Promise Me This (Between Breaths 4)

I pulled into the full lot. This place was old school and popular with the locals, plus it had good beer and decent food. I couldn’t tell you the last time I’d been bowling but Ella had rented out a few lanes, maybe in an effort to allow Quinn to live out his childhood or something. Once, I overheard her say that he’d always travelled with his politician parents as a kid and was virtually ignored by them.

Everyone had their shit to deal with.

Ella was someone I used to try to stay clear of. She worked a hotline, was almost done with her psychology degree and had helped Quinn through a tough time. I always had this fear, a habit Dr. Drake told me would be hard to break, that if I talked to her too much, she would guess everything about me.

When I stepped out of my car, I noticed Jessie’s red pickup truck parked one row over and my heart vaulted to my throat.

My gaze immediately travelled to her front passenger tire—which was now sagging low. Goddamn it, Jessie. I knew she should have bought a new tire, I should have insisted. Well now I would. I’d follow her home to make sure she got there safely if she wouldn’t let me drive her.

I walked in and saw my friends gathered at the end lanes where there were balloons tied to every post. I smirked at Cory and a couple other tattoo artists, who were lacing up their red and blue bowling shoes.

Another couple of guys I recognized from the frat house were playing pool. Brian was with them and he waved to me. I paid my admission and told the dude behind the counter my shoe size all while I scouted out the room for Jessie.

It took me a moment because her hair had changed again—back to the way I like it—but I finally spotted her near the bathroom hallway talking to Dex. From what I remember of their history, they had hooked up briefly. She had been the one to call it off and then swear off dating anyone else from the shop. Smart girl.

They now looked to be in heated discussion and to make his point, Dex had placed his hand on her arm. Everyone could see he was still into her and whenever he was drinking, he always made his intentions known. The guys always laughed it off, as did Jessie, but now my chest burned hot with lava.

I’d been up to the bar a couple of times when Dex had become sloppy drunk and whined to Jessie about breaking up with him. I didn’t know how much they had done with each other and my gut tightened imagining that he had been the one with the handcuffs mentioned in the never have I ever game.

Where in the hell was this insane jealousy coming from? I’d never felt this possessive over a girl before. Ever. Fuck.

Her eyes met mine across the wide expanse of space, and as I moved toward them, ready to pulverize him, she shook her head as if to call me off. She yanked her arm away from Dex and headed back to the lanes.

Bowling shoes in hand, I sat down on one of the benches and clapped Quinn on the back. “Happy birthday, man.”

“Thanks for coming,” Ella said and gave me a hug. “We just ordered pizza and wings and a round of beer. Pick a lane to bowl and make yourself comfortable.”

I tipped my chin to Bennett who was helping Avery encode the names on the nearest machine and then looked over to Kai and Rachel.

“Wanna bowl with us?” Kai asked. His eyes still seemed haunted from our conversation this morning. It would probably be that way for a while.

I looked up at the board and saw that Jessie and Emmy’s names were already there. “Yeah, sure.”

“Hey, Blue,” I said, finally glancing at her. Her hair was that dark brown color that I loved with blue tips and as if she knew I had noticed the change, she twirled one end around her finger. “Your tire is low again.”

“I know, Square,” she said, quietly. “Quinn already pointed it out to me.”

“You should’ve—”

“Don’t even say it,” she practically hissed and then her eyes darted to Cory and Bennett, and then back to me. Quinn gave us a quizzical look.

What the hell? Was she afraid they’d question us about our weekend together?

I nodded and then stormed off to grab a beer even though I had no clue what the heck my problem was. It wasn’t like I had told people about our night together, either. But somehow her hiding it had made me feel cheap.

What a fucking mess.

The lights were turned down, some moody seventies music piped through the speakers and one of the employees announced that it was Moon Rock Bowling time. All the balls glowed neon pink and blue and green and Ella was clapping and squealing, like she was five. It was kinda cute and Quinn was grinning at her like some lovesick puppy.

Hell, I wondered what that felt like, to be so into somebody that you looked like some damn goofball. I snickered until I recalled how I’d just stormed off like an impetuous kid in junior high. I looked up and met Jessie’s remorseful eyes. Had that been me? Was I that into Jessie, even though we weren’t in a relationship?

Despite my initial reluctance to this ridiculous bowling theme, I’d admit an hour later that we were having a good time. Kai and I told Quinn about our time on the racetrack this morning and invited him to come along next time.

We were laughing and singing along to all of that great stoner music. Cory and Dex had started some kind of stunt bowling game, which was like that game horse that people usually played with a basketball. Except these two clowns were trying to one-up each other on how they threw the bowling ball down the lane. They were performing under-the-leg and spinning shots, which was ludicrous but amusing to watch.

Jessie was cracking up with Emmy and I couldn’t help checking out her nice ass in those tight jeans every time it was her turn in the lane. She was a terrible bowler and after a couple of beers, I finally got the courage to walk over to give her some tips.