Mutual Hatred - Love Game (28 page)

But then again, Taryn and Alex had disappeared the moment the four arrived at the bowling alley; something about looking for a 12-pound bowling ball.

Brandon and Shelley had exchanged glances when they'd heard this; there were at least three 12-pounders on a shelf nearby. But surprisingly, neither verbally expressed this.

Nevertheless, Brandon and Shelley had fun devising new ways to bowl, much to the chagrin of the members of a bowling league who were in the lanes next to them.

"Honestly, they're defacing the good name of bowling!" Brandon heard one woman whisper loudly to her friend.

"Damn right," muttered the friend, "This is a disgrace! If you're going to bowl, do it properly!"

"In all my years I have never been so offended!" said man, who didn't bother being quiet about it.

That statement probably should have offended Brandon and Shelley, but they merely grinned at each other, because this bowling league happened to be the Forever Young Bowling League.

Oh, silly old people.

"Oh Brandon," Shelley said loudly so that her voice carried, "What could we possibly be doing wrong that would make these
geezers
ramble on like this?"

"I haven't the faintest clue," said Brandon in reply, a wide grin on his face. "Perhaps it's our technique."

"Maybe," agreed Shelley, while the leaguers looked on in astonishment, "But I guess they're just jealous of our mad bowling skills."

"We haven't anything to be jealous of!" cried a woman in a bright pink bowling shirt, "It's you two who don't know how to play properly."

Brandon, turning a deaf ear on the woman, said to Shelley, "Maybe we should show them how to bowl with flair."

Before Shelley could agree, the same woman said, "Flair! Bowling isn't about flair! I'd rather know how to bowl properly than making a joke out of this sport."

"I wasn't aware bowling was a sport," said Shelley in reply, "But I'd rather know my real age than wither away the last years of my life delusioned by the thought that I'd be
forever young
."

"What a burn!" Brandon cried gleefully. He and Shelley exchanged high fives.

"Oh, that's the last straw!" said the woman in pink, evidently the leader. "Let's show those runts how to bowl a perfect 300!"

Her companions quickly agreed and turned their steely gazes on Brandon and Shelley.

"Oh, bring it on, old woman," sneered Brandon.

"The nerve of those two!" declared the leaguers in unison. "No respect for their elders!"

And that was how Brandon and Shelley ended up in a bowling match versus the Forever Young Bowling League, which they lost, naturally.

But it was all in good fun, because at the end, Shelley and pink-leader-lady stepped between the lanes and hugged each other.

Brandon's jaw dropped when he saw this. Leader-geezer was patting Shelley on the back and smiling; Shelley was returning the sentiment. He knew something had been up by the way Shelley had started insulting the geezers; at that point, he thought she'd had some major balls to be doing something like that.

Shelley greeted the rest of the members of the Forever Young league like they were all old friends.

Had it all been an act? Did Shelley actually know these people?

Finally, she returned to his side, where he was looking at her expectantly for answers.

"I taught those crazy kids how to bowl a few years ago," explained Shelley. "Actually, I helped them start the league. But now I've been busy with football, so I haven't seen them in awhile."

"I'm impressed," said Brandon, "I really thought we were insulting those people. I should probably apologize, shouldn't I?"

"You probably should," she nodded solemnly.

Brandon approached leader-geezer and extended his hand. She took it warmly, introducing herself as Greta von Trocken.

"Nice to meet you Greta," Brandon said smoothly, looking her in the eye, "I'm Brandon Miller."

"Are you single?" asked Greta.

"Uh," Brandon glanced over his shoulder and gave Shelley a questioning look, but she shook her head.

"No?" he offered.

"Pity. You and me, we could have had some fun," said Greta, and Brandon could have sworn she winked at him.

How disturbingly amusing! A seventy-year-old woman hitting on him?

"I'd rather not," said Brandon, "No offense."

"Oh, I see. You're saving yourself for
her
," Greta nodded knowingly in Shelley's direction. "Lots of boys have said that about Shelley."

"Er, no," mumbled Brandon. "I don't think she even likes me that way."

"Rubbish," she dismissed, "She likes you. I can tell."

"Again, no offense, but the way a girl shows a guy she likes him
now
is a lot different from the way a girl showed a guy she liked him
back in the day
."

Greta lightly swatted his shoulder. "Young man, I am not
that
old!"

"Sorry, ma'am."

"So tell me, how are you going to win
her
over since you claim she doesn't like you?"

"By being me," shrugged Brandon.

"Interesting," nodded Greta.

"Something tells me you've got more of an opinion on that."

"I do. But I'll let you draw your own conclusions. Go back to
your
girl, Brandon. She's different from any other girl you will ever meet.
Make her smile
. And remember, we're all rooting for you," said Greta with a warm smile, giving him a slight push in Shelley's direction.

Greta pinched his ass on his way back too.

Man,
he shuddered,
all the ladies want me, even the old ones!

But, Brandon decided, Greta was a very
cool
old person.

"So, what'd Greta say to you?" asked Shelley casually.

"Oh, stuff," was his vague reply.

"Jerk. Let's go find those lovesick puppies," said Shelley, "They've been gone nearly over an hour."

Oddly enough, neither Taryn nor Alex was anywhere to be found at the bowling alley. Finally, Shelley resorted to calling Taryn's cell phone.

"Hey Shell, what's happenin'?" came Taryn's bubbly voice.

