B A D
B O Y ' S
G A M E
"Grey, won't you make me a very happy man and let me take you out today?" Archer suggests, leaning against my baby blue beetle.
It's the same car that we first kissed against, except now it's several weeks later and Archer's now returning the car after damaging it.
I give Archer a slightly raised eyebrow, looking down at my attire. I wouldn't call a plain white t-shirt and rolled up boyfriend jeans the perfect date attire. I certainly looked far too casual for a conventional date.
"Depends, what's the agenda if I say yes?" I question back, not bothering to say a definite answer.
Today was supposed to be a relaxed day at home where I could indulge in ice cream and movies. It was supposed to be the type of day where I would think about how Liam told me he likes me and how two people knew that Archer and I weren't in a real relationship. Well, two people other than ourselves.
I should probably tell Archer that I told Liam, but then again that could be an unpleasant conversation.
"I'll take you to a romantic bowling alley because of today's half day and then you'll profess your undying love for me sometime during the second frame," he answers, opening up the passenger door as if he knew I would say yes.
I roll my eyes, telling him to wait a moment so that I would have time to grab my crossbody and a light denim jacket from inside of my house. After I get my belongings, I take a seat next to Archer in the car. Archer seems to drive my car more than I do.
Archer plugs up his shattered smartphone to the car and turns on alternative music, his music taste evidently was a lot like my own.
The overall ride is quiet with the occasional comment one of us makes about the scenery, the car ride short and uneventful.
However, it wasn't short enough because my mind wandered off and made me think about everything that has recently transpired. I mostly thought about Archer and Liam, my mind puzzled by both men.
The moment that the car clock strikes noon we pull up to the local bowling alley, numerous amounts of people making their way in and out. I step out of the car and start heading for the inside, Archer's hand on my lower back as we walk.
Once we reach the front counter he pulls out his wallet, showing me that he would be paying for our outing.
"One lane, two people, two games," he says to the girl running the counter.
She nods and tells him the total amount before asking us for our shoe sizes.
"Eleven for me, eight for my girlfriend," he tells her.
She returns back with our bowling shoes shortly after and Archer takes both pairs from her. Archer finishes the transaction before leading me towards our lane, passing me a pair of shoes.
"How did you know my shoe size?" I ask him.
I take off my regular shoes and wrap my jacket around my waist, putting on the groovy bowling shoes.
He simply shrugs, "I guessed."
I take a seat at the electronic game board in order to set up the game. While I type our names in, Archer tells me that he's going to go get us some bowling balls to use.
I punch our names into the system swiftly, admiring my work after I finish. After Archer calling me by my last name so much I've just automatically been calling myself by it too, noticing that I typed in my last name.
As I'm working on finding a bowling theme I feel a tap on the shoulder, I turn around to see a dark haired and brown eyed guy. The guy looks to be about nineteen years old, a little older than me.
"Hey, beautiful," he says, his voice deep and his smirk prominent.
I just give a small and polite smile back.
"I'm Blake, I'll be in the lane next to yours if you need anything," he says, giving a wink before walking back to his area.
I don't react to his flirtatious gesture and instead, carry on with what I'm doing. Archer returns and now holds two bowling balls, placing them in their designated area.
"Who was that?" he asks, staring at the guy who has just spoken to me.
I shrug, honestly not really knowing who he was.
Archer gives me a raised eyebrow before putting his own bowling shoes on, myself pressing start for the game once he has the shoes on.
I grab the lighter of the two balls and begin my first turn, failing terribly due to my lack of upper body strength. I hit a grand total of two bowling pins. Archer evidently isn't impressed by my showing and heartily laughs at me.
I deeply exhale and grab the ball again when it returns, throwing it once more just for it to get in the gutter.
Archer laughs again, this time a bit harder.
"Sweetheart, that's sad," he manages to say after his laughter before picking up a ball of his own.
He positions himself accordingly and throws his ball straight down the alley, he hits all ten pins.
"Strike!" he exclaims, doing a victorious hand motion.
I roll my eyes at his prideful action before realizing that he invited me to play a game he was an expert at. Was this a date or just a way for him to show off?
"You're lame," I say as he walks by me.
He gives a cocky smile.
"Says the girl who's losing."
I roll my eyes for what seems like the hundredth time today, completely unsatisfied with how today has turned out to be so far.
Also, I fail to get a spare or strike the next three times I go, Archer getting either one each time.
Time flies by quickly and it's the last round for us both, Archer's turn is now. He stands with a ball in hand, taking unnecessary dramatic breaths before his last shot. I stand behind him in a bit of a slump, evidently unamused and sad that I'm losing.
"You may not win the game, but you could win my heart," I hear a familiar deep voice say, Blake walking up next to me as I watch Archer in his preparation to win.
I give him a polite smile, not wanting to be rude.
"Sorry, but I've got my boyfriend's heart to win over," I tell him, honestly.
He scoffs a bit before whispering into my ear, "That's no fun, boyfriends are no fun. If you ever want to have some fun you can just call me, we wouldn't have to tell the boyfriend."
I shiver in disgust, he's just another player who doesn't care if a girl is taken. It would appear that I only seem to attract players. Everyone recently has been a player, everyone but Liam.
I close my eyes and sigh, hearing a groan the moment I open my eyes.
I look over to see Blake clutching his family jewels and all their glory, the groan coming from his mouth.
"Sorry, the ball just slipped out of my hands," I hear Archer say, a plastered look of sympathy on his face.
Blake gives a sharp glare at Archer before walking away to the best of his ability.
Archer places the ball he whacked Blake with back into it's designated area. He walks up to me and brushes a few loose strands from my ponytail away, showing affection after the recent occurrence.
"I think that's enough bowling for today," he announces.
He stares at me, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Why do you have to be so pretty? You seem to always catch the attention of guys," he says, moving seconds later to take off his bowling shoes.
I give a small smile at what he just said and take off my own shoes, putting my real shoes back on. We both pick up a single bowling ball and walk over to the bowling ball racks in order to return them.
I look for the rack that holds the nine-pound bowling balls. At this moment I realize that I'm ready to tell him what happened after the diner last night. I feel like I'm obliged to tell him, to tell him that his suspicion of Liam liking me was correct.
"Liam told me that he liked me last night when he dropped me off," I say, placing the bowling ball back on its rack.
He too returns the one he used to its designated rack.
"And what did you reply?" he questions while looking straight at me, awaiting a favorable reply.
"That he's got a chance," I reply, looking him right back in the eyes.
He breaks the eye contact immediately before saying, "You shouldn't give the boy next door false hope."
"What if it's not false hope?" I ask.
Archer stops his actions, facing me fully and vulnerable.
"What if I do like him, what if he's the guy I needâ" I continue until I'm cut off by him.
"I won't let you fall for him, I'm the only person you're allowed to fall in love with," he says, dropping the subject and returning our borrowed bowling shoes.
Archer takes one of my hands and leads me to the car, opening the passenger door up for me and then getting in himself.
"Don't forget that okay?" he asks me, starting the engine.
"Okay," I find myself saying.