There was no live event for the Smackdown roster the day after Ronda Rousey's debut on the show. That fact had given the members of The Vega Cartel two days to travel to the next town they were scheduled to perform in, meaning a rare hotel night was possible on the Wednesday.
When the bus arrived at the hotel they had booked, Bobby and Joe had immediately noticed a bowling alley on a short distance away on the opposite side of the road.
"I know what we're doing tonight," Bobby said, meaning the whole group.
"What?" Seth enquired. He had been too busy on his phone to notice anything out of the window, and it was too late to look now, since Elena had just swung the bus into the hotel's secure parking area.
"There's a bowling alley just across the road," Bobby said. "What do you say we go over there, have a few games, then find somewhere to have dinner?"
"That sounds good," Bayley said. "At least it's a game I might be able to play, unlike your poker nights."
"I keep trying to teach you," Joe said defensively.
"I think that's most likely the problem; the fact that you're teaching her," Seth said, drawing laughter from the group.
"What about you, Daga? You in?" Bobby asked their driver.
"Yes, I will bowl," the Italian replied. "But not much drinking for me, I have to drive tomorrow, yes?"
"I love how she does that," Bobby mumbled to Joe, meaning the way her less than perfect use of English seemed to often make her end sentences with unnecessary questions.
"Yes, we know," Joe replied, shaking his head. Bobby's crush on Daga was the worst kept secret on the bus, and was now a constant source of humour for everyone, knowing that she was both gay and off the market.
"I can hear you, you know," Bayley said, feigning annoyance. "That's my girl you're talking about."
Elena was concentrating on backing the bus neatly into a parking spot, but she still kept up with the conversation. "Don't worry, Bay. If we bowl, we bowl in couples. And we kick their ass!"
"Oh, really? Couples now, is it?" Joe asked. "Okay then, the third placed couple has to buy dinner for everyone."
"Awesome idea," Bobby said, slapping the big guy on the shoulder.
Bayley shook her head. "Why is it always money with you two?"
"Are you in or not?" Bobby asked.
With a loud hiss from the airbrakes, Elena brought the bus to a stop in its resting place for the night. "We're in," she answered on behalf of her couple.
"Seth? Zel?" Joe asked.
"We're in," Seth answered.
"Looks like we're eating for free," Bobby said to Joe, since they would default to being the third couple.
Elena stood up and stretched her arms after the long drive. One of the running jokes that was now established among the group was Elena ordering Bobby around. "Forget eating for free. Off the bus, before I throw you off."
"You do realise that out of those options, I actually want you to try and throw me off?" Bobby asked her, nevertheless heading for the open door.
Laughing, the rest of the group followed him. Once they were all off the bus, Elena opened the luggage storage compartment. Seth and Zelina's cases had been the last ones to go in, so they were the first to come out. Seth retrieved them both and set hers down in front of her.
"Thank you," she said sweetly. They started walking towards the hotel's entrance.
"You were quiet on the bus," he said with a hint of concern in his tone.
When she looked up at him, he saw mischief in her eyes. "Yeah, I was. I wasn't going to tell Bobby and Joe that they just picked the other game I'm good at. My brother taught me poker, and he also taught me to bowl."
Seth laughed heartily, imagining the two men's faces when he and Zelina revealed their true colours. "I bowl a good game, too," he said.
"They're going to hate us," Zelina giggled.
Laughing again, Seth said, "Yep. One of us beats them most times we play cards, now if we beat them at this too they'll be so mad. But one day they're going to find something to do that we suck at."
Zelina shrugged, still smiling. "We'll be way ahead of the game by then. One loss for us will just make them feel a bit better about themselves."
The six person group walked over to the lane they had been assigned to at the bowling alley. They had all changed into the ridiculous-looking bowling shoes, and had bought the first round of drinks. Everyone had a beer, including Elena, who had permitted herself one for the night since she was driving the next day, and Bayley, who rarely drank, but had decided to match her girlfriend's one for the night.
"I'll type the names in," Joe said, sitting down in front of the little computer terminal. "Who's going first?"
"Ladies first," Seth said.
"So, you then?" Bobby said to him, bursting out laughing.
Elena shook her head. "He really is a... how do you say..." she faltered.
"God among men?" Bobby suggested.
"Idiot?" Zelina suggested next, grinning.
"No, an infantile," Elena said, using the Italian word for a smile child.
"Oh, that's just infant in English," Bayley chuckled, realising what she meant. "Yeah, Bobby, you're an infant!"
Bobby made a praying gesture with his hands in Elena's direction. "Please insult me in Italian some more?"
Elena took a hit from her beer bottle and smiled sweetly. "Or I could glass you?"
Everyone laughed, even Bobby, who simply loved to banter with her.
