Tutoring the Player (Campus Wallflowers #1)(27)

We walk back over to the lane and put our balls down, then sit to wait for everyone else.

“How’s your week going?” he asks. He removes his hat and sets it on the bench next to him. He might be the only guy I know who can wear a hat and not get hat hair.

“Good. Yours?”

“Not too bad.” He smiles. “Ready for this?”

“Not really,” I admit. “I’m not very sporty.”

I flounce the hem of my skirt to further my point.

“Ah, well. Don’t worry.” He reaches into a bag underneath the bench and pulls out a shirt. He holds it up to show me the front with the name, Lucky Strikes.

“Cute.”

He hands it to me. “Welcome to the team.”

Jordan and Violet come back with drinks—Violet a hard seltzer and Jordan a pitcher in one hand and a stack of cups in the other.

“Look at you,” Jordan says as I slide on the oversized bowling shirt.

Violet giggles as she takes me in.

“That bad?” I ask.

“No, you’re totally pulling it off.”

“Adorable.” Jordan’s lips twitch with a hint of a smile as he extends a cup toward me. “Beer?”

Liam’s already filling one for himself, so I nod. “Thanks.”

Jordan pours my cup almost to the top, and I take a sip as another guy joins us. One I recognize.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Violet’s voice cuts through the noise of the place.

“Hey, guys,” Gavin says. “New recruits?”

“Daisy is filling in for Jenkins tonight.”

“And you?” Gavin asks, looking at Violet.

“I was here for the drinks and socializing, but I guess now I’m just here for the booze.”

“You two know each other?” Jordan asks.

“We’re neighbors,” Gavin says.

“Oh, right.” Jordan shakes his head. He looks to Liam. “They live next to The White House.”

“Really?” Liam asks me, smiling.

“Yeah,” I say quietly.

Liam moves to the chair in front of the computer to input names and motions for me to follow. My heart rate skitters along as I sit, and his arm brushes mine.

“You’re filling in for Jenkins. He usually goes second, but I can put you anywhere in the lineup you want.”

“Wherever is fine.”

“I’ll put you between Gavin and Jordan,” he says, focusing on the screen in front of him. He puts himself first and then Gavin, me, and Jordan. He sits back. “We’re all set. Ready?”

“No.” I laugh.

“I’ve got you.”

Liam puts on his team shirt, grabs his lucky ball, and gets in position. He throws a strike on his very first turn.

The guys give him fist bumps, and he takes a seat next to me again.

“Nice job.”

“Thanks.”

When Gavin has the same result, my stomach sinks. I glance at Violet whose smile and big eyes meet mine, silently communicating the horror. These guys are good. When Violet said I was pretty good, she meant my ball mostly stays out of the gutter, not that I knock down a lot of pins.

“You’re up,” Liam says.

I glance at a girl on the lane beside us, watching as she takes her turn. Her ball flies down the lane and knocks all but one pin down. I swallow thickly. Oh god. What was I thinking agreeing to this?

I grab my ball and glance back. All eyes are on me. Awesome. Slowly, I walk to the center of the lane.

“Let’s go, Daisy,” Liam cheers behind me.

It’s only because the sooner I take my turn, the sooner I can go sit back down, that I move my feet and hurl the ball. It isn’t as fast or straight as the others, but it manages to get all the way down without going in the gutter, and I knock down four pins.

I let out a sigh and go back. Then I remember I have to go again.

“That was great.” Liam smiles and claps, encouraging me.

Jordan’s sitting off to the side with Gavin and Violet, his cup of beer up to his lips. Even so, I can tell he’s smirking at me.

I suffer through the rest of my turn and manage to get seven total pins.

I pass Jordan on the way to my seat. His confidence in rented shoes is aspiring.

Like the others, he throws a strike. I move to sit next to Violet when Gavin gets up.

“Oh my god, they’re good. Like really good.”

“No kidding,” she says. She watches Gavin. “I didn’t realize he was going to be here.”

“Me either. Sorry.”

“Whatever. I’m going to get another drink.”

“Hey.” I stop her. “Congratulations. I’m really proud of you.”

Her face softens. “Thank you.”

“And I totally owe you a real night out. Promise.” I hold up my pinkie, and she links hers with mine.

“Yeah, you do.” She starts to get up. “Now go talk to Liam, so this night isn’t a total waste.”

There isn’t a lot of time for talking. The guys move fast through their frames. I could count the number of times they don’t get a strike or spare easier than I could the times they do.

As I prepare for my last turn (thank you sweet baby Jesus), Jordan appears beside me. “You throw so politely.”