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“I can’t really remedy my casting.”
She scanned through her Brentwood Babble for another moment before locking her cell. “Well, you can remedy it by just…not marrying a math book?”
I swatted at her, and she leaned back with a laugh. “When areyouremedyingyours, huh?” I asked her, thinking of hernever have their first kisstitle.
Ava’s cheeks immediately flushed, causing her pale skin to become swamped with red. “Someday.”
Rachel walked back to our table after she finished, the dancing beaver on the TV declaring she’d gotten a split. “We’ll find her someone,” she confirmed, squeezing Ava’s shoulder affectionately. “We’ve got time.”
Ava ducked her head into her drink, taking a deep pull from the straw.
Before I walked toward the lane for my turn, I stopped, turning to Alex. “Wish me luck?”
He glanced up from his own soda, startled. “Uh, good luck.”
Physical touch, Connor had said. Okay, the way he’d said it sounded so simple, but it wasn’t.Touch his hair, or his biceps. Back rubs are good. What I’m saying is that physical touch is key.
Running my fingers through Alex’s hair now would’ve been weird. Doinganythingnow would’ve been weird, especially with Ava and Rachel and the drunk bowlers on lane eight as an audience.
Then again, I had all night to make that move. I had time.
When I got to the ball return, I picked up a light purple ball with green flecks, testing its weight. Again, I wasn’t the best bowler, but my absolute garbage aim didn’t lessen the fun. This was one of the rare things that I didn’t mind being bad at. The company made up for my lack of skills.
Lining up with the pins, I narrowed my eyes, judging the throw.
And even with bumpers, I only knocked down three pins. Sigh.
I turned to head back to the table and found my friends staring, enraptured, toward the entryway. At least they’d missed my absolute fail, but when I turned toward whatever they were staring at, all the air knocked from my lungs.
Several people stood in the entrance, but my eyes latched onto one boy first. Connor Bray leaned one elbow against the shoe rental stand, an easy grin on his face as he chatted with the bald guy behind the counter. He wore the exact same clothes as he did at the park an hour ago, had on the exact same languid attitude, but seeing him here was jarring.
His gaze trailed my way, locking on for only a split second before lazily flicking away. As if the idiot didn’t recognize me.
It was then that I noticed the entourage behind him, the gaggle of groupies that I only half-recognized. Jade and Madison, of course, because where Connor went, Jade followed, and where Jade went, Madison wasn’t far behind. Reed Manning, Rachel’s twin brother, chatted with a boy with reddish hair peeking out underneath a ballcap. I couldn’t place him. At Reed’s side stood a tall girl with dark skin and beautiful curly hair, lingering too close to be anyone other than his date.
Connor didn’t, I thought to myself, glad I wasn’t holding the bowling ball anymore. I would’ve dropped it as soon as I recognized him.He didn’t come here because I mentioned it. Why would he?
That was a good question. Why would he come here, tonight,this timeof all times? He made it perfectly clear he didn’t want to cross paths with me outside of tutoring, and even that had to be top-secret. But he knew I was coming to Allen’s Alley tonight. He knew to dodge this place.
“It’s your turn,” I grumbled to Alex as I walked back to the table, but he was too focused on the group.
“What are they doing here?” he murmured, eyes wide. “I can’t imagine Jade bowling, can you?”
“Absolutely not,” Rachel returned, leaning her head onto her upturned palm. Her eyes fluttered as she blinked, caught in a dreamland. “But Connor? Yeah, I can imagine him bowling. God, he’s probably so good at it.”
“Probably not the only thing you’re imagining,” Ava returned, poising her cell phone at the group at the counter. The girl had zero shame. “What’s a good headline?”
Alex’s name blinked on the screen as it patiently waited for him to take his turn, but I didn’t feel as patient. Everything in me prickled, especially once the group had grabbed their shoes, they all walked straight for us.
Of course the one lane open was the one beside us.
“Hey, Bobcats,” Connor greeted as he came up to the lane beside us, knocking his knuckles on the top of their table. He glanced at his friends. “What a coincidence.”
The jerk didn’t even look at me. Coincidence. Yeah, right.
“Did Reed tell you we’d be here?” Rachel asked as she leaned forward, bouncing from person to person. “We come here every Thursday and hardly ever see anyone from Brentwood.”
“It’s because we’re in enemy territory,” Reed said, lips curving into a smirk. Even though he was Rachel’s twin, our paths didn’t cross often. I’d probably spoken to him five times in the entire time I’d known Rachel. They weren’t really too much alike. Siblings, for sure, but not twins. Rachel had dark brown hair, whereas Reed’s was more golden. He was taller at least by five inches. The only thing they shared were their brown eyes. “I guess we can make an exception this once.”
