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“Are you sure you want to do this? You haven’t yelled at me or anything yet.” Maybe it’s my imagination, but his eyes harden and darken.
“We’ll get there, but not today.” As if realizing he didn’t answer my question, he adds, “I’m sure I want to do this.”
I take a deep, steadying breath, trying to prepare myself and calm my nerves. Before I can say I’m ready, we hear Ben yell, “Stop trying to fit in a quickie and let’s go!” I laugh, and just like that, the anxiety releases its hold enough for me to truly feel ready. Trace shakes his head at his friend.
“Let’s go,” I tell him.
He doesn’t double check that I’m ready; he takes my hand and starts leading the way. Melissa smiles at the sight of us. Trace stops in front of Ben.
“Ben, this is Brittany. Brittany, this is my idiot friend, Ben.”
Ben grins and holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
“Are y’all ready?” Trace asks, moving things along.
Our friends nod and soon, we’re on our way. Trace drives and I sit up front with him. Melissa asks what we’re doing and Ben tells her. Should we set up our friends? What if things go bad? I mean, we’ll side with our respective friend, but what if it affects us somehow? There’s enough screwing up that we do on our own. We don’t need outside sources intervening.
Ben and Melissa are talking about their jobs, and I learn that Ben isn’t just Trace’s friend, but also his co-worker. I wonder how much Ben knows about me and my relationship with Trace. Maybe I’ve already made a bad impression. A squeeze of my knee has me looking over at Trace. He glances down at my hand squeezing my wrist, looks at the road, and then mouths Relax.
Right. Fun date with no problems, no pressures, and no thinking. I let go of my wrist, hoping that by not squeezing it, it’ll stop feeding the anxiety. Trace leaves his hand on my knee and I’m not sure if it’s helping or hindering my progress.
We arrive at the bowling alley and Trace sticks close while we wait for shoes and then a lane. While I put on my shoes, he and Ben go searching for balls for everyone.
“When can I marry him?” Melissa whispers from next to me.
I laugh. “Don’t you think that’s a bit soon to think about?”
“I’m just saying that I’m loving him so far. Have you seen his smile? I don’t think I’ve ever seen teeth so straight and white and surrounded by such perfect lips.” Melissa looks away and I follow her gaze to see the guys walking our way. Ben flashes that smile at her and I have to admit, it is a very nice smile.
My phone vibrates and I check it. It’s Rebecca. I hit ignore as Trace takes the seat Melissa vacated. He hands me a ball.
“That one feel okay?”
My fingers fit fine and it doesn’t feel too heavy either. “Yeah; thanks.” He takes it and places it on the ball return. The boys put on their shoes while Melissa enters our names into the system for our game. “So, do your bowling skills reflect your lack of athleticism as well?”
Trace laughs. “I’m actually decent. Not good, but not bad either. What about you?”
I shrug. “I haven’t bowled since I was a kid, so who knows.”
“Ben, you’re up first,” Melissa says.
Our order is Ben, Melissa, me, and then Trace. Ben shakes his hands, rolls his shoulders, and cracks his neck before picking up his ball. As it turns out, he’s quite good, earning a strike on his first bowl. I only knock down three on my first try and two on the second. Melissa and Ben have their heads close together between their turns and Melissa laughs often.
“They seem to be hitting it off,” Trace says when Ben insists on showing Melissa the “proper technique” when she rolls a gutter ball.
“Yeah, they do.”
“I kind of feel like we’re the third wheel.”
I laugh. “They are being neglectful of us.”
A whoop distracts us. With Ben’s help, Melissa was able to get a strike. After this, Ben does make a few efforts to talk to us, but Melissa will say something and it’s game over. I’m positive there will be another date after this one. It’s fun, though. Ben has a knack for cracking jokes and being sarcastic. Then, he’ll say something sultry and flirty and it draws Melissa in all over again.
“Hey,” Ben pokes his head between our seats when we’re on the way home. “We’re going to grab a bite to eat. Do you mind dropping us off with my car first?”
“Sure,” Trace answers.
