Free Nerd Girl by Jemma Bell Page A

haven’t been in a while and it would go well with our 50’s themed date.” She jokes with a beaming smile.
    “Bowling it is. I haven’t been bowling for years and it does sound like fun. Prepare to have your cute, little ass whooped.” That declaration makes Amy giggle as I request our check and pay the cashier so we can leave.
    The nearest bowling alley is about a ten-minute drive away. We head out and are soon greeted by the red and purple neon lights of Pin Heads Bowl-A-Rama. The smell of lane oil and the sound of balls crashing into pins greets us as we approach the control desk to reserve a lane. We trade our street shoes for some old, scuffed, rental bowling shoes and make our way over to lane number 12. The place is busy for a Saturday night. I guess maybe bowling is becoming popular again.
    “I’m going to go get us a couple of balls to play with.” Ouch, that came out all wrong. Amy can’t help but bust out laughing. I can’t believe I said that. “You know what I mean.” There’s no way to talk my way out of that one, so I hang my head and just go collect the house balls while Amy types our names into the scorer. I’m having a great time ribbing her for each gutter ball she gets and high fiving her for each spare and strike she picks up. She does her fair share of teasing me as well, especially when I almost fell on my ass slipping on the lane oil.
    We’re entertaining the couple on the next lane over with our antics and teasing. We decide to compete against each other. Bryan and his girlfriend Olivia against me and Amy. They’re not much better at bowling than we are. My last ball ends in a strike and we win. Amy jumps up into my arms in celebration and plants a quick smooch on my lips. I can’t help myself, so I deepen the kiss by wrapping one arm around her back to hold her up and the other behind her neck to pull her body flush to mine, intensifying the kiss. She goes soft in my arms and opens her mouth at the coaxing of my tongue and I slip inside. Our tongues duel each other in small circles. Amy tastes like the peppermint gum she had been chewing. I’m so hungry for this girl. We must be in a full on make out session because a clearing of someone’s throat breaks us out of our sensual haze.
    “Hey, man, way to celebrate, but get a room before you burn up the lanes with all the heat you two are putting off,” Bryan says jokingly. I rub my nose against Amy’s one last time and put her down. She has the sweetest blush on her face and is clearly embarrassed. We thank Bryan and Olivia for the friendly competition, trade in our rental shoes for our own and leave the bowling alley. It’s getting late and I have an early session with Riven in the morning. My ass will be dragging if I don’t get some rest, so I turn towards Amy’s house to drop her off. I plan on giving her the gift that’s hidden in my glove compartment and making her promise to see me again tomorrow. All too soon I pull up into her driveway and there’s a green sedan parked next to Amy’s car. Must belong to GG and Pops because it wasn’t here earlier.
    “Before we say goodnight, I have something I want to give you.” She looks confused, so I reach over, open the glove box and grab the small gray velvet pouch. I gently place it in Amy’s hand and watch as she pulls open the string and pours the contents into her palm. She examines the silver bracelet and fingers the pink bead that’s attached.
    “How? Why?” She clearly doesn’t understand and looks like she’s going to cry.
    “Amy, baby, in the short time I’ve known you I’ve come to care about you deeply. That’s what the pink bead signifies, caring. I want you always to have a reminder of that. I’ve also been told that each color bead has a special meaning.” I help her clasp the bracelet around her left wrist; it looks perfect. “As we continue to see one another and our relationship evolves, I’ll add other beads to it, so you always know and can