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Seventeen

Author: Ese Gwede
last update Last Updated: 2025-03-21 17:17:36

~Reid~

The sound of billiard balls cracking against each other echoed through the private lounge, accompanied by the low hum of jazz from the overhead speakers.

I lined up my next shot, calculating the angle as the familiar voice behind me broke the silence.

“You’re overthinking it.”

Without looking up, I replied, “I always think.”

“You always overthink,” my best friend, Luke Hayes, countered, leaning lazily against his pool cue with a smirk. “Maybe that’s why you suck at this game.”

With a sharp tap, I sent the cue ball gliding across the green felt. It clipped the corner of the solid three ball—just barely—sending it into the pocket.

I straightened, giving him a pointed look. “Still winning, aren’t I?”

Luke chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. Remind me again how you manage to beat me without ever having fun?”

I ignored his jab and chalked my cue. “Are you here to lose, or to lecture me?”

“Both,” he shot back easily. “And to find out why you’ve been so goddamn tense lately.”

I glanced up at him,
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