Chapter 5
Lexi
I can't decide whether I'm more nervous or excited as I make my way to the entrance of the bowling alley, though one thing I am is a little surprised that Edur decided on this for the location of our date.
He's standing by the entrance, his dark blue hair slicked back, and a smart shirt on. My heart skips a beat, even if I would rather it didn't. He's handsome, there's no denying that, and I used to enjoy spending time with him. Does that mean that I want to accept a mate bond with him?
Despite having had the reaction to him years ago, I haven't thought about it much in regard to Edur, just in general.
And I've always assumed that my asexuality would mean that it wouldn't ever be possible to build a mate bond with anyone.
I haven't had good responses to my feelings about sex before, and that makes it feel as if a relationship is going to be possible.
But if I really think that, then why am I here?
I'm stopped from going further down that path by Edur turning and seeing me. He raises a hand and waves at me, making my heart go giddy in response.
"Hey," he says as I get to him.
"Hi."
"Ready to go in?"
"Yes. But bowling, really?" I'm smiling even as I ask.
"Yeah. I was thinking about what would make the perfect date, and I remembered my twelfth birthday. You know the one?"
A smile spreads over my face as I realise that I do. "You'd invited the whole class."
"But you were the only one who showed up. I hadn't realised that one of the popular kids was having a party on the same day."
"How popular was anyone at twelve?" I respond.
He laughs and pushes on the door, holding it open for me. "Fair point. Well, that was the day that I knew you were going to be my best friend."
"I'm half surprised you didn't just say that was when you knew I'd be your mate."
"I definitely didn't know then. But I did have a great time losing to you at bowling and eating so many chips and crappy pizza slices that we nearly made ourselves sick."
I laugh without being able to stop myself. "So that's what you thought we could do for our first date?"
"The pizza will be slightly better," he promises.
"It sounds wonderful." And it does. I love the thought he's put into it, and that he's clearly worked to make sure that the date is us.
We approach the reception desk to book in and walk away with two pairs of bowling shoes and a lane number.
I'm a little nervous about how well I'm going to do when it's been years since I've been bowling, but I soon realise that it doesn't matter.
I'm not here to win, I'm here to spend time with Edur. It doesn't matter about the rest.
"So, have you realised that anchovies don't belong on a pizza yet, or has the dairy-free cheese got you completely baffled on that one?" he teases as he looks at the menu.
"Anchovies absolutely belong on pizza. It's your choice of a meat feast that's horrifying. I'm glad I'm not able to eat any of your pizza, because it's truly a nightmare."
He chuckles. "All right, one of each it is. And a basket of chips. Oh, and maybe some onion rings..."
"Do you intend for me to be able to move by the end of the date?" I joke.
"If you can't move, then you'll just have to spend more time with me," he responds, his tone making it clear he's being playful.
I roll my eyes and let him deal with the food while I set up the scoreboard for us.
"All right, that's food ordered. Now we've just got to see which of us is worse at bowling."
"Have you been practising?" I ask.
"Definitely not." He heads over to the tray of balls and finds one that suits him. "Ready to laugh?"
"No, but only because I'm sure I'm going to be just as bad."
He grins and carries his ball over to the front of the lane. Magic swirls within the ball as he touches it. I don't think it does anything to the ball, it's just supposed to look pretty.
An adorable look of concentration crosses Edur's face as he releases the ball, and it goes barreling down the lane. Much to my surprise, it does hit a skittle, but only the one. It wobbles for a moment and falls over.
"It's better than nothing," he says cheerfully.
I laugh and watch as he fails at knocking any down with his second bowl.
Unfortunately, I'm probably about to make just as much of a fool of myself as I choose a ball for myself and head over to the lane.
A surprising amount of nerves spring to life as I head towards the line that signals where the lane starts.
I know it doesn't matter if I win or lose, but I don't want to fail.
I take a deep breath and try to position myself in the right place to knock some pins down.
I swing my arm back, feeling the weight of the ball and putting my own behind it as I let go.
It rumbles down the lane, and I watch it while chewing on my bottom lip.
I think it's about to go into the gutter, but it glances off one of the skittles, sending it falling into another, and before I know it, three are on the ground.
"Look at that, you're winning already," Edur jokes.
I laugh. "Not for long, I'm sure."
"You underestimate exactly how much I suck at bowling," he responds.
His words soon prove to be true, and as rusty as I am when it comes to bowling, he's far worse, and I'm somehow in the lead when the food arrives.
I perch on a stool and eat a slice of dairy-free anchovy pizza, enjoying the strong salty taste of the fish, especially as it drowns out a little of the taste of the dairy-free cheese.
I used to eat the normal stuff, but as I've grown older, I've realised how foolish it is of me to insist on eating something bad for me, and I stopped.
Edur saunters back over after taking another dismal turn.
"You didn't tell me you were that bad." I gesture towards the scoreboard.
He leans against the table beside me. "Maybe I can blame the magical scoring system. It's not keeping track of my points well enough."
"Mmhmm, if you say so."
He grins and bumps his shoulder against mine, reminding me of the easy way we used to share affection when we were younger. I've missed this, even if the distance has been completely of my own making.
"So, how's the pizza?" he asks.
"Definitely better than at the bowling alley when we were younger," I respond.
"Something has to be, because our bowling skills definitely aren't," he jokes.
I find myself laughing along with him, feeling so much lighter than I did before we agreed to a date. Something that feels this good can't end badly, I'm not going to let it.