I furrow my brow. “Let me guess, you’re both good at golf, too?”
JD snorts as he goes to pick out a club. “I usually justHappy Gilmorethe hell out of it. But Blake’s pretty good. E, you ever played before?”
“Only putt-putt,” Ethan offers.
“Aaron’s not half bad,” Blake adds, gesturing to the guy he introduced earlier as his legal secretary’s husband. Aaron smiles and joins JD to get a club for himself.
“Coach, how about you? Been hitting the greens since you retired?” JD calls out to my dad.
He grunts. “Golf is a rich man’s sport. I mostly leave that stuff to my son-in-law.”
I shake my head. Figures he’d talk about Blake before me.
“Emmett?” JD asks next.
Emmett cringes. “He means his other son-in-law. I play, but I’m not a competitor.”
“Let’s hope you swing a club better than you toss a washer, hmm?” Blake jokes, referring to the time when we played a team washerboard tournament earlier this year.
I let them all gather their clubs and set up the game without saying a word. When it’s my turn, I walk up to the tee confidently and swing away. The ball lands on one of the targets in the far reaches of the range.
Blake lifts an eyebrow. “Damn, Doc. Beginner’s luck?”
“Not likely,” I mutter before I drive the next ball to hit the same target on the opposite side of the range. They all groan, and I turn to grin at them. “It’s gonna be a long day, boys.”
“Since when are you a pro golfer?” my dad asks quietly when I return to my seat.
“I’m not a pro, but Iama scratch golfer. And to be honest, I didn’t think you’d care,” I retort.
He huffs. “Nobody likes a cocky attitude.”
I shrug and nod in Blake’s direction. “So you say, but it doesn’t seem to be true.”
I don’t get a real reply, though, not from Coach Reed. He simply grunts again and returns to ignoring me for the rest of the game.
“Now, Blake, I know you said you wanted to make it home early tonight, but I’ve already gotten your lovely bride’s permission to have you home a little later than planned,” JD explains as we make our way back to a large SUV. He’d apparently swiped Tenley’s new ride so we could all squeeze into one vehicle.
Blake frowns, looking almost disappointed to hear he won’t be going home. “Oh.”
“Come on, bruh. It’ll be worth it. Trust me.”
“Don’t let him take me to the Pink Pony Club,” Blake whispers loudly to Ethan, making the rest of them laugh.
We leave Top Golf and head directly into a ridiculous traffic jam, one only made possible by a Baton Rouge game day. “There’s a home game this weekend,” I say aloud. “Why the hell are we bothering with this?”
“You’ll see, man,” JD returns cryptically.
I groan from my place in the third row beside Ethan, who turns to whisper to me, “He got us all sideline passes.”
My brow lifts. “Seriously? How did he—oh. Right.”
I’d forgotten how the Golden Boy had earned his crown for a second. But I suppose being a former collegiate and professional football player entitles him to lifelong perks such as these.
I keep my comments to myself for the rest of the ride, and everyone’s excitement grows as we get closer to the stadium. And I have to admit, I’m just as guilty as the others, grinning like a kid in a candy store as we walk out onto the field. Any football fan would have a hard time not enjoying himself.
My dad goes over and pats JD on the shoulder affectionately, effectively ruining my good mood. “Not bad, kid.”
“Eh, I couldn’t have gotten here without you, Coach,” JD says, making me roll my eyes. Ethan nudges me when he sees it, shooting me a secret smile and reminding me to silence my facial expressions.
