Uncle Sal turns to look at her. “Really?”

She shrugs. “That’s just too cute, Sal. And you know it.”

I read the board three times.

“So…this is a bowling date?” I ask.

“Yes! And because you’re on my team, House Lane-ister, you’ll need to dress accordingly.”

“Is that a Game of Thrones reference?” Charlie asks.

Michael’s expression shows us just how dumb he thinks Charlie’s question is.

Olivia starts jumping up and down. “I want to go! Pleeeeease!” she whines, then looks at Uncle Sal. “Sorry. Yours looks fun, too.”

“We’re full, but I might be able to get you a spot on I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter,” Uncle Michael says. “You have to dress like you’re on the cover of a romance novel, though.”

Now I’m really confused. “What does that fake butter have to do with romance covers?”

He looks at me incredulously. “Because Fabio, the guy from the romance novel covers, was in all those fake butter commercials.” All he left off was the duh at the end of his sentence.

“Sign. Me. Up!” Olivia squeals.

“How are you on a bowling team when you don’t even live here?” Uncle Sal asks Michael.

“Just because I don’t live here doesn’t mean I don’t have friends here. There’s this thing called social media where people who live far away from each other can still keep in touch. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

Uncle Sal rolls his eyes. “Whatever. My date will be fun, too!”

“Well, they both sound like fun dates! But we still have to vote.” Nonna stands up in front of the board. “Raise your hand if you vote for the cooking date.”

Of course Uncle Sal raises his hand along with half of his kids. Aunt Kelsey’s four daughters’ hands shoot up, but I’m not sure they even know what they are voting for.

“Raise your hand if she should go bowling!”

It only takes a second or two to scan the crowd before Nonna says, “Okay, so pretty much everyone picks bowling.”

Charlie holds up his phone. “Unanimous over here for bowling.”

Olivia stands. “Uncle Michael, do you need help picking a date for her? Because I might have a suggestion.”

He shakes his head. “I’ve got it covered!”

I pull on her sleeve. “Who is your suggestion?”

She leans forward and whispers, “I’ve been watching you.” She pauses a second and then nods toward the back door. “And I’ve been watching him, too.”

Wes is standing at the back door. He sees Charlie and moves to the bar, sitting down next to him on a stool Banks just vacated. Wes turns toward the room, searching it. When his eyes land on me, he gives me a small smile.

“Yep. Watching you two,” Olivia says again.

***

Nonna gave us the day off, since we’re tired from our late-night road trip and we need to go shopping. Once it was decided I would go bowling, Olivia pulled Charlie, Wes, Graham, Jake, and Sara aside. As of thirty minutes ago, they’ve called the bowling alley and added their own team. They went back and forth for a while, but finally decided on a Grease theme with Pin Ladies and T-Balls. We all head to the secondhand store to see if we can find something that will fit the theme, girls in one car, guys following behind.

We’re wandering through the racks when Wes and Charlie come up on the other side.

“Hey, guys,” Olivia says a little too loud. She’s looking at Wes, then me, and then back at Wes. She is not smooth. Not at all.

Wes and I haven’t been around each other since he bailed at the hockey game. He nods when we make eye contact.

I smile and nod right back. “So, you excited for bowling tonight?”

“Yeah. Seen any cheap black leather-ish jackets?” Wes says.

“Because we’re the T-Balls,” Charlie adds, and then dissolves in giggles. He’s such a little kid.

“I’ll help you, Charlie. Come over here,” Olivia says, pulling him to the men’s section on the other side of the store. “Wes, you watch Game of Thrones. Help Soph find something to wear.”

Then she winks at me.

Definitely not smooth.

“I haven’t seen you in a couple of days,” I finally say to break the awkward silence.

He nods. “Yeah, it’s been a little crazy. Charlie told me what happened yesterday with Margot and Anna. I’m glad they’re both better.”

“Yeah, me too. That was super scary.”

He nods. “He also told me about the conversation y’all had before you left with Griffin.”

I let out a laugh. “Conversation is a pleasant way of putting it!”

He grins. “Yeah, I guess. But, Sophie, seriously, I hate that we made you feel like we didn’t want you around. If I knew that’s what you were thinking, I would have…” He trails off.

“What?” God, why do I sound breathless? I’ve got to pull it together.

