Page 112 of Take You Home

Because there’s no way in hell Chester is going to let any of those interrogators lay a hand on Maggie without a fight.

37

Oh,no,”Trevor moans, collapsing at the table next to Obie and fixing him with a pitying gaze. “Early-morning bowling session?Someoneis having a bad day.”

Obie sputters indignantly at him. “What are you doing here? It’s a Wednesday! You have a job!”

“Jobs are overrated,” Sasha drawls, sliding into the seat on Obie’s other side. “And Trevor works every other weekend, remember? That means he gets a few weekdays off. And my class is virtual today, so I can watch it whenever I want.”

“Better question,” Obie says, crossing his arms over his chest.“Whyare you two here? We literally have league tonight.”

Honestly, Obie wasn’t expecting to see any of his usual bowlers when he showed up at Redwater Bowl right at ten a.m. opening time‍—and avoiding those overly friendly faces was exactly the point. He just bought a day pass from Harper at the front desk, grabbed some boneless wings and curly fries from a visibly concerned NackBar George, and started bowling with an aggression he usually reserves for tournaments.

He’s even using his powers to hit a strike every time. He doesn’t want to play fair, not right now.

Not when it still feels like his chest is shredded from the inside out.

“Well,”Trevor says, waggling his eyebrows, “there’s a certain someone working the front desk today who Sasha wants to, ah, buy apremiummembership from.”

“Trevor!”she hisses, reaching behind Obie’s back to smack him.

The words briefly derail Obie’s moping. “Wait, Harper? You like Harper?”

Sasha’s face is brick red. “‘Like’ is a strong word,” she mumbles, slinking lower in her seat. “We’ve barely even talked yet.”

“Not just apremiummembership,” Trevor informs Obie. “Anunlimitedmembership. An ‘all night long’ membership. A‍?—‍”

Sasha reaches behind Obie to hit him again. “You are literally theworstbrother of all time. Your only use is as spare parts if I ever need an organ transplant.”

Obie chokes on a semi-horrified laugh. Trevor looks thoroughly unimpressed. “Oh, please. As your older brother‍?—‍”

“Bytwo minutes!”

“‍—‍it is my sacred duty to wingman thehell out of this potential relationship, and I intend to do my brotherly duties with gusto,” he says, sneaking a hand into Obie’s carton of food to snag a curly fry. “After I get some sustenance, of course.”

Obie shakes his head, but for the first time in what feels like forever, he’s smiling. “I need to introduce you two to Esteban and Lucia from Tacos Near Me. You’ll all get along like a house on fire.”

Sasha perks up. “Will we get free churros out of the deal?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Fantastic,”Trevor says, stealing one of Obie’s wings this time. “So what’re you doing here, man? Trying to get in some extra practice before nationals?”

“I…” Obie hesitates, choosing his words carefully. “I’m just trying to get my mind off of things. Just, you know, looking for the distraction of a game and a handful of strikes. Asologame,” he adds pointedly, hoping they’ll get the hint and leave him in peace. He loves the twins, he really does, just‍?—

Just not right now.

Predictably enough, they ignore the hint. “Whatcha trying to get your mind off of?” Trevor asks, licking some buffalo sauce off his fingers.

“And where’s Kyle?” Sasha asks, her eyebrows pulling together. “I feel like bowling with him would be a better distraction than solo bowling. At least you’d be able to make fun of his form.”

Pain slashes through Obie’s chest. “Kyle, uh, has work today.”

“Ugh.” Trevor wrinkles his nose. “Work. But he’ll be here tonight, right?”

“Not… tonight,” Obie says cautiously. “He’s… busy.”

The twins stare at him.