Page 22 of Forbidden Sins

“Yeah, right,” I roll my eyes as I step inside. “My dad wouldn’t be caught dead within ten miles of this place.”

The moment I step inside, I’m hit with a sensory assault that’s strange and exciting all at once.

The bowling alley is crowded, full of people of all ages—from a middle-aged group of women all wearing matching polo shirts to a group of teenagers, to parents with their kids, and what looks like couples in their early twenties out for date night.

The air is thick with the smell of beer, fried food, and grease, and music is pulsing from the speakers overhead, the lights from the lanes flashing in the dim interior.

It only takes me a moment to spot Marilee and the others. I gesture to Sebastian, pointing them out, and he nudges me in their direction. “I’ll grab us a couple of beers and something to eat,” he says, and I frown at him.

“Aren’t you supposed to make sure I’m safe here?” I tease him, and his expression darkens.

“Don’t worry, princess. I won’t let you out of my sight for a minute.”

“Estella!” Marilee squeals my name the moment she sees me, rushing over to envelop me in a hug that smells of her sugary perfume and the faintest hint of beer.

“You came! I wasn’t sure you would.” She pulls back, her smile dropping.

“I’m so sorry about your brother, ‘Stel. I wanted to call, or send a card, or something… but I didn’t know what to say.

I’m so bad at these things. I feel like an awful friend, I should have said something?—”

I blink at her, confused. “How did you know?”

“Cora.” Marilee gestures back toward the group. “She was in journalism, remember? She works at the paper. They’ve got her on obits while she’s working her way up.”

I stare at her, still confused. The gears of my brain feel stuck.

“Obituaries.” Marilee looks at me with a hint of concern, and I feel my thoughts start churning again.

“Oh! Of course. I—” I shake my head, swallowing hard. “It’s fine. Of course, it’s fine… these things are hard. I’ve barely even looked at my phone, honestly, so?—”

“I didn’t think you’d come. I would have totally understood if you hadn’t, but I’m so glad you’re here.

” She smiles at me, a real, genuine smile that meets her eyes and lights up her whole face, and my chest tightens.

I should have put more effort into these friendships, I realize.

Pretty soon, they’re going to be harder to keep than ever.

I could have a real, lifelong friend in Marilee—but we’re so different.

More different than she realizes, and I don’t know how to bridge that gap.

“I didn’t want to miss your birthday.” I hug her again, suddenly very glad I came despite everything. “Especially since you made it to mine.”

“And you brought a friend.” Marilee’s gaze drifts over my shoulder, and I realize that Sebastian must be behind me.

“A very attractive friend.” Her smile turns sly, and I know she’s assumed who Sebastian and I are to each other right off the bat.

And why wouldn’t she? It’s not as if having a bodyguard is a normal thing when I’m not some kind of celebrity or politician’s child.

“Happy birthday,” Sebastian says, and I can hear a hint of amusement in his voice. My cheeks heat.

“This is Marilee,” I say quickly, stepping back so I can introduce them. “Marilee, this is Sebastian.”

“Thanks for coming!” Marilee says enthusiastically. “I’m glad ‘Stel found someone, honestly. All the boys in college were scared of her, I think. She was too hot for any of them.”

“I’m no exception to that,” Sebastian says, and I can hear the undercurrent of gravity in his voice. He’s more right than Marilee knows, except the real reason has nothing to do with my looks and everything to do with the family that I was born into. “Where can I set all of this down?”

“Oh! We’re right over here. Follow me.” Marilee gestures for us to follow her, and leads us over to a table in front of one of the lanes, where I see Cora and Rachel sitting with two guys—and another guy on the other side of Cora, scrolling on his phone as he reaches for his beer. “I’ll introduce you to everyone else.”

The next few minutes pass in a flurry of introductions.

Cora and Rachel introduce their boyfriends—Nick and Brad—and the other guy, whose name is Tyler.

He looks up at me, brushing his floppy, sandy blond hair away from his face, and his blue eyes pin me in a way that instantly makes my skin prickle uncomfortably.

I can tell he’s interested, and I can tell that he’s not put off by Sebastian.

I introduce Sebastian as a friend, and everyone except Tyler seems to assume that he’s ‘that’ kind of friend. Cora and Rachel are already teasing me about it, half-tipsy and cheering me on for having caught such a devastatingly hot guy. But I can see Tyler sizing him up.

As if he’d have a chance .

