Pockets of Pride

"Well, shit. That didn't go like I thought it would," Fred grumbled as he watched the 8-ball slam into the corner pocket.

"Really? I did," a smug Owen smirked.

"Whatever, you got lucky, kid. I need a shot!" Fred announced as he walked over to the bar and poured himself a shot of whiskey.

"Guess that means we're up next, Austin," Harvey announced.

The group down in the rec room had decided to play a tournament of eight-ball with eight players. The names for the first round of action had been picked out of a bowl, with Owen defeating Fred in the opening matchup.

Austin pried his eyes away from another college bowl game at the sound of his name. Sighing, he lifted himself off the couch, taking the offered pool cue from Harvey. The football fanatic didn't have any interest in taking part in the pool tournament but gave in when his girlfriend mentioned it could help appease her father. Didn't I already agree to go play poker?

Following Harvey's racking of the balls, Austin paused, leaning over to watch a big play on the flat screen tv. The ultra-competitive teenager then shocked most of the tournament participants by giving a tepid break. Lacey, not much a pool player herself, felt a little bit of embarrassment by her boyfriend's lack of effort.

Sitting on a barstool, Fred had a sudden idea after watching Austin. "Hey, how about the loser's punishment is having to do a shot? In fact, two shots like I just did." Fred held up his empty shot glass to further emphasize his meaning.

There were either murmurs of agreement or shrugs at his idea. Satisfied that his suggestion had been agreed to, Fred leaned back on his stool as Harvey lined up his first shot. Harv's going to **** this kid. Getting the Rusk brat liquored up is a great idea. A perfect opportunity to find out what his old man is up to with the campaign. Grinning at his plan and Harvey knocking his first ball in a pocket with authority, Fred's smile vanished at what came next. Harvey not only missed an easy shot but set up an even easier chance for Austin.

"Harv, what the hell?" Fred asked. He knew the miss by his oldest friend was entirely out of character for the expert pool player.

Harvey glanced over at his friend and gave him a wink. "Just getting warmed up." Easily able to read the other man's body language after all these years, Fred realized that Harvey missed on purpose. Great, he wants to let the kid think he has a chance. Well, that shit can backfire at times.

"Woo-hoo! Let's go, Auss!" Lacey cheered as her boyfriend sank his first ball in the pocket.

Unfortunately for his adoring girlfriend, Austin's next shot missed its intended target and instead knocked in one of Harvey's solid-colored balls. The older man proceeded to knock in two more of his balls before missing another moderately challenging attempt on purpose.

"Come on, Austin. You can do it!" Lacey's encouragement snapped his attention away from the television screen, and the quarterback realized it was his turn again. "Show them what my man can do!"

Finally, Austin seemed to put some effort into a shot, but sadly for the petite redhead cheering him on, it was far too much of an effort. The cue ball bounced right off the table and all the way across the room. Lacey winced in embarrassment, and most of the men around the room tried to hide their smiles while Sean hurried to grab the cue ball.

Harvey decided he had given Austin enough chances, took the cue ball from Sean, and proceeded to run the table.

"Alright, kid. Time for your punishment," Fred announced as he poured whiskey into two shot glasses. "Drink 'em up."

"Yuck," Austin remarked after he finished his two shots.

"What's the matter? You don't like whiskey?" Fred inquired, getting a head shake back. "Then wash the taste down with a beer."

Austin guzzled down most of the beer from the bottle, gladly accepting another bottle from the older man before moving back over to take his seat on the couch. His attention once again solely focused on the football game.

"Ready, cupcake?" Clive asked his daughter after he finished racking the balls for their duel.

Lacey's eyes had been busy following her boyfriend's movements, so she only grunted in acknowledgment. Anger bubbling up over Austin's lack of interest in her match; she slammed the cue ball into the break. Her fierce effort paid off with three striped balls and only one solid ball going into various pockets.

"Great job, Lacey!" Sean applauded. He noticed her glaring over at Austin, who never looked up from the tv.

"Have you been practicing?" Clive asked his daughter as she knocked in another striped ball. Unlike Lana, Lacey never showed much interest when he tried to teach his two girls how to play.

"Nope," Lacey replied as she missed her next shot.

Clive rapidly went on a run, making three shots before missing. Next, Lacey made a pretty impressive shot earning a cry of support from Sean. However, feeling overconfident, she failed on her next attempt. Her father took advantage and quickly caught up and passed her, clearing all the solid balls save for the 8-ball from the table.

