I gave her a weird look and she laughed then pointed behind me where Dylan stood. He wore loose jeans hanging a little low on his hips and a blue tee clinging a little too tight along his chest. Even with Dylan feeling on the spot, his dark eyes shined when he saw me.
“Having Raven as a sister taught me to ignore annoying women,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “How are you, Winnie? Glad to see you survived the ride over.”
Lifting my lips to his, I kissed him quickly. I really didn’t like having an audience. Especially if it included Bailey who was always keeping score.
“Are you going to bowl tonight?” Dylan asked me as a way to change the subject from him being a horny toad.
“I’ll try. I used to bowl with Mom and Dad, but I haven’t done so in months.”
Dylan gave me his look that said he understood why everything stopped last summer.
“Let’s see your moves,” Dylan said, taking my hand and walking towards the lanes.
As we approached, Farah smiled at us from where she had her feet up on a chair. Nearby, Cooper and Tucker bowled with Sawyer. The men dwarfed their little sister as they taught her to roll with one hand rather than both. She did it their way for a few minutes, but the ball kept rolling into the gutter. Finally, she took the ball by both hands and walked to a lane with the bumpers up.
After her ball bounced off each side a few times, it knocked down six pins. Sawyer screamed in triumphant. Shrugging, Cooper walked towards Farah.
“I taught her that.”
“Of course, you did,” Farah said, grinning. “Your wisdom rubs off on everyone.”
“I agree,” Tucker said, strutting towards Maddy. “As long as wisdom is code for bullshit.”
Farah laughed behind her hand while Cooper chased after his brother who ran out one of the side doors. Dylan watched the brothers then looked down at me.
“I used to be bummed that I never had a brother. Now I think I dodged a bullet.”
Even smiling, I thought about the bullet tearing into his chest as he tried to save me and Harlow. I placed my hand where I knew the scar hid under his tee. Dylan’s gaze found mine and we shared a moment separate from the noise around us.
“Sweet Winona,” he whispered, kissing my cheek.
“Sexy Dylan,” I whispered back and wrapped my arms around his waist.
Vaughn appeared next to us. “Less snuggles, more bowling.”
Frowning at his interruption, I sensed his behavior was related to the frown Harlow wore. I followed Vaughn to where Raven rolled a strike. She high fived him then handed me a ball.
I focused on the way Mom taught me to bowl. Taking a deep breath, I rolled the ball and waited for it to land in the gutter. Instead, I took out nine pins.
“Nice,” Vaughn said. “Think you can take out the last one?”
Glancing back at Dylan, I found him grinning like I was amazing. I focused on the remaining pin then took the ball Raven handed me. After a false start, I regained my composure and rolled.
“Hot damn,” Vaughn said when the ball clipped the final pin and knocked it down.
Smiling, I high-fived Dylan. He pulled me into a hug and kissed my neck, setting my skin on fire. For just a moment, I felt like a normal person out with her friends and boyfriend. None of the baggage from my past weighed me down. While the feeling didn’t last long, I still enjoyed a real taste of freedom.
Once Dylan rolled a strike, Vaughn was officially in love with us.
“Finally someone who can bowl,” he said, downing a beer. “Unlike Judd and Tawny who suck so very much.”
As Judd strolled over to roll a ball into the gutter, I excused myself to use the restroom. I hoped Harlow would come along and tell me why she was so grumpy. She didn’t though and I walked out to find Farah waiting for me.
We walked to the small pizza shop and sat at a table overseeing the lanes.
Farah gave me a little smile. “I was talking to Lark about your problem.”
“What problem?”
“You’re uncomfortable with sex. I had the same problem with Cooper when we started dating.”
Glancing around, I leaned closer. “How did you fix it?”
“Honestly, I didn’t. At first, I got the hang of feeling bad and good at the same time. Eventually, I only felt good. The more I was with Cooper, the less I thought about the past. I only saw him and he makes me happy, but it didn’t happen right away. I would cry and get tense. I would pull away even when I wanted to be close.”
“And having sex enough fixed that?”
Farah leaned back into the chair and rubbed her belly. “Not really the sex as much as being close to Cooper. I kept expecting him to hurt me or use me and walk away. I wanted to believe in him, but I also wanted to protect myself.”