Page 56 of True Abandon

“Everyone load back in!” Mark says as he hops into the cart.

When I turn to look at Jax, I don’t get anything. He’s walking back to the cart like nothing happened. It’s probably for the better. I’m not entirely sure what, if anything, happened either.

We make it through the next few rounds with few rough instances. Mark got this ball in a sand bunker, and Shayna lost one in the water. Somewhere around the fourth hole, we find a groove and the conversation between us picks up.

“What is it you do, Jax?” Mark asks.

“Musician,” he confirms, as Shayna takes her swing.

“Got anything we may have heard?” Mark asks.

“Not really.”

“Die a Happy Man,” I interject. Honestly, the idea of him being modest is just ridiculous. “It’s on the radio right now.”

Jax’s head shoots up as if he’s surprised I’d even know the song.

“Oh my God, we love that song!” Shaman exclaims.

Mark’s eyebrows squish together. “I don’t know it.”

She walks up to him and starts singing, “If I ever, ever got together with you.” She lengthens the you for a long time, just like they do in the song. “I’d die a happy man.” Her voice cracks at the end.

Mark’s hand is enthusiastically pointing at Shayna as his body bounces up and down. “I do know that one.” With a loud bellow, he sings, “It’s this one man’s stand to change the Maker’s plan and forget all the pain we created in the rain. I won’t give-up the fight. I’ll die making it right for you.” Mark howls as he sings the last word.

The words of the song are pretty. I’m about to comment on it when Shayna joins Mark and the two sing enthusiastically into their drivers. “I was laying in the bed, dying in the sheet. When you appeared, I thought it was a dream. An angel by my side, couldn’t ignore the heat.

“When you disappeared, I found out life was mean. Just me and my sins. I’m going for the win. And I won’t stop till I get back with you.” They don’t do the long dramatic singing of the word ‘you’ because they drop their clubs, grab onto each other, and start making out, right on the green of hole four.

Shayna’s arms are wrapped around Mark’s head while his hands violently grip her ass.

My face pulls in as I try to avert my gaze.

Jax just stares at them with his head tilted in confusion. He makes a loud noise from inside his throat to get their attention.

Mark comes up for air first, his hands still holding onto Shayna. “Sorry. We love that song.”

“Thanks. I wrote it.” Jax’s guileless words make my head shoot up in his direction. He catches my shocked expression. “Why do you look so surprised?”

“I just thought you played the guitar. Didn’t know you wrote the songs, too.”

Shayna steps away from Mark and adjusts her shirt before looking up to Jax. “You rock. That’s amazing. I can’t believe we’re here with a celebrity.”

Jax starts walking back to the cart. “Hardly. I left the band.”

Mark stops. His eyes are wide, and his arms are outstretched. “Why would you do that?”

Jax gives a half shrug. “More important things to take care of.” He’s in the cart quickly with Mark on his heel asking a million questions about being a rock star.

Shayna grabs my arm. “I need all the dirt. I bet he’s an amazing kisser.”

“The best,” I say before I realize what I just confessed. Luckily, Jax and Mark are out of earshot.

…

The morning progresses with Mark and Shayna asking Jax anything they can think of about the music industry. Jax continues to evade their enthusiasm, promising them his mediocre success is not as badass as they make it out to be.

Speaking of making out, they do it—a lot. Yes, it’s exactly what I expected. I planned on it being super annoying for Jax. Turns out—I’m the one who’s internally cringing.