Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

Chapter 563

"Three rounds!"

"No problem," I shot back, grabbing the cue stick that felt just right in my hands.

"Good choice," he said, eyeing me like I'd just picked out some rare treasure.

I raised an eyebrow.

He smirked. "That's my favorite cue."

"Is that so?" I asked, matching his playful tone as I glanced down at the stick. That's when I noticed the engraving.

Curious, I leaned in closer. It read 'Hart.'

Before I could stop myself, the words slipped out: "This isn't your cue... it's..."

I almost said Hayden's but caught myself just in time. No way. Hayden and Hernan were total enemies. There was no way Hernan would have one of his cues, especially not something personalized like this. It was clearly for someone who took snooker seriously.

I remembered asking Hayden once how good he was at snooker. He'd shrugged it off like it didn't matter, saying he was "just average." No way someone like him would splurge on a custom cue. And if he did, there was no way he'd leave it for Hernán to use like a trophy. "Whose is it?" Hernan asked, clearly amused by my reaction.

"I don't know," I replied, keeping my cool. "But it's definitely not yours-someone else's name's on it."

Hernan gave me a thumbs-up. "Impressive-snooker girl knows her stuff."

'Snooker girl.' That was what Bruno used to call me. And now Hernan was using it too. Coincidence? Or was there something more going on here?

But I wasn't about to leave it at that. I locked eyes with him, unflinching. "Don't call me that."

Hernan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Because a jerk used to call me that," I said, staring him down.

He laughed, clearly entertained. "If you want to insult me, just say it. No need to beat around the bush."

I didn't respond. I wasn't trying to insult him, but if he wanted to take it that way, whatever.

The balls were set. I looked over the table. "Let's do this."

Hernan waved me on, clearly wanting me to take the first shot.

Since he set the rules, I didn't hold back. I stepped up, snapped the cue ball into place, and broke- clearing the table in one go-just me and the cue ball left. A perfect sweep.

Hernan didn't flinch. No tension, no worry-just a casual round of applause. "Want a break, or should we keep going?"

JANDIC

RES

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Chapter 563

"Keep going!"

We played for the next half hour, and I breezed through all three rounds. Three flawless breaks. Hernan didn't even get to touch his cue once.

"As expected from a talented disciple," he said, clearly impressed.

I smirked. Sure, some of my skills were thanks to Steve's training, but mostly? It was all raw talent. Steve had once said I was a born snooker player.

He'd even tried to get Jace to let me play professionally, but Jace shot it down immediately. I could still hear his voice: "Born talent? Pfft, it's just dumb luck." After that, Jace rarely took me to Steve's pool hall anymore. And even when he did, I mostly just watched while he played.

Jace could never admit I was good, no matter how many tables I cleared.

But me? I didn't need anyone's approval. I was good-whether anyone else noticed or not.

I shook off the memories and absentmindedly ran my fingers over the engraving on the cue. I turned to Hernan. "Time to keep your promise." "Alright," he said easily. "Name your terms."