“Arrogant fucker,” Jax, one of my best friends, said with a cough. We’d been on the green for hours, andthis fuckerwasn’t even in the running for the win.
I flipped him off, which made our kids laugh. Wells, his son, was beside him, as well as Bru, Ares, and Dorian. Bru and Ares belonged to my good friend Ramses, and Dorian to my best friend Royal.
Flipping off Jax probably wasn’t showcasing the best example for our kids, but they were all well into their twenties and were used to this shit. My friends and I may have been richer than gods, but we weren’t classy in the slightest.
“Watch it, Jax. Your jealously is showing,” Royal said, nudging him, and I was happy he backed me up. That was, until he leaned over to LJ, and said, “Even if he is right.”
Again, all my friends were clearly jealous of this talent on the green today.
I spread out my arms. “Instead of all the hate, maybe you guys could learn a little something.”
I’d been schooling all these guys for years.
With those final words out there, I opened my hand. The game was done, and my friends knew it. One by one, they opened their wallets. We had a nice little pot going for today’s game, and they all knew this one was mine. There was no use in delaying the inevitable.
Grunting, my friends gave me the cash I rightly deserved, and I counted it bill by bill in front of them.
“Thanks for doing business with me, fellas,” I said before opening my own wallet. There was so much cash it couldn’t quite fit, but that only helped me make a show of it. I grinned. “I’ll tell you what, though. First round of drinks at the clubhouse is on me.”
I wouldn’t be paying for the meal, but I could slide a few bucks their way for some top-shelf bourbon.
Everyone but Ramses flipped me off, and that was probably only because he liked to set a semblance of a good example for our kids. Ramses dropped an arm around his sons, Ares and Bru. Bru was adopted, but Ares looked just like Ramses. The kid was tall and just had longer hair. It was curly and wild, and Ramses’s would probably be, too, if he grew it out.
Ramses tipped his chin at the group. “My treat for dinner since Reed is too cheap.”
The dude always called us by our last names. We had a rivalry back in high school, but we were friends now, and I wasn’tcheap. I just didn’t reward talentless fuckers.
After the game, we all did take dinner in the clubhouse of the country club. We’d been members for years, so they had a table reserved for us.
My friends and I were some of the founding families of Maywood Heights. It was home, and I knew none of us would ever leave.
“I’d like to say it’s pathetic, but we were all definitely like that with the girls,” Jax said once us older guys sat down at the table. With a finger, Jax pointed to the patio that overlooked the green. The sun was setting on the horizon, but we could easily see our children on their cellphones. They were either texting or talking, and weallknew who they were talking to. We’d actually had to take their cellphones away while we were golfing today becauseour kids kept trying to text their girlfriends. Ares’s was actually his fiancée, and Dorian’s was his wife. The kid was fresh off his honeymoon.
Jax’s eyes warmed. “I guess they’ll be a little while.”
I supposed so, and I decided to send my own wife a text.
Me:How’d shopping go today?
Greer had taken our baby girl shopping. She was moving in with Wells and Bru, and I still had to wrap my head around that shit. Truth be told, I didn’t want my baby girl with any guy, but if she was going to choose one (or, in this case, two), I was happy it was Jax’s and Ramses’s sons. They were good kids.
I still had to give them a hard time about dating my daughter when I saw them, though. It was a rite of passage that I didn’t take lightly: I made sure I hovered closely to both of them on the green, and we talked quite a bit. I wanted to keep them on their toes.
Greer:Awesome! We found some great stuff.
Me:Great. Happy to hear it.
Greer:Did you guys have fun today? What are you doing now?
I told Greer all about my day, and I glanced up when I heard some laughter. Literally, all of my friends had their cellphones in their hands.
LJ laughed. He was a tall blond, and, though he didn’t have children, he was the goddad to all of our kids. He loved them like they were his own and vice versa. He was basically our kids’ fun uncle figure.
LJ put away his phone. “I guess we’re just as bad as the kids. I was definitely texting Billie right now.”
A glance around the table told we were all texting our wives.
“I guess we’re all some kind of pathetic,” Royal said, placing his phone down on the table. I noticed it was face up. He’dprobably grab that shit in two seconds if his wife, December, called. I’d do the same if Greer called me.
