Chapter 7
The sightsand sounds of the bowling alley breathed life into Kira. Country tunes played in the background somewhere, heard only between the loud clatter of exploding pins, beeping arcade games, and exuberant cheers. It took a little while to get their shoes and a few minutes more to get their lane, but at last it was time toplay.
“I’ll get our names entered into this thing while you go pick me a lucky ball.” She hovered over the keyboard, squinting to read the directions on the glowingscreen.
“Wait,” Anthony said. “You actually trustmeto pick out yourball?”
She took her eyes off the screen, back to his handsome face. “Sure. Get a ten-pounder, will you? My thumbs are too big for anything smaller.” Kira had long ago gotten over the fact that she—unlike most of the girls she’d been on group dates with—didn’t have dainty, child-like thumbs. Marissa always said it was her own fault for popping herknuckles.
At the blinking cursor, she tapped Anthony’s name into the open space, but then changed her mind. A quick few taps on the delete key allowed her to give it another try.Rebel boy.In the space below, she tapped out something for herself:Angelgirl.
In the spinning chair, she twisted to scan the place for Anthony. He was hunched before a display of bowling balls, inspecting the selection with caution. Yet her attention shifted to a couple of young women walking directly toward him, the two seeming to conspire as they approached in a huddle. One wore a miniskirt and baggy shirt, while the other wore jeans and a tube top.Miniskirtreached out and tapped hisback.
It was like watching a good show. The suspense that kicked in as Anthony spun to look over his shoulder. Jealousy wasn’t much of an issue, seeing that the girls couldn’t be too far from their teens. Under twenty-one, for sure. The one who’d tapped him said something Kira couldn’t decipher, but whatever it was made the tube top girl mad enough to give her a seething glare. Anthony looked like a kitten trapped in a pit bull’s playground. He shrugged, that bashful-looking grin pulling at his lips, and then pointed over toKira.
Two heads whipped in unison as they scanned the lane with narrowed eyes. Kira raised a hand in the air and grinned. She set her eyes back on Anthony. “Did you pick me a good one, babe?” shehollered.
Miniskirtscrutinized Kira from head to bowling-shoe-covered foot before nudging her friend’s shoulder and walking away. Poor girls. Least they had good taste in guys. Anthony was probably used to being the best-looking guy in the bunch. Easy on the eyes and soft on theheart.
At least, he seemed that way. It was possible the guy was a real heartbreaker. But something told her if that was the case, he wasn’tsetting outto hurt anyone. Her granddad wouldn’t have been so fond of him otherwise. But there was something in those dark brown eyes of his. And that wide, genuine smile that lured a dimple from hiding nearly every time. That same grin he was aiming toward her in that verymoment.
Her heart responded like he’d shot darts at it. A heated sort of ache.Whoa.He might be more trouble than he let on. Whether it was on purpose or no fault of his own, there was no doubt Anthony Marino had definitely broken his share ofhearts.
He turned back to the selection, snatched a tie-dye-looking ball off the rack, and straightened up. His eyes caught hers as he walked back, but darted off to the crowd after a blink. Shyly. For someone as flirtatious as he was—and the guydidknow how to flirt—he shied easily, too. And heaven help her, Kira was a sucker for a guy she could affect in such away.
She stood up as he neared, then placed her palms out in waiting before her. “Is that the luckiest one in all the land?” she asked as he rested it in herhands.
“It is now,” he said with awink.
More zings to the heart. “Where’syours?”
“To make things even, I figured you’d pick it out forme.”
“Brave, aren’t we?” she said. “All right. I’ll be right back.” She gave him a nod, let her shoulder graze his as she walked by, and set her sights on the rows of balls. Would there be one that reminded her of him? A certain look to it, maybe? But then she saw it. A gray sixteen-pounder with a white skull and crossbones. A crimson rose sprouted from one of the empty eye sockets while a thorny green vine twisted its way around the entire skull.Perfect.
It was heavier than she’d have guessed, and the grip holes were spaced so widely apart that she had to carry it over like a baby, one arm wrapped snuggly around it with the other beneathit.
Anthony had taken a seat at the monitor, his back to her as he faced the screen. Kira shifted her gaze up to the larger, overhead screen that displayed their scorecard. The cursor flashed next to where she’d typed the names. He was back-spacing. She stopped walking, watching as he erased thel, r, i, and g.Once the wordgirlwas gone, he typed something new. She watched, unable to hold back a grin as the word appeared one letter at a time:woman.She looked up to see that he’d changed his name too. No longer the rebelboy,but the rebelman.
He spun back and shot to a quick stand once he was through, looking proud of himself as he folded his arms over his chest and looked up at the largescreen.
“Didn’t like that I called you aboy?”she asked, stepping behind the rotatingchair.
Anthony spun around. “I’m not a boy. And you …” he said, giving her a once-over that made her face flush. “Areallwoman.”
She gulped hard. “Well,” she managed, “I can’t argue withthat…”
“Good.” He nodded to the heavy thing cradled in her arms. “I like the ball youchose.”
Kira forced her mind out of its daze. “Oh, yeah. The design on here made me think ofyou.”
“Let me guess,” he said, eyes narrowing as he took the ball and studied it for a blink. “Because I’mdangerous?”
She chuckled. “It looks kind of like one of yourtattoos.”
Anthony looked over his shoulder and pulled the sleeve up on his arm. “This one?” heasked.
She nodded, leaning to inspect it further. “Yes. Because of the roses, I guess.” From a distance it looked more like a scenic sketch of flowers, grass, and trees. But a closer look said there was more to the picture than that. “Is this a graveyard?” she asked,realizing.
