Page 95 of Never Say Never
When we get in the car, I shift to face her, waiting to turn it on.
“Hey,” I repeat. A genius, like I said.
“Hey.” A smile starts to make an appearance, which relaxes me somewhat.
“You look nice.”
That smile widens.
I can’t seem to shut up. “I know it’s for the cameras and not for me, don’t worry.”
Instead of agreeing, she looks amused. “Rawley.”
“Yes?”
“Are you going to make this weird?”
“No?”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
She doesn’t wait for me, grabbing the back of my head and bringing our mouths together.
Not that she would’ve had to wait long. As soon as she said those words, my lips were headed toward hers of their own accord.
The kiss is quick, our mouths pressed against each other just for a matter of seconds, but it somehow rearranges my brain chemistry.
Holy fuck.We’re doing this thing. Thisthingbeing more than bowling, more than our fake arrangement. It’s us, together, physically.
She’s making it clear for me, so I can stop questioning. Now I need to actually stop doing that.
“There, ice breaker done,” she says, like she can read my mind. “Let’s go to the bowling place.”
“Bowling alley.”
“Whatever it’s called.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I repeat, energized now, nerves largely gone and hopes majorly raised.
I turn the car on, and we get on the road.
“So purple toes, huh? Team spirit and all that?”
She looks down at them, and I see them wiggle out of the corner of my eye.
“Seemed fitting for my first month on the team.” She glances back at me, focusing on my Surge shirt. “I see you got the memo too.”
“Taylor’s orders. Not that I’m complaining. I like purple.”
“That’s convenient,” she says archly. “Since I wear a lot of it.”
I laugh, and we both settle in as I drive. It’s reassuring to know our natural rapport is still unaffected by thething.
“Let’s go over the plan, okay?” she says. “Taylor has those friendly guys taking some shots as we walk in. And then we need to take a couple of selfies throughout the night.”
“I’ll let you pick when and where. I’m easy.”
“Noted,” she says, and she has me chuckling again with her flippant tone. “We also need to stay aware that we could be captured by other bowlers’ cell phones too.”
