Chapter 320: Friendship, Fries, and Felony Threats

Joey divvied up teams like he was running a military operation after two weeks of marriage. Maya snagged the best bowling ball before anyone else could get their hands on it. Connor tied his rented shoes as if he was gearing up for a deposition. Damien assessed the lane with the same seriousness he used for quarterly reports: already certain of the outcome, mildly annoyed that anyone else was still guessing.

Damien was ridiculously good at bowling. Not just good...like, ridiculous. He launched the ball with effortless precision and knocked down nearly every pin, moving with that infuriating confidence he carried into every part of his life. No warm-up. No dramatic build-up. Just a clean release followed by the sound of ten pins realizing they had messed up.

I stared at Damien as he worked his magic, was there anything this man couldn’t do for fucks sakes?! First surfing, now bowling?!

Joey stared at the scoreboard. "Are you serious?!"

Damien just shrugged. "I’ve bowled before."

"Clearly."

"In college," Damien added, which didn’t help his case at all. "With my friends."

Maya nodded, "Right, with the Elites."

"I bowled in college, too," Joey chimed in. "I also almost took out a bartender. Those aren’t the same skill sets."

I leaned in toward Maya. "He’s just trying to show off."

Maya smiled. "Hmm, but I think he’s showing off for you, though."

I snuck a glance at Damien and he was already looking my way.

He moved closer, gently taking the bowling ball from my hands. "Your wrist is all wrong."

"Huh? My wrist is fine."

"It isn’t."

He stepped behind me, adjusting my arm with his warm hand against my wrist. For a second, the alley noise faded, or maybe I just stopped hearing it. His chest was just close enough that I could sense the shape of a laugh he hadn’t let out yet. "Relax, Sunshine."

"I am relaxed, don’t tell me what to do."

"Not really."

"Because you’re standing behind me."

His chuckle rumbled softly against my ear. "Just throw."

I did. The ball rolled down the lane and knocked down seven pins.

I turned around proudly. "See?"

Damien smiled. "Better."

"You’ll regret teaching me, soon I’ll be the best at bowling and take over the world with this newly acquired skill."

"I don’t doubt it."

"Three more lessons and I’m going to be a force to be reckoned with."

"You already are."

Across the lane, Connor was laughing with Maya while Joey attempted a dramatic spin that nearly sent him crashing into the wall. The ball went straight into the gutter. Joey bowed anyway, while Maya applauded as if he had done it intentionally. Connor snapped a picture that I was sure would hit the group chat before we even ordered food.

For a moment, I just watched them with Damien standing beside me. My friends laughing around us. No fights, no one leaving and no one vanishing. It felt strangely normal. And shockingly, I didn’t realize how much I had missed that until it came rushing back.

During a break, Maya caught Damien by the vending machines. I noticed but didn’t intrude...To be honest, I knew this was coming. Maya didn’t play around, especially with me and he machines hummed softly. Someone had taped a sign on the broken one that read, OUT OF ORDER, TRY THE OTHER ONE, IT ALSO LIES. Maya stood there, arms crossed and weight shifted to one hip, which indicated that this wasn’t a casual chat about snacks.

"Hello, Damien." She folded her arms. "Even if Oliver might have lost his memories or some shit just because you’re back now. I wanna let you know that I remember what happened, you hurt him."

"Yes." His tone had no hint of defensiveness.

Maya studied him for a moment. "He’s happy you’re back. I can see that, but he’s still hurt."

Damien’s expression softened. "So am I."

That seemed to catch her off guard.

He looked toward me. "I don’t expect you to trust me just because I came back. I know I have to earn that."

Maya stayed quiet for a moment, then she sighed. "Good. Because he’s been through enough heartache just for you to come back into his life then fuck off again and leave him behind. "

She smiled softly. "Because Oliver has terrible judgment when it comes to you."

Damien laughed, genuinely this time. "I know, but I’m staying for good. I’m not leaving him... I’ll never hurt Oliver again."

