18. Miles Day
“I feel like I’m at a disadvantage here,” Shaw says as I hand him the putter.
I rolled out a putting green mat in my living room to play on while waiting for everyone to arrive. At this point we’re all just waiting on Ellie though. Jada and Fitz came over early to have pizza, and now the girls are sitting at the kitchen island creating some kind of s’mores charcuterie board while the guys take turns putting.
“That’s not what you said when we started,” I say, then look at Fitz. “What was it that he said Fitz?”
“I believe his exact words were he could sink every putt with his eyes closed,” Fitz answers with a smirk.
“I’d like to see you both on the ice,” Shaw grumbles as he sets up in front of the ball.
“If I did try playing hockey, I wouldn’t talk about beating you before putting on my skates,” I say and laugh as his ball rolls past the hole again.
“Yes, you would,” Fitz says, making Shaw laugh. “You’re both overly competitive with egos the size of your mansions.”
Jada and Sutton laugh at all of us.
“Quit pretending you aren’t just as competitive,” Jada says to Fitz from the kitchen.
“Yeah, Fitz, listen to your wife,” Shaw says with a smirk.
Fitz snatches the club from his hand and easily sinks the next putt.
“At least I can make it in the hole,” he says. Shaw’s grin flattens.
“I feel like we should play something neutral,” Shaw says as I set a ball on the green. “Like corn hole or darts. You’ve made every single one.”
“Contrary to what you may think, I do need to practice. You being here has thrown off my schedule.” I shift my feet and adjust my grip on the putter. I’m mostly teasing, but having Shaw and Sutton visit has made me tone down my normally rigorous schedule so that I could spend time with them. This close to a major tournament I can’t afford to be off my game. I’ve got less than two weeks to be ready for the U.S. Open.
“At least make it interesting. Close your eyes or stand on one foot or something,” Shaw suggests. I shake my head at him.
“Fine, I’ll close my eyes. At least one of us will make a putt with our eyes closed tonight.”
I shut my eyes and pull the club back, but right as I’m swinging forward, there’s a knock at the door. My stomach flips. Ellie. The putter hits the ball and I open my eyes to find it veering to the left. My first miss of the night.
“Maybe we should just have you play with Ellie here.” Shaw grins. “Seems like she’s the only thing that can mess up your game.”
“We talked about this,” I warn him with a look. “I said I’d invite her only if you promised not to mess with her.” He holds up three fingers in a ‘scout’s honor’ sign as I walk to the door.
“I won’t say a word about the obvious tension between you two.”
I glare at him. He laughs.
“I need new friends,” I say, making everyone join in with Shaw’s laughter.
I open my front door and can’t stop the smile that comes to my face when I see Ellie. Her hair is down like earlier, but dry. And she’s wearing jean shorts with a black tank top that hugs the curve of her waist.
“Are you so obsessed with golf that you have to carry a club with you everywhere you go? Some kind of weird security blanket thing?” she asks in lieu of a greeting.
“It’s nice to see you too, Red,” I say with a chuckle. “I was in the middle of a game when you showed up.”
She raises a brow as she walks in. “I don’t remember you showing me an indoor golf course during the tour.”
“It’s just a portable putting green.” I gesture to the mat in the middle of my living room.
“I can’t believe you have one of those. I think you need to learn work-life boundaries,” she says, heading toward Jada and Sutton. As I watch the sway of her hips, I can’t help but agree.
Ellie accepts hugs from both of the women in greeting, then compliments their charcuterie board set-up.
“I don’t know if you’ve eaten yet,” I say as I walk into the kitchen. “But there’s leftover pizza in the fridge. You can heat it up if you’d like.”
“I wouldn’t mind a slice, but I don’t need to heat it up.” She goes and opens the fridge. It seems like such a natural thing for her, no doubt from the countless times she’s done it over the past two weeks, but it still strikes me. She moves about my home like she knows it well, because she does. I’m not sure how to feel about that after everything that’s happened between us.
“Are you sure? It’s not a big deal.”
The guys join us in the kitchen and I can feel the eyes of everyone on me, probably deciphering my every word, but I don’t care. I want Ellie to be comfortable.
“I like cold pizza, almost better than hot.” She pulls out a cardboard box from the fridge.
“Me too!” Jada says as Ellie sets the box on the counter. “There’s nothing like a 3 AM slice of pizza.”
“Three in the morning?” I question, raising my brows.
“I stay up late painting,” Jada says with a shrug. Fitz leans down and whispers something in her ear. She shoves him, looking flustered, but he just laughs. I’m certain I don’t want to know what he just told her.
“Speaking of late nights,” Sutton says. “We should probably get down to the beach before we have one. Our flight leaves insanely early tomorrow.”
Ellie frowns. “I just remembered no one told me flight information. Do you need me to take them tomorrow?” she asks me.
