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“How come you can rub those off but I can’t hide this?” She said, as she watched her reflection re-apply the lipstick she had unceremoniously smeared over her boyfriend’s face and neck mere minutes ago.
“It makes me look messy, and-” He put his hand to her neck and ran his thumb up the artery gently “Hickeys suit you Cass.” She shivered and nodded.
“They do?” She broke eye contact with herself and turned to face him.
“They do.” He leant in and kissed her on the lips as she kept shivering.
“N-no… It’s ruined again!” Her eyes darted back to the rear-view mirror. “Fuck. Fuck”
“Oh, come on baby, it’s not that bad, is it?”
“It is…”
“No it’s not.”
“No.. It’s not. You’re right, Dan.” She kissed him back with a slight sigh.
“I’ll let you bowl first, will that cheer you up Cassie?” Dan opened the driver’s side door of the car and stepped out into the car park, burying his hands in his jean pockets as he slammed his side of the door closed.
“Yeah-” Cass opened her door, “Yeah, that would be nice.” She closed the door quickly and came around to his side and reached out to hold his hand. Dan wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her in close to his side. The two walked into the bowling alley together.
It was a quiet afternoon in L_ Bowling. Only a few of the lanes were populated by families with screaming children. The patterned carpet under their feet as they walked towards the kiosk interested Cass so much she couldn’t help but stare straight down, almost stumbling over her feet. Dan continued to walk at a steady pace, eyeing up the woman at the reception. The overhead lights make her look terrible, he thought, or perhaps she’s just that ugly all day long.
“Hey, can we get a lane for two?” He rested his hand on Cassie’s head and she finally looked up.
“Sure, one game?” The employee did not look up from the computer, seemingly running every operation out of it.
“Yeah.”
“For two.” she repeated out loud, her eyes flicking between the keyboard and screen as she registered them.
“Yeah, for two, me and my girlfriend.” He jiggled her head gently and she smiled. Obviously for two. Idiot.
“Names?” She fixed her eyes on the keyboard.
“Danny and Cassie.” He said with a smile.
“Y or I-E?” She said.
“Y for me, I-E for her.”
“Sure. Lane 4. That’ll be £_.”
“Cass, baby, my wallet’s in the car.” Cass sighed and pulled her purse from handbag and handed her card over to Dan.
“You owe me.”
“Sure I do.” She’ll forget. Dan slipped the card into the reader and inputted her pin code. Cass watched, she didn’t know he knew her pin. This had happened before though, so maybe he just remembered. He’s so thoughtful.
“It’s gone through, enjoy.”
Dan nodded, handed the card back and ruffled Cass’s hair. “Be a doll and grab us some drinks.”
“O-okay do you want anything in particular?” She looked up into his face with a full toothy smile.
“Something good.” He smiled back down.
“That’s helpful.” She waddled away.
Dan strode over to lane 4. There was a pin missing. His name was first. He picked up a 16lb bowling ball and quickly set it down in favour of a 14, then a 12. He sat for a second and waited. His side of the alley was empty. The victorious and pained screeches of children were down the other end: lanes 12, 13 and 14. The ball retrieval machine span on endlessly, whirring as if it was waiting for him to bowl. He shrugged and got up, and thrust his ball down the lane. The missing pin in the back left corner was ‘knocked over’, as was the whole of the left side. They took 2 of the back right with them, leaving a strip of 3 diagonal pins. Dan was pleasantly surprised, and waited for his ball to rattle up the ball retrieval machine. God, that sound is irritating . The ball came up and Dan took it up to the left side, lining up his shot and casting it diagonally down the alley. It clunked into the gutter early. The lane must be oiled wrong. He sat back down and waited for Cass to come, thinking about how pretty she looked tonight. The fishnets were a little revealing for him, but the skirt was long enough that her thighs were covered. And her tits…
Cass walked precariously down to lane 4 from the bar at the other end, with a glass of Pepsi in one hand and a pint glass of apple cider in the other. Both were filled to the brim, and Cass was determined not to spill a drop. She saw the back of Dan’s head and called out to him. He got up and rushed over, taking his cider and strolling back. Cass took a sip and came to sit by him. All ten pins were waiting. She looked up at the score and realised he had gone already. Oh...
“Oo, it’s my turn.” She got up, and bent over to pick up an 8lb ball. Dan came up behind her and slapped her ass.
