Page 51 of The Surrogate Omega, Part One

Logan kisses the side of my face once they’re gone. “Sorry about that. I didn’t realize the guy was going to be such an asshole. Usually Kayla has better taste.”

I shrug. “It’s fine. I just wish our date night were a little more fun.”

Logan’s eyes brighten. “Well, it doesn’t have to be over. How about we bail, once I make sure Kayla’s ok, and go do something else?”

That could be fun. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. How about bowling? I haven’t been since high school.”

“Oh man. You say that now because you clearly forgot how I can kick your ass at bowling. It’s the one sport I’m actually better than you at.”

Logan scoffs, “First off, kick my ass is a slight exaggeration. I’ll admit you usually beat me, but it was close.” I roll my eyes. I’ll let him believe that if it makes him feel better. “Secondly, bowling’s not a sport.”

“Agree to disagree. C’mon, let’s pay our bill, find Kayla, and bounce.” I start to slide out of the booth and remember Lake.

“Wait, do you think this is something Lake would want to do with us? I don’t want him to feel left out.”

“He doesn’t strike me as a bowler, but text him.”

I pull out my phone and shoot Lake a text. I’m not sure he’ll get it, but it doesn’t feel right to do some kind of activity like that without checking in first. I know this is probably not sustainable and we’ll need to make some guidelines that aren’t sexual about spontaneous dates and other things that might come up when one of us isn’t around. I want to be able to have a relationship with them individually as well as the three of us together. But, the last thing I want to do is hurt either of my men. So until we get a good handle on things, I’d much rather shoot a text to our missing partner and avoid hurt feelings or miscommunication.

Hey, sweetheart. How do you feel about bowling?

It surprisingly doesn’t take long for Lake to respond. I’m not sure if I happened to catch him on a break or if he just always has his phone with him.

Bowling? Why? Did you want to go bowling? I don’t mind going with you guys, but would you be offended if I didn’t participate? Last time I bowled was when I was thirteen, for one of River’s friend’s birthdays, and let’s just say it didn’t end well.

I chuckle at his response and show the message to Logan. “There’s clearly a story there.”

Oh yeah, and I’ll definitely be wanting to hear that story later. But another thing strikes me about the message. He called the mystery birthday kid River’s friend. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed that, either. When he is talking about friends, whether in the past or current, they are almost always River’s friends. Does he have any friends he can purely claim as his own?

The thought makes me sad, but it’s definitely not a conversation we can have through text while he’s at work and Logan and I are planning on ghosting a double date.

I definitely will need to hear that story later. Our dinner isn’t exactly panning out, and Lo and I are considering going to the bowling alley for a bit. Do you mind? If you want us to wait for you, we can do something else. No big deal.I finish it up with the smiley face emoji that has the little hearts surrounding it.

Lake’s reply makes me smile.No, please go bowling and save me that torture. I should be done around midnight. Will you two be back by then?

Of course, sweetheart. I’ll see you then.I add another smiley face.

Lake doesn’t do the emoji thing, so he just responds witha, See you then. Smiling, I look toward Logan. “We’re good to go.”

Before we can leave, Kayla and Jake return to the table. I’m not sure what happened when they were gone, but Kayla’s hair is all mussed up and both of their clothes are wrinkled and crooked.

“Good talk?” I ask, my eyebrow raised and an amused smirk on my face.

Kayla discreetly gives me the middle finger, which Logan catches and causes him to crack up.

“Sorry about that.” Jake doesn’t say a word, just slides into the booth.

“Don’t worry about it. But actually, Ev and I are gonna head out. Long day tomorrow. Will you be ok?” he asks Kayla.

“I’m fine. Thanks for coming.”

Jake doesn’t say a word as we give Kayla hugs goodbye and head out. The whole thing is weird, but whatever.

Logan takes my hand as we hit the streets. “There’s an alley on 12th Street with glow in the dark bowling. And tonight is nineties night. They’ll be playing Britney Spears and boy bands all night.”

Logan waggles his eyebrows at me, and I smack his arm playfully. I’m regretting admitting that my first crushes were Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake back in the day when they were dating. They were actually one of the confirming factors of my sexuality. But also, I’m totally here for a night of glow in the dark bowling, beer, and cheesy nineties music.

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