Page 16 of Wasted On You

Ivy had always been competitive. Back in the day baseball had been her sport, and her arm was legendary. A backstop, she could pick off anyone trying to steal second or third with a rocket from her right arm. One year, during a championship game against Wanda’s team, Ivy was covering the plate when Wanda came barrelling around third base headed for home. Ivy caught the throw from short seconds before Wanda made it home and tagged her. But the girl steamrolled over Ivy. Wanda broke her glassesandher left arm. Ivy had missed the rest of the game.

Which they lost.

Then, once in her early twenties, Ivy had returned home for the holidays and joined Mike Paul, Millie Sue, and Millie’s cousin Zach to bowl on the first Thursday of that particular December. What had started as a passive/aggressive polite game had transformed into nearly a brawl. They’d beaten their rivals, though the game had been disqualified from the league standings on account of bad behavior.

She’d promised Big Dave she’d behave, and she would, but that didn’t mean she had to play nice. She could play dirty with the best of them.

“Let’s do this,” Ivy said, moving past Mike Paul. She needed to focus on the game and nothing else. She walked up to Benton Bridgestone and the blonde she’d spied earlier, Angel Simms. She greeted the woman warmly and turned to Benton.

“Hey,” he said with a grin. He gave her a hug and stepped back. “I guess we’re filling in for Cal and Millie Sue tonight.”

“I had nothing better to do.” She sat down and doffed her boots.

“Mike Paul says there’s a bit of a rivalry with this team.”

“There is.” She tied her laces and looked up at Benton. “We’re going to beat their asses.”

“That sounds like a challenge.” Bryce Caulfield walked over.

Ivy glanced his way. “Call it whatever you like.” The man looked about the same as she remembered. Tall, muscular, with a full head of blond curls that framed a handsome face.

Bryce offered her a hand. She stared at it for a few seconds before grabbing it and standing. His smile seemed genuine, his voice light. “I heard you were back.”

“For a bit, anyway.”

“Your Yankee not with you?”

“Nope. I hear you and Wanda are married now.”

“Going on three years. We have a ten-month-old son, Frankie.” The man’s obvious love for his son and family situation surprised Ivy. She wasn’t sure why exactly, but it did.

“Good luck,” Bryce said with a grin, backing away. “I promise we’ll behave, or Dave might ban us for good this time.”

“He’s so….” At a loss for words, Ivy shrugged.

“People change,” Mike Paul whispered in her ear.

“Not that much,” she retorted, then moved a few inches away. She needed some damn space.

“I think you’re wrong about that.” Mike Paul held her gaze longer than he should have, then slowly shrugged before backing away, a smile touching the corner of his mouth. “Guess we’ll see.”

Ivy waited a heartbeat, then followed him to their lane.

I guess we will.

Chapter5

A half an hour in,and they were neck and neck. Mike Paul could hold his own, Benton and Angel too, but Ivy dug deep. She hadn’t bowled in a couple of years and was on her way to scoring close to 200—though Bryce was giving her a run for the money.

“Crap,” Ivy muttered when Bryce knocked down all ten pins. The guy looked over and saluted her. She kept her face neutral, though inside, she was flipping him two middle fingers. Childish, she knew, because he and Wanda had been super friendly, but still…

Mike Paul stood up—he was next.

“You need a bit more spin to get a cleaner hook.”

“Is that all?” He glanced back at her, a lazy grin on his face, and her stupid stomach turned over. Twice.

“To start,” Ivy moved to the side to give him room. “Then lean into it.” Did he have to smell so damn good?

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