Page 29 of Best Kept Secret

He chuckled and shook his head.

“When and where?” she said, excitement dancing in her eyes.

“Ahem. We don’t bowl, remember?” Stacy said, but she was grinning.

“In this case, I’ll make an exception.”

“Great. Meet us at Star Lanes at seven o’clock. Oh, and don’t forget your bowling shoes.”

“We don’t have bowling shoes.”

“That’s okay. You can rent them.”

“You mean I can’t wear high heels?” Kelsey teased.

He shook his head. Then he placed a brief kiss on Stacy’s cheek before he sauntered out. She watched him walk away with stars in her eyes.

“You have it so bad,” Kelsey remarked as she picked up her sandwich again.

“Me?! I’m not the one who agreed to go bowling!”

“But you didn’t disagree, either.”

“I went along with it for you. I know how much you’ve been dying to see Hudson.”

It was true. She’d been going crazy wondering when he was going to follow up on their so-called date. It had been almost two weeks, and not a peep. She was beginning to wonder if he’d changed his mind.

After he’d asked her out, her brother had rejoined them, and he hadn’t left them alone the rest of the night. The three of them had demolished a pizza and then watched a movie. Jared had sat next to Hudson on the small couch, so she’d been forced to sit on the chair by herself. Throughout the movie, she’d snuck peeks at Hudson, who’d done the same to her while Jared’s eyes remained glued to the screen. It had been pure torture.

She’d wanted nothing more than to snuggle up next to him and pretend to watch the movie while their hands brushed on the couch cushion. When the movie was over, Jared shut off the TV and announced that it was bedtime. She and Hudson exchanged a glance that was laced with promise and made her toes curl. Luckily, Jared had been busy closing the blinds and hadn’t noticed.

Once everything was shut down, Jared lingered in the living room, waiting for her to leave. She couldn’t even ask him to box up some leftover pizza for her since they’d eaten it all. Defeated, she’d said goodnight and opened the door. As she’d stepped out, she’d glanced back and seen Hudson watching her with a sweet smile on his face. That face! God, how she wanted to cup it in her hands and feel his stubble graze her skin. She imagined tracing the outline of his mole and kissing it. Then she’d slide her lips over his and…

“Earth to Kelsey? Where’d you go?” Stacy said, interrupting her daydream.

“Just thinking about bowling.”

“Bullshit.”

Kelsey’s eyes went wide. “You swore.”

Stacy clamped a hand over her mouth. “I did, didn’t I?”

“You never swear.”

“I do sometimes.”

“Rarely.”

“Stop trying to change the subject. Let’s get back to Hudson.”

She nodded and then took another bite of her sandwich.

“We need to figure out a way for you two to be alone.”

“Yes, please. But how?”

Stacy tapped her fingernails on the table and thought for a moment. Then she said, “I know. You and I will drive to the bowling alley in my car. Afterward, I’ll ask Hudson to drive you home so I can go with Nick. What do you think?”