Connected To Him (ManxMan)

Part 1: Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Strike!

Chris brings the deep red bowling ball right in front of his face, staring intensely at the lane ahead. Moving forward, he covers the distance to the starting line almost immediately with three long strides. Then, his right arm swings back, and in one fluid motion, his right foot goes behind his left and he brings the ball forward. The curve of his arm and leg match up perfectly, almost as if he was dancing, or being portrayed in a piece of art. Finally, the ball releases from the hold of the finger and it rolls. Right into the gutter.

The groan comes out of Chris almost immediately as he grabs the sides of his head in frustration. Despite trying to look like the bowling pros they had shown on the big screens in front of them, Chris had no idea what he was doing and, as a result, kept rolling the ball into the gutter so early, you weren't even surprised he had a whopping total of 0 points.

Everyone behind him couldn't help but laugh at Chris's predicament. For someone so naturally athletic, he struggled tremendously with bowling. Ethan found a lot of pleasure in this. When he started bowling, he had to wear special velcro shoes for babies and roll his bowling balls down what he called the bowling ball slide. Suffice to say that after bowling with his parents for most of his life, he knew almost everything there was to know about the sport. It was nice to have something athletic that he was good at that Chris wasn't. And Ethan rubbed this fact in his face too.

"It's okay Chris. Not everyone can be 43 points ahead of second place," Ethan said, glancing up at his incredibly high score. "I think the fact that you're handling last place so well is really . . . inspiring."

"Oh shut up, bowling wiz. I don't need anymore of your insults." Chris complained, shrugging off Ethan's hand that had been rubbing his back.

To avoid Ethan, he scooted closer to Aaron who side-eyed him before turning back around to flirt with Aiden. With such a large group, they'd booked two lanes side by side. The faux leather seats bulged in odd places, making seating a bit uncomfortable, but it worked out where four people could sit on each bench at a time while the others got up to bowl. This gave Ethan an excuse to enjoy Chris's proximity, sitting close enough to him that their legs touched.

On the other 'couch,' Scarlett talked passionately to River while he bobbed his head repeatedly in confirmation. Meaghan was on her phone looking at god knows what and Courtney was standing right before the carpet turned into tiled wood, cheering on Rachel who'd just made a spare.

She raised her hand up high, taking Rachel's overly energetic high five without flinching. Ethan felt some pity for her; he knew that must have hurt.

"Ethan, it's your turn," Aiden said, reaching over the two men next to him to tap Ethan's knee.

"Oh sorry!"

Ethan shot up from his chair and went to grab a ball, his feet scuffing the floor because of his rushed movements. The ball he got was a bit heavier than usual, but Ethan was confident it wouldn't affect his game. And, as expected, when Ethan sent the ball down the shiny brown lane, it knocked down all the pins insight. Ethan sat back down next to Chris and found the black man glaring down at him.

"You suck," Chris pouted.

Ethan laughed wholeheartedly, leaning his weight against the man beside him. Honestly, this was the reason he suggested they go bowling. During lunch the other day, they got to talking about how they hadn't all hung out together in a while and after dozens of ideas were rejected, Ethan decided to give it a shot.