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He shakes his head. “The prince sounded like a pompous asshole.”
I laugh.
Jonah grins. “I wanted to meet Torin first. And I wanted to do it without him knowing who I was. So I showed up at a college party, befriended him, and we hit it off immediately.”
I laugh again. “You just got drunk together?”
“Nope. We had a few drinks. But we sat up until four a.m. around a fire pit debating the various forms of government and how empires have risen and fallen throughout history.”
I shake my head. “Oh my God.”ThatI can easily picture.
“Yeah. I knew then that I could hang out with him for the next few years. So I asked him to go bowling the next weekend with me and some buddies.”
“Bowling?”
“Absolutely. It’s a great way to get to know what someone is really like.”
I’m fascinated. “Did he agree? Wait, did you have buddies?”
Jonah laughs. “I had Secret Service ‘buddies’ who played the part. And yes, he did agree. Torin had never been bowling before and he’s always up for trying new things.” Jonah studies me for a moment. “You two have that in common.”
I nod. “Growing up in Cara, we don’t have a lot of ‘new and different’. I’m guessing the other O’Grady kids were the same. I know Alex and Astrid were. They wanted to try all kinds of new things when they got to the U.S..”
“Definitely,” he agrees.
“So how did the bowling go?”
“It told me exactly what I needed to know,” Jonah says. “I followed him around for the week, without him knowing, of course, and observed him in class and with other people. I realized he was basically a good guy. But the bowling sealed it. Exactly as I knew it would.”
“What does bowling tell you about a person?” I ask.
“Okay, well, bowling is a sport that few people are really good at. But it’s an activity that most people can have fun doing if they have the right attitude. So first and foremost, it tells me about someone’s ability to enjoy doing something they’re not good at, and to laugh at themselves. It also attracts a wide variety of people. A bowling alley will have young and old, all walks of life, people who are healthy and strong, and people who aren’t and struggle. There are people who bowl for a sense of community and belonging, and people who bowl just to hang out with a group they’re already a part of.” He shakes his head. “It’s actually very cool how many different types of people bowl.”
I’m watching him, completely caught up in just listening to him talk. “I’ve never bowled. I know nothing about it. But you’ve sold me.”
He smiles. “My plan for Torin and bowling was to see how he responded to not being good at something, how he treated a variety of people, how he reacted to losing, to being jealous, and to being unrecognized. I was pretty sure no one there would know who he was, and I wanted to see if he was serious about wanting to be a royal in hiding.”
“And how he reacted to being jealous?” I ask. “What’s that mean?”
“Oh, I fully intended to flirt with whoever he flirted with.”
I laugh. “You were sure he’d be flirting?”
“Have you met Torin?”
I nod, still grinning. “And did he pass all your tests?”
“He did. He was charming to absolutely everyone, he talked a very cute girl into teaching him to bowl since he sucked so bad, he helped an older guy out in the parking lot when he saw he had a flat tire, and he never seemed to care a bit that no one knew who he was.”
I love this story in part because I do love hearing that Torin has always been a good guy, but I love seeing Jonah talk about his best friend. The affection and connection there are so clear.
“I’m surprised Torin knew how to change a tire,” I say. “I have no idea how he would have learned that. That’s not really something the royals ever have to do.”
“Oh, he didn’t change it,” Jonah says. His eyes are almosttwinklingwith amusement. “I said he helped the guy out. By gettingmeto change the tire.”
I laugh loudly, then cover my mouth. “That makes more sense,” I admit.
Jonah is grinning widely. “Yeah.”