Lucian
The rest of the week passes in a blur. Before I know it we are all sitting in my car heading over to the next town to go bowling. Callie is in for a real treat once she sees Graydon bowl. He hates it. I keep trying to tell him the mathematics behind it, but he won’t listen. I park, and we all file inside. I stand back so I can see the look on Callie’s face, and it’s everything I thought it would be. She actually squeals, before giving all of us a quick hug. The smile on her face alone makes this worth it.
Since we’re cosmic bowling, there are black lights and neon colors everywhere. There are quite a few people here already. We steer Callie over to the counter where we pay to play three games. The girl behind the counter ask for our shoes sizes and quickly returns with our bowling shoes.
“Mine,” Callie says out of nowhere. The girl turns and quickly walks away. We all look at her. “What? She was looking too hard at you guys. You didn’t notice her flirting with you the whole time we have been standing here?” We look shake our heads. “Yeah, well I did, and I don’t like it.” All of us give Callie a big smile. I like her jealous side.
“We didn’t notice, baby, because she doesn’t even come close to you. You’re all we see and need,” I say. Callie sighs before coming over to me and giving me a hug and a peck on the cheek. Zeke grabs her hand and pulls her toward the closest empty lane.
“Smooth Casanova,” Max says. I shrug my shoulders.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re not,” Graydon says.
We follow behind them, each of us taking a seat around the bench and quickly changing our shoes. Callie and I are the first to finish changing our shoes, so I grab her hand and take her over to the bowling ball rack. I help her pick out a ball that has some weight to it but still light enough for her to handle. The rest of the guys follow suit. When Callie and I get back to the lane, I enter everyone's names on the screen.
“I want snacks,” Max announces.
“We’re going to dinner after this, you don’t need snacks,” Graydon states.
Max places his fingers to his chest and slightly leans back. “Uh, yes I do. I’m getting nachos,” he says before he starts to walk away.
“And popcorn,” Callie shouts after him.
“You got it, angel.”
I shake my head and laugh.
“Would you like me to show you how to throw the bowling ball?” I ask.
“Yeah, because I have no clue what I’m doing.”
I grab her ball, and we walk over to the lane. I stand behind her.
“I use the center arrow as my guide, plus physics but since you’re a beginner, we’ll work with just the arrows.” She nods her head. “So, if you stand off to the side just a little bit when you release the ball, it should hit that spot. Try to keep your arm straight, and your eyes down the lane. When you pull your arm back, release the ball when it’s in front of you. You will also take your right leg and move it behind your left.”
I run through the movements with a couple of times. On the last walk through, I press my lips to her neck. She completely forgets about what she is doing. I wrap my arms around her and pull her back against my body, her back to my chest. She lets out a breathy sigh.
“Lucian,” she whispers. I place a few more kisses along her neck. Her breath quickens. I can stay like this forever.
“Man, stop mauling our girlfriend in public and lets play,” Max jokes. “I have popcorn, angel,” he says in a sing song voice.
Callie turns and faces me, her face flush. She gives a smile before giving me a quick kiss. “Come on and let’s play.”
The first game went quick, and Callie seems like a natural at this. She messed up a few times, but she’s doing pretty decent. She’s beating Graydon, and he has been doing this longer than her. Graydon is just awful at bowling. It’s during the second game when you can tell that Graydon is getting angry. I’m not sure if that's from all the gutter balls he’s been throwing or from Max picking on him for it. I just hope he doesn’t ruin this night for Callie.
Graydon
Next time I agree to go bowling, take my big ass out with a tranq dart. Max and Zeke are decent bowlers. They range between high one hundreds to low two hundreds. Lucian the smart-ass bowls perfect scores because, as he says, he understands the laws of physics. Then there’s me. I barely break a hundred, and my balls seem to like their home in the gutter. You would think that would be the worst of it, right? No. Max has been ribbing me all night, and Callie who has never bowled has been getting strikes left and right. She claims it’s beginners luck.
I call bullshit. So, instead of enjoying myself, I’ve been wallowing in self-pity all night. Now it’s my turn, and I don’t want too, but I get up and walk over to the bowling ball return and pick up my bowling ball. I set myself up in the center of the lane, like I do every time. I even try to use the arrows as guides, but nothing works. I swing my arm and release the ball harder than I should have, but I’m angry. At first I think, this ball is going to go straight down. It keeps going but then out of nowhere it veers right and ends up in the gutter. Are you kidding me?
I can hear snickers from the peanut gallery behind me. At least Callie tries to look contrite. The more this game continues the angrier I’m getting and the harder that I’m throwing the ball. At one point I threw the ball too hard, and it started to crack. It also doesn’t help that every time I pick up the ball, I death grip it, and the cracking is getting worse. Before I know it, it’s my turn again.
“Come on man, it's not that hard. Keep your wrist straight and eyes on where you want the ball to go,” Zeke says. Easy for him to say because he can do this.
“You need to relax,” Lucian states. Yeah, well I can’t relax when I’m angry.
“Can you just put your ball in the gutter already, so the rest of us can go,” Max teases.
He has been working my nerves all night, to the point where I overthrow this ball and it hops from my lane into the one next to mine. I watch the ball roll down that lane, thinking that maybe I’ll get a strike, but no. The ball goes right into the gutter. Of course, Max is laughing like a hyena.
