January. // z.m. au

Chapter 8

I'll Be Yours | Those Dancing Days

"Oh god, I haven't been bowling since I was like five. I apologize in advance because I just know I'm going to suck." I whined, sticking my fingers into the holes of a purplish-pink swirled bowling ball.

I looked up at Zayn from underneath my lashes nervously. A light chuckle slipped from his lips and I couldn't help but blush.

"'S'okay," he said. "I go bowling all the time with my friend Harry, he's kind of a bowling genius. I could teach you."

And just the very thought of him teaching me made my heart swell. I suddenly couldn't wait to bowl.

"Okay," I agreed.

Zayn started to explain the basic rules, like how to knock the pins down or how to read the scoreboard, which I completely didn't understand because I was way too focused on the color of his eyes. I was so mesmerized by him that I couldn't even hear him talking. All I saw was the way his lips curved when he talked or how he'd randomly run his fingers along his stubbly chin. He was so gorgeous beyond my words that I couldn't even think straight when I looked at him.

"You got that?" he asked and I froze because I had no clue what he just said. He chuckled, shaking his head as he led me towards the alley. "I'll take that as a no," he muttered to himself, making me blush even harder.

"I'll go first, yeah? Just so you can see."

I nodded and watched in awe as he brought the ball up to his chest, his leg doing some weird crossing thing as he brought his arm back (and boy, I almost had a heart attack when his muscles started to flex) and released the ball. It rolled with high speed all the way to the end, knocking down nearly half of the pins. I knew the more pins knocked down the higher the score, so I gave Zayn a thumbs up and a high-five as a congratulations.

"Wow," I nodded in amazement, "you're pretty good."

"I'm actually not," he laughed. "Just got lucky."

And before I knew it, it was my turn. I got a little nervous because I didn't want to make a fool out of myself in front of Zayn. But then again if I did I knew he'd help me out and I didn't mind that part much, so what the hell?

I walked up to my lane, ball held with sweaty palms. I tried to copy Zayn's stance but I knew I looked stupid because I could hear him chuckling from behind me. I turned around to slip him the finger before I focused my attention on the pins in front of me. I took a deep breath just as I let go of the ball, which was quite heavy for me.

I guess I was worse than I thought because the ball didn't even stay in the lane. I sighed when it rolled to the side and into the gutter, not a single pin knocked down.

"I told you I'd suck," I pouted, but hearing Zayn's laugh made me feel a little better about my non existent score.

"And I told you I'd help."

***

"Okay now bring your leg back―yeah, like that, and your arms up."

I was surprised by how calm I was on the outside. On the inside I was dying, I mean freaking out, because right now Zayn's arms were wrapped around my arms attempting to guide my movements. And if I could live in this very moment forever, I definitely would.

"And you'll just release the ball, yeah? Like, pull your arm back as much as you can and, like, let go."

And so I did. I released the ball just like he explained and when I did, I knocked down six pins, which was an accomplishment for me since I couldn't even knock down one the last time.

"Holy shit, I'm like, like an expert now―did you see that?"

I guess you could say I was a little too excited, but it was probably just because I was a bit high from Zayn's touch.

"Let's not get a big head, babe."

I just wanted to melt, really. Everything Zayn did made me want to scream at the top of my lungs with joy from the highest of buildings because he had that kind of effect of me. Just hearing him call me babe gave me a whiplash.

It was his turn to bowl now. This time he only knocked down like four pins, but I was starting to think he did that on purpose just to let me live out my high. Hey, at least he was thoughtful.

We took turns and the more I held that swirled ball, the better I got. Of course Zayn always got a better score than me, but who cared? I was having fun. I was really glad that he brought me here tonight (even though I still hated bowling), but the fact I was with him brought joy to my heart. It wouldn't matter where he'd take me, I'd follow him anywhere, anytime.