Page 44 of This Time Around

“What’s that mean? Just ‘oh’ and nothing else?”

“It just means ‘oh.’ I told you that I haven’t been with anyone else since I returned home, and I wasn’t lying.”

“There’s something you’re not telling me though, Andy.”

“I mean, I could’ve had sex with him, but I didn’t return Ollie’s interest.”

Was that supposed to make me feel better? On some level, I knew that my reaction was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help my mind from wandering back to the night at Queen City Divas when they appeared closer than Andy was telling me. I remembered the way they leaned close to whisper in each other’s ear, and the sexy smirk on Andy’s face when I was singing happy birthday to Oliver. It wasn’t a Wednesday night either, so they obviously hung out more than just on Wednesday evenings. What else wasn’t Andy telling me?

“Look, it’s obvious there’s something bothering you, and we need to have a lengthy conversation. Can we do that privately? Ollie’s sponsorship and friendship are important to me, and I’d really like for you to get to know him.” Andy pressed a few sweet kisses against my lips, garnering catcalls from his buddies. “Please.”

“I’m going to make you beg for other things later, Slugger,” I whispered in his ear. The sparkle in his eyes eased the nerves making my stomach pitch and roll.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Andy said before he kissed me once more.

“What’d I miss?” Ollie asked, as if he couldn’t see that my lips were pressed against Andy’s.

“Andy is sucking face with his boyfriend,” one of the guys said.

I’d forgotten his name already. I think Andy called him Alec or Allen or something. He wore a goofy grin on his face like a perpetual frat boy. In fact, all three of the other guys looked like frat boys. I noticed that smile dimmed a little when Ollie didn’t react to his remark. Exactly how did Frat-Boy-Alec-Allen think their sponsor would act? It seemed obvious to me that he knew about the connection Andy shared with Ollie. Was he jealous? Was he gay too? Were they all gay? Exactly what did they get up to during their meetings?Whoa!My brain was spinning out of control, but I blocked my mind from playing out a naked orgy in the basement of a church.

“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone since we knew how much Andy wanted to reconnect with Milo,” Ollie said kindly. “I’m happy for you…both.”

“Thanks,” Andy said, rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he found himself in an awkward situation. Maybe he should’ve thought this through a little better.

“Are we going to bowl or what?” Bill, or maybe it was Bruce, asked.

“Let’s do this,” Ollie said. He walked over and entered our names into the computer. Adam, Brent, and Tyler were their names.

I was so happy that Oliver didn’t make me go first. Perhaps he didn’t hate me after all. Surely that was against his religion, right? Adam, Brent, and Tyler were on one team, and Andy, Oliver, and I were on the other.

Adam, Brent, and Tyler took their practice turns and all threw strikes or spares.Fuck.I hadn’t bowled in a long time.

“Babe, just have fun with it,” Andy said, clearly remembering how horrible I was when he bowled together in high school.

“Thanks,” I said dryly, rolling my eyes as I turned away from him.

Channel the Peach. Channel the Peach. Channel the Peach.

“I saw that,” Andy said.

I looked coyly over my shoulder. “You haven’t seen anything yet,darling.”

Yep, I had an extra sway as I picked my ball up and walked up the steps.Don’t fall on your ass. Don’t fall on your ass.

“You got this, babe,” Andy said cheerfully.

As I stood there looking down the lane, I had a choice to make. I could reveal to Andy that I had improved my game since we last played together, or I could keep that a secret right up until it counted. Hmmmm.Like there was any real choice here.I walked awkwardly, swung my ball out of rhythm, and let it fly so that it landed with a hardthunk, barely having enough energy to roll into the gutter. I thought that maybe I overplayed my hand when it looked like it might roll to a stop before it cleared the lane.

“Oops,” I said sassily, turning to face the five men who wore conflicting expressions on their faces. Adam, Brent, and Tyler grinned from ear to ear, knowing that victory for their team would be a sure thing. Andy looked embarrassed—for me or because of me, I couldn’t be sure—while Oliver looked stunned.Surely, he’d seen worse. No? Wait for it…

My second practice throw was carefully orchestrated as well. I nearly dropped the ball on my foot, purposely, of course, and I managed to slowly roll the ball at the perfect angle so that it didn’t hit the gutter until the last second. I wrapped my left hand around my right wrist like it was too frail to roll the little ole ball down that super long lane.

“I’m a little rusty,” I said apologetically when I made my way back to Andy.

Andy pulled me onto his lap and whispered in my ear. “That’s okay. I still love you.”

Blink. Blink. Blink.I forgot to breathe. My eyes stung with unshed tears while Andy looked at me with a look of panic on his face.