Epilogue
FELIX
College is over. Graduation was a month ago.
I’ve packed up my car and moved out of the house I shared with my buddies for the past three years.
And I got a job. I have to relocate to Minnesota (winters are going to be a bitch), but the pay is pretty good and most of my new co-workers seem pretty nice.
Except one. Out of all the teams we could have ended up on, Beau and I were both drafted to the same one.
I’ve been going against him for so long, it’s going to be super weird wearing the same jersey.
Stella is stoked. I think we really stressed her out last year every time we played each other.
Including the conference championship where Beau’s team beat us.
It was a tough loss, but it was a great season and I have no regrets.
So, life is good. There’s just one more thing I need to do before I head north.
I pull up to the Valley U golf course and grab my clubs from the trunk. It’s early, but in June in Arizona, it doesn’t matter what time it is—it’s hot. But the heat isn’t what has me sweating as I walk into the clubhouse.
Dahlia spots me immediately. Her face lights up and it calms me just a little.
“Hey,” she says as she throws her arms around my neck. When she pulls back, I do my best not to look down at her boobs. I swear she wore a low-cut shirt today just to fuck with me. She takes my hand. “My dad is waiting outside.”
“Great.” I finally peek at her cleavage now that I know her dad is out of sight.
“Do you want to hit some balls first? Our tee time isn’t for another ten minutes.”
“Sure. Yeah.”
“I’m so glad you wanted to come today.” She swings our hands between us.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss a chance to see you choking up on the shaft.”
I get a playful, haughty look that makes me laugh.
“When’s the last time you played?” she asks as she grabs a golf club from her bag strapped to the back of a golf cart.
“It’s been a minute,” I admit.
Listen, when your super hot and awesome girlfriend asks you to golf with her dad, you say yes. You say yes even if your clubs have been collecting dust in your parents’ garage for the better part of a decade.
She grabs us a small bucket of balls and we walk to the driving range. Her dad takes a few steps toward us when he sees us approach. He moves his club to his gloved, left hand and extends the right. “Felix. Good to see you again.”
“You too, sir.”
“Great day to be on the course.” Paul smiles at me. He’s such a nice guy. This is the third time I’ve seen him, but from the moment Dahlia introduced us, he’s been so welcoming and kind.
It doesn’t make today any less stressful though. I’ve got a diamond ring in my bag, and I need to somehow get permission to marry his daughter, while trying to remember how to swing a golf club.
Dahlia dumps the balls onto an open spot for me next to her dad, and I select a club and stretch with it to loosen up.
“Oh my gosh. That’s Keira Brooks!” Dahlia’s voice is filled with awe as she stares back toward the clubhouse.
“Who?” I ask.
“Keira Brooks. She is a pro golfer. She won the U.S. Open last year. She went to Valley.” Dahlia spits out facts like they’re going to help me piece together who she’s talking about.
When I stare back at her blankly, she gives me a disbelieving eye roll. “Oh my gosh. Long brown hair, white tank, black skirt.”
“Ah, yeah.” I shake my head. “Never seen her before.”
“She’s a legend. She’s killing it on tour. And that guy with her is her husband. He’s a swing coach. He has this really amazing online coaching site.”
“Sounds cool. You should go say hi.”
“Oh no. We’ve never met. She was gone from Valley before I got here.”
“So?”
“What would I even say?” Her dark blue eyes widen at the prospect.
“How about, ‘Hi, I’m Dahlia. I’m a huge fan.’”
“No,” she says, but keeps staring at her.
“Go on. I’ll keep an eye on you and if it looks like you’re frozen and staring at the poor girl like a star-struck groupie, I’ll come save you.”
“Okay.” She doesn’t move. “I’m gonna do it.”
It’s another few seconds before she finally starts walking that way.
Paul laughs softly when she’s out of earshot. “I’m impressed.”
“Why’s that?” I move to stand closer to him but keep my gaze on Dahlia as she approaches Keira.
“We saw Keira and Lincoln last summer at a tournament. She wouldn’t go near them.”
“Second time’s the charm, I guess.”
“You’ve been good for her.”
I’m surprised by his words. I tear my gaze away from Dahlia and look at him. “I’m trying. She’s incredible and I like reminding her.”
His head nods slowly and he rests his weight on the golf club.
This is my shot to ask him while she’s not around, so I take a deep breath. “Actually, sir, I wanted to ask you something before she gets back.”
“All right,” he says.
“I bought a ring, and before I head up to Minnesota, I’d like to ask your daughter to marry me.” I get it out all at once. I had a much more eloquent speech prepared, but I kinda feel like I want to throw up.
“Is there a question in there somewhere?”
Before I can answer, Dahlia comes running back. Her smile stretches out across her entire face. “Oh my gosh. She’s so nice. She even invited me to golf with them.”
“That’s amazing. You’ll have so much fun.”
“I’m not leaving you two,” she says, like she’s offended I’d suggest otherwise.
“Felix and I can handle eighteen by ourselves. Can’t we?” her dad asks.
I swallow thickly. “Yeah.”
Oh shit. That sounds ominous. Is he going to interrogate me for the next few hours? Who am I kidding? Of course, he is.
“Yeah,” I say again more convincingly. “We’ll be great. Don’t worry about us.”
“Okay.” She steps forward and kisses me. “Have fun.” Then she looks to her dad. “Take it easy on him, Daddy.”
He waves her off. I have a real bad feeling as she takes off with Keira and Lincoln, but at least one of us is going to have a good time today.
Paul slides his club into his bag, pulls off his glove and sticks it in his back pocket, and then looks at me. “I like you, Felix. I’ll tell you what. You beat me today and I’ll buy dinner tonight to celebrate.”