I reach for the beer that Sebastian bought me—sitting right next to a plate of nachos that look like nothing I’ve ever eaten before, and take a sip.

It’s sour and burns the back of my throat, and I have to fight not to gag.

Sebastian quickly plucks it out of my hand, his lips twitching as he leans in.

“First time trying beer, princess?”

“You know it is.” I swat at his chest, coughing and embarrassed over my reaction. “Did you think I’d like it?”

He shrugs. “There’s a first time for everything.” His gaze catches mine, and for a moment, I feel the air thicken between us again. “Maybe I wanted to get to be one of your firsts, princess.”

My eyes widen. He’s never said anything like that to me before.

I see his jaw tense, his throat move as he swallows hard, no doubt realizing that he’s overstepped.

But he doesn’t take it back. And it’s wildly tempting to tell him just what first I had earlier, clinging to him as we sped down the highway to get here.

“Get a room, you two,” Marilee drawls, grabbing a bowling ball. “Or better yet, bowling shoes. We have the perfect amount for two teams now.”

Sebastian goes to get us shoes, and when he comes back, Marilee effortlessly splits us into two teams, demanding that I be on hers, even though I explained to her that I’ve never actually bowled before.

She ends up splitting the teams between girls and guys, with there being four of each here, and Sebastian grins at me as he picks up the ball.

Despite the fact that I’ve never tried this before, I’m actually not bad at it—and it’s more fun than I could have imagined.

I manage a respectable score, while Sebastian—who claimed when Marilee split us all up that he hadn’t bowled since high school—somehow manages to get strike after strike and makes it look effortless.

“Is there anything you’re not good at?” I ask him as we return to the table, and he takes a sip of my abandoned beer.

I grab it back, forcing a little more down my throat.

Maybe the taste gets better as you drink it .

I can see Tyler looking at me as he picks up a ball for his turn, and I quickly look away, refocusing on Sebastian.

The corner of his mouth twitches. “A few things,” he admits teasingly. “None of which I’m going to tell you about.”

“And what else are you good at?” I challenge, taking another sip of the beer.

Am I tipsy already ? That seems impossible, but something about all of this makes me feel bolder than I usually am.

This isn’t a date, and Sebastian isn’t really my friend , but it feels like it.

It feels like we could be two normal people, out with friends.

Like we might go back home together tonight, and go to bed, and…

“Plenty.” His eyes lock with mine, and I think I see his breath catch in his throat. “None of which I’m going to discuss with you, either, princess.”

I feel my skin heat. Before I can say anything else, or even take another sip of my beer, Marilee flops down in the seat next to me, her face flushed with alcohol and happiness.

“Your boyfriend is killing us all at bowling,” she says, nudging me with her elbow and giggling. “Where did you find him, anyway?” she continues, as if Sebastian isn’t sitting right there. “I know there’s no one who looks like him on campus.”

Boyfriend . The word, slipping out of Marilee’s lips so easily, stings.

Sebastian is my bodyguard. My protector. A man who would take a bullet for me without hesitation.

But he’s not really my boyfriend.

I force myself to shrug. “We met through my father,” I say quickly, the closest thing to the truth I can manage. “Nothing super exciting. No romantic story there, I’m afraid.”

I can feel Sebastian’s eyes on me, feel the sudden tension in him even from across the table. Why he’s so tense, I’m not sure—it’s not as if we didn’t discuss this beforehand. But he doesn’t contradict me, or say anything at all.

“Damn, girl,” Marilee whispers, not quietly enough that the rest of the table can’t hear her. “I wish my dad knew guys that sexy. And the way he looks at you? I’d kill for a man to look at me like that.”

“Marilee!” I hiss, hearing Rachel giggle from my other side.

I don’t dare look at Sebastian. The table isn’t big enough that he isn’t hearing this from across it.

Cora and her boyfriend are too busy chatting, but I can see Tyler watching us from the corner of my eye—no doubt curious about who Sebastian really is to me.

“What do you mean, the way he looks at me ?” I hear myself ask, before I can stop it.

Marilee rolls her eyes. “Like you’re the only other person in the room. Like he’d set the whole world on fire if you asked him to. It’s… intense.” She grabs her beer, taking a sip, and fans herself dramatically. “It’s hot, honestly.”

I blink, trying to process everything she just said. Before I can respond, Tyler gets up, moving to slide into the seat on my other side.