Page 19 of Breakaway (Nashville Knights Hockey #3)

Chapter Nineteen

DAX

Chloe

I’ll see you later

Dax

Have fun getting ready with the girls

And you have fun bowling

Seriously, it must be so nice being a guy

Shower and get dressed

Way too easy

I’m sorry?

Yeah, yeah

You’d look beautiful even if you did nothing

I’ll see you soon

Get a strike

And if I do?

You might get lucky later

Damn. Now I really need to score

S miling, I pocket my phone and hop out of my truck at the dingy bowling alley. Not sure why Marcus picked this place, but who am I to judge?

Pulling open the door, the stale scents of smoke and old beer greet me. Low lights flicker in the lobby as crashing pins explode.

“Hey, man.”

A kid who can’t be more than seventeen nods at me.

“I believe the reservation is under Evans. I’ll need a pair of shoes.”

“You got it.”

I pass over my credit card, tell him my size, and grab the shoes from him as he points to the lanes behind him.

At the end of the alley, Marcus, Bode, and Jasper are already here. It shouldn’t surprise me that Noah and Graham are running late. With an early practice this morning and nothing to do this afternoon, we thought it’d be a fun way to spend a few hours before the gala tonight.

“Thanks.”

I wave at the kid who buries his face into his phone, ignoring me.

For a weekend afternoon, it’s not crowded. A few families are in the arcade, and what appears to be a bowling team is practicing in a few of the center lanes.

“About time you got here,” Jasper barks at me. “I’m ready to get this over with. ”

“What’s got you all knotted up?” Bode asks, lightly punching him in the shoulder.

“Nothing. Just…who decided on bowling?” Jasper grumbles.

“You know, you really need to get laid,” Noah says, coming up behind him. “It would help with all that tension you’re carrying around.”

“Fuck off,” he fires back. “I’m doing just fine.”

“Are you worried you’re going to lose?” Noah pokes. “I mean, I am an excellent bowler.”

“Want to bet on it?” Jasper asks.

“You know, this isn’t what I had in mind when I suggested we all go out together before the gala,” Marcus says.

“We’re all competitive. What did you expect?” I laugh.

“If you didn’t want them betting, you should have picked a bar,” Graham says.

“Nah. We’re past those days,” Bode says.

Everyone stops, staring at him.

“I never thought I’d hear you utter those words,” Jasper tells him.

“Fuck off.”

“Seriously,” Jasper continues, “who would have seen the day that Bode is all loved up before Dax and me here.”

Bode flips him off. “Well, when you find someone like Stevie, it’s hard not to be.”

“Technically, Chloe and I are seeing each other,” I say.

“Technically?” Marcus questions. “I don’t think there’s any technically about it.”

Noah drapes an arm around my shoulders. “I’m glad Chloe found you after that douchebag.”

“Are you able to call his brother a douchebag?” Graham asks. “At least to his face?”

“Yes.” Noah and I answer at the same time .

“I don’t think she really ‘found’ him,” Marcus states. “Dax has always been around. I guess she finally noticed him.”

“Gee, thanks.” I roll my eyes at him.

“What? It’s true.” Marcus shrugs. “It’s not a bad thing. You two are perfect together and I’m happy for you.”

“Which, speaking of that douche nozzle,” Noah says, “did you see Detroit picked him up?”

“Oh, I saw,” I confirm. “I hope they know what they’re getting into.”

“You know we’ll be playing them in a couple of weeks,” Jasper says.

“I know.”

“Think you’ll be able to keep it together and not punch him in the face after what he did to Chloe?” Noah asks. “I’d like to punch him for what he did to my sister.”

“Maybe if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t be with Cash,” Graham says.

Noah winces. “I really don’t want to talk about my sister and her love life.”

“Why don’t we start bowling?” I ask. I do not want my love life—or anyone else’s—to be the focus of conversation today.

For a group of guys, there is far too much attention on our love lives.

I don’t know how it happened, but all of us have gone from going out to the bars to bowling because it’s the tamer of activities we can do together.

“How are we doing this?” Noah asks. “Three versus three?”

“Yes,” Marcus says. “And you and Graham are on the same team.”

“Hey!” They both look affronted.

“Why can’t we be on separate teams? We’re always together,” Graham says .

“Do you have a problem always being together?” Noah asks him.

“What if I wanted to kick your ass tonight?” He quirks a brow at him.

“What if I wanted your ass in other ways?” Noah fires back.

“Is this foreplay? Because if so, there are children around,” Bode tells them. “Keep it in your pants.”

“Do you think he’s jealous that we’re here together and Stevie isn’t?” Noah ignores him.

“Oh, definitely,” Graham says, slinging an arm around him. “He’ll see her later.”

“Would you two be nice to him? I don’t want him to leave before we play.” Marcus points a finger at each of them.

“Okay, fine.”

I drop into a seat to untie my shoes and put on the hard bowling shoes. Marcus types our names into the screen as we get going.

