Nick didn’t know what to say. He was backed into a corner with no way out. He had to play coy until he figured out a good way to solve this dilemma.

“Yeah he does look slightly familiar,” Tiffany said, “But I’m not sure where I met him. Maybe I saw him at the mall sometime. It’s nice to meet you, Nick.”

Nick saw the corner of Tiffany’s mouth rise in a twisted smile. He knew some girls to be manipulative and worried that Tiffany could be one of those girls. He wasn’t exactly enamored with her after they had sex in the department store changing room given some of the rude comments she made during sex.

Now she had a chance to spill the beans to Stacy that Nick had fucked her. But would Tiffany risk her own friendship with Stacy by sharing that information? Stacy would likely be mad but what if she sided with Nick and was convinced that Tiffany came on to him?

For this reason alone, Nick held out hope. Even though he knew he had to warn Tiffany he may have passed Chlamydia to her, he had to ensure that he kept his relationship with Stacy going strong, even if that meant waiting this out until a better opportunity to share his diagnosis presented itself.

“C’mon guys, it’s going to be loads of fun,” Stacy said as she directed the foursome into the bowling alley.

Even though indoor smoking had been outlawed for some time, Nick smelled a faint aroma of cigarette smoke as he entered the bowling alley. Most of the occupied lanes were filled with adults wearing leather Harley Davidson jackets and drinking cheap beer from plastic cups. Glancing at the banner on the wall to his left, Nick saw that Miller Lite was offered on draft for $2.00.

“Are all of these people in your league?” Nick asked Stacy, hoping they weren’t the only normal looking people in attendance.

“Yeah, I know it looks rough,” she said. “But trust me, we fare pretty well against these tough guys. We’re the third best team in the league right now.”

“Great. I’m already starting to feel the pressure.”

“Don’t worry, Nick. It’ll be fun. Mary Kaye and I can carry your weight if you’re not so hot at bowling.”

“Yeah, maybe they’ll break the no bumpers rule just for you, Nick,” Mary Kaye said.

“Ha ha. I’m actually not that bad at bowling. I can top 200 on a good day.”

“Well Stace hits 300 practically every other time we bowl,” Mary Kaye said. “I hope you don’t get jealous that your girlfriend bowls better than you.”

Did she say girlfriend? Had Stacy told her friends that she was dating Nick? Nick didn’t think their relationship had escalated to that level. Some serious conversations were in order.

As Stacy and Mary Kaye walked past him, Nick felt Tiffany’s breath on his ear.

“She’s a really great girl. I’d hate to see you lose her,” Tiffany whispered.

“You wouldn’t say anything,” Nick whispered back. “You wanted it from me, not the other way around.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Tiffany asked. “You seemed pretty eager to fuck me then. If you’re that eager to fuck a stranger then why should I trust that you’re the right guy for my girl?”

She had a point there, Nick thought. This was even more evidence that he needed to stop fooling around with other girls and commit to Stacy, even if he had to wait to have sex with her. Nick kept walking, hoping to catch up to Stacy and Mary Kaye at the counter to rent bowling shoes before he was forced to answer Tiffany’s question.

“Are you going to answer me?”

“Look, Tiffany, it was a mistake. I never should have gotten together with you and I’d never do anything to hurt Stacy.”

Nick continued. “We’re not officially dating yet. I’m going to ask her to be my girlfriend soon and none of this stuff is going to happen again.”

He hoped he could keep that promise.

“If you say so. I sure hope I’m the only girl outside of Stacy that you’ve hooked up with,” Tiffany warned. “I’ve got my eyes on you.”

Finally, Nick and Tiffany arrived at the counter to join Stacy and Mary Kaye in picking out their shoes. Nick had particularly large feet so he grabbed a size 12.5 shoe from the counter while the girls stared in disbelief that a boy could have such big feet.

“Are those clown shoes?” Mary Kaye asked. “They look like something Bozo would wear.”

“You know what they say about big feet, huh Stacy?” Tiffany asked.

Both Nick and Stacy flushed red with embarrassment.

“Tiff, stop it,” Stacy said. “You have to bowl better tonight than you did last week. You dragged the whole team down.”

“Don’t worry, Stace, I’ve got this. Your boy could be my good luck charm,” Tiffany said.
Being league bowlers, the three girls each brought their own ball. Nick watched as Mary Kaye took a cloth from her ball bag, sprayed some sort of grease on it and rubbed the ointment carefully around her 10 pound ball. Her ball reminded Nick of pictures he’d seen in science class of the Milky Way and other galaxies with its’ black base and various streaks of purple, red and gold that dotted the rest of the ball.

