“Yes,” Marcus says. “And you and Graham are on the same team.”
“Hey!” They both look affronted.
“Why can’t we be on separate teams? We’re always together,” Graham says.
“Do you have a problem always being together?” Noah asks him.
“What if I wanted to kick your ass tonight?” He quirks a brow at him.
“What if I wanted your ass in other ways?” Noah fires back.
“Is this foreplay? Because if so, there are children around,” Bode tells them. “Keep it in your pants.”
“Do you think he’s jealous that we’re here together and Stevie isn’t?” Noah ignores him.
“Oh, definitely,” Graham says, slinging an arm around him. “He’ll see her later.”
“Would you two be nice to him? I don’t want him to leave before we play.” Marcus points a finger at each of them.
“Okay, fine.”
I drop into a seat to untie my shoes and put on the hard bowling shoes. Marcus types our names into the screen as we get going.
“Are we betting on this?” I ask, as Noah takes the seat next to me. Bode, Graham, and Jasper are ready to go.
“I say whichever team wins gets to pick the next team outing,” Bode says.
Marcus grins at him as he picks up his orange ball. “Which means this is going to become a regular thing. Glad I got you on board.”
Bode rolls his eyes back at him. “Yeah, yeah. It’s not like it’s a hardship to spend time with you idiots.”
“Aww, he really loves us.” Jasper ruffles his hair as he grabs a ball and approaches the line. Without missing a beat, he lines up his shot and sends the ball spinning down the lane. The crack echoes loudly as all ten pins come crashing down.
“Damn. Why isn’t he on our team?” I ask.
“Hey.” Noah nudges me in the side. “We’re good.”
Marcus takes his turn, getting a gutter ball.
“We are?” I quirk a brow at him.
“Well, some of us.”
“Sorry,” Marcus says, walking back to wait for the return to spit his ball out. “I forgot I can actually try.”
Bode groans from his spot. “Does this mean I’m going to have to lose on purpose when Caleb is old enough to bowl?”
“If you don’t want him complaining about losing, then yes,” Marcus tells him. This time, he manages to get five pins down.
A waiter comes around and takes our food and drink orders as the game continues. I get a measly three pins down on my first turn, while Noah puts up two goose eggs.
Meanwhile, the other team is crushing us. They’re already up by twenty-five points.
“You know, I really can get on board with this whole bowling thing,” Jasper says.
“Only because you’re on the winning team,” Noah goads. Jasper ignores him, pulling out his phone, an annoyed look washing over his face.
“What’s wrong with you?” Noah asks.
