and crawl over” at me.

I grabbed her by the arm and threw her down. Then I planted one boot on her stomach and leaned in. “Maybe it would make you feel better to knock me around, but you don’t seem to be very good at it. So I’m going to take my foot off you, and we’ll retreat to our respective corners and call it a draw.”

This seemed a perfectly reasonable solution. But as soon as I stepped off, she went for me again. CJ grabbed her from behind and looked at Beau, who backed away, hands up.

“Meribeth?” CJ called to Lily’s mother. “Take your girl out of here. I don’t want to see her back for a month.”

Lily howled. Meribeth tried to wheedle the suspension down to a week. I glanced at Wallace, but he shook his head, telling me not to interfere. Then he picked up a pool cue and motioned for the game to resume.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE