Chapter 28
Quentin
This is totally a date.
I told her it wasn’t so that she wouldn’t freak out, but when she told me she had never been on a date before, I knew I wanted to be the first one to take her on one.
“How’s my disguise?” I ask her as we walk side by side in the parking lot.
“You can rock the long hair, I must say.” She giggles, making me flip my fake, shoulder-length hair over my shoulder.
Since the news isn’t out to the world, and we don’t want to be caught by paparazzi, we both decided to dress up in disguises.
Me, I opted for a red trucker hat with built-in extensions that made it look like I had dark, long hair, paired with my sunglasses since it’s summer and the sun is still out at seven in the evening.
It’s a bit chillier for a summer night, though, so I threw on gray joggers and a matching sweatshirt.
“And how’s mine?” she asks, putting a hand under her chin as she smiles.
Teagan put her hair in a bun and topped it with a blue bucket hat and sunglasses, making her look bald. And I got to say, the girl can pull it off.
She looks pretty in everything.
“For two,” I tell the worker as I pull out my credit card.
“I can pay for myself,” Teagan pipes up from beside me.
“And I can pay for both of us.” I turn to her with a smirk as she shakes her head.
Once I pay, the worker hands us our clubs, and then we each pick a colorful ball, orange for me, blue for her.
“Are we doing the tricky course or the easy one?” I ask her as we get to the sign that points in the direction of said courses.
“The hard one, of course. It’ll be more fun,” she muses, walking in the direction of said course.
We get to the first hole, which has a bridge over a water stream that we need to get the ball over in order to get to the hole.
“Ladies first,” I say as I gesture with my hand for her to go ahead of me.
Teagan places her ball on the fake grass, then attempts to line up her putter with the ball when I notice her hand placement is all wrong.
“If you want a better shot, you need to fix your grip on the putter.”
She turns to me, and even though I can’t see her eyes, I know they’re rolling in her head.
“What’s wrong with how I have them?”
“Mind if I show you?” I ask as I take a step toward her. “I’ll have to touch your hands.”
She thinks it over for a second, then mutters, “Fine. I want to be good, so I can beat you.”
A low laugh spills out of me as I rest my club on the ground, then step up behind her.
I reach my arms around her, placing my hands on top of hers.
“Your hands shouldn’t be on top of each other,” I say, my breath brushing the side of her neck, and I don’t miss the slight shiver of her body.
Pride washes over me knowing I have an effect on her, and while I’m tempted to see what other reactions I can pull out of her, I know it’s not the right place.
I grab her top hand and lift it up, placing it below her other hand. “You should have them placed like this, one near the top of the club, the other just below so that the thumb of your top hand is under the base of the thumb of your bottom hand.”
She does as told and places her hands as directed.
“Keep your hands like this, and when you swing, use a gentle flick of your wrists. We’re only putting. If you use your hips, it’ll go farther than you want.”
“Okay,” she says, her voice low as she gulps.
I’m playing with fire being this close to her, and I need to stop myself before I’m no longer able to hide the effect she has on me.
I let go of her hands and step back, grabbing my club as I watch her.
She shimmies her shoulders, her grip on her club not moving from how I had them. Her head tilts to the hole, then back to her club as she lifts it back, then hits the ball.
It goes right into the water, making Teagan shout, “Fuck off!”
I can’t help the laugh that slips out of me, and she turns to me as she’s bent over, hand in the water as she gets her ball. “Something funny?”
“Nothing at all,” I say, trying and failing to hide the laughter.
“Let’s see you do any better,” she sasses as she stands beside me, hand on her hip.
“Pfft, this is going to be as smooth as spreading melted butter on bread,” I tell her as I place my ball and line up my shot.
I’m about to hit the ball when Teagan yells, “Don’t mess up.”
It throws me off, and instead of the shot that was going to go straight over the bridge, it goes right into the water.
I turn to face her, my lips pressed into a thin line as she hides her laughter behind her hands.
“You ever hear of golf etiquette?” I ask, my tone teasing and chastising.
“Nope.”
“Golf etiquette states that everyone should be silent as someone is swinging.”
“Oh, sorry.” She giggles some more, and I can’t help in but join her in laughing as I retrieve my ball from the cool water.
We both shoot again, and this time we make it over. Thank God.
The rest of the holes go smoothly. Well, as smooth as they can for Teagan. She’s yelled more obscenities at that ball than I’ve ever heard before, but the smile on her face tells me she’s still having fun.
What a breathtaking smile it is. She seems so carefree and happy. I’d take her mini golfing every day if it means she can be this happy.
I mean that platonically…of course. As her friend. I just want her to be happy.
But there are times I question how platonic my thoughts are. Because as Teagan lines up for the eighteenth hole, I can’t keep my eyes off her perfect ass.