“And if I lose?”
He just grins.
Fuuuuck.
By hole three, I stop keeping score. By six, I have blisters (even on my gloved-hand). And by thirteen, my shirt is so wet, I look like I dumped a beer over my head (and believe me, I thought about it).
Paul is cool and collected as I tee up on eighteen.
I wince a little as I grip the club. “New deal. I get par on this one and you at least think about it. You don’t even need to buy dinner.”
He chuckles. “Par, huh? You haven’t gotten close to par all day.”
“I’m just finding a rhythm,” I lie.
“Whatever you say.”
“Deal?” I ask.
He nods, then rests both hands on his club to watch me tee off.
The last hole of the Valley U golf course is a par three.
The green is a straight shot less than two hundred yards away, but there’s a lake in the middle of it.
And since my short game is atrocious, I need to get close to the pin in one if I have any hope of tapping it in for three.
Inhaling slowly, I glance down the fairway and adjust my stance. Here goes freaking nothing. I don’t drop it in the water, so that’s something. Paul hits a beauty, putting his ball within a foot of the pin.
He doesn’t say a word as we drive up to the green. Or when I march toward my ball with a look of desperation on my face. I pace back and forth, checking my line and saying about a million silent prayers. I take my best shot, which goes a foot wide and two short.
Paul taps his ball in and then stands back to wait for me. “One more shot. You can do it.”
His encouragement gives me a little extra pep in my step. My hands tremble as I grip the putter, but I take a deep breath and let it fly. I hold my breath as the ball circles the hole and rolls inches away. I groan and let my head fall back.
I don’t hear Paul approach. He claps me on the shoulder and then chuckles when he removes his wet hand. “You’ve got grit, kid. You just don’t quit, do you?” He laughs again. “Dahlia’s mom and I would be delighted to have you as part of the family.”
“You would? But I thought…”
“I was messing with you. I’m old. I gotta get my kicks where I can these days.
” We walk back to the cart and he unzips a side pocket on his golf bag and pulls out a red jewelry box.
“This was my mother’s. I know it’s probably not as fancy or expensive as the one you picked out, but I know Dahlia’s always liked it. ”
“Thank you.” I open the box and stare down at the ring. It’s perfect. “Thank you so much. You just happened to have this with you today?”
There’s a twinkle in his eye as he says, “I had a feeling that’s why you asked me to come this weekend.”
I surprise us both by hugging him. Then I remember I’m soaking wet. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, maybe you want to shower first and then meet us for dinner,” he suggests.
“Good idea.”
“Go.” He tips his head. “I’ll tell Dahlia you’re meeting us there.”
When I get to The Hideout, Dahlia’s waiting for me in a booth by herself.
“Hey,” I say, kissing her and then dropping into the seat across from her. “Where’s your dad?”
“He said to send his apologies, but he was tired from today, so he was going to order room service at the hotel, but he gave me two hundred bucks to order whatever we want.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“Did you guys have fun today?”
“Fun might be a stretch, but not because your dad isn’t great. I’m a terrible golfer,” I admit.
She’s obviously holding back a laugh. “I heard. I’m sorry. Thanks for being such a good sport anyway.”
“It was nothing.” The water glass feels great against my beaten-up hands. “Tell me about your day.”
She does as we order food, then wait for it. And she’s still talking about it when we finish and pay. I love that she had such a great time. Seeing her excited is even worth the blood, sweat, and tears I shed today.
We head back to her house after dinner. Both of us are quiet, soaking in our last night at Valley together. Dahlia heads to LA for a summer internship with Eddie Dillon’s wardrobe team, and I’m moving north. I’ll be back to visit her in the fall, of course, but it’ll never be quite like this.
In her room, she plops down on the bed. “What do you want to do?”
“I have a few ideas, but first, I have two gifts for you.”
“Two?”
“Yep. Close your eyes.”
She does, smiling and sitting a little straighter.
I take a seat on the bed in front of her with both hands behind my back. “Okay. Open your eyes and pick a hand.”
“I love this game.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and then lets it slide free. “Right.”
Moving my right hand in front of me, I slowly open it to reveal the ring.
She gasps. “Is that…” she trails off, then starts again. “Are you…”
I find I’m a little frozen now that this moment is here. Everything I want depends on her answer.
“I love you so much. I know the next year is going to suck being apart, but I don’t want to wait another day to ask you to be mine forever. Marry me?”
Her blue eyes are filled with tears. She nods, and I remove the ring and slip it onto her left ring finger.
“Oh my gosh, Felix. It’s beautiful. And huge. I can’t wear this around campus. What if I lose it?” She wipes her tears away and then hugs me around the neck. When I don’t wrap my arms around her, she pulls back. “What’s in the other hand?”
I hold out my left hand and open it. Dahlia looks from me to the box and back again. “I don’t understand.”
I flip it open and show her the ring her dad gave me today. More tears fall. “Is that my grandmother’s?”
I take out the ring and toss the box on the bed beside us, then remove the ring I just put on and slide this one on instead.
“I picked out the first one. I wanted something big and flashy to show you just how happy you make me. I’d buy you a dozen more if you lost it, babe.
But something tells me this one is probably more you. ”
“I love them both so much,” she says. “I used to sneak it out of my grandma’s jewelry box and wear it.” She stares down at her hand and then to the ring I’m still holding. “But that one is more beautiful than anything I ever could have imagined, and I love that you picked it for me.
I put the other ring on her right finger. “Then they’re both yours. Two rings for the number of lifetimes it’s going to take to show you how much I love you.”
Thank you for reading Scoring the Player.