[David's POV]
I walked the rest of the way home. By the time I got back to my apartment, the sun was starting to dip, painting the sky in soft hues of orange and pink. I checked the time. It was almost five.
Enough time to shower and get ready.
I took a quick shower, the steam helping to clear the last of my thoughts. Then I stepped out, dried off and opened my closet.
I went with a white fitted tee that showed just enough of the work I'd been putting in. Dark jeans, black high-top boots and a casual bomber jacket.
I checked myself in the mirror.
Then, I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Jayden.
Me: I'm heading down. You ready?
He replied within seconds.
Jayden: Be there in two.
I slipped the phone into my pocket, grabbed my keys, and made my way down the stairs. My boots echoed softly in the hallway as I walked toward the lobby.
Jayden stepped out of the apartment building just as I pulled up to the curb.
His eyes widened the moment he saw the car. "What the hell?" He walked up slowly and asked. "Is this yours?"
I gave him a smirk and leaned back in the driver's seat. "What do you think?"
He circled the Challenger, the matte black finish, the purr of the engine, the aggressive front grille.
Then he stopped and looked at me.
"What the hell happened to you?" His expression was half shock, half disbelief. "You look like you just stepped out of a cologne ad."
I shrugged. "Got a haircut."
"A haircut?" He laughed, sliding into the passenger seat. "You got a whole personality upgrade, man."
I chuckled and pulled away from the curb.
---
---
The lot outside the Bowling Lounge was buzzing with weekend energy as cars were pulling in, bursts of laughter spilling from the doors, neon signs blinking in the soft dusk. As I stepped out of the car and shut the door behind me, I spotted them.
They were already there.
Elena and her group stood near the entrance under the soft amber glow of the building's lights. She was laughing at something one of the girls said and her beautiful smile was like a tether yanking my focus toward her.
Her laughter stalled the moment she saw me.
I could feel the attention shift, her friends turned as well, and for a brief moment, a hush settled over the group.
As we approached, the group straightened a little. Liam crossed his arms, Ryan tilted his head, scanning me. The girls exchanged glances, but I barely registered any of it.
Because Elena was looking at me like she wasn't quite sure what to make of what she was seeing.
"Hey," I said, stopping just in front of her.
"Hey," she replied. There was a flicker in her eyes maybe surprise, maybe even something close to relief.
I gestured toward the entrance. "Sorry, were you guys waiting long?"
"Not really," she said quickly. "Just a few minutes."
I nodded, then shifted slightly and added, "This is Jayden. He's my brother."
Jayden blinked. It was a half-second of hesitation, so quick no one else would've noticed. But I caught it. He recovered smoothly, grinning as he stepped forward. "Nice to meet you all. Jayden."
He extended a hand toward Elena first. She shook it, polite and a little curious, before he made the rounds with the rest of the group.
I'd barely finished introducing him before Elena's friends started talking again, Sophie throwing in a joke, Izzy whispering something to Nat with a grin, Ryan elbowing Liam. The silence cracked and crumbled, and the mood started to shift back to normal.
Elena's gaze returned to me. She tilted her head slightly. "You look... different."
I gave a half-smile. "I grew my hair outside my comfort zone."
That earned a small laugh from her, warm and genuine. It was a good sound.
"Come on," Sophie called, gesturing toward the doors. "We've got lanes reserved."
As the group moved inside, Elena fell into step beside me. "Didn't know you had a brother."
I shrugged. "Family was never a topic we brought up in our conversations. So..."
She nodded slowly, "Right."
As everyone began settling into the lounge area, Elena glanced over at me. "I should probably introduce everyone properly."
I gave her a look. "Or I could take a shot at it."
Her brow arched. "You're going to guess?"
"I've heard some of their voices," I said, lips twitching at the corners. "And you've mentioned a few names in our calls. Let's see how good I am."
That earned a curious smile from her, equal parts amused and intrigued. She stepped aside slightly, folding her arms as if to say, Alright, impress me.
I turned to the group.
"Okay," I began, pointing casually. "You're Izzy," I said to the girl with wild curls and the loudest laugh in the group. "The fun one."
Izzy grinned, giving me finger guns. "Guilty as charged."
I moved my gaze. I nodded at the girl with her legs crossed. "You're Nat."
Natalie smiled, dipping her head in approval. "Not bad."
"Which makes you Sophie," I said to the girl in the faded hoodie with a mischievous glint in her eye.
Turning toward the guys, I squinted in mock thought. "Ryan," I pointed to the tall one. "The confident guy. The one who followed me first into the fight."
Ryan barked out a laugh.
"You must Ethan," I said, extending a hand. "The silent one."
Ethan with his handshake firm. "Nice to meet you."
I turned to the last guy, who had been quietly observing everything.
"You've got to be Liam," I nodded at the more laid-back guy leaning on the booth, hands in his hoodie pockets.
Liam gave me a small salute.
Elena blinked beside me, clearly impressed. "Okay, that was freakishly accurate."
I gave a modest shrug, though I could feel Elena's eyes still on me.
The bowling alley inside was vibrant, retro designs, pulsing pop music, the steady rumble of rolling balls and the clatter of pins. Neon lights glowed above the lanes, illuminating the polished floors and plastic seating.
We slipped into our assigned area with two side-by-side lanes and started grabbing shoes and picking out bowling balls. I hung back at first, watching as everyone settled in.
