Ashley Elston - 10 Blind Dates

Wes is nodding his head and murmuring, “Keep going…keep going.”

When I hear the sound of pins dropping, I twirl around in time to see seven of the pins fall.

I jump up and down, then throw my arms around Wes’s neck. “I did it!”

His hands grip my waist and he pulls me in close. “You’re a natural,” he says in my ear.

Wes releases me, nudging me to get the ball for my second try. Of course, this time I go straight to the gutter. But I’m on the board!

Wes walks back to his group, and I take a seat by Uncle Michael.

“So I picked the wrong guy for you for tonight, didn’t I?” he says, with a grin. “Now I get why Olivia offered to help.”

I shrug. “Jason’s nice. I’m glad I met him.” Then I nod to where Jason and Sara are talking behind us. “He’s going to be just fine, I think.”

“Yeah, I suck at this.” Uncle Michael laughs. “Does neighbor boy feel the same way?”

“I don’t know.”

“He’s been staring at you all night.”

I hit Uncle Michael in the arm. “Seriously?”

He laughs again and nods. “Seriously.”

Wes doesn’t come back to our lane for the rest of the game, but we get busted watching each other more than once. And in the end, when all of the team scores are tallied, the Lane-isters are actually not dead last. We’re close…but not at the very bottom. We take it as a win.

Jason and I take our rented shoes back to the counter. “This was fun,” he says while we wait for the girl to bring us our own shoes. “Even though it didn’t go quite the way I thought it would.”

I hug him briefly. He is a really nice guy and any other time I would be lucky to be on a date with him.

“My grandmother’s birthday party is tomorrow night at Eastridge.” I look at Sara, then back at him. “All of my family will be there. You should stop by.”

He grins. “You’re a really cool girl, Sophie. And I would very much like to come to your grandmother’s party.”

He gives me another quick hug, then heads toward the door.

“Did he just ditch you?” Olivia says behind me.

I spin around. My whole family is standing there, looking like they’re ready to go to battle for me.

“No, it’s not like that. We decided to go ahead and end our date here.”

Charlie looks at his watch. “Dang! I missed it by half an hour!” And then he’s on the phone, presumably noting the end-of-date time on the group text. “Uncle Ronnie won again. How is that even possible?” he mumbles to himself.

“But I do need a ride home,” I say. I’m avoiding looking at Wes, because I know my feelings are written all over my face.

Olivia throws an arm around my shoulders and turns me toward the door. “Of course. But let’s go get some pizza first.”

Jake hobbles in front of us, since he’s still wearing that boot on his right leg. “Let’s get sushi,” Jake says. “We get pizza all the time.”

“My vote is Whataburger,” Graham says, but Olivia strikes it down.

“We’re not going to Whataburger.”

Graham shakes his head. “For once, I’d like to pick.”

The arguing continues into the parking lot. I can’t pry the smile off my face.

Olivia’s arm is still around me, and she’s slowed down so there’s some distance between us and the rest of the group.

“Are you really okay?” she asks.

I nod. “I really am.”

Olivia’s mouth lifts up on one side. “I saw that whole Let me show you how to bowl move. Classic.” I snort and elbow her.

Charlie and Wes are standing by Wes’s truck, and the rest of the family is next to Graham’s SUV. Olivia pulls me to Wes’s truck.

He opens the passenger door and asks me, “Ready to go?”

“I sure am.”

“Good news,” Olivia says. “We only have to work a couple of hours this morning, then Papa is giving us the afternoon off so we can go with Nonna to get her hair and nails done for tonight’s party.”

This perks me up. “Are we just hanging out with her while she gets pampered, or do we get pampered, too?”

Olivia’s eyes light up. “He said as long as we don’t blab to all the other cousins, he’s treating us, too. I told him we know we’re the favorites and we’ve kept that info locked down for years. No need to start worrying about us talking now.”

I slide out of the bed. “Not going to lie, a pedicure sounds pretty fantastic right about now. But you know Nonna’s going to put up a fight.”

“She already is, which is why Papa is sending us with her. Otherwise, he doesn’t think she’ll go.”

When we get to the kitchen, Nonna is at the sink. I check out the board, not surprised when I see:

“Happy birthday, Nonna!” I say. She spins around from the sink, and Olivia and I give her giant hugs. “Do you know who he’s setting me up with?”