Page 23 of The Game

“Nice to meet you, too. Love your nails.” Jazz’s compliment draws my eyes to Serena’s long pink claws. That’s the only way I can describe them. They’re about two inches long. The strobing lights send sparkling rainbows off the crystals embedded in the tips.

“Summer is coming with her friends in a bit. They had some sorority thing after class, so she told us to start playing and they’ll join in when theyget here.”

“Just you and me then to balance out all this testosterone. At least for now.” Serena loops her arm through Jazz’s, dragging her off to the shoe rental counter.

I glance around the bowling alley, checking out the rusty orange carpet edging the room, and the big screens showing a football game in the sports bar area. This shouldn’t feel weird. Hanging out with my team, but it does.

“Come on, Coco. We need to get shoes, and more important, beers. Pitchers?” Grant sounds confident, but his eyes give him away, darting over to Beau to make sure the captain is okay with his idea. He’s all bluster, that one. Maybe I can intimidate him into letting go of the nickname. Probably not. There are benefits to that leadership role, that’s for sure. Had I stayed with the Scorchers I probably would have been captain by now, but that was a different team and a different me. It’s better if I just play my best game, not worry about all that other stuff. Sometimes I wish things were different, but what good does wishing do?

Jazz is long gone with Serena. At least they seem to get along. You never can tell with girls. They have more complicated relationships with each other than most guys do. At least that’s what I used to think.

We reconvene in our lane, sliding the ugly shoes on our feet. Unfortunately, JJ takes control of the lane and labels us all by our nicknames. Except the girls, of course. Jazz and I are paired up with Mack and Serena, as well as Beau and Lucy. A now familiar hollow crash rings out as Jazz’s purple ball mows down all the pins for her third strike in a row. I keep my eyes lockedon her and sure enough, she throws her hands up in the air and wiggles her ass in a victory dance that’s more than a little distracting.

Mack groans. “Schaeffer, you brought a ringer in on us.”

“If I’d known she was this good, don’t you think I would have insisted on being on the same team as her?”

Beau decided we should play three on three, but he insisted on splitting the guys up from their girls for this round.

I move over to Jazz as she dances over to the table, almost reaching out to grab those full hips of hers to pull her in for a hug. But I have to remind myself this isn’t real, swerving last minute to throw my hand up for a high five. She pulls back confused, and then taps my palm in the most awkward high five known to humankind. I take a step back, shoving my hands in my pocket.

As if to drive the point home, a big slash flashes on the screen and Mack celebrates his spare by leaning down to pull his girlfriend into a borderline NSFW kiss. Lucy’s eyes flick over to us, and my skin no longer feels like it fits. He might not say as much as some of the others, but I get the impression he sees everything. If I can’t even convince my teammates of the truth of this relationship, it’s never going to work on Charlene.

I lean in close to Jazz’s ear, spotting the sparkly pink cat earrings as I brush her hair back behind her ear. It’s as soft as I’ve been imagining, and an image pops into my head of what it would look like wrapped around my fist. “Hey, I feel like we’re not doing this quite right. I think I was supposed to kiss you or something after your strike. Maybe I should pretend tobe pissed off that you’re beating me, and we can get into a big fight about it. That’ll throw them off.”

She shoves at me, then leans in. “I think that might have the opposite effect. Besides, I can’t have a boyfriend who’s intimidated by my bowling skills. Even a fake one.”

“Oh, I’m not intimidated. In fact. It’s kind of hot.” Shit. Reverse. Why did you say that, dumbass?

“Coco. Peel yourself away from your girl. It’s your turn.”

Saved by the asshole, I walk away, hands a little shaky as I grab the neon green 16-pound ball I’ve been using. But I can’t help glancing over my shoulder. Jazz is standing right where I left her, delicious mouth slightly parted. I let my last ball fly down the lane, but it swerves off into the gutter.

We’re well into our second game when a loud giggle pulls my attention to the next lane over. After Grant’s girlfriend showed up, the girls all split off into the next lane over, and my score plummeted into the double digits.

Dev corners me, groaning. “I enjoyed having your girlfriend on my team more than you.”

I can’t disagree with him. “Sorry. Bit distracted.”

“I can see that. How’d you land her? She’s always seemed cool when we’ve run into her at Top Shelf, but you’ve never come there with us.”

Now I’m sweating. The web of secrets I’ve been keeping from the team are all tangled up. Reveal one truth and the rest all come spilling out. I could make something up, but starting off my team bonding experiment with a lie doesn’t seem likea great idea. “She signed up for the Walk Safe program I volunteer with.”

A light bulb clicks behind his eyes. “Walk Safe? Where you escort people around campus. Is that where you disappear to in the evenings?”

“Got me. Sorry, no dungeon orgies.” With how closed off I’ve been, the guys have started all kinds of rumors about where I go in the evenings. The stories got wilder and wilder as the year went on.

He snorts. “You knew about that?”

“Yes, I did. You guys are not exactly known for using your quiet voices.”

He rubs a hand across the number two shave of his dark hair. “True. I think my personal favorite was the one where you’re a green alien observing earth from inside a human skin suit.”

“Who’s to say that one isn’t true?” I flick out my tongue in a lizard move.

He slaps me on the back with a laugh. “Glad you came out tonight. It’s about fucking time you joined the team for real, and if she’s the one who got you to do it, then she’s ok with me.”

High-pitched cheers ring out from the next lane and I see Serena and another girl with blonde hair hugging Jazz. Summer, I think. They’re jumping up and down. She takes a deep bow, and then they make their way back over to us.

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