Jayden immediately gelled with the guys. Ethan offered him a ball and made a joke about finger sizes. Ryan cracked something about needing bumpers. Jayden played along like he'd known them for years.
"Yo," Ryan said, turning toward me, "You bowl?"
I shook my head. "Nope. Never tried."
Liam grinned. "You're in for it now."
Sophie, hearing that, perked up. "Wait, really? Not even once?"
I raised a brow. "Grew up in a different kind of environment."
Izzy laughed. "That's okay. We'll go easy on you."
"No, we won't," Sophie added immediately.
Elena was lacing up her bowling shoes when I sat down beside her.
"Be honest," I said, leaning a little closer. "Is this a setup to watch me embarrass myself?"
She looked up, amused. "I plead the Fifth."
I smiled at that.
When it was my turn, I grabbed a ball and stepped up to the lane. I could feel the eyes on me—Elena's friends trying to act casual about it, Sophie low-key recording on her phone like she wasn't.
I took a breath, stepped forward, and launched the ball.
Too hard. It bounced, spun off to the left, and hit the gutter like it had been magnetically drawn there.
Liam let out a loud "oof!"
Behind me, Sophie made a fake buzzer noise. "Wah-wah-wah."
I turned back, laughing. "Okay. Fair. That was tragic."
Elena bit her lip to hide her smile. "Points for power, at least."
"Zero points for aim, though," Izzy added helpfully.
I sat down next to Elena again, shaking my head. "This is gonna be a long night."
"Don't worry," she said softly, leaning a bit closer. "I'll show you."
Our eyes met, her smile was subtle this time. And for a moment, the music, the noise, the fluorescent lights, they all faded.
---
---
It had been more than half an hour since Elena had taken on the self-appointed role of bowling coach.
"Elbow in," she said standing behind me like a patient sensei. "And don't hurl it like you're throwing a grenade."
"I'm not hurling," I muttered, lining up another shot. "I'm expressing force with intent."
Ethan, who'd wandered over to join the tutorial session at some point, chuckled from the side. "You're expressing something, alright."
I released the ball. It wobbled, curved, and somehow knocked down eight pins.
Elena clapped like I'd just performed open-heart surgery. "See? Progress!"
After that small victory, we called for a break. Everyone collapsed into the lounge area. Food was ordered, drinks were claimed, and Ryan, ever the instigator, ordered a round for the table.
"Not for him," I said, jerking a thumb toward Jayden, who was busy dismantling a chicken tender. "Kid's still not twenty-one."
Jayden groaned and sank deeper into the booth. "I hate being the baby."
Izzy grinned. "Don't worry, we'll corrupt you legally when the time comes."
That's when Ryan clapped his hands together. "Alright. Team game time."
"Wait, what?" Liam said, mid-fry.
"You heard me. Let's split into teams and actually compete. Bragging rights. Glory. Maybe even the last mozzarella stick."
I was still drying my hands when the chaos began. Nat opted out, citing a mysterious "thumb injury" no one could verify, and promptly appointed herself referee-slash-trash-talker-in-chief.
Team A: Sophie, Ryan, Izzy, and Liam.Team B: Elena, me, Ethan, and Jayden.
Sophie and Elena stood across from each other like rival mafia bosses, eyeing each other down.
"Prepare to be crushed," Sophie said, cracking her knuckles.
"You always say that," Elena replied sweetly, "right before you lose."
"Oooooh," Izzy and Ryan chorused.
The game kicked off.
Through the first few frames, Team A took the lead. Sophie was terrifyingly consistent, and Ryan and Liam weren't bad either.
Team B, meanwhile… Jayden was still finding his footing. Ethan was solid. Elena kept us from falling apart entirely.
And me?
My first frame was a disaster.
Ball one? Three pins.Ball two? Hit one more. One single, lonely pin.
"Impressive," Sophie said, deadpan. "Did you aim for that one, or was that just a happy accident?"
Izzy gave me a pity thumbs-up. "Hey, at least it didn't bounce into the next lane."
By the fifth frame, I managed a seven and a three. The scoreboard started leaning in our favor. Not by much, but we were closing in.
Jayden, shaky at first, started to find his rhythm. Ethan kept knocking down seven or eight pins a frame. We were holding steady.
Then came the seventh frame.
I stepped up, focused, and rolled the ball.
Strike.
"I thought he said he'd never bowled before," Ryan whispered.
"Maybe it's luck," Liam said.
I walked back to the booth, shrugging. "Guess so."
We were tied.
By the ninth frame, the tension was thick enough to cut with a butter knife. Elena handed me her turn without a word.
I stepped up again.
Another strike.
Ryan's jaw dropped.
The scoreboard updated, and just like that, we took the lead.
Jayden threw both arms in the air. "Let's gooo!"
Behind me, Natalie whistled. "From baby deer to silent assassin in, like, thirty minutes."
I dropped into my seat next to Elena, who looked somewhere between impressed and mildly suspicious.
"You really never bowled before?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
I smirked. "You saw how I started."
"Yeah, and now you're casually pulling off strikes."
I just shrugged and reached for another fry, letting the silence answer for me.
One more frame to go. But for the first time in a long while, I wasn't watching the exits, counting security cameras, or calculating threat vectors.
For once, I was just… having a good time.
To Be Continued...