Exactly As You Are (Love in Louisville #1)

Chapter 12

12

J oan lined up her first delivery and used a four-step technique to propel her first ball down the lane. It curved a little then knocked all the pins down. She spun around, catching Lucas’s eye as he grinned at her.

“You are a machine.” Gwen still sounded a little breathless from her victory lap around the seats in the bowling alley. She and Joan were partners for the second game.

“Sorry,” Joan said, feeling sheepish now that the adrenaline had faded.

“Don’t ever apologize for kicking ass.” Gwen downed a swig of water. “You’re phenomenal.”

Martin nudged her from her other side. He wore faded jeans, a heathered Kentucky State Fair tee, and a layer of scruff that should have been working for her but wasn’t stirring as much interest as it had a few days before. He had a bit of a “sweet but rakish” thing going on, and she usually liked that sort of thing. Maybe her subconscious rebelled against dating a coworker. Under the neon lights of the bowling alley, it felt like a terrible idea.

“She’s right,” Martin said. “You’re impressive.”

Joan flushed. She could never quite get used to praise, even when she was a college athlete.

To her surprise, Martin had said yes to the group outing. He’d changed and come straight from work that evening. They’d decided to draw names, so he was, perhaps awkwardly, Lucas’s partner for this round.

Lucas finished his frame and plopped down opposite them. He rested his chin on his fist, focusing on one of the cracked tiles on the floor. He seemed a little melancholy, and it concerned her. She’d have to ask him about it later.

Martin looked between Joan and Lucas. “So you two are best friends, you said? How did you meet?”

Joan kept one eye on Gwen, unable to stop her investment in the game from distracting her. She really did need to get a handle on her competitiveness. She turned back to Martin.

“We’ve been friends since we were kids. Grew up together, and neighbors until high school.” She glanced at Lucas, who watched her interaction with Martin. “We always liked competing with each other, but then it became a friendship instead of a rivalry.”

“And you’ve never dated?”

The bluntness of the question startled Joan, but she hid it behind a sip of water. She shook her head. “No, never. Also, you’re up.” She gestured toward the lane. Martin stood, and Joan gave Gwen a high-five as she returned to her seat.

“I meant to tell you that I love the hair,” Joan told her. Her friend had dyed her short hair a bright blue.

Gwen brushed her hand over it. “I’m having fun with stereotypes, honestly, but I also really love it.” She grinned at Joan, who returned the smile. “I was bored with brown, anyway.”

Martin bowled his last frame, and he picked up a spare and then seven more pins, but it wasn’t enough to beat Joan and Gwen. The girls cheered. Lucas ambled off, citing bathroom needs, and Martin squeezed Joan’s shoulder.

“Good game. You want something else to eat or drink?”

“I’m okay for now. I think we’ll all head out soon.”

As he walked away for more water, Gwen scooted closer to her. She spoke in a low tone. “That’s not working, is it?”

Joan scrunched her nose. “It’s really not. I thought I liked him, too.”

“Well, at least at this point you can write it off as inviting a work friend out. No harm done.”

“Yeah, hopefully he’s not feeling it either.” She pulled away. “And what about you? How’s Jackie?” Joan thought there might be some flimsy reason Gwen’s girlfriend wasn’t here. Jackie hardly ever hung out with Gwen’s friends.

At that, Gwen’s face pinched. If Joan didn’t know her so well, she never would have noticed the slight pursing of her lips and narrowing of her eyes. “Mad at me, as usual.”

“You do something to warrant it?”

“I fell asleep after I had dinner last night and forgot to call her. And my phone was on silent, so I woke up to several increasingly frantic voicemails and text messages. So, yeah, I definitely scared her.”

“But it was an accident, right? Surely she’s mostly relieved that you’re okay?”

“I don’t know.” Gwen grimaced. “She’s angry. I get it, I think. But I was exhausted.”

Joan studied her. “Gwen,” she began, but Gwen held up a hand to stop her.

“I know what you’re going to say. I know Jackie can be difficult sometimes. But I can be difficult too, you know?”

“Fair point.” She wanted to press a little, but Gwen didn’t seem to be receptive. “I just want you to be happy.”

“And I appreciate that. I’m good though.” She swung her head around to check for the guys. “How’s our Luke? Does he seem a bit off to you?”

“Actually, yeah,” Joan said. “He’s such a happy person, you’d think nothing ever bothers him. But I know him better than that, and I definitely think something’s wrong.”

They didn’t get to discuss this further, as the men had returned to their seats. Lucas smiled, but it seemed strained.

When Martin sat next to her again, he leaned back in his chair, letting his arm rest against the top of her seat. Joan found herself clenching. Maybe that was her problem—any suggestion of a potential partner caused her to tense up with anxiety. She couldn’t give her crush any room to breathe if she was constantly worrying about the upcoming problems. Perhaps she should still give it a chance.

Then Martin leaned closer to her, and she felt like cringing away. She decided then that he would be just a work friend. Somehow, her work flirtation had fallen flat when allowed out into the real world.

They chatted for a few minutes while they waited for their friends’ match to end.

“I told Lucas about Celeste and how awful she is,” Joan said to Martin.

“God.” Martin feigned collapse. “She’s the worst. If you get through this, I promise she’ll get better eventually.”

“ If I get through this,” Joan said.

“You’re a great nurse. And if you can catch her doing something awful enough, maybe we’ll have a case to bring to upper management.”

Gwen hummed in agreement next to her.

“So you guys went to college together, too?” Martin inclined his head toward Lucas.

Joan bristled at his preoccupation with Lucas, but she was used to it at that point. Lots of people found their closeness unusual.

“Yeah, we’ve pretty much always been in the same place.”

Martin nodded, his face belying a careful mask of relaxation. Her resolve to keep things at a friendship level solidified—if she were to have someone in her life, it couldn’t be someone who felt uncomfortable with Lucas being her friend. Martin would just be a coworker with whom she could commiserate, though she hoped this hadn’t gone far enough to ruin that. She had to maintain some defense against Celeste.

The other match ended, and after wishing Gwen, Maria, and Kendall goodbye, she turned to Martin, who waited for her next to the shoe return. Joan decided to head him off before anything happened. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but she knew she’d been sending him some confusing messages.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday, right? That’s the next time we work together?”

He studied her for a brief moment then nodded. “I had a good time. Thanks for the invite.”

She offered a friendly side hug. Maybe she wasn’t ready for anything after all, given how far she still had to go with her therapy. She’d temporarily lost her mind, trying to date a coworker, and she shook her head at herself. Never again.