Page 33 of The Perfect Putt

“That’s not what you said when we started,” I say, then look at Fitz. “What was it that he said Fitz?”

“I believe his exact words were he could sink every putt with his eyes closed,” Fitz answers with a smirk.

“I’d like to see you both on the ice,” Shaw grumbles as he sets up in front of the ball.

“If I did try playing hockey, I wouldn’t talk about beating you before putting on my skates,” I say and laugh as his ball rolls past the hole again.

“Yes, you would,” Fitz says, making Shaw laugh. “You’re both overly competitive with egos the size of your mansions.”

Jada and Sutton laugh at all of us.

“Quit pretending you aren’t just as competitive,” Jada says to Fitz from the kitchen.

“Yeah, Fitz, listen to your wife,” Shaw says with a smirk.

Fitz snatches the club from his hand and easily sinks the next putt.

“At least I can make it in the hole,” he says. Shaw’s grin flattens.

“I feel like we should play something neutral,” Shaw says as I set a ball on the green. “Like corn hole or darts. You’ve made every single one.”

“Contrary to what you may think, I do need to practice. You being here has thrown off my schedule.” I shift my feet and adjust my grip on the putter. I’m mostly teasing, but having Shaw and Sutton visit has made me tone down my normally rigorous schedule so that I could spend time with them. This close to a major tournament I can’t afford to be off my game. I’ve got less than two weeks to be ready for the U.S. Open.

“At least make it interesting. Close your eyes or stand on one foot or something,” Shaw suggests. I shake my head at him.

“Fine, I’ll close my eyes. At least one of us will make a putt with our eyes closed tonight.”

I shut my eyes and pull the club back, but right as I’m swinging forward, there’s a knock at the door. My stomach flips. Ellie. The putter hits the ball and I open my eyes to find it veering to the left. My first miss of the night.

“Maybe we should just have you play with Ellie here.” Shaw grins. “Seems like she’s the only thing that can mess up your game.”

“We talked about this,” I warn him with a look. “I said I’d invite her only if you promised not to mess with her.” He holds up three fingers in a ‘scout’s honor’ sign as I walk to the door.

“I won’t say a word about the obvious tension between you two.”

I glare at him. He laughs.

“I need new friends,” I say, making everyone join in with Shaw’s laughter.

I open my front door and can’t stop the smile that comes to my face when I see Ellie. Her hair is down like earlier, but dry. And she’s wearing jean shorts with a black tank top that hugs the curve of her waist.

“Are you so obsessed with golf that you have to carry a club with you everywhere you go? Some kind of weird security blanket thing?” she asks in lieu of a greeting.

“It’s nice to see you too, Red,” I say with a chuckle. “I was in the middle of a game when you showed up.”

She raises a brow as she walks in. “I don’t remember you showing me an indoor golf course during the tour.”

“It’s just a portable putting green.” I gesture to the mat in the middle of my living room.

“I can’t believe you have one of those. I think you need to learn work-life boundaries,” she says, heading toward Jada and Sutton. As I watch the sway of her hips, I can’t help but agree.

Ellie accepts hugs from both of the women in greeting, then compliments their charcuterie board set-up.

“I don’t know if you’ve eaten yet,” I say as I walk into the kitchen. “But there’s leftover pizza in the fridge. You can heat it up if you’d like.”

“I wouldn’t mind a slice, but I don’t need to heat it up.” She goes and opens the fridge. It seems like such a natural thing for her, no doubt from the countless times she’s done it over the past two weeks, but it still strikes me. She moves about my home like she knows it well, because she does. I’m not sure how to feel about that after everything that’s happened between us.

“Are you sure? It’s not a big deal.”

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