"Yeah, she knows that term," Seth giggled. For some reason, Elena's threat had really tickled him.
"And this is all before the beer kicks in," Bayley said, rolling her eyes.
"Alright, the names are in," Joe announced. He had indeed put the women's team first, followed by him and Bobby, then Seth and Zelina last.
"Right, now we get our balls out," Bobby said, now being deliberately stupid.
"For God's sake," Zelina giggled, walking over to a stand where a large selection of bowling balls was kept. There were many different sizes, weights and colours to suit almost any player's preference. It took a few minutes for everyone to select a ball that they were happy with, then it was time to play.
"Okay," Joe said when they were all back at their lane. "One person plays each frame for their couple, so if you need to use both attempts, the same person bowls both times. Then the next time your team is up, it's the other person's turn. Ladies, who's up?"
"You go first, pulcina," Elena said to Bayley, using an Italian endearment that was new to the group, but clearly not to Bayley.
"Okay, wish me luck."
"Luck." Elena said and pecked her on the lips.
"In your own time," Seth said, to sniggers from the others.
Taking a deep breath, Bayley stepped forward, with everyone's eyes on her. She released her ball with pretty poor technique, and it rolled into the gutter three quarters of the way down the lane.
"Aww," she said in disappointment. "Can we put the sides up?" She was referring to the child's lanes with inflatable tubes in the gutters to stop balls falling in.
"Ah, come here, Bay," Seth said, offering a sympathetic hug. Bayley was of course glad to accept.
"If that gives me better luck than your kiss, Daga, we have a problem," she said sweetly after letting Seth go. Her ball was returned, and she tried again. This time the ball at least reached the pins, hitting the right side and knocking down five.
"We're on the mark," Elena proclaimed, confusing being on the board and off the mark. No one pointed out her error.
"Maybe I'll need more than one beer," Bayley said in disappointment, standing aside for Bobby to take his turn.
His first ball was a good one, only leaving two pins standing on the right side. He cleared them up with his second attempt, for a spare.
"Nice," Joe said, giving his partner a fist bump.
"You first," Seth offered Zelina, now that they were up.
She nodded, picked up her ball and stepped forward. Although she was an excellent bowler, she hadn't played in some time, so she knew she might not be at one hundred per-cent right from the start. As soon as she released the ball, she knew it wasn't going to be a strike. She was surprised to find that her muscle memory still knew exactly what a strike ball felt like.
"Look at the curve on that," Joe said, admiring the way the ball tracked over towards the gutter before swinging back into the pins, albeit leaving three standing on the right side.
"Yeah, Seth's a lucky guy, muñeca," Bobby said, pretending Joe had been referring to her curves, not the trajectory of her bowling ball.
"Don't muñeca me, asshole," she laughed. "That's Seth's line. And you didn't even pronounce it properly."
"I never have any luck with the ladies," Bobby complained.
"You are married," Bayley reminded him.
"Good point," he admitted.
"Fuck knows how, but he is," Joe said with a laugh.
Zelina cleaned up the final three pins with her second ball, shaking her head slightly in annoyance at what by her standards had been a wayward start.
"Nice job, muñeca," Seth said, just because Bobby had just said it.
Elena took a hit from her beer, ready to step up next. "We're in trouble, Bay," she said, picking up her chosen ball. "Is this a bad time to say I can't remember the last time I played this game?"
"You won't be worse than I am," Bayley replied good-naturedly.
"Let's see." Elena stepped forward and bowled her first ball. It connected flush with the pin at the tip of the triangle and scattered all of the pins. It was the first strike of the night.
"Yes!" Bayley celebrated, rushing over and hugging her girlfriend.
"The expression for that is beginner's luck," Joe advised Elena.
"No, the expression for that is me being better than you," she fired back, making everyone laugh.
Joe was up next. "We'll see," said, stepping up to bowl. Unsurprisingly, power was not an issue for him. Accuracy, however, was a bit more of an issue. His ball hammered into the left side of the triangle and obliterated it.
"The idea is to knock them all down," Zelina helpfully pointed out.
"Thanks, that's good to know," he said dryly. He waited for his ball to come back, then cleaned up the rest of the pins for his team's second spare in a row. "I think that puts us in the lead," he said smugly.
Seth downed the rest of his beer in one hit, then banged the bottle down on the table. "Not for long," he promised, picking up his ball.
"Please go in the gutter," Bobby said as he prepared to bowl.
Seth delivered the ball with a lot more power than the others might have expected to see from him. It was due to his good technique. The ball slammed into the pins and sent them flying everywhere. Even so, the one at the left hand end of the back row somehow remained standing. "That's bullshit," he protested, turning around to the rest of the group.
