The Protective Heart ✔️

6. Protecting her from fan girls

He got out of his car as I stayed glued to my seat. I watched him as he walked over to my vehicle and opened my door. I made no move to get out.

"Are you coming bowling or sitting in there all night?" He asked as he crouched down so he could see me. I finally let go of my steering wheel and stepped out slowly as he stood up. We stared at each other, neither of us willing to look away.

"Crystal!" I turned to see Bridget running towards us. We walked up to the sidewalk after I closed my car door. I gave her a hug and then she turned to Declan and wiggled her eyebrows.

"So, are you two dating now?" She asked.

"No!" I yelled, feeling a light blush cover my cheeks. I didn't have to look at Declan to know he was smirking.

"Why not?" She looked horribly disappointed. I spotted Bailey walking up behind her.

God bless her.

I ran up to her and gave her a hug. After I let her go and backed up a little, she raised her eyebrows at my excitement but then glanced at Declan and nodded at him.

"Crystal said you invited some friends. Where are they?" Bridget asked.

"Yeah, they said they're on their way." He replied and then turned to look at me.

"So are you going to introduce me to your friends or should I just make up some names for them, like you, Goldilocks?" He asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"No. I wish you hadn't even nicknamed me." I said as I glared at him while he kept his smirk.

"This is Bridget and this is Bailey." I said as I gestured towards each one at their names. They both smiled and waved at my introduction.

"Nice to meet you." He told them.

"Declan!" A male voice came from the parking lot. We turned to see guys walking toward us. One of them was waving his hand at us. He had short black hair and brown eyes. The other guy was hanging back a little ways. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. Once they reached us, Declan hurried through the introductions. The enthusiastic one was named Grant and the shy one was Lewis. We made our way inside and got our bowling shoes before finding a lane and sitting down. Declan ordered a pizza for us so that would give us sometime to start bowling. Grant went first with a strike right off the bat.

"And that's how you do it!" He yelled as he high fived Declan. Bridget stood up and swayed past him. I knew she was good at bowling so I wasn't surprised when she also got a strike.

"Can I get a woot woot?!" She called, raising her hand to her ear waiting for me and Bailey.

"Woot woot!" We both called, knowing the drill. I caught Declan smiling out of the corner of my eye.

"Your turn, Goldilocks." He told to me. I felt a blush cross my cheeks. I hated bowling because I really sucked at it. I walked up and prayed to the Gods that it would at least hit one pin. I did my best swinging the ball into the middle of the lane. When it knocked two pins over I jumped in the air and let our an excited squeal. I turned around to see everyone laughing at my over enthusiastic motion.

"What? That was good for me!" I whined. Declan stood up my walked up to me and ruffled my hair.

"You're pretty cute when you let loose, Goldilocks." He told me and then handed me my ball when it came back up. I took the ball from his hands and ignored his comment. I rolled the ball again and it knocked another pin down.

"Yay!" I yelled and then quickly toned it down when I remembered everyone laughing at me last time. I saw Declan smirking at me but just when I was about to go up and talk to him, a screaming girl with long brown hair came running up to him and clung to his body.