Page 24 of Feel It All

“Come on, Owen, just one on the board,” I yell.

“Hey, I got this,” but, in fact, he did not; he misses his last two and we lose. The girls jump up and down, ecstatic for their parents.

Chief claps me on the back. “Good game. Think about what I said, okay?” He walks over to his wife, picking her up and twirling her.

Winry walks over to me, “Chin up, sugar. Don’t worry, Wyla and I will take them down.” I manage a fake smile. She places her hand on my shoulder, “You all right?”

“Yeah, I’m good, just bummed I don’t get a chance to take you down a peg.”

“In your dreams, buddy,” she smiles, but I know she can tell that my mood has changed. My original plan was to ask her out on our way back home, but now I’m not so sure.

Just like Winry said, she and Wyla take their parents down 21–15. It was brutal. Watching it put me in a slightly better mood, seeing her so focused and determined to win. She was just attacked by her ex and had a concussion, but here she was just as happy as she could be, and absolutely killing it at cornhole. By the time the tournament ends, it’s starting to turn dark and they get a fire going for s’mores.

“Hey, I made you a s’more,” Winry says, with two s’mores in her hands, and sits next to me.

“Awesome, thank you.” I take the s’more and nearly eat the whole thing in one bite.

“So, you have survived your first Bennett family cookout. What did you think?”

“I think that your dad makes the best burgers, always have you as my cornhole partner, and never have Owen as my partner ever again.” I laugh.

“Ha, yeah, you carried his ass the whole time. Are you still good to take me back home? If not, that’s okay. I can see if Waverley can take me,” she stammers.

“No, I can take you. Are you ready to go?” I finish my s’more, and she’s on her last bite.

“Whenever you are is good with me.”

“Okay, let’s head out.” I stand and pull her up.

“Let me just tell everyone bye.”

We walk back to the porch where her family is.

“Okay, we are leaving,” she says as she starts giving out hugs.

“Who’s we? Are you leaving with your sister?” Her dad asks as she hugs him.

My palms start to sweat.

“No, Graham is going to take me; you know, since we live in the same building.” Winry rolls her eyes at him.

Chief gives me a look that I can’t read, “I can take you home, Winry.”

“Griffin don’t be silly—they live right next to each other. Graham, you’ll get her home safe, right?” Mrs. Bennett gives me a warm smile.

“Yes, ma’am, it’s no problem really.” I walk over to her dad. “Thank you for having me, Chief, Mrs. Bennett.” I reach my hand out and he shakes it, thankfully.

“Glad you came, Graham, give me a hug,” Mrs. Bennett stands and gives me my second hug of the day.

“All righty, we are leaving. Love you all,” Winry cheers.

“Love you,” they shout back to her.

We climb in my car and head for home. I don’t know what to say. My original plan was to ask her if she would let me take her out some time, but after what her dad said, I am not very confident. Every single girl I’ve dated comes to mind; they all said I was too emotionally unavailable, and they were right. I never put much emotion into the relationships. They were just casual things that I knew would never really go anywhere. I couldn’t do that to Winry.

“Are you okay?” Winry asks, drawing me out of thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, just focusing on the road.”

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