“No, I figured I could take them since it’s so early. Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you sure? You’ve got training–”
I interrupt her. “No work talk. You’re off the clock tonight, Red.” Once again, I feel the weight of my friends’ stares. I shouldn’t have used her nickname in front of them. The hole I’m digging for myself keeps getting deeper and deeper.
“Says the man with a putting green in his living room.”
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
“Because I said so and I’m the boss.” I grin, and even though she rolls her eyes I can tell she’s fighting a smile.
A throat clears. I look in the direction of the sound to find Shaw looking all too happy about our exchange.
I quickly end our conversation. “We should get to the beach.”
Ellie pulls out a slice of pizza, Sutton grabs the charcuterie board, and everyone else gets drinks while I grab the fire starter and lighter. We head outside, then down the stairs and boardwalk to where I’ve set up a pit on the beach and surrounded it with chairs as well as a small table to put supplies on.
The sky is painted in shades of dusty rose and orange, with streaks of turquoise. Everything from the water to the sand to my house looks as if it’s been washed in gold. A soft breeze blows, cooling my skin. I kneel and light the starter. It takes a minute for it to catch because of the wind. Once it does, I place it below the wood, then stand and brush the sand off my legs.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Sutton says with a sigh that turns into a squeal as Shaw pulls her into his lap. “When you retire, we should move here.”
Shaw kisses her shoulder. “Whatever makes you happy, Jones.”
I look away from their sickening display of love, only to land on a different one. Fitz feeds Jada a piece of chocolate before pulling her in for a kiss. Does no one have boundaries anymore? I resist the urge to say something and turn toward the ocean. Ellie must have snuck off while I was lighting the fire, because she’s got her feet in the water. It’s not hard to choose her over being around my overly romantic friends.
I grab two water bottles, then walk down to where Ellie stands. Her hair has shifted to a soft burgundy in the fading sun. The freckles across the bridge of her nose are more pronounced, and there’s a soft pink tint to her skin that makes me think she got a touch of sunburn yesterday.
“Did you get enough to eat?” I ask her as I hold out the water bottle for her. She takes it with a faint smile.
“I did, thanks.”
We both look back out at the golden horizon. The sea tickles the tops of my feet as the tide rolls in. All of the worries that have plagued me as of late begin to fade away. I’ve always thought there was some truth to those cheesy signs that say salt water cures everything. It has for me many times over the years. Whenever my parents were fighting, I’d head to the beach, the course, or the diner. The ocean is where I came to be alone though. It always soothed me. The sound of the waves was like a lullaby that chased away the nightmare that was my parents’ relationship.
“This is my favorite place in the world,” Ellie says after a moment of silence.
“Mine too.” I watch as a seagull flies overhead. “I’ve been to many places, but nothing beats Coastal Cove.”
“I haven’t traveled much,” she confesses. “But I know this is my home.”
We go quiet once more, but it’s comfortable. I don’t know when I became so relaxed around her. She’s become a steady presence in such a short amount of time. I know I’d miss her if I didn’t get to see her every day, which is bad. I should have refused when Sutton asked to have her join us. I should create distance between us. But I couldn’t, and I can’t.
The group starts yelling for us, saying that the fire is ready now. Ellie gives me a soft smile before starting back toward the circle of chairs. I walk a step or two behind her, fighting the budding ache in my chest. Everything I’ve ever known is screaming at me to push her away, but there’s this small voice inside of me telling me to do the opposite. To pull her close and not let go.
I’m almost too lost in my own thoughts to notice Ellie starting to fall. I catch her right before she goes down, dropping my water bottle in the process. A pained gasp escapes her.
“Are you okay? What happened? What’s hurt?” My questions tumble out in a panic. I pull her body up some and she leans on me, not putting weight on her right foot.
“I think I twisted my ankle. There was a hole I didn’t see,” she says and I can hear the pain in her voice. I look down and see a pile of sand next to a hole, as if someone intended on making a sandcastle but stopped mid-way.
I immediately pick her up bridal style.
“We’ll have Sutton look at your ankle, okay?” I walk her over to the group, but Sutton must have seen the fall because she meets us halfway.
“What happened?” she asks, worry threading her brows together.
“It’s no big deal,” Ellie says.
I shake my head. “She twisted her ankle. I’m going to carry her up to the house, can you come look at it?”
With Sutton’s background in sports medicine, she’s tended to countless similar injuries. I trust her to take care of Ellie.
“Of course,” Sutton replies with a nod.
I trudge through the sand and up to the boardwalk, not bothering to explain to anyone what’s happened. My only focus is on getting Ellie what she needs. Ellie sucks in a breath when I step on the boardwalk. The movement must have jostled her ankle.
“You okay, Red? I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“I’m okay,” she murmurs near my ear and wraps her arms around my neck to hold on better. I try–and fail–to ignore how good it feels to have her in my arms despite the circumstances. It’s something that isn’t going to leave my memory for a long time. Because holding Ellie feels like stepping onto the beach, like home.