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He arched a brow. “You didn’t believe me when I said he was competitive. This’ll prove it.”
It was hard for me to decide whether I wanted to be offended or charmed. Sure, it was sweet; he wanted to prove he hadn’t been lying to me and he’d been trying to help me out with a friendly warning about Todd. Then again, a kissing bet sounded offensive for the poor, unsuspecting party members involved. And honestly, how many times was he going to be smooching on Kiera, trying to make Todd react? Ugh.
But I couldn’t just turn him down. The boy needed to learn not to issue such challenges. And expect to win.
“Fine,” I said. “You’re on.”
No way did I think he’d triumph. Marching away from him, I rented my shoes only to discover I had three extra twenty-dollar bills in my wallet that hadn’t been there before. Pausing, I lifted my face and glanced toward the exit, wondering—
Would Barry go through my purse to give me extra cash?
Unease roiled though me at the thought of him digging into my private things.
Using my own cash to rent my shoes, I stuffed the change into my purse and grabbed my ugly bowling footwear at about the same moment everyone else arrived.
Todd entered Osage Lanes with a posse of loud teens streaming in behind him. When he spotted me, he grinned and opened his arms, hurrying toward me.
“You made it,” he said and folded me into a close hug, kissing me on the cheek before finally letting go. “Can I get you a drink? Some kind of snack?”
I gritted my teeth, wondering what it was about people wanting to buy me stuff all of the sudden. But I politely shook my head, saying, “I’m good. Just ate supper.”
There were so many of us, our group took up two lanes. Of course, Kiera and Ryder had to be paired up to play in the same lane as Todd and me. I kind of wished Mindy and her boyfriend would end up with us too but only a few people whose names I had kind of sort of learned played with us.
Kiera went first, which really didn’t surprise me. She was simply the type to make a fuss if she wasn’t always placed before everyone else. Todd made sure I went second, which caused me to groan. If they’d forgotten to add my name to the game completely, I think I would’ve appreciated it more.
After Evil Cheerleader Barbie threw one roll and immediately gutter-balled it, she turned directly to Ryder with a puckered lip. “My ball’s too heavy.”
Ryder sighed, slugging to his feet. “Just…finish this turn and I’ll find you a new one, okay?”
Grinning since she’d gotten her way, Kiera kissed him and turned back to the pins to roll her second ball. Another gutter.
Todd sat next to me and leaned in close enough to take a whiff of my shampoo. “I think it’s the bowler, not the ball, that’s the problem.”
Glad Ryder had already gone off to search for a new ball and wasn’t present to see Todd lean toward me, I surged to my feet to take my turn. Quickly throwing my first ball before Ryder could return, I was surprised to knock down four pins my first try and four the second round.
“All right, Grace,” Todd cheered. “Way to go.”
Next went another cheerleader—a girl I actually liked. Then Todd, then some boy I was pretty sure went by the nickname Grunt, and then it was Ryder’s turn. But he still hadn’t returned with Kiera’s new ball. Everyone glanced around until we caught sight of him chatting with a middle-aged man as he held Kiera’s new ball down at his side.
Todd pushed to his feet and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Yo, Yates,” he yelled through the bowling alley. “It’s your turn, man.”
Embarrassed for Ryder’s benefit, I turned my red cheeks away from Todd so he couldn’t see how much his yell horrified me. But geesh. How inappropriate, as my mom would call it, to interrupt his conversation.
Ryder lifted his face, spotted us watching him, then turned back to the man and said something—probably that he had to go—before turning back to us and making his way to our lane.
“Will this do?” he asked his girlfriend, handing over the new ball.
Kiera took it, weighed it in her hand, and grinned. “It’s perfect. Just like you.”
“Dude, who was that old geezer?” Todd asked, letting out a derisive snort as he glanced the man’s way.
“His name’s Brady,” Ryder explained. “He was telling me he and his wife come here every Thursday night with their two kids.”
Ryder could talk to anyone. Reluctantly, I admired him for that fact. And even as I felt my approval spark and some of my resentment for him slip, Todd laughed, holding his middle.
“Man, you can be so lame. You’ll talk to any bum off the street, won’t you?”
Ryder shrugged, the move implying he couldn’t care less what anyone thought of him. Then he hiked up his bowling ball and took his turn. I studied his back as he poised himself, aligned with the lane, his bowling ball tucked up under his chin as he studied the triangle of pins.