“Hey!” She turns around. “Not while I’m holding the ball… I might hurt you.” She feigned a lunge at him with the ball in her hand. He flinched.
“Don’t joke about that, people get killed by those things, baby. Don’t be so careless.” His tone became instantly condescending.
“I’m sorry.” She said. The slightest smile crept out of her cheek into the corner of her lips. She hated the way he talked down to her but his tone always struck a little deeper. It was hot.
“Knock ‘em down, babe!”
“I will Danny, I will!” she rushed up to the lane and span the ball down it. The pins shape was cored: the back corners and 2 directly in front of them wobbled, threatening to fall, but did not. 6 - a split, Cass watched as some abstract scene played out on the score screen involving a pin being sliced down the middle. It felt vaguely erotic. The ball clattered up the machine, and she threw it down again. The 2 in the right corner were blasted into the back wall. She turned to smile at Dan, who looked jealous that she scored 1 more than him. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“You got a split… That’s a rookie mistake.”
“I know… It’s so sad!” She slumped down onto the seat and sipped at her drink. She stared at his ass as he bowled the 2 nd frame. The jeans help. He knocked down the left side with the centre, and then tried to show off, aware of her eyes on him, and fumbled the spare, knocking 2 pins down.
“Fuck!”
“Dan, there are kids here.”
“They’re kids. They probably hear it all the time.”
Cass sighed but put up no protest. She bowled, knocking 5 down. Dan tutted behind her, and a perfect throw was slightly misaligned, leaving 2 pins up. “Aggh! I got so close!” She came back to Dan “If you didn’t tut I would’ve got it!”
“Looked to me like you messed up on the first go as well.” He said as he got up from his chair. “But it was a good effort, it really was.” Cass sighed and watched him.
“You’ve been talking a big game about how good you are, I have yet to see that.” She sipped her drink, hoping he would gutter on the first throw.
“Oh yeah?” He grinned and stared down the lane for a second before throwing it. Cass looked up when he cheered: “FUCK YEAH! STRIKE!” She got up and rushed over to hug him.
“There we go,” she said, grinning. His body was tense, and she clutched onto his side with determination. “You’re the best.”
“Thanks baby.” He leant down to peck at her cheek and she reached up to gently kiss his neck. “Hey- no more marks.”
“It was light, you should be okay.” She let go of him and fetched her own ball. 3 pins remained upright after her throw, and on the next she missed completely. The ball tumbled down the left gutter with a disappointed clunk.
“Better luck next time Nova.” He raised again with a confident pep in his step. He cast the ball down the lane, expecting another strike. The clatter of pins in the distance looked like a strike and so Dan began to celebrate before he realised the back right pin had righted itself, wobbling ever so slightly and settling into place. “Fuck!” Cass watched his reaction carefully, her eyes almost starting to glisten over. His anger subsided before anything came of it, and he thrust the ball down the lane again, grazing the back right pin. He yelled again, and Cass flinched.
She bowled. 6. the left side obliterated but one. She bent over the ball retrieval machine, waiting for it to send her ball back. She was aware of Dan’s eyes on the hem of her skirt, and made sure it didn’t raise enough for him to get a peek of anything but the pale shaved back of her legs. The ball came, and she threw it down. The back left pin remained. Cass sighed and slumped down next to Dan, whose view had traced along her path until she sat and then darted up to her eyes.
“It’s your turn.”
“I’m drinking.” He picked up the glass and took a sip. Cass glanced down at the front of his jeans.
“Right, yeah, sorry.” She rested her hand on his thigh. “I love your hair today…? It’s so much fluffier than normal.”
“You said it when I woke up, and you said it in the car before we fucked.” He took another sip, and put the glass down.
“Did I? Oh god, my poor memory.” She said through chuckles. “I love you.”
He kissed her on the forehead, “I’m gonna bowl another strike,” and got up. He stood so tall over Cass’ sitting height. “I mean come on. I’ve got to.” 4 and 4. He came back to sit down even more tense than before.
“Hey that was still good. 8’s a hi-”
“No, it’s not, it’s pathetic.” He sighed. “Take your turn, it’ll make me feel better.” She did. 6 and 3 again. Dan stared at the scoreboard and shuddered. He was going to lose his lead at this point. Cass came to sit beside him again, trailing a hand to his thigh again.
