Finding Eden (A Sign of Love Novel)(54)

Fifteen minutes later, we had bowling shoes on and were directed to our own lane.
As I typed our information into the computer, Eden went about finding a bowling ball. When I finished, I stood up, looking around for Eden. I didn't immediately spot her and panic surged in my chest, making my heart speed up and my blood pump faster. I swiveled my head everywhere, panic setting in. "Eden!" I called. Several people looked over at me curiously. I jumped up on one of the chairs to get a better view over the tops of peoples' heads and called Eden's name again.
A guy at the lane to the right of me said, "You missing a kid?"
I shook my head. "No, my . . ." My words trailed off as a blonde head came into view, Eden turning the corner of a shelf of bowling balls and walking back toward me. The smile on her face faltered when she saw me standing on the chair probably looking panic-stricken. I hopped down and raced toward her, exhaling and pulling her in to me, the bowling ball she held colliding with my stomach. I didn't care. I held her for a minute, allowing my heart rate to return to normal.
"Whoa," she whispered, "you okay?"
I nodded and forced a small smile. "Yeah, sorry. It's just, I turned around and you weren't there, and—"
"I get it," she interrupted, smiling at me. "Sorry. I just couldn't find a ball that I could even lift. I just went around the corner." Her brows furrowed. "It will get better for both of us." She looked at me encouragingly.
I nodded and smiled again, leading her back to our lane. God, I hoped it would get better. Would I ever be able to let her leave my presence again without a feeling of dread taking over my body?
Eden sat down and I leaned in and kissed her lips, smiling and trying to lighten the mood. When I stood up, the guy in the lane next to me was looking at me with a small frown on his face. Yeah, I probably looked like a nutjob, panicking because my girlfriend turned the corner. Oh well, he didn't know the half of it. Did any of us ever know the half of it when it came to other people? Likely not.
I walked up to the lane and lined up my shot like I'd seen countless other people do as Xander and I had sat shoveling free nachos into our hungry bodies. If someone had told me then I'd be the one bowling, with Eden, a couple years later, I would have punched them in the face for trying to pull such a cruel joke.
I stepped forward and let the ball go. It glided down the lane, making a sharp turn at the end and knocking over the one pin to the far left. Well, that wasn't good. Still, I turned around and said, "Yes!" walking back toward Eden.
She laughed. "I don't think that's actually very good. You got one pin."
I winked at her, determined to make this a decent first date. "Yeah," I leaned in and kissed her quickly on her smiling mouth, "but things can only go up from here."
She raised a brow. "Or you could get a gutter ball."
I chuckled softly. "Very pessimistic. I won't."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "How can you be so sure?"
I smiled. "Because I learn from my mistakes."
Then I strode up to the lane and lined up my shot. Only this time, I started the ball all the way at the very right edge of the lane so that when it made the sharp turn at the end, it hit the center pin and they all went flying. Spare!
I heard Eden whoop behind me and turned around to her grinning and clapping. I laughed and walked back to her. I picked her up and spun her once and then kissed her hard.
"Dance with me," I mumbled into her hair after I'd broken from her mouth and hugged her to me.
She looked up at me and then seemed to hear the music coming from the sound system. The lyrics sang of loss and something about all of the stars, which seemed apropos.