"No, that's you sucking," Joe took pleasure in saying.
Always competitive when it came to games, Zelina hid her emotions by sipping from her beer. She looked forward to wiping the smile off the big guy's face when she had her next turn. But first, Seth had one pin to clean up to get their second spare on the board.
"I'd never manage to hit one by itself," Bayley said while Seth waited for his ball to be returned.
"Neither will he," Elena said, joining in on the gamesmanship.
"Watch me," he fired back, unthinkingly using Zelina's on-screen catchphrase. He stepped up and bowled.
"That's a miss," Bobby said straight away.
"No chance," Seth countered, anxiously watching the ball, not feeling as confident as he was trying to sound.
Sure enough, to the delight of Bobby and Joe, his attempt missed the remaining pin by an inch at most. They both cheered ironically, rubbing the failure in his face.
"Better start deciding what we're going to order for dinner, since we know we won't be paying for it," Joe said to Bobby.
Now that everyone had bowled once, it was Bayley's turn to go again. She did better than her first attempt, managing to knock down eight pins with her two attempts.
Zelina felt bad for Bayley and Elena, since it seemed highly likely that they would lose. She decided to make them the offer to secretly help them with the dinner bill, knowing that Bobby and Joe would show them no mercy. "Daga," she said quietly, standing next to the Italian.
"Yes?"
"If you lose, don't worry about having to buy dinner, I'll help you with it, and I'll get Seth to as well."
"Thanks, Zelina," Elena said appreciatively, apparently resigned to defeat.
"No problem," Zelina replied, watching Bobby knock down all but two pins with his first ball.
"Bay and I were actually going to ask you what you were doing tonight, before the bowling came up."
"Oh?" Zelina enquired, pleasantly surprised.
"We were thinking it's time we had a night out just for the girls."
Zelina liked that idea. She felt bad about the fact that even after spending a couple of months with Elena driving them around the country, she hadn't done much to get to know her. Often, she and Seth were too preoccupied with each other in the evenings on the road. Although it was a natural thing for a couple who hadn't been together long, it was still something they needed to work on. "Great idea," she said with a smile. "It's past time we did something like that. Count me in, the first chance we get."
"Bene," Elena said happily in Italian.
"Any danger, Zelina?" Bobby asked, waiting for her to step up and bowl. "Or are you hoping to bore us all into leaving?"
"No, I think you've got that covered with the conversation," she fired back, drawing laughter from the others. The banter among the group was sometimes relentless on nights out, and was often pretty cutting, too. They all enjoyed it, though. Even Bayley would get in there with a stinging comment from time to time.
"Gutter ball coming up," Joe said, trying to put Zelina off her game.
She had just picked up her ball, but she put it back down again, successfully baited by his comment. "You like a bet, Joe," she said, walking up to him. "Twenty bucks says this is a strike."
"You're on," he quickly said, nodding.
"Go on, Zel," Bayley encouraged her.
Zelina picked up her ball again, willing herself again to put Joe in his place. She stepped up and delivered the ball. As soon as it left her hand, she knew the result. "Strike," she announced, turning back around to face the group with the ball not even halfway down the lane.
For once, there was silence. The group all stood there watching her ball while she walked back towards them. A moment later, she heard the satisfying crash of pins.
"Strike," Seth confirmed, not bothering to hide his satisfaction.
"That was badass," Bayley said to Zelina. "How did you know you were going to get them all?"
"Turns out I'm not bad at this game, right, Joe?" she grinned, holding her hand out for his twenty dollar bill while he stood there with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Apparently," he reluctantly said after a moment, handing over the money.
"One day we're going to find a game you suck at," Bobby said grumpily.
Zelina gave him one of her sweetest smiles. "Good luck with that."
An hour and a half later, they were outside, waiting for an Uber to take them to a local restaurant for dinner. Seth and Zelina had won the game, with Joe and Bobby coming second. Bayley and Elena had taken defeat graciously, which was somewhat surprising on the Italian's part.
"Great game, muñeca," Seth said, standing with an arm around Zelina's waist.
"You too, baby. We really showed them," he grinned up at him. "Hey, Daga invited me out with her and Bayley next time we get a free night like this. A girl's night would be good fun."
"Yeah, you should definitely go. While you're there, you can try and find out how she ended up driving a bus for a living." It was a question that Bobby had been endeavouring to get an answer to pretty much since day one on the tour bus, and Elena had frustrated him by refusing to tell him.
"I'll do that," Zelina said. "But if she tells me, I'm not telling Bobby."
Seth chuckled. "Of course not."
A/N: Shout out to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter.
There have been some pretty heavy chapters recently thanks to David's attack on Zelina. I hope you enjoyed something a bit more light-hearted this time. :)