“Man, you can’t even get a strike even when you throw the ball in someone else's lane. Maybe we should put the bumper guards up for you.” I growl.
“How about you shut up and take your turn before I do it for you?”
“No, way man. You’re not touching the score I have going on.”
Max takes his turn, knocks down eight but picks up the spare. Lucian goes and of course it’s another strike. Zeke ends up with the seven ten split but couldn’t make it work on the spare. Now, it’s Callie’s turn. I honestly couldn’t tell you her technique when she bowls. I’m too busy watching the sway of her hips, and the way she leans forward as she positions herself before releasing the bowling bowl. I shift uncomfortably on the hard bench.
Watching her like this is making me think of things I have no business thinking right now. The only bearable thing about this is Callie’s excitement. Even though I’m pissed and grumpy, her infectious laughter has helped mildly. Callie walks over and sits next to me. She quickly pats my knee.
“Your turn.”
Unwillingly, I get up and go and get my bowling ball. I get into position, but right before I got to throw the ball, I feel a small hand against my lower back. I look down and see Callie’s face.
“If you want, I can help you.”
Wait, did she just offer to help me? The girl who has never been bowling before today, is going to give me pointers? Are you kidding me? I heard her correctly because Max is practically on the floor howling in laughter. I feel my body tense. Callie must have felt it too because she quickly removes her hand from my back and takes a couple of steps back from me. Now, I’m even more pissed because I just scared my mate. I’m gripping the bowling ball to tight that I can feel and hear the ball crack more. This is the one time where I curse my strength and my temper.
“Never mind, I was just trying to help,” she whispers before going and reclaiming her seat.
See now I’m just mad at myself and get even more angry. But instead of telling her different, I stay silent, only making matters worse. I do the only thing I can think to do and I put all my force behind throwing the bowling ball. The sound of the ball hitting the lane echoes in the bowling alley. Everyone stops to stare.
If I had lasers for eyes that ball would be completely annihilated. It figures this would be the one time the ball heads straight down the lane, not showing any sign of veering into the gutters. Everyone behind me is quiet. The ball is almost to the pins when… poof. The ball falls apart inches from the pins, in what I’m sure would have been my first strike all night.
You’ve got to be shitting me. My luck can’t be that bad.
Maximus
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bowling ball to that before. I tried so hard not to laugh, okay not that hard. The ball literally just fell apart. How strong do you have to be in order to make that happen? Graydon’s a beast.
“Incredible Hulk over here just broke a damn bowling ball,” I say in between laughing. That doesn’t last too long because I notice I’m the only one laughing. I look around at the rest of us, and I see Zeke and Lucian glaring holes into Graydon. Callie is sitting on the bench wringing her hands together. Something happened and I missed it. I round my eyes to Graydon, “What did you do?”
Graydon clenches his fist at his sides. “I got angry because you haven’t stopped picking on me all night. Callie comes up to offer me help, and I took it the wrong way. I tensed taking it as an insult, and I know that’s not how she meant it. She felt that and mistook it as me being angry with her. She backed away from me like I was going to harm her. I would never lay a hand on my mate that way.” Graydon looks Callie in her eyes. “Never.” He storms out of the bowling alley.
All of us of sitting there mouths agape. I look at Callie, and I can see what happened is affecting her. When I focus a little more on her I can feel her sadness and fear. We need to fix this. I don’t like that look or those feelings coming her. I need to find a way to make her smile.
“One of us should go check on him,” Lucian says, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’ll go,” Callie states.
“Be careful, Angel.” I don’t like it but it’s probably for the best.
When you’re done, we are going to come up with another prank to pull on him.
She turns and looks at me. There is a small smile on her lips, not as big as I would like, but a smile nonetheless.
Okay, she sends back before getting up and walking out after Graydon.
Callie
I find Graydon pacing the parking lot, cussing, and running his fingers through his hair. I see him tug on it pretty hard. It’s now standing up in every direction. I start to approach him slowly. After hearing what he said inside, I feel like crap. I know Graydon would never hurt me, but some things are just hard to let go. It’s only been a few months since my father, well my stepfather, has been arrested. I’ve been so busy with everything else that I haven’t had time to dwell on that fact. I haven’t taken the time to properly process that bit of information. Like I said, some habits are hard to break. I’m getting better every day though and that is thanks to them.
Graydon stops pacing once he realizes that I’m walking toward him. He takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Callie bear. I swear none of that was directed at you.”
“I know, now. In the heat of the moment, I just reacted. I didn’t think.” He nods his head. I see his shoulders visibly relax, but he still hasn’t taken a step toward me.
“You have to know, I would never lay a hand on you like that, ever.” He hangs his head. I can see and feel how much both of our actions are affecting him. I move and stand right in front of him. I’ll give him all the time he needs, but I’m not going anywhere.
“I know that, Graydon.” I take his face in the palms of my hands, making him look at me. “Sometimes, I can’t help that reaction. When you live the way I did for so long, those things and feelings just don’t automatically disappear. It will take time, but I’ll get there. Just don’t give up on me.”
“I promise, I won’t as long as you promise not to give up on me.”
“Deal.”
“I love you, Callie bear, so much” he says right before he pulls me in close and gives me the sweetest and most tender kiss. I pull back and rest my forehead on his.
“I love you too, grumpy bear.”