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sam's pov
I breathed in deeply as Maya and I walked down the stairs; I was unprepared to see Michael and spend time with him. As we reached the base of the stairs, Maya told me that Michael was waiting in the living room, and that she was going to let Calum in. Her words seemed far away as my nerves pushed themselves in front of everything else. It took a gentle push from Maya, but I eventually made my way to join Michael.
As I walked in, I saw Michael standing by the shelves that surrounded the television, with his back facing the doorway. He was looking at a picture frame that he had taken into his hands and I prayed it wasn't a picture of me.
"Ready to get your ass kicked?" I asked, softly, yet immediately regretted my decision to be straightforward and not at all sweet. I hadn't meant it to be mean, but I knew Maya would have scolded me for not being a little more flirtatious. I heard Michael laugh under his breath and he placed the picture back on the shelf before looking back at me.
He turned with a sly smirk planted on his face, but as he made eye contact with me, his smug expression slipped away. My eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me with both surprise and wonder. I brought my hands up to my face and hair as I started to ask if anything was on me.
"No... no," Michael said, laughing quietly as he took a couple steps toward me. "You look really good, Sam." My cheeks started to burn as I looked away from Michael; I was completely caught off guard by his compliment. "But I happen to be really good at bowling," Michael told me, and I was thankful that he switched the subject back. I looked at him again and he gave me a smile, which continued to surprise me.
Every time I talked to Michael he seemed so tame. I had grown up with him being loud and obnoxious, but it was as if he lost that sense of himself whenever I was around. In previous years, I had seen him with enough girls to know that wasn't necessarily something he did often. Girls often liked the side of him that was boisterous and unkind, for some unknown reason.
"Well, I'll let you in on a secret, I have to use the bumpers." I took a step toward Michael and placed my hand on his chest as I stood on my tiptoes to speak into his ear. Michael laughed at my statement and smiled at me as I stepped away from him. "Maya's basically a professional though," I said, unable to forget how many times Maya had crushed me at bowling. Her dad was on a team for years and she always practiced with him.
"Oh?" Michael asked, seeming surprised by my statement. I nodded and he seemed impressed. "We can play on teams and I'll help you out. Calum is fucking awful at bowling," Michael informed me and that caused me to laugh. "Should we get going?" I nodded and Michael gestured for me to lead the way out. As we were walking out of the living room, we heard Maya talking to Calum.
"Michael and Sam are—"
"Heading out." Michael cut Maya's statement off and as she turned to us, I saw Calum peek over her to see us. I kept my eyes on Calum, wanting to see how he acted around Maya, but everything seemed sped up as we continued walking.
