I pull him away, hands still together, squeezing a bit tighter than needed. “Yes…”
“Nothing, man, just trying to stay up on all the goings on around here.” He chuckles.
I let go of his hand. “Well, it’s new, new, like two nights ago.”
“Don’t worry, Kendall will get the scoop,” he says, raising his eyebrows. “You know how she is.”
“Yeah, I sure do.”
Speaking of, Kendall and Ava are whispering, smiling, and laughing. I can only imagine what they are talking about. I walk over. “You ladies ready to win?”
“Hell yeah,” Kendall says as Dane wraps his arms around her waist and they gaze into each other’s eyes, and I can’t help but stare at their love.
Then I feel arms come around my body, and I’m shaken out of my staring session. I look over at her, and with those hazel eyes shining back at me, they say it all. I wrap both my arms around her with a slight squeeze.
Logan chirps in. “Guys, really get a room…all of you.” He shakes his head and still approaches us. “So is everyone warmed up.”“Nope.” Kendall sprints to the balls, grabs one, and throws a few down the lane. Dane strolls over, and they warm up.
“I’m grabbing some drinks. Want anything?” Logan asks.
We both shake our heads no. “Thank you, though,” Ava says with her arms still around me.
“What were you two giggling about?” I pull her into me.
She clears her throat. “Well, she asked what was going on between us because we looked cozy out in the parking lot. And I asked if her house was rented yet.” Her face tips upward, and a smile that reaches her eyes has me ready to kiss her, making a scene. But I won’t.
“That’s what Dane asked about, too. Wait…you asked her what?” I ask, picking my jaw up from the floor. After she mentioned keeping her van, I thought that might be her backup plan if things don’t work out permanently here.
For her to ask Kendall about her house rental, it has my chest filling with warmth. “You’re in this?”
“I’m in this…all the way.” Her smile falters for a second.
I embrace her, arms tightening around her body, and when we let go, I kiss her softly.
The announcer gives us the five-minute warning to wrap up our warmups, interrupting our moment. But now it’s game time, I’mpretty serious about bowling. I hold up my hand for a high-five. “We’re winning.”
She slaps my hand, but then says, “I think I’ll beat you, though. You're staring at the best player here. I’d even say better than you.”
“Is that a challenge, Ava Sinclair?” I raise my eyebrow at her as a slight smirk appears on my face.
She squints at me with those hazel eyes with specks of gold. Putting one hand on her hip, she teases. “I think it is. You ready to be beat by a girl?”
I laugh hard, really hard. “There’s no way you’ll beat my score today. I’m on fire.”
“Is that what you call on fire? You’re more like a baby flame today.” She smiles at me and winks. She fucking winks at me.
“Game on.” I rub my hands together to warm them up. “I think I’ll be kicking someone’s ass today.”
“Well, I guess we shall see who is the queen, or king of bowling today.” She turns on her heels and walks straight to our lane. Over her shoulder, she says, “Are you coming?”
It is on!I’m bringing my A game. She’ll be whining because I blew her score out of the water.
After our first ten frames of bowling, I’m in the lead but not by much. “Are we done, or are we playing another frame?” I gesture to the lane.
“You’re the pro, but I’m not that far behind you. Yes, let's keep going. I’m upping my game, so watch out.” The look in her eyes, she is out for blood. I never imagined her being this competitive. It’s sexy as hell on her. All fired up, ready to win. I’m happy she’s on my team, even though we are battling among ourselves.
“Are you one of those sore losers? If you lose, you won’t throw your bowling ball and start throwing your shoes, will you?”
She stomps over to me with her finger waving in the air in my direction. “What do you think I am, some sort of cavewoman? No, Kai, I’m not. But what I will do is demand a rematch, which we won’t need because I’m winning this.”
