Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
The waitress placed our menus on the table and said, “Here you go. Let me know if you need a hand with anything.”
Without giving either of us a chance to respond, she turned and darted back inside, leaving us to figure out the setup on our own. I looked up at Walker, and he was staring at the computer monitor like it had personally offended him.
He ran his hand over his beard as he grumbled, “Ah, hell, I’m not so sure about this.”
“It’s a bit daunting, but we’re two intelligent people.” I winced. “Surely, we can figure it out.”
“Surely.”
And that’s exactly what we did.
We fumbled our way through setting up our names and choosing our games, and we continued to fumble as we both stepped up to take our first shots. We were both pretty terrible, and I was pretty certain neither of us was using the right club.
I missed a few. He missed a few.
But we didn’t take it too seriously and just had fun with it, and I can honestly say, I couldn’t remember when I’d had so much fun. And we were just getting started.
Maybe this whole dating thing wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
13
WALKER
“Ihad a great time.”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“No, I mean it. I had a great time.” Her brows furrowed with disappointment. “You didn’t?”
“It was definitely something.”
“That’s not really an answer.”
“Let’s just say, I never would’ve thought you could have fun sucking at something so bad. This place proved me wrong.”
“You weren’t that bad.”
“Yeah, I was.”
I ran my hand through my hair and groaned as I thought about how terribly I’d played. Hell, I’d missed the ball more than I’d actually hit it. I swung too early or too late. Don’t know which, and even when I made contact, the damn thing seemed intent on embarrassing the hell out of me and would only go a few damn yards.
If any of the brothers had seen how bad I’d played, they would’ve never let me hear the end of it. That alone should’ve been enough to bother me. I was a man who took pride in doing things right, in winning, but I couldn’t have cared less about winning tonight.
I just wanted to be there with her and soak in her smile.
The damn thing was contagious. I can’t remember the last time I’d smiled so much, and that really stuck with me. I wasn’t worried about making a fool of myself. I was actually having a good time, and I might’ve actually laughed a time or two.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d really laughed, and that got to me, too. But what got to me the most was I wasn’t having a good time because of some silly golf game.
It was her.
All her.
She hadn’t cared how bad I played or how many balls I missed. She didn’t tease when I shook my head and grumbled at how bad I was. She just smiled, soft and sweet, and instead of laughing at me, she laughed with me.
There were no expectations, no pressure, and no weighing look in her eyes like she was trying to decide if I measured up. It was nice. I could just be me, and that said a lot about her. Hell, it said everything.
And I couldn’t deny that I liked her.
It wasn’t just a passing kind of interest that could be brushed off or that I could ride off and forget about. This was different. Somewhere between the missed shots and the easy laughter, I’d found a sense of comfort I hadn’t felt in years.
It was the kind of comfort that could get a man like me in trouble.
She caught me watching her and smiled as she asked, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah… all good.” I cleared my throat before asking, “You ready to get out of here?”
“Probably should. I’d hate to be late for curfew.”
I nodded, and she followed me downstairs and out to the parking lot. I gave her a moment to put on her helmet before helping her climb on behind me. I started the engine, and as soon as I eased back on the throttle, she leaned into me, like she trusted me in every sense of the word. That got to me, too.
In a blink, we were turning into her driveway, and I wasn’t ready for the night to end. I killed the engine and stood, then turned and held out my hand to her. She took it without hesitation and smiled as she removed her helmet. “I’m glad we took the bike.”
“You liked it, huh?”
“More than I expected.”
“That’s good. We’ll have to ride again soon.”
“I’d like that.”
I followed as she started for the front porch, and when she reached the steps, we both stopped. She ran her teeth over her bottom lip before asking, “You want to sit for a bit?”