Beached.

Hit the Deck

I'd never been to The Hard Deck. I've never even heard of The Hard Deck. I also didn't make it a habit of hanging out with service people or at places they frequented. But here I was, an honorary member of the group after a competitive, but fun, day of dogfight football.

I pulled into the parking lot, killed the engine, checked myself in the rearview mirror and got out of the car.

I was pocketing my key when I heard my name. I looked up to see Phoenix, Coyote and Fanboy waving at me from near the door. I waved and continued toward them.

We walked in together and immediately spotted Jake and Rooster at the billiard table. Rooster gave me and Phoenix side hugs once we approached. "You made it, MVP!"

"Wait." Phoenix said. Everyone looked at her. "Honorary callsign? MVP?"

Everyone nodded and vocalized agreement. They began a mini chant of my new nickname. "Ok! Ok! Simmer down!" I coaxed. Fanboy placed a beer in my hand, I tipped it toward him as a thank you. He tipped his and winked.

"Ok, MVP." We all turned to Jake, who was lining up a shot. He sank two balls before missing and then stood up to face his audience. "Let's see your skill in pool."

I expelled a heavy breath, and Phoenix and I made eye contact. "Let's play pairs. Phoenix and I against Jake and the partner of his choosing."

His smile ignited. "Rooster, our clear-cut No. 2, how about we show them how it's done?"

Rooster looked at Phoenix and me. We knew Rooster knew it was low odds for him and Jake to win but he went along with it.

"Sure, Hangman. Actually, let's make this even more interesting." He walked over to pick out a cue. "Let's say the losers have to skinny dip immediately following their loss."

Phoenix and I were surprised by his choice of bet. We exchanged looks. "Done," I said and walked toward the boys to shake on the bet. Phoenix and I picked out cues while Jake racked.

Phoenix broke and we were off. We sandbagged the first few plays, unbeknownst to Jake. His confidence was nearly the size of the bar, and Rooster played as if he didn't have any inkling of what was to come.

Once they had four stripes left on the table, Phoenix turned up the heat, sinking five consecutive shots. With each shot, Jake's smile sagged. We weren't concerned as they hadn't managed more than two shots in a row.

As if on cue, Rooster sank two and missed. I readied my pool cue, sank the final two solids, and then tapped the pocket where I would put the eight ball. I turned away from the table, slipped my cue behind my back, hopped on the table edge, looked directly at Jake and tapped the ball in.

"Time for you to get naked." I slid off the table, never taking my eyes off Jake, and blew on the top of my cue as if it were a smoking gun before laying it on the table.

"Holy, shit!" Rooster cackled. He looked at Jake. "We should put her in a plane. You may have met your match!"

I smiled at Rooster. "No, no. Let's allow Jake to keep his status in at least one discipline."

Rooster pointed a thumb at me. "I can't believe you stumbled across her at the beach!" he said to Jake.

"Glad that you did," Phoenix added, laying her cue on the table and standing beside me. We smiled at each other, and I knocked her shoulder with mine.

"Ok!" I clapped my hands. "A round of beers on me and shots for our losers." Jake and I stared at each other. I open-hand motioned to the open patio door. "Losers first."