Make Me Bad(41)

Eli’s frown softens. “Oh, ha ha, very funny. I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Well ‘her’ knows what she’s doing,” I quip just as Ben’s black SUV pulls into a parking space in the row in front of us.

I duck for cover, of course.

“That’s him!” I hiss. “Is he looking over here?”

“No, you’re good. There’s a lamppost blocking his view. Plus, he’s talking to his friends.”

Oh good. I sit back up and fix my hair as I watch him, Andy, and Arianna walk toward the front entrance. They’re so beautiful, they look like a pack of vampires. Arianna is svelte and long-legged with short blonde hair. Her outfit is so damn cool! She’s wearing black jeans and an off-the-shoulder red sweater. The boxy fit would make me look shapeless, but she looks hip! Trendy!

Then I remember we aren’t so shabby either. Kevin’s really cute, blond and tall and tan. He’s the surfer boy to Eli’s handsome bookworm, and I look pretty dang good myself—fancy, even, though I’m not wearing anything more than jeans and a black shirt. The jeans are new, though, and they fit me like a glove. The long-sleeved black top is tight, like a second skin, and the U-neck dips down to reveal the perfect amount of cleavage. It doesn’t hurt that my bra is accentuating every curve I have. My hair is sleek and straight thanks to the salon Eli and Kevin took me to, and they did my makeup there, too. A woman chatted my ear off as she swiped on all sorts of fun things—bronzer, blush, eyeshadow. I let her do whatever she wanted and when that chair spun around, I was completely struck silent by my own appearance. Some people really are miracle workers.

We wait exactly ten minutes before we get out of the car and follow Ben inside the bowling alley. I’m not really trying to make an entrance, it just happens that way. I think it’s largely by accident. Kevin and Eli hold the doors open for me. I step inside right when the music changes from upbeat pop to something slow and sultry, a song that would fit perfectly in my dirty dreams. An employee passing in front of me accidentally drops a WET FLOOR sign and it clatters to the ground, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. The final touch comes from the fan overhead, placed there to keep the heat in and the cold air out. I look like I’m in the middle of a photo shoot. Hello, Gigi? You’re fired. There’s a new supermodel in town.

Ben is standing a few yards away, talking to Andy and Arianna. He stops midsentence when he sees me. If I were talking, I’d have paused too. Mussed brown hair. Sharp amber eyes. Cool jacket. Dark jeans. The guy knows how to dress, and it probably didn’t take him three hours to get ready like it took me. His gaze meets mine and his brows shoot up a smidge. It’s an acknowledgment of my new look, possibly the only one I’ll get.

“Sorry about that,” says the employee in front of me, the one who dropped the sign. He waves the thing in front of my face. “Guess we need a warning for the sign too.”

I frown. “What?”

He blanches, stumbling over his words. “Oh, j-just…the sign is supposed to caution people about a slippery floor, but the sign slipped out of my hand, so…”

I laugh because that’s actually pretty funny.

His face lights up. We’re having a moment. I mean, he’s like 17, but I can still tell from his appreciative gaze that he thinks I look hot, and that’s something.

Ben steps up behind him and the kid turns to look up at him, eyes widening in fear. Ben sends him a scathing glare.

“Madison, we already paid for the lane,” Ben says, all but dismissing the guy. Tell me he’s not really jealous of a 17-year-old?! Amazing. “You guys just need to grab shoes.”

Oh right. Boo. I hadn’t considered that my cool vibe would be thrown off by clunky clown shoes.

I guess Ben will look silly too, but oh, what’s that? He looks just as hot? Figures.

When he finishes lacing his up, he kneels down in front of me and holds out his hand.

I give him a high five and he glares at me as if he’s annoyed. He’s not. His eyes are crinkled in the corners.

“Shoe,” he says, and I slap one into his hand so he can lace it for me.

“I’m not an invalid. My head is all healed up, in case you didn’t notice.”

“I noticed,” he says, yanking hard on the laces.

I smile. “This is the second time you’ve laced me up today. You’re getting really good at it.”

He huffs out a short breath just as Andy and Arianna come sit down on the bench beside us.

Andy waves his shoes in the air. “Can you lace me up too while you’re down there, Benny boy?”

The glare Ben delivers should singe Andy’s ass to the bench. I take the opportunity to reach over and introduce myself to Arianna. “I don’t think we’ve formally met. I’m Madison.”

She smiles and accepts my handshake. “Hey, yeah, I saw you at Jake’s party the other week, right? You were there with your brother?”

Memories flash through my mind like a highlight reel: panties, book, dark corners, Ben’s hard body pressed against mine.

“Oh, um, yes.” Wow, is that my voice breaking? “I was there.”

When I look back at Ben, he’s smiling at the floor.

“So are you two dating?” she asks, pointing between Ben and me.

“Dating?” The word drops out of my mouth like a hefty stone.