“It’s a pity Gabe outlawed every guy at the gym, or you’d have plenty to choose from.”
Devon seriously has a death wish.
Sydney laughs. “That doesn’t bother me. Dating someone from the gym could get messy if it went wrong. I’m best to keep my romantic life separate from my friends until I meet someone I can see a future with.”
“Smart move,” Lena says. “Plenty of options online, anyway. No need to go fishing in the gym’s pool.”
I take Sydney’s hand, give it a squeeze, and swallow past the boulder in my throat. “You’ll find the right guy. He’s out there, and once he finds you, he won’t let go.”
“Aww.” Her expression softens, and emotion shines in her eyes. “Thank you.”
Releasing her hand, I set mine firmly on my lap before I do something stupid like raise her palm to my lips and kiss it.
“No problem. It’s what you deserve.”
In front of us, Lena swats Jase’s upper arm. “You need to take some lessons from Gabe. That’s how you talk to a woman.”
He scowls in the rearview mirror. “Thanks, bro. No need to raise the bar any further.”
A moment later, he flicks the turn signal on and the car swerves into the casino’s parking garage. He finds a spot and we spill out.
I stretch my cramped limbs and groan. “Next time, I call shotgun.”
Jase shakes his head. “Sorry, no can do. My girl gets the front seat.”
Lena rolls her eyes. “You can have it. I don’t mind. Me and Syd can catch up on girl talk in the back.”
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
We head inside. The bowling alley is busy tonight, but there are a few lanes free and after renting shoes, we cross over to one of them and enter our details into the machine. It snaps photos of each of us. Jase looks like a goof, too busy watching Lena bend over to do up her laces to pay attention. Devon strikes a tough-guy pose, and the camera captures Lena mid eye-roll. My photo makes me look like I want to kill someone—which seems to be standard—and Sydney is cute as a fucking button. Because of course she is.
Jase goes first, knocking down an impressive ten pins. Devon has a gutter-ball, and his second only clips the edge. Lena bowls a strike and nods as if she totally expected it. Is she a secret bowling master and no one thought to mention it? I score a respectable nine and then Sydney makes her way up to the lane. She grabs a ball, slips her fingers into it, and adopts an awkward stance. I cross my fingers for her. When it comes to the size of her brain and her manual dexterity, she crushes us all, but sports are another thing entirely. She’s never been good at them, and that’s understating it.
She takes a deep breath, steels herself, and swings her arm back, then forward. The ball launches into the air, smacks back onto the polished wooden surface, and promptly lurches into the gutter. I wince. Every time we come here I want to believe that I’ve amplified how bad she is in my mind, and every time she proves me wrong.
“Welp.” She throws her hands up. “Guess I didn’t magically grow skills since last time.”
We all go another round, and Lena comes out on top.
“Who invited her?” Devon asks, tone teasing.
She shrugs. “I don’t need an invitation.”
“Touché.”
On the third go-around, I simply can’t bear to watch Sydney earn another zero.
“Let me help.”
She shakes her head, cheeks flushed. “There’s no saving me, Gabe. You know I’m hopeless. We go through this every time.”
“And one day it’ll stick.”
“Go on, gorgeous,” Devon urges. “He can’t make it worse.”
She narrows her eyes at him and he holds up his hands placatingly.
“You know we love you whether or not you can bowl,” he adds.