"What's happening?
I'll
tell you what's happening! You and the boyfriend ditched and left me alone with Brandon!" cried Shelley.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" called Brandon.

Shelley ignored him. "You'd better have a good excuse. Double dates are supposed to involve
both
couples, you know."

"Hey, I thought I'd be a good BFF and let you and lover-boy have some alone time, if you know what I mean," said Taryn.

"I know perfectly well what you mean. Is this what you and Alex have been doing all night?" demanded Shelley.

"You could say that," said Taryn, thankful that Shelley couldn't see the huge grin on Alex's face.

Meanwhile, Brandon had called Alex's cell.

"So you and Shelley get your freak on?" was Alex's greeting. "Taryn and I had fun."

"Oh, spare me the details," groaned Brandon. "You missed the actual
bowling
!"

"If
bowling
is what I hope you and Shelley did all night," teased Alex, "Then I'd say Taryn and I did some bowling too."

"We did not-" started Shelley, after Taryn made the same statement.

"-make out all night!" finished Brandon from behind her.

"Did you two
do it,
then?" Taryn's eyebrows were raised.

"Did
you
twodo it?" Brandon asked his friend suspiciously.

"I asked you first," said Alex.

"You guys are impossible!" cried Shelley. "Nothing happened!"

"Unless you count getting your ass pinched by an old woman," snorted Brandon.

"Greta's a lovely woman!"

"Yes, quite amusing."

During Shelley and Brandon's brief exchange, Alex and Taryn had hung up on their friends. When Brandon and Shelley finally noticed that they were arguing with each other rather than talking to their friends, they snapped their phones shut in unison.

"Can you believe those two?" sputtered Shelley.

"Honestly!" snorted Brandon.

"Running off so that I could spend time with
Brandon
," Shelley muttered to herself. "Some best friend."

Brandon couldn't have cared less what Shelley was saying. He was too busy talking to himself. "Why does everyone assume I
do it
with anything that walks and has nice legs?"

"Probably 'cause you do," snickered Shelley.

"In that case, will I be 'doing' you in the near future?" he asked hopefully.

"Don't get your hopes up," answered Shelley.

He held out his arm and she linked hers in his. They set out to his car, bickering the whole way, although Shelley felt Brandon was only arguing half-heartedly.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" asked Shelley as Brandon opened her passenger door for her. She sounded almost genuinely concerned.

"I'm with the most beautiful, smart, and fascinating girl in the world, who by the way just repeatedly turned me down for sex. Of
course
I'm feeling okay, although my ego's a little bruised. In fact, I feel great. I've never had this much fun in my life."

"Really?" said Shelley as he made his way around the car to his side.

"Would I lie to you?" Brandon gave her his most winning smile. "Don't forget to buckle up. We're law abiding citizens!"

"Since when have you ever followed the rules?"

Brandon started the engine, pulling out as he said, "Since I met you."

"Are you
sure
you're feeling okay?"

"High as a kite on a clear, sunny day with slight winds," replied Brandon. "Maybe there's something wrong with
you
."

"No," Shelley shook her head, "It's not me. It's definitely you. Are you high?"

"Like I said, I'm high as a
kite
," grinned Brandon. "Woman, you need to chill and stop asking me how I feel. I hate that. I feel like you're going to analyze me if I tell you how I'm feeling."

"Sorry," mumbled Shelley. "It's just that…you've been acting different lately, but especially tonight."

Brandon didn't say anything to that. Actually, he didn't say anything at all until they pulled up in front of her house. Shelley didn't know if he was choosing to ignore her or if he really hadn't heard her. She let it go since it didn't seem to matter much.

It wasn't until they pulled up in front of Shelley's house that Brandon spoke.

"You've been acting differently too," he said quietly, shutting off the engine. "Even if you have noticed, everyone else has."

"Have I?" Shelley said in a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"Well, yeah," said Brandon. "You don't get all bitchy on me anymore. Not that, uh, you ever
were
bitchy."

"I guess people change," she mused.

Brandon took this as encouragement, even venturing to say, "Do people's feelings change?"

"They might."

Damn fucking vague answers! He hated those the most.

As if reading his mind, Shelley elaborated. "Mine haven't," she clarified.

"Oh, that's nice to hear," muttered Brandon.

It surprised her that he actually seemed disappointed; maybe he really did like her. Was she being too hard on him?

"But it's still too soon to determine anything," said Shelley with a small smile. "I should um, get going. Thanks for a fun night."

She leaned over and lightly brushed her lips against his cheek, which caught Brandon off guard. He hadn't expected that; his main hope had been that she'd actually initiate the kiss-the
real
kiss.

As Shelley made to let herself out of his car, Brandon quickly got out and went around to open the door for her.

As they made their way to her front door, Brandon asked, "So there's no hope for me, is there?"

Shelley turned to face him. "What makes you say that?"

"You agree to go out with me, but you won't kiss me. You treat me like a friend and not a date. What exactly
are
we?"

Brandon hated sounding desperate, but there he was doing just that! Shelley was probably disgusted with him.

"Do you want to know
why
I treat you like a friend?" Shelley retorted icily, "It's because I don't trust us being anything more! Face it, Brandon, you don't like me that way! You were the biggest asshole ever for the past few months, and now you expect me to want to get all chummy with you? It doesn't work that way."