"See, cupcake, you should have paid more attention to my lessons like your sister did. Now that's going to cost you," Clive teased his youngest daughter. Lacey wasn't happy with her father's I-told-you-so attitude, nor with her boyfriend's intense interest in the football game and not her match. She watched as her dad lined up his shot on the 8-ball, waiting until he started to move before she spoke.

"Dad, I'm pregnant."

A shocked silence hung over the room as heads swung around to look at Lacey and then her father. Clive's jaw hanging down matched Austin's over on the couch. The silence was finally broken by loud laughter from Fred.

"This isn't funny," Jeff sternly told the laughing man.

Slowly, a grin formed around Lacey's mouth as her father stared at her in horror. "I win, Daddy." The petite redhead nodded down to the pool table.

There on the pool table's red felt, something appeared to be missing: the white cue ball. Sean quickly put two and two together, realizing that Clive had scratched on his attempt to hit the 8-ball and thus lost.

"Wh--that's not funny, Lacey!" Clive shouted as he realized what his daughter had done.

"I might not have learned from your lessons, Dad, but I did learn from mom's. She taught me that the best way to beat you is by distraction." She moved to high-five the still laughing Fred and fist-bumped Sean.

"That's nothing to joke around about. You could have given me a heart attack or stroke," Clive admonished his daughter, who just stuck her tongue out at him. "Wait until your mother hears about this."

"Make sure you wait until I'm there, Dad. I can't wait to see her laugh too."

"Okay, kiddo, I'll try not to embarrass you too much," Jeff remarked as he finished racking the balls.

Sean made his break. He swiftly proceeded at putting on a clinic as he knocked in one ball after another.

"Oh, were you supposed to have a turn?" Sean asked after knocking in the 8-ball to win.

"Why, you little brat!" Jeff took his defeat in stride, slapping the teenager on the back and chuckling at his beating.

"Impressive showing, Sean," Harvey stated as Lacey threw her arms around the teenager in a victory celebration.

"Maybe we'll face each other in the finals," the ginger suggested to the blond-haired teen. She then watched gloatingly as her father knocked back his two loser shots. Fred then made a gin and tonic, Clive's preferred drink, for him.

Owen stood waiting impatiently for Sean to rack the balls for their game. He wanted to put the cocky teenager in his place. However, the newcomer didn't know that Sean wasn't acting cocky but just returning Jeff's long-running teasing of him. The college student got off to a good start sinking two solid-colored balls on the break. Another made shot followed before Sean's first opportunity.

"Going for the easy shot first?" Owen questioned with a sneer.

"Uh, yeah," Sean responded as he knocked in his first ball. What's his problem? That's a shot everyone would go after. Is this still about Whitney? "That's the point of pool."

"I don't play pool; I play billiards," Owen stated haughtily.

Another successful attempt for Sean came next before he was **** to try a difficult shot around two of Owen's solid balls. A little too much spin on the cue ball resulted in Sean putting Owen's 2-ball into the pocket.

"Thanks, but I don't need your help," Owen stated with a glare. He lined up a quick shot and made it but failed to break his next ball out from a small traffic jam.

"Kick his ass, Sean," Lacey cheered, sending Owen a dirty look for his comments.

Owen's loosening up the stack of balls paid off for Sean, and he proceeded to cut into the other guy's advantage. Unfortunately, he missed on his attempt to put his last striped ball into a corner pocket.

Owen seized on his opportunity and finished off his last remaining solid balls. Yet, the 8-ball was too close to the side with Sean's 13-ball wedged in next to it. The balls' angle and placement proved too tricky, and Owen missed on his chance to win.

"Yes!" screamed Lacey. Harvey nodded in relief at Owen's miss. Something about the way his daughter's boyfriend carried himself during both this match and his previous one with Fred rubbed the elder Diamond wrong.

Forcing himself to remain calm, Sean took his time exploring several possible angles on the 13 ball and how it would set up his hopefully next shot on the 8-ball.

"You gonna take all day?" Owen prodded impatiently. "Maybe a bathroom break or something?"

Ignoring the attempt to distract him, Sean successfully knocked the 13-ball into the side pocket, leaving the cue ball almost precisely where he wanted it to stop. Still refusing to look or even acknowledge the increasing belligerent comments from Owen, Sean lined up his winning shot and made it.

Cheers erupted while Owen made a remark about it being Sean's lucky day. Lacey gave her family friend another victory hug but pulled back when she heard a voice ask a question.

"What's going on?" Austin asked, staring hard at Sean and Lacey for the embrace they just ended.

"Sean beat Owen and is in the final!" Lacey joyfully announced.

"Oh," Austin said without a care and carried over his two empty beer bottles to the bar. There Fred happily offered the teenager another beer.

