Page 47 of Buck & Mari

He wasn’t sure if the time they’d spent at his place really counted as a date. Sure, they ate and talked. Watched something on streaming.

And kissed.

But date?

Maybe that was the reason she’d told him no.

Or maybe she really did have a girl’s night thing to go to.

When Hoss left for the bowling league, Buck caught a ride with him.

Hoss’ truck was what Buck would call a ‘farm truck.’

His family had somewhat distant relatives in Kansas and Hoss’ 2010 Ram 1500 looked just like their vehicles. Well used, but also well taken care of.

Buck had no idea if the darker, gunmetal paint color was original to the car, but someone on the team had called it the Silver Bullet and the name had stuck.

When he climbed up into it, Buck was happy to realize that there hadn’t been a twinge or a pull in his calf.

The skin around the scars didn’t feel tight either.

Progress.

Hoss put the truck in gear and pulled out of his parking spot with a smooth glide to the right.

Buck looked at his friend and nodded.

Hoss had been one of the lucky ones in the crash.

“How are you doing?”

The man’s friendly tone used to make Buck tense up when he was in the hospital. Not because Hoss had been antagonistic or mean in anyway.

It was a case of sour grapes on his own part.

Envy, perhaps.

The silence dragged out in the cab of the truck and Buck knew he’d have to say something.

“Good.” He nodded and saw Hoss turn to look at him. “Much better,” he added. “I’m almost done with my rehab appointments.”

Hoss nodded and kept his gaze focused on the road ahead where crosswalks popped up regularly. “Good. Glad to hear it, Buck.”

Hoss smiled.

“It’s good to have you back at League Night.”

“I still can’t bowl,” he blurted out, hating the way the denial tasted on his tongue. Like bile or almost ripe grapefruit. “I’m just there to watch.”

“It’ll be good to have you there just to catch up. Besides the bullshit and bowling, we do have fun from time to time.”

Buck appreciated the encouragement, but he was determined to go if only to get Pallas off his ass.

“It’ll be good,” he announced, more to himself than anything else.

“Yeah,” Hoss nodded, turned a quick smile in his direction. “It will be.”

Thankfully, there weren’t any questions about his medical stuff or the therapy. Buck knew it was probably because he’d growled and grumbled enough when they’d ask him about his recovery.