Page 10 of Do It For Me
“You don’t.” One lie won’t kill me.
I give his hand a gentle squeeze, lean my head against the window, and close my eyes.
“I thought we were going to get dinner.”
Dante smiles. “You weren’t hungry, so I thought you might like this instead.”
Before I can respond, he kneels in front of me to swap my boots for bowling shoes. Heat floods my cheeks, and my heart pounds as if trying to escape my chest.
“I can do this by myself,” I manage, though my voice sounds strained.
“I know, but I want to do it for you.”
Okay, I just forgot how to breathe.
He removes my boots with such deliberate care that it feels almost exaggerated, but I’ve never been touched this gently before. I kind of like it.
“You like them tight or loose?” he asks, sliding my foot into the shoe.
“Tight.” God, why does my voice sound like that?
He ties the laces securely, though not quite as tightly as I prefer, and then moves to the other foot. Once finished, he stays there, resting his forearms on my knees. He looks up at me, his dazzling smile making it impossible to look away.
“Have you played before?”
I’ve never even been out on my own.
“I’ve seen movies. Sometimes they play,” I lie.
He nods, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I’ll leave the lighter balls for you.”
“Are they heavy?”
Laughing, he stands and extends his hand to me. I take it hesitantly. “Some of them are, but the small ones are as light as a feather.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What if I want to use the big balls?”
Never in my twenty-one years did I think I’d see a man blush twice in less than twenty-four hours.
I try to ignore the muffled giggles around us, but then the full weight of what I just said hits me.
Shit.
“Just don’t let them drop.”
His ears are red as he turns away, and I follow him like a lost chick, unsure of what to do or where to go.
These bloody shoes are so flat that it’s uncomfortable to stand in them.
As he notices me trailing behind, he pauses, pulling a few bills from his wallet and handing them to me.
“Could you go grab two bottles of water?”
“G-grab?”
He points to a vending machine in the far corner of the room. I’ve always wanted to use one.
I take the bills from him and inhale a deep breath. I must walk past a group of men, two families, and some girls who came here together.