Goddammit.
I curse under my breath as I force my eyes elsewhere until I hear her putter make contact with the ball. There’s a skee-ball style ending to the hole, with different prizes based on what hole you get it in.
One is your money back for the course, one is a five-dollar off voucher for next time, the other a free ice cream at the stand just outside the facility, and if you miss any hole, you get nothing.
“I’m getting that free ice cream,” Teagan declares as she drops her ball on the green.
“What flavor would you get?”
“It depends. If they have soft serve, a cone with vanilla ice cream dipped in sprinkles. If they have hard ice cream, I’d get rainbow sherbet in a bowl,” she explains as she adjusts her grip on the club. Once she eyes up her shot, she lifts the club back and gently swings.
I watch as her ball goes down the green, up, and nicks the hole of the free ice cream, landing in the nothing hole.
Teagan’s shoulders slump, her lips forming a pout. “I really wanted that ice cream.”
Seeing her look of defeat after having so much fun tonight puts a sour feeling in my gut. Fuck it. I’m going to win her that free ice cream.
Of course I can afford to buy it, but it’s more fun if you can win it for free.
Dropping my ball on the green, I get into position and pray to God that it somehow makes it into the free ice cream hole.
I swing the club back, then forward, my eyes not leaving the ball as it rolls down the green and up the ramp.
I swear I nearly stop breathing as I watch the ball go up, nicking the rim of the free ice cream hole, bouncing back to the bottom rim and into the hole.
“Yes!” I shout, my arm pulling in at my side in victory.
When I look back at Teagan, she’s smiling cheek to cheek. “Nice shot.”
We return our clubs and I get my free ice cream ticket, so on our way to the ice cream shack, she asks, “What are you getting?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” I shrug as we walk up to the front of the ice cream shack.
Seeing as they only have soft serve, I order a vanilla cone with sprinkles.
“Such a copycat.” She tsks once I have the ice cream.
I push my hand out toward her and say, “This isn’t for me. I won it for you.”
Her mouth pops open, her brown eyes full of awe. “Quentin, I could’ve bought one if I really wanted one that bad. You eat it.”
“You and I both know, winning tastes so much better. Take it, please. I don’t want it,” I plead with her, thrusting the ice cream forward once again.
This time she takes it, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink as she smiles. “Thank you for this. Blueberry is due for their daily sweet treat as it is.”
“I take care of my girls, don’t you worry.”
The words slip out before I can take them back, and I instantly want to. We’ve been having so much and the last thing I want is to make it weird.
“You think it’s a girl?” she asks, sounding surprised.
We haven’t been able to find out the gender because Blueberry never seems to be in the right position. But we keep telling ourselves we’ll find out when we’re meant to.
“Just a feeling I have,” I reply. “I don’t care either way, though. A healthy baby is all I want.”
“Agreed,” she hums as she lifts her sunglasses since the sun is nearly gone. Plus, we’re walking back toward my car in the nearly empty lot, so the odds of us being spotted are slim to none.
I take mine off as well, my eyes darting to her as she takes a lick of the ice cream. And then another, this time swirling around the top as she gets all the sprinkles.
Her eyes close as she hums appreciatively, making my cock twitch in my sweats.
I clear my throat and ask, “That good?”
“Why don’t you have a taste and find out?” she proposes as she comes to a stop, then adds, “It is your ice cream after all. You should have some.”
I move to grab the cone from her when she holds it up to my mouth. “I want to make sure you don’t take too much. It’s too good to let you have it all.”
I let out a laugh at her protectiveness over her ice cream before dipping my head down and taking a lick of the ice cream. And I don’t blame her for wanting it all for herself because it’s just as good as she said.
When I meet Teagan’s gaze again, I find that her eyes are already on me, a flicker of desire in her eyes that makes my skin heat.
I feel a drip on my bottom lip as I pull away and drag my tongue along it and clean it up, never looking away from her brown eyes that are brimming with lust. I watch as her plush lips part, a soft whine flowing past her lips.
“It’s good, but it’s not my favorite thing to eat.”
She shakes her head at what she thinks is a joke. “All right, that’s enough,” she mutters, walking back to the car.
I let out a chuckle and follow her.
Once we make it back to the car, she speaks up. “Thank you for taking me. I may not have been very good, but I had a lot of fun.”
“You don’t always have to be good at something to enjoy it,” I tell her as I open her door, wondering if she’s ever done something without the intention of winning or being the best at it.
She pauses and looks at me before getting in, a proud smile on her face. “Yeah, I’m slowly learning that.”
And I’m slowly learning that when Teagan smiles at me like that, it makes me want to do anything I can to see such a breathtaking view.