Page 51 of Wildly Inappropriate

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I have to focus on my golf game and winning the next tournament, and Lila deserves to have the husband and kids that she’s always dreamed of. Plus, she’s Jameson’s sister.”

“Shit,” Izzy says, and it snaps me out of the trance Kelsey somehow put me under with her questions.

“We’re going to come back to the sister thing, but why does focusing on your golf game keep you from being in a relationship? You know lots of golfers who have serious girlfriends and wives, right?” Kelsey asks.

They do have serious girlfriends and wives, but they also don’t have a mom with a scar on her face and a dad who calls five times a day reminding them of the sacrifice they made.

“I owe my parents so much more than the average golfer,” I say.

“Why?” Izzy asks.

“Because my dad gave up his own dream of being a professional golfer to coach me, and my mom had to work two jobs to support the cost of my dad and I traveling everywhere and all my golf equipment. She was working so hard, she fell asleep and drove into a tree when I was younger.”

“Shit.”

“That’s scary.”

“Yeah. She has a big scar on her face from it. She was trying to make it as an actress at the time, and it completely ended that career for her. And now I try to pay them back by offering them everything they’ve ever wanted, on my dime, but since my game has gone downhill lately, my cash flow has been…tight.”

“You know you’re not responsible for the decisions your parents made when you were a kid, right?” Izzy asks.

“They made them for me. They gave up the lives they wanted, for me.”

“I’m not sure I agree, but either way, it doesn’t mean you have to give up the life you want for them,” Kelsey says.

“You hooked up with Lila in Vegas and in Phoenix and played well in those tournaments, didn’t you? You can be in a serious relationship if you want one, JT, with Lila or with someone else. Or you can be in a casual relationship and try it out. Lots of relationships start out casual and go from there. Hell, I even had a friend where she and the guy agreed to a six-week trial period.”

Fuck. Even though I’m annoyed Lila told Izzy about us, her conclusion isn’t wrong. In fact, it’d been staring me in the face this whole time. Being with Lila makes me play better. We are living in the same house. We can casually date while we are in the same place and it’s convenient. I can make the money my parents need to live the lives they want, even if I can never truly pay them back for giving up so much when I was younger.

After a long pause, Kelsey asks, “Why does it matter she’s Jameson’s sister?”

Izzy continues like she’s got a lot to say on the subject. “You’re one of his best friends. You’d think he’d be happy for two of his favorite people to date. I’ve never understood why brothers wouldn’t want their sisters to date their friends. Well, maybe it’d be awkward if they date more than one of their friends—Has Lila dated another of Jameson’s friends?”

“No.”

“Then are you actually a bad dude and Jameo just pretends to be your friend for some weird reason?” Izzy continues.

“No.”

“Then…I don’t understand.”

“Jameson is mybestfriend. He’s one of the only guys I actually consider to be my friend. Yeah, I’m friendly with a bunch of people and am happy to grab a beer or a bite to eat with almost anyone, but I have a very high bar for the people I consider my friends. Jameo is basically my brother. His family is my family. My parents have given up everything for me, but they are rightfully bitter about it. So they don’t love spending a lot of time with me doing normal family things like Thanksgiving or big Christmas parties. I spend most of my holidays with the Walkers. They’re some of my best memories.”

“And…you see Lila as your sister?”

“God, no. No.” I shake my head for emphasis. “No. She is about as far from my sister as someone can be. The problem is that if I were to date Lila, and we were to break up—which odds say we would—I would lose not only my girlfriend but my best friend and family too. It’s too big of a risk.”

“That seems like a bit of a stretch,” Kelsey says.

“When I was in college, I dated my friend Luke’s cousin.After reading Lila’s romance novels, I understand that I was a pretty mediocre boyfriend, but I tried to give her as much time as I could, despite having a crazy schedule between class and golf. She eventually grew tired of me not being able to go to parties with her on Friday night or walk her to her classes, and she broke up with me. It was fine, I wasn’t heartbroken or anything, but Luke basically broke up with me too. We stopped hanging out, texting. He cut me out when things ended with hiscousin. Do you really think it would be less with someone’s sister?”

“It sounds like Luke was kinda a dick, but also, he was a friend in college. Those friend groups change like the fricken wind,” Izzy says.

“I don’t think you’re giving Jameson or the Walkers enough credit,” Kelsey adds. “I think they would be excited you were dating Lila, and I think if you broke up—as long as it wasn’t for like cheating on her or something—they wouldn’t kick you out of their lives. From the conversations I’ve had with Jameo, it seems like you’re just as important to him as he is to you. Plus, it’s not like you and Lila can fight any more than you currently do. Or at least that’s how it sounds from what I’ve been told.”

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