“I would have made sure you knew how much we wanted you with us.”

I’m blushing. I can feel it. I turn around and start digging through the rack behind me.

“I think I’m going to dress up like Arya Stark, even though I’m supposed to be a Lannister.”

He laughs. “Michael will love that.” Just before I get too far away, Wes says, “Looked like you finally got that kiss.”

I stop. My back is to him, and I’m staring at Olivia helping Charlie find a jacket, debating whether or not to turn around and answer him. Finally, I work up the nerve.

“Yeah, I guess so. But it wasn’t the one I wanted.”

I’m shocked I actually said that. He seems equally surprised.

“How was your ride down last night?” he asks.

“It was the closure I needed.” And now I’m killing it with the confidence.

He nods again, and I see a small smile play across his face. “I’m glad. You look happy.”

I’m hoping he’ll tell me what’s going on with him and Laurel, but he doesn’t.

“Wes, see if this one fits you,” Charlie yells from across the store. Wes gives me one last long look and walks away.

Olivia edges back over to me.

“Can we finally talk about it?” she asks. We both know she’s talking about Wes.

I shrug and pick through the pile of shoes in front of me. “I’ve been so confused this week. And things were still so fresh with Griffin. And I have no idea if he thinks of me like that. And I worry it’s too soon to like someone else.”

Olivia rolls her eyes. “First off, it’s not like Wes is some rando you just met. You’ve known him your whole life. You were in love with him for half of it.”

I open my mouth to deny what she’s saying, but she holds up her hand. “I know you didn’t pursue it with him because of me. And I feel bad that maybe y’all wasted all that time because I liked him for five minutes.”

“It’s probably a good thing,” I say. “We were fourteen. It wouldn’t have lasted. Especially since we live in different towns and go to different schools. Look what it did to our friendship.”

She gives me a small frown. “I wish we could have a redo.”

I shake my head. “We’re good now. That’s all that matters.”

“But the timing makes sense now. You’re almost eighteen, and you’re both headed to the same college…you are planning to go to LSU, right? You aren’t still planning to go somewhere a million miles away, are you?”

I shove her shoulder. “LSU was the first school on my Inspiration Board, so I think it’s a strong contender.”

“So…when you finally admit you want to go to school with us, the two of you will live in buildings that are literally next door to each other. And we’ll be roommates. And everything will be perfect.”

“I don’t know. Is it too weird? I mean, it might be weird. And it might not be up to me. He was with Laurel two nights ago.”

“Or it might be incredible. But you won’t know until you take a risk. And he was with her for like half an hour. Her grandparents got him a gift for Christmas because they’re clueless, so he rode with her to go pick it up, and then she brought him right back home.”

Oh.

By the time we check out, Olivia has pink jackets for her and Sara, while I have the closest thing I can find to dress up like Arya Stark. After scouring all of the images on Google, I decided to mirror her look from the later episodes and was lucky enough to find a pair of dark olive-green fitted pants and a brown leather jacket. All I need is a sword.

Olivia and I stop next to my car, and Charlie moves toward Wes’s truck, but Wes lingers.

“So I guess I’ll see you tonight,” he says.

“Yeah, I’ll be the one with the sword.” And then I shake my head. “Okay, maybe I won’t be the only one with a sword.”

He laughs. “Well, I’ll be the one who has ruined a perfectly good fake leather jacket by writing the word T-Ball in white paint across the back.”

Wes is close enough that if I wanted to, I could reach out and touch him. And I really want to slide my hand into his.

But I don’t, and he doesn’t reach out for me. And then he finally walks away.

Once I’m back in the car, Olivia laughs. “You two are killing me.”

***

The crowd is back at Nonna’s to see who picks me up for the bowling date. And the stakes are especially high, since the bets from last night rolled over to today.

I never thought I’d get tired of going on dates, but I’m officially there.

The Pin Ladies and T-Balls are looking quite good, and I have to force myself not to be sad I’ve got a sword instead of a shiny pink jacket.

Uncle Ronnie studies the betting squares, looks at me a minute, then looks back to the betting squares. “So which one from that show are you dressed up as?” he asks.

“I’m dressed up like Arya. When it’s my turn to bowl, I’m going to repeat the names of all my dates this week over and over like she does with the people she wants to kill.”