Chapter 200: Wall Slam
"Miss Austin, I’m a very direct person."
Felix Spencer put down his pool cue and walked over to Anne. "If I like someone, I don’t hesitate to say so. I’m very interested in you, Miss Austin. I wonder how you feel about me?"
The man’s gaze was fervent and desirous. As he spoke, he took two more steps forward, closing in on Anne until their bodies were almost touching.
’Too close.’ Anne retreated instinctively.
As she retreated, Felix Spencer advanced. He cornered her until her back hit a square pillar.
The billiards hall had a standard rectangular layout, with three rows of nine pool tables each, evenly divided into three sections by several load-bearing pillars.
Anne was leaning against one of those pillars. Out of her sight, on the other side of it, stood Evan Ford.
The man stood with one hand in his pocket, his expression impassive. He leaned his other hand against the pillar, frowning as he listened to Felix Spencer’s slick talk.
’If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t bother.’ But Anne was his cousin’s best friend.
He knew Felix Spencer had a messy history with women. He couldn’t just stand by and watch his cousin’s best friend get deceived, especially not on his own turf.
If he hadn’t seen it, it wouldn’t be his problem. But he just had to stumble upon it...
’If something happens, who’s responsible?’
"Why are you blushing, Miss Austin?"
A corner of Felix Spencer’s mouth lifted. He raised a hand and planted it on the pillar, trapping Anne against it.
"Can we please just play pool?"
Anne suggested politely.
She was a little nervous. Growing up, she had never been this close to any man other than her brother. She could smell his breath and the scent on his clothes.
Felix Spencer had likely been drinking before asking her out; he had the faint smell of alcohol on him.
"Don’t be so nervous, Miss Austin. Just relax a little."
Felix Spencer stepped back, walked over to the pool table, picked up a cue, and resumed playing.
Just as he was about to sink another ball with one shot, a phone began to ring.
It was Felix Spencer’s phone. The distraction caused him to miss his shot.
"Miss Austin, it’s your turn. Perfect timing, I need to take a call."
The man straightened up, pulled his phone from his trouser pocket, and glanced at the caller ID.
The number ’19’ flashed on the screen. It was the nineteenth woman he was stringing along. If he could seal the deal with her tonight, she would be the nineteenth woman he had successfully seduced and slept with.
Once that was done, his next target would be Anne.
He was very excited about this woman who was completely inexperienced, a total novice at romance who blushed the moment a man got close.
He walked with his phone toward the restrooms, moving farther away to answer the call.
Anne watched Felix Spencer’s figure disappear down the hallway and let out a long sigh. Just as she was about to play, a tall figure suddenly appeared from behind her and to her right.
Before she could see who it was, he raised his hand and planted it on the pillar behind her. She was pinned against the wall again.
"You’re... Anne?"
Evan Ford raised his other hand as well, planting it on the pillar and completely trapping the woman’s petite frame between himself and the column.
He was very close, and the smell of alcohol on him was much stronger than Felix Spencer’s.
Anne raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Mr. Ford?"
"You remember me?"
"You’re Sophie Shaw’s cousin."
"That’s right. I’m Sophie Shaw’s cousin, which is why I’m giving you a friendly warning: stay away from that Felix Spencer."
Anne was puzzled. "You know Mr. Sawyer?"
"He’s a regular here, and he’s a master pick-up artist. You are, most likely, his next target."
"..."
Seeing Anne completely stunned and silent, Evan Ford leaned in closer.
He was six-foot-two, while Anne was only five-foot-three. With such a height difference, trying to look at her face while they talked was a strain.
Bending over was a strain, and tilting his head down was a strain, so he simply pinched Anne’s chin and lifted her face.
"Surprised to hear you’re Felix Spencer’s next target?"
The slight pain in her jawbone snapped Anne back to her senses. She slapped Evan Ford’s hand away from her chin. "Do I know you that well?"
"No."
"Since we don’t, then... goodbye."
Anne ducked down and deftly slipped under the man’s arm to escape.
She put down her pool cue and walked down the same hallway Felix Spencer had taken.
The man hadn’t gone into the restroom but was taking his call around the corner in the hallway outside.
"Babe, I really am out with a friend right now. You go on to the hotel and get the room. I promise I’ll be there within half an hour, okay?"
"Be good. I’ll buy you a new bag tomorrow."
While on the phone, Felix Spencer used a wheedling tone, his voice unnaturally high-pitched. He was obviously coaxing a woman.
Anne watched Felix Spencer with contempt. Unexpectedly, after hanging up, he didn’t head back right away. Instead, he made another call.
This time, it was to one of his partners in crime.
"North, you’ll never guess."
"That chick I met this afternoon? Pretty cute. I asked her out tonight and she came right away. Super easy. If I didn’t have other plans tonight, I’d have gotten her drunk, thrown her over my shoulder, and taken her straight to a hotel for some fun."
"It’s a no-go for today, but I’ll definitely nail her tomorrow night."
"Wanna bet?"
"Sure! What’s the wager?"
...
Felix Spencer was chatting animatedly, completely unaware of Anne standing a short distance behind him.
She turned silently, returned to the billiards hall, picked up her cue, and resumed playing as if nothing had happened.
Evan Ford, the man who had given her the well-intentioned warning, hadn’t left yet. He was at the next table, playing by himself.
Evan Ford had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. With his jacket off, he wore a fitted black shirt tucked into his trim waistline. His posture as he bent over to shoot was very professional, and his firm butt, outlined by the black trousers, was rather eye-catching.
Anne eyed the man’s alluring figure. ’His body is so much better than Felix Spencer’s,’ she thought. ’Felix’s butt isn’t firm at all, his shoulders aren’t broad enough, and his waist isn’t narrow enough. He probably doesn’t even have an eight-pack.’
Catching sight of Felix Spencer returning from his call, she immediately leaned over the pool table with her back to him, pretending to aim for a shot.
As Felix Spencer walked up behind her, she pulled the cue back forcefully and then thrust it forward. With a solid strike, the ball rolled into the pocket.
Meanwhile, Felix Spencer clutched his crotch with a muffled groan and dropped to his knees with a THUD.
The man’s upper body slumped forward until he was kneeling on the floor, trembling all over from the pain.
Anne had just deliberately timed it so that when Felix Spencer walked behind her, she could viciously strike him in the crotch with her cue stick.
Now, seeing the man in so much pain that his forehead was touching the floor, she feigned ignorance and poked his shoulder. "Mr. Sawyer, what’s wrong?"
"N-Nothing... an accident."
"Do you want me to help you up?"
She grabbed one of Felix Spencer’s arms, making a show of helping him up.
Felix Spencer used the leverage from her hand to push his upper body up, but then the woman exclaimed, "Oh! I forgot something very important."
She immediately let go of Felix Spencer’s arm, and with another THUD, the man fell flat on the floor again.
"I forgot to prepare after-dinner fruit for the God of Wealth. My gosh, my memory is getting so bad."
As she spoke, she walked past Felix Spencer, deliberately stepping on the hand he had planted on the floor for support.
"AHH—"
Felix Spencer let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Anne ignored his anguished cry, walked to the sofa to grab her coat and bag, and glanced back at him. "So sorry, Mr. Sawyer. I have to rush home now. You have fun. We’ll have to do this again some other time."
Watching the woman coolly sling her coat over her shoulder, grab her bag, and stride away with a swagger that suggested she’d disown her own family, Evan Ford, at the next table, felt the corners of his mouth lift in a barely perceptible smile.