Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone novel)(41)

Knots tighten in my stomach, but I force a smile. There was once a time when I could handle anything dealt at me.

He hops out, and I reluctantly push open the door. I don’t feel right about this. Whit deserves more respect. Hell, I could have given her the night off with pay if I hadn’t been staring at the clock all day. Why did he have to give me a time?

Before I can get down, Chase is suddenly in front of me, and his hands go to my waist as he wears that cocky smirk. He’s dressed too sexy, even though he’s still wearing the same thing he had on when he arrived—a black tee and a pair of dark jeans.

“You going to get down or just stare at me in an unfriendly way all night?” he asks, reminding me I’m gawking while his hands remain on my waist.

Rolling my eyes as he smirks, I start sliding down, and he pulls me against him, making the gesture less than friendly when I end up sliding down him.

As soon as my feet touch the ground, I stop leaning against him, and he shuts the truck door before putting his hand at the small of my back. As he guides me through the front entrance, my eyes move to the eagle statue.

“It looks lonely,” Chase says against my ear, making it easy to hear his deep voice over the roar of the music and the crashing of the pins.

A shiver travels down my spine, and he smiles at me while pulling back and taking my hand to lead me toward the counter. I wince when I see Whit, trying to retract my hand from Chase’s. He reluctantly lets it go, but he looks disappointed when he turns back to face me.

Before he can say anything, Whit is bouncing up to the counter. She glares at Chase for a second before turning a smile on me. I hope she isn’t just nice to me because I’m her boss.

“I have your lane waiting for you. Be glad the jerk called. It would have been embarrassing to ask the owner to wait when you haven’t even played a game since you bought the place.”

It’s packed in here. That’s for sure.

“Need shoes?” she asks.

I shake my head and point to my feet. You’re not supposed to wear shoes on the floor that you wore outside, but I’m the owner, so f*ck it. I’m not wearing rental shoes.

“I need some,” Chase tells her.

She rolls her eyes while going to grab a pair, and Chase pulls out his wallet as she returns and puts two large shoes on the counter in front of him. I stifle a smile when Whit starts laughing.

“You really think I’m going to charge the owner for the lane?” Whit asks, amused.

Chase fights his own smile before nodding and putting his wallet away. “I was going to pay. Not the owner.”

He starts to reach for me, but I start walking around the counter as Whit walks out. She immediately takes my side and casts another glare behind her at Chase, who deliberately lags behind.

“Hope you know what you’re doing,” she says to me.

“Just being friends. That’s all.” Wish I could convince myself of that.

“Right. Anyway, I’m eager to see the two of you bowl. I’ve actually never seen Chase bowl before.”

To say this isn’t awkward would be a lie. His ex-girlfriend is about to hang out with us because I’m her employer and friend. Life is just one big pile of weirdness.

Chase is scowling at Whit when she sits down beside me.

“Aren’t you on the clock?” he asks her as he starts searching for a ball. Yeah…I need one of those too.

Getting up, I try to silence him with my eyes. He ignores my eyes.

“Lisa is the assistant manager and has the counter covered. My shift is almost up.”

She smiles mockingly at him while I grab a ball that doesn’t feel like it’s going to pull my arm out of socket when I throw it. Chase mutters something too low for me to hear over the music as he starts changing into the bowling shoes.

Whit sits behind the control screen and puts in my name and Chase’s name.

“You can play with us,” I tell her, which earns me a scowl from Chase.

“I’d rather watch this big show down.”

Chase rolls his eyes and stands to take his turn since she put him in first. I try not to stare at him, or the way his muscles flex, when he lines up his shot. I also try not to stare at his ass in those jeans…

The ball pounding the lane jars me out of my trance, and I smother my laughter when it crashes into… one pin. Chase flips off the lane like it somehow wronged him, and he goes to wait for his ball to pop up again. As soon as it emerges, he starts the cycle all over again. As do I—muscles, ass, drool… Jump when ball hits.

This time, he takes out two more, and he turns around and shakes his head.

“Wow. That was… terrible,” I say with a smug grin. “Lost your touch?”

“Let’s see you do better, princess. Sounds like you’re rustier than I am if you really haven’t played since we were kids.”

He smirks at me and I stand up, acting like I’m a badass. Grabbing my ball, I line up my shot, pull my arm back, and hear someone burst out laughing as I jerk forward an empty hand… Yep. The ball went flying behind me.

I turn around to see Chase doubled over, covering his face with his hands as his body shakes with laughter. Whit is leaned back and howling with laughter, and I flip them both off before grabbing my ball back up from the floor.

This time, I manage to roll the ball down the… gutter. Sheesh. And it’s a slow roll too, so it takes the longest roll of shame in history.