Gone so fast I almost thought I imagined it, then he laughed.“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Probably.
Weird word choice.
I stepped up for my turn at the hole, trying not to think too much about the fact that I had just casually invited Jesse into Jude’s world.
Or more accurately, into Jude’s territory.
My ball hit the edge of the windmill and bounced wildly off course.
Jesse winced.“That one hurt.”
I sighed.“I’m not great at this.”
He chuckled, then tapped his own ball straight under the turning blades and into the hole like it was the easiest thing in the world.
Show-off.
We finished the game after that, and because apparently I had no natural athletic gifts whatsoever, Jesse beat me by five strokes.
Five.
He gloated just enough to be annoying about it.“You want a rematch?”he asked as we handed our putters back in.
“Not unless there’s a handicap for people who clearly suck.”
He grinned.“So that’s a no.”
“That’s a strong no.”
He laughed and hooked a thumb toward the concession stand.“You hungry?”
A little while later, we were sharing a basket of cheese curds and a lemonade at one of the red picnic tables near the bumper cars while the sky finally tipped from dusky blue into real night.The park lights had gotten brighter now that the sun was gone, throwing everything into that strange amusement-park glow where people somehow looked both better and more suspicious.
Jesse stretched one arm across the back of the bench behind me, not touching, just close enough to remind me that he could if he wanted to.
I picked up a curd and dipped it in ranch.“You really not going to tell me anything about your mystery trip?”I asked.
He took a drink of his soda before answering.“There’s not much to tell.”
“That makes it sound like there’s definitely something to tell.”
He smirked at that.“You always this nosy?”
“Only when people act weird.”
“I’m not acting weird.”
I gave him a look.
He laughed and reached for another cheese curd.“They’re old friends.We drank some beer, talked shit, caught up.That’s about it.”
“That’s still not details.”
“What details do you want?”
I shrugged.“Anything.Who they are.Where you stayed.What you did besides apparently drink beer and be vague.”
