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Annie gets pulled away by the owner of the accounting firm, and shortly after, everyone finds lanes to bowl. Enzo and Carmelo are razzing one another in the far lane. Both of them have pushed up their sleeves and are practicing.
A guy I haven’t met walks up to me. “I’ve been asked to grab you. You’ll be bowling with Carmelo Mancini.”
“And you are?” I’ve seen the guy around, though he’s usually frantic and has his phone glued to his ear.
“I’m Justin. Carm’s assistant.” The blond-haired kid—and I say kid because he can’t be more than twenty-one yet—holds out his hand.
I take his hand and shake. “Nice to meet you.”
“I was hoping Max would come tonight,” he says as he nods for me to go first.
My gut twists over the fact that I have to bowl with Carmelo, but my guess is Annie planned this. She’s obviously going to bowl with Enzo, and since she’s my new insta best friend and ally, I’m not going to argue.
“Yeah, she’s not much of a people person,” I say to explain Max’s absence.
He chuckles. “I kind of got that when I ran into her the other day.”
Something in his body language tells me she made an impression on him, but Max is a complicated creature. I’m not going to get this guy’s hopes up. With no piercings or tattoos, he’s definitely not her type. Not to mention he’s younger than the guys she usually hangs with.
“She doesn’t bite, but she has been known to growl,” I say.
He chuckles again, his hand running through his long blond strands. “Oh… well…”
I wonder how a guy like him can work for a cool and calculated guy like Carmelo Mancini.
We reach the lane Carmelo and Enzo are bowling in.
“And there you go.” All the pins fall, and Carmelo turns around, using two of his fingers like guns, shooting them at Enzo. “I so have you.”
Enzo stands, shaking his head. “Sit down, little brother. Let me show you how it’s done.” He grabs a ball.
“Here you go, Miss Scott,” Justin says as if he’s delivering me to royalty.
“Thank you,” I say politely, wondering where the hell Annie is. I don’t want to be stuck with these two brothers who might just wrestle their way down the lane.
With a sigh, I sit on the black leather bench, cross my legs, and sip my wine. The people in the other lanes are filling out their score sheets with their player names.
Carmelo sits next to me. “You done with that yet?”
“No, and regardless, I’m not going to have a second.”
“Water? Soda? A big pretzel with cheese? Whatever you want.”
I study him for a second. He looks genuine about wanting to get me whatever I want, but why? He treated me like the enemy the first time we met. What’s his game plan? I know he has one, because a man like Carmelo isn’t nice for no reason.
“I’m good. Thank you.”
“Okay.” Enzo claps and dramatically points at the lane. “I think that ties us up.”
His smug look has me laughing.
Annie walks up from behind us. “You two are ridiculous. Let’s do girls versus boys before you two end up in a fistfight.”
“Deal,” Carmelo says.
Enzo crosses his arms. “No way. Couples.”
Annie glances at me. “I’m not sure.”
