Page 32 of The Perfect Putt

He taps the porch railing. “See you at seven,” he repeats, sounding almost unsure.

“Seven,” I say, sounding as dumb as I feel.

He walks out of my yard and down the sidewalk toward Wave Way. I watch until he’s out of sight.

“You’ve got it bad,” Naomi says from behind me. I whirl around. She grins at me with Archie on her hip. He rolls one of his trucks over her shoulder and chest.

“Shut up.” My comebacks are severely lacking. I feel lightheaded and off-balance.

“I can’t wait to tell Molly about this.”

“I think it’s time for you to go home,” I say as I walk past her. She laughs and follows me.

“I don’t think so. I think you need to tell me how you went from despising him to making googly eyes from across the yard.”

“I was not making googly eyes. You couldn’t even see my eyes.”

“I didn’t have to. I heard it in your voice. See you at seven,” she mocks, in a high pitched voice.

“I do not sound like that.”

“You do too. You’re in looooveee,” she sings.

I shoot her a glare over my shoulder. “I’m not in love. Now drop it.”

She lifts a hand in surrender. Archie copies her and I stifle a smile at the sight. “Okay, okay. I’ll leave it alone.”

“Thank you.” I sigh and run my fingers through my wet hair. I’m going to see Miles tonight. And all of his friends who apparently think we should be a couple.

“Naomi,” I say after a moment of silence.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m out of my depth here. My head’s spinning.”

Her arm wraps around me and her head falls on my shoulder. “That’s how it’s supposed to feel.”

“I don’t like it.”

“You do, you just think you’re not allowed to, though I can’t figure out why. Is it because he’s your boss?” She lifts her head and looks at me. Archie whines so she sets him down. I watch him run off toward his dirt pile, wishing I could run away from this conversation too.

“That’s a part of it,” I say carefully. “Everything is just too messy.”

She gives me a soft smile. “That’s life, Ellie.” She gestures to our drenched and dirty clothes. “It’s a part of what makes it so fun.”

“I don’t think this is the fun kind of mess.”

She shrugs. “Then it’ll be a lesson learned. But you can’t learn from it if you run away.” She pats me on the shoulder then walks over to where Archie is now rolling in his dirt pile.

I toy with the damp hem of my shirt as I mull over her words. She was right about everything, but I’m not sure if this is a lesson I want to learn.

Chapter eighteen

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.

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