He turns to me, no hint of apology in the crystal of his blue eyes, and then tucks a strand of hair that’s fallen loose from my half-up bun. “You tell the story, baby. I love to hear you tell it.”
The moment he stands, Sandra slides over to sit closer to me. “A haunted house? Now, that’s a meet-cute I’ve never heard of.”
“You listening to this, baby?” Blake asks as he motions to me with the neck of his beer bottle.
Danielle hums in response while not looking up from her phone, and I swear Miss Linch leans in like she’s just caught me in her web.
“Uh, right, so a haunted house.”
Bennett approaches the lane with his ball in tow, and with everyone facing me, he looks back over his shoulder and blows me a kiss.
A vulgar retort sits on the tip of my tongue, but I’m forced to smile and pull a story out of my ass, because even Danielle is paying attention now.
“It was a few weeks before Halloween and I went to a haunted house out in Cannon Beach with some of my friends. I don’t like haunted houses,” I explain, my cheeks warming up. “Because I hate surprises. They just really, really get under my skin.” I emphasize each word just for Bennett. “But it was my friend’s birthday.”
Bennett steps back from the lane after missing every single pin and walks down to retrieve his ball. “What was that friend’s name again?”
My eyes dart around searching for inspiration before landing on the beer bottle in Blake’s hand. “Coors—ina.”
“Ah, that’s right. We haven’t seen Coorsina since the wedding.”
“She’s one busy girl,” I tell everyone.
“Didn’t she start brewing her own beer?” he asks as the machine spits out his ball again.
I shake my head. “I don’t recall. Anyway, the haunted house. We went inside and everything was so cheesy, but the jump scares were awful. Then… then this clown appeared out of nowhere—”
Bennett spins around, his brow pinched and jaw dropped open.
“I screamed right in his face. And I guess I must have startled him, because he screamed right back at me.”
Sandra snorts. “Gave him a taste of his own medicine.”
“Exactly!” My lips curl into a grin as I nod my head. “It was this high-pitched, girlish scream.”
“I was in character,” Bennett says as he makes his return, having knocked out four pins before his ball fell into the gutter. “She always leaves out this part. The clown was maniacal. His backstory was really interesting actually—”
Danielle gets up to take her turn, and I wrap my arm around Bennett’s bicep, leaning my head there.
“Oh, darling, you’re always so serious about your craft.”
“Ben,” Brady says, “can I call you Ben? Are you a man of the theater?”
“He is!” I answer for him.
“Oh, dude!” Marshall scoots to the edge of his seat. “I’ve been looking for an improv partner for months now.”
“Do you hear that, honey?” I ask before turning back to our audience with big doe eyes. “He has such a hard time making friends.”
Miss Linch doesn’t really know what to make of all this. “So, he was a clown in a haunted house?” she asks.
“Yes,” Bennett chimes in. “And then my fragile little bird choked on her piece of gum, so I immediately knew what to do.” He turned to Sandra and Greta. “I take first aid very seriously.”
Sandra is enthralled and Greta is charmed by this.
“If only more young people would,” Greta tells him.
Bennett looks down at me and runs his knuckle along the apple of my cheek, and I suck in a breath. His finger is cool against my warm skin and it’s a bit of a shock is all.