"Ready, Miss Stratton?" Harvey inquired. Lacey looked up with a start at remembering she still had to face Whitney's father in a game.

"I'm going first?" she asked, nervously. Seeing Harvey's nod, Lacey moved to take the break. However, this time, her nerves caused her to do a miserable job and not knock in any balls.

Harvey quickly picked the solid-colored balls and sank one of them into a pocket.

"Shit," muttered Lacey as she watched her likely doom approach.

"Wait, Lacey beat her dad?" Austin asked from the bar. With the football game at halftime, he had finally noticed his girlfriend's earlier victory, and she wasn't happy about it.

"So, I've been thinking about getting a new car. I'll probably stop out at Orrin Automotive after the new year, but I've heard your father hasn't been there as much of late. Any idea if he'll be around then, Austin?" Fred questioned the teenager. Jeff sitting on another barstool gave Fred a curious look.

"I don't know," Austin replied.

"Well, has he been around more of late?"

"I don't know," Austin replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Someone else there can help you."

"I prefer to deal with Orrin. We go way back if you didn't know," Fred exaggerated his friendship with Austin's father. The teen's lack of conversation began to frustrate him.

"Damn," Harvey said after he missed a chance to knock his fourth straight ball into a pocket. An angry Lacey grabbed the cue for her first turn since the break.

"What's Orrin been up to so much to keep him out of the dealership?" Fred continued his line of questioning.

"I don't know. He started a charity or group to help out other car businesses," Austin answered with disinterest.

"Yes!" Lacey cheered herself on after making her first shot.

"That's an odd charity. How come he picked that?" Fred pressed again.

"No clue. My dad doesn't explain stuff to me; he just tells me what to do," Austin said, his attention on Sean encouraging Lacey for her next shot. "Why don't you ask him yourself."

Fred looked up at the ceiling in frustration before turning toward Jeff and rolling his eyes. He mouthed to the big man "fucking dumbass" about Austin.

"No!" moaned Lacey as she accidentally sunk one of Harvey's solid balls instead of her own into the pocket.

Harvey proceeded to make the girl pay for her mistake as he ran the table. Shaking hands with her after his victory, he encouraged her to play more often. "You have some skills, Lacey. Off at college, it never hurts to surprise guys who assume a girl can't play pool."

"Lana loves to do just that for money, Mr. Diamond. Good game," Lacey responded before turning to Sean. "Now go kick his ass, Sean!"

Harvey chuckled at his daughter's friend as he racked the balls back up. Lacey moved over to take her loser shots. Grimacing at the strong tastes of the whiskey, she happily grabbed the daiquiri Fred made for her. The redhead noticed that Finn's father seemed to be having a good time playing bartender by making various drinks for each losing player. Her father had his usual gin and tonic, Mr. Lockett a screwdriver, and Fred sipped on an Old Fashioned. Austin seemed to be putting away domestic beers while Owen nursed an imported beer.

"Nice of you to bother to watch one of my matches," the petite teen sarcastically said to her boyfriend.

"I was watching the game," Austin replied as if that was the only explanation needed.

"Good game?" Fred asked while Sean started his match with Harvey.

"So-so," Austin responded with a shrug, unknowingly angering his girlfriend more. She moved back over to watch the championship match.

Both Harvey and Sean struggled on their first shots after the teen sunk a striped ball into a side pocket on the break. Sean gained a slight advantage when he knocked the 10-ball into a corner pocket. However, he failed to capitalize on it by missing his next shot. Harvey quickly missed his next chance too.

"Maybe you need glasses if you can't see that big ole ball!" Lacey mocked her friend's dad. She looked away when Harvey gave her a sharp look.

Sean repeated his previous round by sinking one striped ball into a corner pocket but failing on his next shot. Now down by three balls, Harvey tried to focus on catching up but found Lacey's trash-talking distracting.

"Having trouble bending over, old man? It must suck to get old!"

Harvey sank the 3-ball into a pocket and then the 5-ball. He glanced over to see a grimace on the ginger's face.

"What are you looking at, pervert? Never seen a girl you can't have?" Lacey's comments caused Harvey's eyes to widen in shock and Clive to sternly warn her to tone it down. "Sorry," she sheepishly apologized.

However, her attempts to throw off Harvey's rhythm worked, and he missed his next endeavor. Sean took advantage, sinking two more balls into pockets. Both were difficult shots that impressed Harvey.

"That's it, Sean! Show these old fools that younger is better." Lacey's excitement proved short-lived as her schoolmate scratched on his next shot while also pocketing one of Harvey's balls.

