“It’s unseasonably warm today,” Damon’s dad says when all of us are at breakfast. “How about we go golf?”
“Oh, sir,” Eddie says, “you don’t have to do that because of me.”
“Well, we’re a slightly competitive family,” Damon says, “and I happen to be a scratch golfer, too.”
“What were you planning on doing today before?” Dani asks.
“Bowling,” Jennifer says. “But it’s nice out, and we probably won’t get many more days like this.”
“Especially for us who are farther up north,” Eddie agrees.
“So, why’d you join a fraternity?” Jennifer asks Eddie later, when we’re out on the course.
After Lacey left, I nixed Damon and Haley’s whole scheme of trying to make Dani jealous. I shouldn’t have to resort to bullshit like that to get her to love me. And I won’t.
“The camaraderie, honestly,” he says. “I play a lot of golf but was a three-sport athlete in high school. I have always liked being part of a team, so a frat felt right. I have made a ton of friends, and we have a very competitive intramural league that I take part in.”
He stops talking long enough to sink a fifteen-yard putt into the hole for one under par. And I have to admit, I kind of like the guy. Even though it’s pretty obvious he’s being asked a million questions, he doesn’t even blink over a single one, giving what seems to be an honest answer for each.
“Plus, you know, I wanted to meet girls. And girls flock to the house, as we’re known for our parties. And we do mixers and socials with the sororities. That’s actually how I met Dani.”
This causes my ears to perk up.
And it must do the same to Jennifer, too, because she goes, “Oh, Dani, tell us about how you met.”
Traitor.
We’re playing some kind of scramble. My dad’s idea. Probably because he knew a head-to-head competition between us wouldn’t end well.
Right now, my foursome consists of me, Jennifer, Dani, and Eddie. But we’re switching up again at the end of this hole, so everyone is standing around, watching us.
I’m waiting for Dani to say something. Anything. To tell me what this guy did that made her want to be with him.
“It was a Halloween party,” she says.
“But it was early,” he adds. “We tend to celebrate Halloween for a couple of weeks since dressing up is so fun. It was a Tuesday night—October 22nd, to be exact.”
Dani went back to school after Homecoming on the 20th. Was she mad at me because I took Lacey her crown? But that couldn’t be. We ended up back together that night. Stargazing and then going up to my room. My bed.
“It was a match party. You draw the costume you have to wear from a hat, and then at the party, you have to find your match. Like Cinderella and Prince Charming, or Salt and Pepper, that sort of thing. She was dressed as an angel,” he says. “I was the devil. We had a lot of fun. The next day, I sent her flowers.”
“Flowers, huh?” I say, my heart literally dropping like my ball just did as I overshot my putt, sending it down the incline and off the green.
“I know,” Eddie says, “not your typical frat move. My brothers gave me a hard time about that, but when I asked her to lunch, she said yes.”
Eddie comes over and pats my shoulder. “I used to have the same problem. I’d see a hill and think I needed more speed. My normally smooth motion became a jab, which only made it more erratic. The ball would either go over the back of the green, like yours just did, or stop ten feet short.”
“And what did you do?” I ask him, but I’m really not talking about my putt. I want to know what happened at lunch. How he went from the devil to getting invited home for a holiday.
“My grandfather gave me some good advice. He told me to widen my stance and take a longer but not harder stroke. Give it a try.”
I compare the hole to my and Dani’s relationship. Is that why things aren’t going where I want them to? I think back to Homecoming. I did something completely romantic for her with our private chicken dinner. And then we had a good time at the dance. I could tell she was having the time of her life. I was, too, but I felt guilty. Bad for Lacey. And I think part of me worried that Dani was enjoying it a little too much. Like some of the things she said and did seemed more about redoing the past. And I couldn’t help but wonder if she hadn’t really grown up as much as I’d thought she had.
Did I tell her about taking the crown to Lacey to see how she would react?
Maybe.
Because what she said and what I hoped she would say were pretty far apart. She should have told me it was a sweet gesture. She should have offered to go with me or at least ride together, just a quick stop. A feel good, doing the right thing moment before we headed on to the after-parties together.
Instead, she got mad.
Have I been playing our relationship like I have this golf game—erratically, not following through? Should I have pushed for a relationship instead of this stupid friends-with-benefits thing we have?
Or used to have.
And it makes me wonder if she told him. About me.
After three more missed putts, I give up, picking my ball up, and move on, wondering if it’s what I need to do in life.
Pick up my ball and move on.
Without her.