Stacy threw a heavier ball at 12 pounds, which was among the heaviest balls that Nick had seen a woman throw. Her ball was a maroon color and featured an insignia of a bowling ball with pins behind it. She didn’t put any grease on her ball but instead brought out a glove from her bag. Did people really wear bowling gloves?

“That ball looks pretty heavy. Are you sure you can handle that, babe?” Nick asked.

“Don’t be such a sexist,” Stacy replied. “I’ll outscore you any day with this big ball.”

Since Nick usually threw a 12 pounder himself, he felt like he had to jump up to at least a 14 pound ball to show off his strength and that he could throw something heavier than his petite love interest.

When Nick returned to the lane with his gray 14 pound ball, he realized that wouldn’t be good enough.

“Only 14 pounds? C’mon are you in third grade?” Mary Kaye asked.

“Yeah, I thought you were a big strong boy,” Tiffany said.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get something heavier,” said Nick.

Nick wandered to the rack of balls to look for something a little heavier. Given most of the teams surrounding them were comprised of burly biker men, there weren’t many heavy balls left to choose from.

Nick saw a large black ball at the far end of the rack close to the wall away from his team. Once he spotted the number 16 on the ball, Nick picked it up and started to walk back towards his team before Tiffany suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Jesus, you scared me,” Nick said.

“I’ve thought about it some more and I think I have no choice but to tell Stacy what you did,” Tiffany said.

“What?” Nick asked, worried that Tiffany was actually serious.

“I mean if you and Stacy already had sex and you’ve been on multiple dates, I’d kinda say that you’re dating, even if you’re not Facebook official. You know what I’m sayin’?”

“No, not really. Don’t girls ‘talk’ to multiple guys at one time? And by talk, I mean flirt with different guys and make them think you like them, only to get with some other guy later on.”

“Yeah, maybe some girls do that, but not Stacy. Stacy’s a real special girl. She doesn’t like to play games. I don’t want to see another douchebag playing games with her like the last guy that Mary Kaye and I had to teach a lesson to.”

What kind of lessons did they teach this guy?

“Ok, look, I’m sorry I slept with you. But from my vantage point, Stacy and I aren’t dating yet. Believe me, once I ask her out, there’s no way I’d hook up with anyone else.”

Nick wondered if he would be able to hold to that promise. He hoped his therapy session tomorrow would give him a solution to this problem.

“Mhmm, that’s what they all say. But I’m a nice girl, too. I’ll give you one chance. If you do anything from now on that could hurt her, no matter how flirty other girls are with you, I’m gonna hurt you. You got it?”

Nick imagined himself as a business owner from the 1940’s being taken for bribes by the Sicilian mob like in The Godfather or some other mob movie. Tiffany’s accent seemed Jersey enough to play the part. Her blonde hair didn’t quite match the olive skin and dark brown eyes to complete the look.

“Yeah I got it. I really like Stacy, so I’m gonna do all I can for her.”

“Good. Now let’s bowl.”

**

Stacy felt a lot of pressure as the first series of the night was about to start. She was insanely competitive for meaningless events like this. Her team, fittingly named the Purple People Eaters with Mary Kaye wearing her purple t-shirt and Tiffany a purple skirt with gray leggings, was ranked third in their bowling league. Nick filled in for their friend Priscilla, who was “sick.”

Priscilla was the worst bowler on the team but that wasn’t why Stacy asked her to fake an illness so she could ask Nick to fill in. Stacy had no clue how good of a bowler Nick was so she could have been hurting her own cause without realizing it.

Stacy asked Priscilla to be “sick” so she could see how well Nick got along with her friends. This was the one area where many of her previous gentleman callers struggled to pass the test. Most of them dismissed her friends and showed no interest in them or they would sometimes even flirt with Tiffany.

Goddamnit why did I have to have the hot blonde friend? Stacy thought.

While she wasn’t officially dating Nick yet, she wanted to be his girlfriend. She didn’t want to be a girlfriend that always put out and did whatever her man said, but a girlfriend that was an equal partner in a meaningful relationship. She wanted to be with someone who she could share her interests with and he could share his interests with her. Nick passed the “let’s take this slow” test of no sex so she imagined he’d pass the “gets along with friends” test with flying colors.

“Why are you so nervous girl?