Maya eyed him, she looked so scary when she did that. Normally Joey and I would have been sweating buckets whenever she did that to us. But somehow Damien only regarded her with a polite smile. "You better not, or else I’ll personally hunt you down and delete you from existence and happily go to jail for it."

I called from across the room. "I CAN HEAR YOU!"

Maya laughed and Damien turned back to her. "Thanks for looking out for him, Maya."

That softened her expression. "I always will."

She looked past him, toward the lanes, lowering her voice just enough that I had to pretend I wasn’t listening. "And I think you should buy him a pretzel. He’s been eyeing that machine like it owes him money."

Later, while Joey and Maya argued over whose turn it was, Connor found Damien standing by the table. Joey insisted that Maya had skipped him. Maya insisted that Joey had lost his turn by nearly becoming one with the ball return. Neither of them was winning, but they were clearly enjoying it.

"You know I’m not after Oliver, right?"

Damien turned to Connor. "I know, you said it before."

Connor smiled slightly. "Well, you’ve been looking at me all weird and competing with me on every thing so I guess I had to remind you before I end up dead somehow."

Damien’s jaw tightened, but he nodded as Connor continued. "Oliver’s my friend, that’s all. Sure he’s hot as fuck and I’d like to be around him more, but let’s face it. You’re the one he wants, so I’m not gonna do anything about it. Besides, I’ve got my own shit to work out and all."

Damien nodded, "Is that so?"

Connor glanced at me. "Yep and he deserves consistency this time."

Damien followed his gaze. "I plan to give him that."

Connor nodded. "Then we’re good, right?"

Damien chuckled and took a sip of his drink, "Right."

Dinner afterward was on the rooftop of a restaurant with a view of the town. String lights twinkled along the railing. The air had cooled enough that Maya snagged Joey’s jacket and refused to give it back claiming that the baby needed it and not her. Below us, the street was mostly quiet, with a few cars drifting past the old bookstore and the ice cream shop that refused to accept it was October.

By this time, everyone had relaxed. Joey was teasing Damien about his bowling scores. Maya was laughing and Connor was sharing an absurd story about a celebrity client who had demanded emotional damages after a botched haircut. And Damien was genuinely laughing along with them, It made his face softer. Less guarded. Joey looked thrilled to have discovered a new species.

From across the table, I watched him, feeling warmth settle in my chest, because for so long, Damien had just been this painful, separate part of my life. The past. The one I loved. The one who left and never returned like he said he would.

But now he was here, sitting beside my friends...debating bowling strategies with Joey and listening to Maya complain about her day. He asked Connor about the celebrity client without sounding like he was interrogating him. He let Joey explain a theory about wrist angle that was completely wrong, only correcting him once, which for Damien was practically restraint.

He wasn’t just re-entering my heart...he was also becoming part of my life again.

Joey pointed a fry at him. "So! House guest, bowling whiz, self-inviter. Any other titles we should know about?"

Damien thought for a moment. "Just not at the table."

"Suspicious," Joey said.

"Accurate," I added.

Maya kicked me gently under the table, clearly agreeing but also wanting me to survive the evening.

When we finally walked home, the streets were quiet and the night air had cooled. Maya and Joey peeled off toward their car, promising to send the scoreboard screen shot to the group chat for arguing purposes. Connor hugged me again, shorter this time, and gave Damien a nod like they had just signed some invisible agreement. Then it was just the two of us on the sidewalk, our shadows stretching under the streetlights.

I bumped my shoulder into Damien’s. "So."

"So?"

"You only came because Connor was coming."

He sighed. "I said he was a contributing factor."

I laughed. "You’re fucking ridiculous."

"Perhaps."

"You know you don’t have to compete with my friends."

"I know. But I did have a lot of fun."

He reached for my hand and I let him take it and his fingers slipped between mine, warm and familiar.

After a moment, he quietly said, "I’m just grateful you let me be included."

I looked at him, his expression had lost its playful edge as something almost vulnerable flickered in his eyes. And I squeezed his hand, and planted a kiss on his cheek with a blush on mine. "You are included."

He glanced down at our hands and smiled.

And I felt like I could look around at the people I loved and not feel like I had to choose between them.