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Ernie stepped up to the lane and aimed at the center pin. He rolled the ball, but it went straight into the gutter. Ernie chuckled. “Wow, I forgot how bad I am at this.”
Only the worker and Bert were in the alley. Bert stood next to Ernie. “You really aren’t that bad, Ern. You’re just twisting your wrist at the last minute.”
Bert grabbed his black ball and showed Ernie the correct throwing motion by demonstrating a slow, controlled swing. Watching closely, Ernie mimicked the motion and realized he was twisting his wrist without noticing. Bert set his own ball down, then stood beside Ernie, placing one hand under the pink bowling ball and the other around Ernie’s wrist to gently guide his movement.
“If you twist your wrist to the left or the right, that’s where the ball will go.”
Ernie nodded and tried again. Despite his wrist turning the ball at the end, he managed to knock down eight pins. He threw his arms up and cheered. “I knocked most of them down!”
Bert gave him a small nudge and a smile. “Well done.”
“Now, let’s see what you got, pro,” the shorter one teased. “I’m surprised you don’t have your own bowling ball.”
Bert rolled his eyes. Ever since his partner found a photo of him on the bowling team in his high school yearbook, bowling had been a topic of discussion in the apartment. A week later, when they decided to do the ABC dating challenge, they both knew what to do for the letter ‘B’. Bert wanted to bowl to put the accusation of him being a good bowler to rest. “It’s been years, Ern. There's no way I’m a good bowler anymore.”
He sent the ball, only knocking down three. “Point proven.”
“You still knocked down more than my first roll. Try to put a positive spin on it.” Ernie chuckled, throwing his hand up to cover his mouth as he laughed at his own pun.
“Nice pun!” Bert commented, smiling widely. He studied his ball for a bit before wiping it off with a rag nearby. “Maybe I need a lighter ball. Hang on.”
“I told you not to get the heavy one!” Ernie yelled to Bert as he walked away. He practiced the motion his partner showed him as he waited.
Bert came back with a dark blue bowling ball. “I got two pounds lighter.”
The taller one threw the ball, getting a spare.
Ernie bounced in excitement for his boyfriend. “Yes, Bert! I knew you still had it in you!”
Bert tried brushing off the comment, but his grin stayed on his face as he spoke. “I just got lucky.”
“Sure, Bert.”
Ernie picked up his pink ball and moved to the line. He paused to recall Bert's advice, focusing on keeping his wrist straight. Carefully, he rolled the ball down the middle, knocking down all the pins for a strike. The screen above flashed a celebratory animation.
Both of their eyes widened. Ernie then jumped in the air. “YES!”
“Oh, game on,” Bert challenged with a chuckle.