“Are we betting on this?” I ask, as Noah takes the seat next to me. Bode, Graham, and Jasper are ready to go.

“I say whichever team wins gets to pick the next team outing,” Bode says.

Marcus grins at him as he picks up his orange ball. “Which means this is going to become a regular thing. Glad I got you on board.”

Bode rolls his eyes back at him. “Yeah, yeah. It’s not like it’s a hardship to spend time with you idiots.”

“Aww, he really loves us.” Jasper ruffles his hair as he grabs a ball and approaches the line. Without missing a beat, he lines up his shot and sends the ball spinning down the lane. The crack echoes loudly as all ten pins come crashing down.

“Damn. Why isn’t he on our team?” I ask .

“Hey.” Noah nudges me in the side. “We’re good.”

Marcus takes his turn, getting a gutter ball.

“We are?” I quirk a brow at him.

“Well, some of us.”

“Sorry,” Marcus says, walking back to wait for the return to spit his ball out. “I forgot I can actually try.”

Bode groans from his spot. “Does this mean I’m going to have to lose on purpose when Caleb is old enough to bowl?”

“If you don’t want him complaining about losing, then yes,” Marcus tells him. This time, he manages to get five pins down.

A waiter comes around and takes our food and drink orders as the game continues. I get a measly three pins down on my first turn, while Noah puts up two goose eggs.

Meanwhile, the other team is crushing us. They’re already up by twenty-five points.

“You know, I really can get on board with this whole bowling thing,” Jasper says.

“Only because you’re on the winning team,” Noah goads. Jasper ignores him, pulling out his phone, an annoyed look washing over his face.

“What’s wrong with you?” Noah asks.

“Nothing,” Jasper bites back.

“You seem more annoyed than usual.”

“Maybe because you’re bugging me?” Jasper clarifies.

“He’s right. You were happy and now you’re grumpy,” Bode says, ganging up on him.

“Maybe it’s because I have to hang out with you assholes,” Jasper throws back at Bode.

Our waiter sets down two pitchers of beer and six glasses. I pour a round of drinks, watching as the guys bicker back and forth .

“Do you think he met someone?” Marcus whispers out of the corner of his mouth.

“Probably has to do with why he always texts us random things,” I answer.

“There’s no way Jasper would start dating someone and not tell us, right?” Noah asks.

“I mean, he’s always been the quiet type,” I reply.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Jasper were to start dating someone and not tell us. Marcus couldn’t keep the dopey grin off his face when he and Harper got back together. Stevie and Caleb are all Bode talks about.

Me?

I’ve never been one to hide my feelings. But then again, I’ve never really had a serious girlfriend before. There have been a few, but no one that I felt the need to tell the guys about.

Except Chloe.

Chloe is the exception to every rule.

The guys didn’t bat an eye when I told them about me and Chloe. Our feelings are the real deal.

Marcus sets his drink down, swiping a nacho and heading back to the ball return. “Okay, leave Jasper alone. If he wants to ignore us and not tell us what is going on with his personal life, we won’t hold it against him. Now, I’m ready to beat you assholes.”

Instead, Marcus gets two gutter balls in a row.

“You’re going to beat us, huh?” Graham prods.

Noah flips him off as he splits the pins.

“Okay, we are definitely not bowling next time,” I tell them as I follow Marcus’s lead and throw two gutter balls.

“Oh, we are totally doing this again,” Bode says. “Maybe we should make it a date night.”

“Really?” I quirk a brow at him. “It’s still weird to hear you say things like that. ”

“Stevie would love it.” Bode pulls out his phone, smiling. “Besides, it looks like the girls like each other.”

My own phone buzzes and I pull it out. There’s a group text with me, the three women, Marcus, and Bode. The three of them are holding champagne, smiling at the camera.

“Yeah, it looks like they’re getting along great,” I say.

“As long as we do it in the next few weeks. Childcare is going to get hard because the grandmas have a cruise in November.”

“Ahh, the life of a parent.” Marcus laughs. “I can’t wait until the girls are old enough to babysit.”

“They’d be good influences on Caleb. Make sure he eats his vegetables,” I tell them.

“Hey. Caleb is the most perfect kid there is.” Bode whacks me on the chest. “Watch it.”

“Sorry.” I throw my hands up, heading to take my turn.

The ball leaves my hand on a perfect spin, crashing into the pins and knocking all ten down.

“Hell yeah!” I pump my arms in victory. “See if you guys win now.”

Jasper does a slow clap. “Great job. You’re still down by forty.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I roll my eyes at him as I grab my beer and toast with Marcus. “I’ll take one perfect frame.”

Even if we’re losing and they pick the next activity, I wouldn’t mind this being a date night with the guys and our partners.

I love that we’re all here together while the girls are getting ready for the big gala tonight.

I never thought that this was going to be what a day could look like. Hanging with the guys and then going out with all of us together, Chloe included.

If it’s up to me, Chloe will be around for a long time.

Forever, I hope.