I had nothing to do that night, so I went down to the pool hall.
I was messing around with old arcade games. Two pretty girls approached me and asked me if I wanted to play pool with them.
They were younger than me, much younger, 19 or 20. That wasn't unusual. It was a college town, and the under-21s gravitated towards arcades and hookah lounges for their night life.
I was a grad student, taking my comfort in the games of yesteryear. I wore my going out clothes--boot cut jeans and a button down shirt that downplayed my love handles.
One of them, a thin blonde woman in a sleeveless top and low cut jeans, introduced herself as Beth. Her friend, a zaftig brunette dressed in the height of pop punk fashion, was Eva.
"I'm Kinney," I said.
We shot pool. I wasn't very good, but neither were they. As we made idle conversation, I got a persistent sense that they were flirting with me.
And not in just a fun, playful way.
Beth was doing most of the talking. She'd end every sentence with a flutter of her eyelashes and a mysterious smile that showed the tip of her tongue.
Eva would let me catch her looking at me while I was turning around.
The longer it went on, the more I was convinced it wasn't my imagination.
The game ended. I put my pool cue on the rack and thanked them for the game.
I noticed that Beth was standing there with an expectant smile, while Eva stood nearby looking aloof. Neither of them seemed to acknowledge that I was going anywhere.
They said their co-op was close and that I should follow them there. Before I could formulate an objection, we were already walking. It was a warm, quiet night.
When we got to the co-op, it seemed deserted. A living room full of empty couches.
Instead of giving me the grand tour, they proclaimed we would hang out in Beth's room and hurried me inside. They closed the door behind us.
Whatever preamble there was, didn't last long.
The room had a bed, a papasan, and not much floorspace. Eva sat in the chair and got her phone out.
"Do you think Beth is cute?" she asked, filming us with a sort of bored involvement.
I reddened. Beth just stood there with that expectant smile.
I laughed it off. "Of course. Don't you?"
It was harder not to notice the cut of Beth'S pants. The hard V between her hips. The barest suggestion of her pubis.