32. Beau #2
But when we explained the whole story to them—how Chad has been a thorn in our side for years, and as long as we’re together, we don’t see a world where he leaves us alone—they were ready to go to war with us.
And then when Grayson got the tip that Emily was releasing the article heading into the biggest tournament of the season? We knew we had to be ready.
And we are. Just in tuxedos and dresses instead of khakis and polos.
“Did you get an early look?” Shelby asks, her hand seeking mine.
Grayson shakes his head. “No. But I asked if there was anything we needed to be ready for, hypothetically. Emily assured me that anything that was going to be a bomb was aimed directly at Chad.”
As if talking about him conjured him from whatever sycophant corner he was hiding in, I catch Chadwick Ashcroft walking into the ballroom out of the corner of my eye.
“That’s the guy?” Kat whispers to Shelby, but it’s loud enough that we all overhear it. “He’s look like a fucking douchebag.”
Shelby laughs and clinks her champagne glass with Kat’s. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about him.”
The four of them go back to talking, but I don’t take my eyes off of Chad for a second.
Neither he nor his family are members here—much to his father’s disappointment—so I’m wondering how he got invited tonight.
If you don’t have the money to pay for the membership to get invited, you have to be part of the tournament by either golfing or…
“Fuck,” I mumble.
“What?” Shelby asks.
“He’s caddying for someone. It’s the only way he’d be here,” I say, scanning the room. “Who the hell would hire him?”
Shelby and I start looking around the room, but no one sticks out. The golfers I see have had the same guys on their bags for years. There are a few newcomers, but none of them work with Chad that we know of.
“There!” Shelby says, pointing her finger across the room. “Ricky Robson. He was one of the guys who vouched for Chad. It has to be him.”
We watch as Chad heads over to Ricky and shakes his hand, the two exchanging a bro hug like they’re the best friends in the world. When they separate, Chad turns toward the crowd, locking eyes with the five of us, a smarmy sneer along with it.
“Do you think he knows?” Kat asks. “Or does he always look that douchy?”
“Always that douchy,” Shelby groans. “Now I’m even more pissed that I wore this dress.”
“Why?” Grayson asks.
“Because it’s too tight for me to get in a proper knee jab to his dick.”
Kat and Grayson nearly spit out their drinks, but all Ethan can do is smack his forehead.
I can’t help chuckling. “See? This is why we can’t be left alone, Shelby. This is why we need the babysitters.”
“Oh you hush,” she says, playfully smacking my chest. “I wasn’t really going to do it. I was just thinking about it.”
She and Kat share a knowing wink, though, and my heart warms at the realization that my wife has a new friend. And both are equally terrifying.
“Why is he smiling at us?” Grayson asks. “He has to know the article is coming. He was called for comment, whether he gave it or not. And he has to know you two have something to do with it.”
“I guarantee you he thinks he killed the article,” I say. “He said no comment because he thinks money can buy him out of anything he doesn’t like. Or he’s delusional and thinks his name carries that much weight.”
“Oh, he’s one of those kinds of assholes,” Kat says. “Good. I can’t wait to smear him.”
“Now those are words I like to hear,” Shelby says, locking her arm with Kat’s. “Care to come with me to get a drink?”
“Old fashioned?”
“Is there another option?”
As the two smile and walk away, I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“We’re in trouble with those two, aren’t we?”
I laugh at Grayson’s words. “We’re past trouble. We need to just accept our fates.”
I’ve been trying to keep my promise to Shelby of getting out of here early for an hour now. Unfortunately, there are two problems with that plan:
The first is that every boring businessman wants to talk to me. And they love to talk. Which means I have to stand there and nod even though I’ve zoned out no less than five times.
The second? When I’m not being kissed up to by grown men, I can’t find Shelby.
But it’s not because she’s abandoning me. Far from it. Seems as if my spouse has been making her own rounds tonight, her new best friend and PR manager making sure to introduce her to anyone who could even have a vague interest in bringing Shelby on board for an advertising campaign.
At first I thought she’d hate it. There’s nothing in her past to indicate she’d enjoy these kinds of interactions.
Then she met a vice president from an athleisure line that I know is fifty percent of her closet.
And, they have a men’s line. Needless to say, they are very interested in bringing both of us on board.
And when they told Shelby she could keep any clothing she’d wear for any campaigns, suddenly my wife was very interested.
After that, Kat moved her on to the next conversation and I was forced to talk to an old man who loves to corner me every year and tell me about the first set of golf clubs he got back in 1949.
“Excuse me, I need to steal Beau for a second,” Ethan says, his hand on my shoulder as he pulls me away.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “At this point, I can recite that story.”
“It’s out.”
Ethan doesn’t need to say more than that. I hurriedly grab my phone as he walks us to a corner of the room while the story loads on our screen.
Inappropriate touches and sabotage: The real reason Shelby LeBlanc fired her famed swing coach
“Now that’s a headline,” Grayson says, suddenly appearing next to us. “Good pick on the reporter. She didn’t hold back.”
I quickly skim the article, and, as we were warned, there’s nothing that’s shocking to us.
The article talks about how Chad behaved as Shelby’s coach, including the gaslighting and improper techniques that set her back.
Obviously, she laid out everything he did in Vegas, including him not showing up for the practice rounds.
It also hits on the number of times he touched her in a way she wasn’t comfortable with, laying out how even though she was the professional golfer, he was still in a position of power as her coach.
But what shocks us, and what I’m guessing Emily hinted to Grayson about, is that other female golfers—ones who wished to remain anonymous—were also speaking out about his methods.
How they never felt comfortable. That every time they tried to part ways, he always laid on some sort of thick excuse of why he needed to stay.
I knew he was a shitty human, but this is disgusting behavior, and I hate that I at one time called him a friend.
I look up as whispers and murmurs start circulating the ballroom. There are a fair amount of attendees with their phones out, all of them looking down, reading something. Gee, I wonder what?