“Are you feeling well? You look pale.” She inched her hand closer to his crotch and watched his face for a reaction. He glanced up at the security cameras and back down.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna go to the toilet.” He got up and strode to the toilet, leaving Cass alone. She waited, looking at the balls, then down the lane. His little shout of joy – God he’s so cute . She rested her hands in her lap and looked up at the security camera. I fucked it up… Maybe he wanted me to come with him to the toilet. The bowling ball was just glossy enough she could make out her face in it. That hickey’s fucking huge. I wonder if the receptionist saw it. She thought of Dan in the moment he had given it to her: his face buried in her neck as they clung to each other. She wished they were that intimate all day long. Not sexually , she thought, there was enough of that to go around. She adored when he would hold her close and let her sink into his chest until it felt like the world would forgive her. She hoped he felt the same when she held him, and she was sure her breasts were an added bonus for him. Dan was sat on the toilet with the cubicle door locked, nursing his light-headedness. He was determined not to show weakness in front of her, she couldn’t know he wasn’t perfect. For a moment Cass considered if she was alone in wondering if being hugged would be better with a woman: Softer, perhaps. And the breasts are an added bonus.
She was shocked out of her contemplation by Dan shaking her.
“Cass? Cass? Cassie? My little supernova, hey?”
“Huh? Oh… hi?” She craned her neck back to look up at him.
“Were you spacing out?”
“A little.” She said, interspersed with a giggle.
“Did you talk to anyone while I was gone?” His voice grew sterner as he picked his bowling ball up.
“No, no-one, I promise. I swear.” Slight panic ran over her face as her beady eyes stared up at him: Like
“You swear?”
“Yeah…” Dan strode over to the lane and bowled. 6 fell. He cursed his luck and bowled again, ignoring Cass trying to gently encourage him. 3. Too fucking close, she threw me off, yapping in my ear. She definitely fucking talked to someone else. Otherwise she wouldn’t be trying so hard to make up for it. “Once again Cass I fucked it up!”
“Hey no it’s okay, you still did great, a 9 is good.”
“It’s not good enough.”
“Hey I’m barely getting that…”
“Okay and I don’t care.” He chuckled to himself and threw himself down on the sofa. “I want to win, so, I want to score well.”
“Yeah that’s, yeah.” She smiled. Cass walked up to the bowling ball and leant over it – under the pretence of checking her ball – arching her back deliberately. Dan watched eagerly. Cass sighed and hitched her skirt up a little higher for just a second. Dan gorged himself on the after-image of her inner thigh, and Cass felt as safe as she did before he left. She sighed and picked the ball up, all at once aware of the change in how Dan was looking at her. She closed her eyes and tried to block it out, but couldn’t. At least he feels better. She bowled, completely distracted, and the ball cluttered into the left gutter less than halfway up the lane. Fuck. She scrunched her eyes shut and begged her brain to let her focus. The only sound was that of the ball retrieval machine, whose whirring shot into her head and rattled her around. She threw the ball. 5. She was a failure.
“Oh come on Casanova, you can do better than that!” why was I ever afraid of her beating me? “A gutter with all ten pins up!” He laughed heartily, and Cass sat down, sniffling.
“It’s your turn.”
“Okay okay okay.” He snorted and got up. “I can definitely do better than 5.” He grinned widely, picking up the ball and turning to Cass. He worked his fingers into the holes of the ball, making direct eye contact. “Love you though.” He turned and rushed at the lane, flinging the ball down and scoring another strike.
Cass leapt out of her chair and hugged him again. It didn’t make her feel any better, but she hoped Dan would be happy enough for the both of them. “I’m so proud of you, babe.”
“Thanks, baby.” He smiled and patted her back “It’s your turn.”
“Can’t I hold you a little longer?” She relaxed into his chest, trying to seek the comfort she had felt before.
“Fine.”
“After I bowl I’m going to the toilet… You can have your turn without me.” She couldn’t find the feeling anymore.
“Sure. Just bowl, I’m aiming for another strike.” He pried her off of his chest and she bowled. She waited at the end of the lane for a second with her eyes scrunched shut, breathing and preparing herself. Please not under 6 please not under 6 please not under- 7! Cass cheered internally and looked over at Dan who was completely unfazed. She adjusted her reaction accordingly, and let out a little whoop.
“That wasn’t so bad?”
“Eh, it’s not a strike.” He laughed.
“Yeah, hopefully a spare?” She bowled again. 2. Dan howled with laughter.
“Go to the toilet. I’ll get another strike while you’re gone.”
