is that for you? A pack—a family—with superpowers.”
“Don’t lay it on so thick,” Sam advised.
Nick smirked. “Oh, I like to lay it on real thick.”
The banter went back and forth so fast Toby could barely keep up. Before he knew it, it was his turn. He slipped a little, forgetting just how slick the highly polished floors could be, then threw his ball toward the pins with his eyes closed.
He heard the clunking of the ball making contact and peeked to watch it slowly roll toward the target. Finally, it clipped the corner two pins, knocking them over and disappearing.
“Nice!”
Riggs high-fived him, although Toby wasn’t sure why. He waited for his ball to pop back up through the return, then stood again. The others whooped behind him, cheering him on, and not all of it was fake. They were really having fun, even if they were laying it on a little thick, as Sam had said.
Toby threw the ball again, this time hitting closer to the middle and knocking down another four or five pins. All of them cheered like he was a little leaguer who’d just hit their first home run.
“You’re all ridiculous,” Toby said. But he grinned and did a little victory dance anyway.
Nick cracked his knuckles. “Let me show you how its done.”
He grabbed a ball off the return and held his hand over the small fan before sliding his fingers quite suggestively into the holes. His setup looked extremely professional. It was clear he had experience.
He wiggled his ass, looked over at Jedrek and winked, and then he wound up and threw the ball. It hit the lane so hard it actually bounced, catching everyone’s attention. Then it slid immediately into the gutter.
“Aww, baby, did your ball get stuck?” Jedrek purred.
“I’m gonna get your ball stuck in a minute.”
Toby slapped his hands over his mouth to stop his laughter. No one else bothered.
“It’s okay. You get one more try. Want me to help? I can help you line it up.” Jedrek’s smirk while he made his offer had Toby laughing so hard he leaned against Brooks for support.
Nick growled at his mate.
“Oh, baby. I like it when you growl at me.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Nick snapped.
“Better my mind than your ball.”
Nick’s ball popped back up through the return. The alpha only managed to hold his glare for a moment longer before he cracked up. “Such an ass. Get away from me.”
“Uh-huh, after I remind you that you have super strength now and probably shouldn’t throw the ball quite so hard. Finesse, my love. I know you have it. As you so perfectly demonstrated earlier—”
“If you two don’t cut it out, I’m making you forfeit your turn,” Sam yelled.
“Fine!”
Toby turned to Brooks with a smile on his face, even as Nick bellowed when his second try also landed in the gutter. “This is fun.”
“Want a drink?”
“Sure. Do you think they have orange soda?”
“I’ll check.”
“And a corndog. Sam mentioned it and…”
“I’m on it.”
“Will you sneak Ollie one? I feel kinda bad for him. He’s gotta be getting a cramp trying to hide behind that ball rack.”
Brooks stole a look toward his alpha-mate, but Sam only rolled his eyes. “Like they’re going to starve. Ollie probably bribed someone to sneak him food already.”
Riggs strode to the lanes next, and Victor made a noise that drew their attention. His eyes were glued to his mate’s rear end as Riggs leaned over and lined up with the guidelines on the polished floor. Then, when he strode forward and threw the ball, his right leg slid to the left in a dip that might have been made by a professional bowler, Victor actually gasped.
“Dat ass, tho.” Victor almost drooled. He turned to Toby, and from the look in his eyes, Riggs was going to be a very lucky man later. “Did you see that?”
“I, um, wasn’t looking at, his, um…”
“How could you look anywhere else? His ass is perfection. He wore those jeans to torment me.”
“I did,” Riggs said from his spot near the ball return. Of course, he’d thrown a strike and looked very proud of himself. He turned around and very slowly wiped his hand off on the backside of his jeans. “Wouldn’t do to have sweaty hands.”
“Oh no, that wouldn’t do at all. You can wipe your hands on my—”
“Still your turn, Riggs!” Sam shouted entirely too loudly.
Nick plopped down in Brooks’s vacated seat and dropped his arm over Toby’s shoulders. “Having fun?”