Page 68 of Surviving Lies

“I’m in,” he said.

And just like that, we were OK.

The bowling alley was packed by the time Jake and I got there; I had to work, and my last delivery was pretty far away. But it was fine because Lanie was organized enough to have reserved two lanes for all of us. She was like having a mom for our frat.

Me:

Hey just got here what lane are you in

Lanie:

Let me come find you stay by the entrance

That was weird. Why would Lanie need to meet me by the entrance? Jake already took off toward the lanes filled with sorority girls, and I wasn’t sure I would see him again until closing. But I knew he was going to take off; he said he was going to look for Kayla. Apparently, she was one of the girls helping make him feel better last night, which didn’t surprise me.

The speakers were blasting songs of the 90s, which was cool. My parents brought me up on that music, and I actually loved it. I decided to go switch out for my bowling shoes while I waited for Lanie to find me.

“There you are,” her winded voice sounded behind me at the shoe counter. “Listen, I need to tell you something.” Her face fell when I turned to look at her, her eyes definitely telling me that she had news I wouldn’t like. “Becca’s here.”

My immediate response was a faster heart rate as I looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of her. But then I allowed reality to settle in. Though we had what seemed to be a nice conversation this morning, this may not go well with us being at the same place right now.

“Do you think I should head out?”

“No!” Lanie yelled. “I invited you, I don’t want you to leave. Ty, you’re my friend. Regardless of what’s going on between you and Becca, you will always be my friend.” She grabbed my arm once I had my bowling shoes and dragged me from the counter. “Becca wasn’t supposed to be here tonight. She told me she wasn’t in the mood to come out; that was why I asked you. No offense, I don’t mean you were second fiddle or anything ...” Lanie looked so nervous; she was struggling to navigate this breakup between her two friends.

“Hey, no worries, I appreciate the invite, and I don’t want to make this stressful, for you or her. I can go, it’s no big deal.” As I started heading back to return my shoes, Lanie grabbed my arm with more force.

“Absolutely not!” she yelled. “That was not why I told you.” She pulled me in the direction of the bowling lanes. “I only wanted you to be prepared before you made it over to us. Becca knows you’re here; I told her when she showed up. Unannounced, I might add.” She scrunched her face up in obvious annoyance, but I didn’t want her to be mad at her best friend. “There are two lanes; if it really is that big a problem, the two of you can bowl in different lanes. But I don’t want this to be an issue, Ty.” She stopped and stared at me, looking more stern than I’d ever seen her. “Areyougoing to make it an issue?”

When I put my hands up to my chest in mock offense, Lanie softened and smiled back at me. “Lanie, I will not be the cause of any issues tonight, I promise. I just cleared the air with Jake, so I’m in no mood to start something with anyone, especially Becca.”

She continued pulling me by the hand. “I know, Ty, I’m sorry. I’m just so upset about the two of you. I only wish that you guys could fix whatever is going on between you both.”

And that hit me straight in the heart.

Because that was all on me.

But I had no more time to wallow in my self-loathing because we walked up on our group, the lanes full of my frat brothers, including Xander. I wanted to look around, find Becca, make eye contact with her, but Xander’s large frame filled my vision as he stood in front of me, a silly grin across his face.

“Are you a glutton for punishment, man?” he asked, followed by a laugh as he sidled up next to me. “You just can’t stay away, can you?”

I knew it was most likely a rhetorical question, but I chose to answer it as my eyes tried to scan the crowd nonchalantly.

“Would you stay away from Lanie?” My voice was low; I didn’t want anyone else to hear. But I also didn’t want it to come across as confrontational. It wasn’t meant to be, and I didn’t think Xander took it that way as he made a hmph sound under his breath.

“Touché,” was his response.

As I looked at Xander, his facial expression softened. “And I haven’t talked to Becca tonight either, so I have no idea what kind of mood she’s in. So, I’m no help,” Xander said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“This is hard on Lanie, making this work between the two of us. I hope she’s doing OK,” I said to him. Catching a glimpse of Becca talking to a girl I didn’t recognize, I worked my way to the opposite lane to find a ball. Xander followed close behind me.

“She’s fine with it. I mean, yeah, she’d be happier if you guys were together, but we both want to still be friends with each of you.” He pulled on my shoulder, turning me around to face him. “You were there for both of us last year when things got tough. We wouldn’t take off on you guys when you need us most.”

I nodded, hoping he understood how much I appreciated him and Lanie at a time like this.

“That being said, I’m steering clear of Becca tonight, no offense,” he said, then chuckled as he tried to hold back a smile. He walked away, I was sure to find Lanie.

My hand went down to the ball return to find a bowling ball that would fit it, and I landed on fingers that made my skin tingle. The feeling went from my fingers straight to my dick, which twitched in my pants. Looking up, my eyes met with a pair of sparkling green eyes I knew so well.

---