Cass rushed off to the toilet, bursting into the cubicle and relieving herself. She heard someone else come in as she was wiping. Whoever they were, they didn’t enter any cubicle. The taps turned on past the door. Cass quickly pulled her underwear back up and pushed the door open.
Dan bowled an eight; he swore under his breath.
***
Cass sees someone standing in front of the mirror, their reflection looking straight at her; she swears under her breath.
“You alright?” She chuckles.
“I-Yeah, I’m doing okay… I like your hair.” It’s blonde, with black roots, and cut barely shoulder-length. “And your face- make-up, I mean.”
“You do? I think my jaw’s too sharp to pull it off.”
“No I think- I don’t think that matters really.”
“I hope it doesn’t. You look cute though, that skirt rocks, where’d you get it?”
“Oh I- I have no idea. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise, it looks well-loved.”
“What does that mean.” Cass says each word carefully.
“Well-loved? It’s ever so slightly battered. Like your poor neck.”
“Oh- hah” she chuckles, completely spacing out. “I don’t know If I’m well-loved.”
“I hope you are.” She leaves.
***
Dan bowled and it fell down the right gutter. He swore again. Cass approached him from behind, and clasped him in a hug. He jumped and swore at her.
“Fucking hell I could’ve hit you.”
“You’d never!” She pressed her red cheeks into the nape of his neck and kissed him.
“You’re blushing about being hit?”
“No, no, no… I met a cute girl in the toilets.” That was only partly true. She was flustered for both reasons.
“Oh, for dyke-ish activities?”
“Why would you say that? No… I just saw her when I was washing my hands.”
“Did you get a name or number? If you’re blushing like that maybe I should invite her over.” Cass frowned into his neck and insisted he stop trying to propose a threesome with every woman she even remotely enjoyed to talk to. “Fine, fine, just go already. It’s the last normal frame.”
“I don’t wanna let go.” Cass nestled into his back, rubbing her nose up his spine. “You’re comfy.”
“We can have sex again once the game’s over.”
“Noo, I don’t mean sex, I just- I just want to hold you.”
“You can hold me during sex?”
“Y-yeah, I guess so.” She let go of him and walked to get her ball. Daniel came up behind her as she picked her ball up and he wrapped his arms around her and snaked his hands over hers.
“I think you need a little bowling tutorial.” He whispered into the artery in her neck.
“Dan… You just said afterwards…”
“Well, someone’s gonna lose unless they step up their game. Do you need a man to show you how to bowl.” Cass shivered.
“Just wait until after, please.”
“Fine.” He backed up and watched Cass bowl a strike, dumbfounded. “What the fuck?!” He rushed back up to her and clasped her in a hug, only grabbing her boobs a little. She cheered and wriggled around in the hug to face him and reach up to kiss him.
“What was that about stepping up my game?” She said, a grin painted on her face.
“Fuck you. Its the final one.” Daniel shrugged off the stress of fucking up and bowled. 8. Good enough. 2 and then whatever I want, there’s not a chance in Hell she can catch up. He bowled again. He needed to strike two pins, both in the left corner. He watched the bowl arc towards it, then fuck up and bounce into the gutter and richochet back out with barely any strength. It only knocked one of them down. “Fuck! I was so close.”
Cass gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek as he sat down and finished his cider. She strode up to the lane and hurled the ball down it. 5. She sighed, and shrugged. There was no way she’d catch up, unless a miracle happened. She bowled again, turning around to Dan to congratulate him on winning. His face dropped as she smiled at him.
“What?” She turned around. She had bowled a spare. “What the fuck? What the fuck? Oh my god if I get a 9 I can beat you.” Cass’ spirit was renewed and she bound over to the retrieval machine and studied the lane incredibly carefully, giving the illusion that she was thinking about anything other than when Dan last manhandled her for winning against him in chess. She flung the ball down, praying.
8.
They had tied.
Dan sighed and grumbled to himself as Cass rushed over and climbed onto him. “Hey! Guess who almost beat you! It was me! Imagine tying with a stupid woman.” She kissed his cheek and grinned.
“Yeah.” He was very obviously aggravated. “Yeah. I don’t need to.” He cracked a smile back. “There’s a stupid woman right on top of me, and she tied with me.” He sighed.
“Can we head back to the car? Suddenly I’m full of energy.” That seemed to renew his spirits. She kissed his neck again and whispered up into his ear “You can call me whatever you want.”