Page 32 of Winter's End

“Strike!” Quick crowed enthusiastically, reaching up a large palm to high-five my grinning boyfriend, who still looked sexy as hell in the ridiculous clown-like bowling shoes on his feet.

“I’m glad I called Travis for our team,” Quick continued to boast gleefully, as he filled out their scores at the tiny table by the ball pick-up. “We’re ahead by 50 points.”

“Laugh it up, Quicksilver,” Cameron called over his shoulder as helined up for his turn. “I’m gonna channel my Pops for this one.”

He wound up and threw the ball, and within seconds, all ten pins were blown to bits.

“Striiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike!”

It was rare to see Cam in a state of joy, and the effect was breathtaking. The man had an unnatural beauty that could stop traffic and make millions on a runway.

And now he was mine.

The surprise sex in the gym had been mind-blowingly hot. I wasn’t at all shocked by his pain kink, but I had been taken aback by the way he unleashed himself for me. Cam was so hard to read sometimes, but he’d laid all his cards on that gym mat and begged me to play. The brooding man had held me at arm’s length for so long, but he’d finally decided he wanted in; he wanted me.

Only a fool could resist the allure that was Cameron Chase.

The butterflies in my belly came crashing back into me like I was a thirteen-year-old with her first crush. Each of my men had that effect on me.

As I looked around our cramped lane, me, and the three men I dared to call boyfriends, and my very best friend, I couldn’t remember a time when I’d felt more content.

Although, I’d be lying to myself if I said a teeny part of my heart wasn’t missing the abrupt asshole who had somehow snuck into my left ventricle when I wasn’t looking.

Bowling had been Quick’s idea, a way for us to let off some steam. He and I had been scrambling to study for the last exams of our degrees, Drew was miserably job hunting, and both Travis and Cam had the family bomb dropped on them this past week.

I was still reeling from the information. I couldn’t even imagine how Cam was feeling. Kellan had messaged them to confirm the results over our secret spy phones last night. To discover you were the long-lost uncle of your best friend, who was also part of a criminal family; the family that had fucked you over hard, and were mostly responsible for the shitty life you were living …

Screenwriters forDays of Our Livescould take a page out of our books and make a killing.

“Winter, you’re up!”

Quick’s smirk mimicked the devil’s as I grabbed a ball and stood at the starting line. I was a shit bowler—I was actually shitty at anything involving hand-eye coordination, and he was going to milk my amateur aim for all it was worth.

Since we were a party of five, Cam was playing on both sides of the fence, while Drew and I faced off against Shane and Travis. Cam had bowled with his pop as a teenager and hadn’t missed a pin yet. Travis seemed to have a natural talent for the game. Drew and Shane were decent enough to get spares and the occasional strike. I had hit one pin in five rounds.

I was most assuredly the bowling loser.

“Here, baby girl.” My teammate’s arms wrapped around mine as he moved my hands into a tighter position around the ball. “You want to hold it like this.”

Cinnamon and the sweet undertones of clementine enveloped me as Drew adjusted my grip, his warmth hovering around me. With everything we’d gone through to get to this point, I relished it when Drew gave me his undivided attention.

“No fair,” Travis joked as he came up on my other side, scrutinizing Drew’s handiwork. “I’m the one who just got a strike.” He winked at me and adjusted my thumb on the ball. “I should get to play instructor.”

Drew ignored him and wedged his knee between my thighs from behind, adjusting my stance while squeezing my ass. Then he pulled my arm behind me in an underhand throwing motion.

“See, swing through with this kind of momentum.” He mimed a pendulum with my arm before letting it go. “Give it your best shot.”

He and Travis both stepped back, probably worried about getting a bowling ball to the crotch. I winced internally; my last shot had gone wide and bounced into the other lane. Harold was going to kick us out if I couldn’t get my shit together, and that would just be embarrassing.

I filled up my lungs, swung the ball like Drew had shown me, and released. I closed my eyes in complete anticipation of another bowling pin failure.

When I heard the hollow echo of a pin falling, I opened them to see that pin followed by another.

“Great job, beautiful!”

Three pins had fallen to their deaths and were being herded into the metal scoop to be re-positioned.

Travis’ kiwi-green eyes flashed with triumph as he spun me around and pulled me into his arms. He kissed me quickly, but thoroughly enough that prickles of tingling heat shot up my spine.

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