Page 47 of Late to Love

“Get up here.”

I don’t hesitate. Distantly, I wonder if I should be so quick to do what he says, but honestly, I don’t care. If Anthony Hall wants to give me bowling lessons, then I am all for Anthony Hall giving me bowling lessons. Any damn day of the week.

Behind me, it sounds like Agatha and Devon are grilling Amanda to get the skinny on why the town grump is suddenly out from behind the bar and willingly engaging in conversation with a customer. But I don’t care. Because in front of me Anthony is pulling out a sixteen-pound ball with the largest finger holes I have ever seen in a ball…and the jokes really write themselves here, but I keep my snickering to myself.

“Your approach is wrong.”

“O-kay,” I answer, drawing the word out.

“You need to stand just off-center. Not there. There. And your follow-through is shit. You’re right-handed, so you need to step off with your left foot. You need to be pulling your arm back as you walk, and then letting the ball go as your right foot hits the line. You’re not aiming straight for the center—you pretty much never want to do that.” He pauses. “Are you listening to me?”

I drag my eyes from his chest and meet his glare, barely suppressing a grin. “Sorry. Were you talking?”

He huffs. “Darcy.”

I chuckle. “I’m listening, Mr. Hall. Keep going.”

And I see it. The faintest tip up of his lips, even though to anyone else it looks like he’s scowling.

“Wanna show me how it’s done?” I continue.

“Finish your frame,” he answers. “Then I’ll do the next one.”

Keeping his brief instructions in my mind, I back up and take my turn. The ball releases and lands about a quarter of the way down the lane, off to the center and rolling toward the four pins that remain from my first bowl. When the ball hits them, it takes down all but one.

“Yes!” I pump my fist in victory. It’s a great turn, as far as I’m concerned.

Anthony is less than impressed, but of course, that doesn’t surprise me in the least. The few times I’ve seen anything approaching something other than scowling is when he’s naked above me.

Focus, Darcy.

The pins reset and Anthony turns to the other three women. “The first thing to know about bowling is that it’s all about your approach and follow-through. How much action you can get on the ball, and how far you can get it down the lane. The other thing to know is how slick the lanes themselves are, but unless you’re walking up to feel the lane itself, there’s not much you can know.”

“And how slick are your lanes, Anthony?” I ask, knowing that it sounds incredibly sexual and not caring in the slightest.

He levels a look at me. “Very. Especially this one. I make sure that this lane is freshly oiled for the four of you every week.”

“Seriously?” Devon asks. “But we’re not even that good.”

“I know, and I’m beginning to take personal offense,” Anthony retorts.

Amanda laughs. “Holy shit, did you just make a joke?”

He scowls at her. “No.”

She laughs harder. “Yes, you did.”

I bite back a smile. He is dead serious about this lesson, that much is clear. And taking such care of us with the lane?Dammit, Anthony. He can’t be like this and expect me to keep my cool. I clear my throat. “Keep going, Anthony. What else?”

He launches in, talking more about stance, form, rotation, spin, and so on. Finally, he steps back and takes his turn, releasing the ball with a punishing throw that lands it, no kidding, halfway down the damn lane. The sound of the ball hitting the pins is a loudcrackthat causes everyone at the other lanes to look over. Meanwhile, the four of us cheer and whoop, because of course, he bowls a strike. And when the pins reset and he takes his second turn, he does it again and bowls a spare. “It’s that easy,” he says, retrieving his ball from the chute and plucking a towel out of his back pocket to wipe it clean.

“Well,” Agatha says, “Seems we’ll need a few more lessons from you if we’re going to be ready for this competition in three months.”

He raises a brow. “You’re going to a competition?”

I nod. “In Mobile.”

He sighs. “We have a lot of work to do.”

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