"Luckily, you don't need to play pool to make a living cause you suck!" Lacey directed at her friend's father.

Austin, bored from watching the pool and not happy with Lacey acting as Sean's personal cheerleader, perked up when he noticed the football game had started the second half. The teenager moved back over to the couch to watch what he felt was a more exciting game.

"Empty out those pockets, mister! You must have a rabbit's foot in there to make that lucky of a shot."

Somehow Sean could block out the screaming cheerleader standing behind him, but Harvey couldn't. It wasn't that Lacey's insults were getting under his skin; they weren't. Instead, the much more experienced pool player found her attacks so cheesy he couldn't stop from being amused. And that served her purpose in distracting him just enough.

The table now featured just one striped ball for Sean and three solid balls for Harvey. As Sean sank the last striped ball, Lacey bounced on her toes in excitement, sloshing some of her daiquiri all over her arm.

"So, when are you two going to start dating?"

Sean badly missed his intended tap of the cue ball when he heard Harvey's softly asked question. The older man's distraction worked as the cue ball barely moved. Sean looked up at Whitney's father in disbelief, getting a wink back from the older man.

"Hey! Th-that's not funny, you big jerk!" Lacey spat out, glanced over to make sure Austin hadn't heard. He didn't. "You want me to bring up your little pumpkin?"

Harvey pocketed a ball into the side pocket.

"Maybe talk about all the dick that Whitney--"

"Lacey!"

"Sorry, Dad."

While Harvey surveyed the table and the two remaining solid-colored balls only an inch and a half apart, Lacey tried to think of another way to distract Whitney's father to miss his upcoming shot. She grabbed the shortest pool cue she could find.

Holding the stick with both hands, Lacey struggled to wave it in the proper way she wanted it to go. Internally cursing that she didn't have time to find a shorter stick, the redhead watched as Harvey lined up his shot.

"Imperio. Expelliarmus. Reparo. Lumos. Stupefy," Lacey chanted.

Up to now, Sean had managed to ignore most of what Lacey had been shouting, but he looked over at her now. "Are those Harry Potter spells?"

Nodding while shushing him, Lacey continued. "Crucio. Avada Kedavra. Bloody hell!"

The cue ball connected with the 6-ball, which then knocked the 4-ball into the corner pocket, the 6-ball then slowly rolled toward the pocket too, teetering on the edge before falling in as well.

"Fucking stupid magic," Lacey mumbled, tossing the pool cue to the floor.

Shifting around the pool table, Harvey lined up and made the task of ending the game look easy. "Great game, Sean. You and your cheerleader make for one hell of a distracting duo."

Fuming over the defeat, Lacey stomped away, only momentarily stopping to reach out and grab another daiquiri that Fred offered. Continuing towards the stairs, she loudly informed her boyfriend, "Austin, I'm going upstairs." After a few more steps, she looked back again. "Austin! I'm going upstairs!"

Intensely focused on the bowl game, he waved his arm at Lacey without turning away from the tv. "Yeah, okay."

Sean watched as the pissed off girlfriend stomped loudly over the stairs before disappearing from sight. "You two would make for an interesting couple," Harvey whispered into the teen's ear from behind. The older man then walked over to the bar to receive congratulations from his friends. Sean followed as he knew it was time for him to take his losing lumps in the form of whiskey.

His throat burning after downing the two shots, Sean tried to turn down Fred's offer of a drink. "I don't really like to drink."

"Kid, none of that nonsense on this trip. You're drinking, so don't fight it." Fred slid over a gimlet to Harvey, who nodded in thanks. Fred thought for a moment over what to make the teenager. Finn's father quickly made another gimlet and slid it over to Sean. "Finn said you like mysteries. This is a popular drink in those old detective stories. Enjoy!"

Sean took a sip and had to admit it didn't taste too bad. Harvey nodded to him before turning back to check the clock.

"It looks like we timed that almost perfectly. Who's ready for poker?"

Jeff and Fred nodded eagerly. Clive shrugged while Austin didn't react at all. Sean doubted if he even heard Mr. Diamond.

"What about you, Sean? Change your mind?" Harvey inquired. "It never hurts to watch and learn."

"Uh, no, thanks. I think I'll stay here."

"Well, I'm in!" Owen said with a smug look at Sean, who couldn't be sure but thought he saw Harvey roll his eyes at the announcement.

"If anyone needs to hit the bathroom or freshen up, now's the time to do so," Harvey declared. Everyone but Austin began to move.

"Have fun with the ladies, kid," Fred said with a dismissive wave at Sean.