Page 40 of Swept Up In You

“I know. Don’t rub it in,” she replied, watching Taylor collect her ball as she threw Sam a self-satisfied grin, cute dimple and all.

“I better get back to Will. Can you guys hurry up so we can hang out already?”

“Doesn’t seem like you need us.” Sam smirked, pulling her eyes away from Taylor and back to Alex. She took a sip of the new drink. “Woah, that’s strong. Tastes good though.”

Alex leaned in even closer and whispered, “Between you and me, this is going even better than I imagined. And I’m not just talking about me.” She waggled her eyebrows at that and walked off back to the bar.

Was Sam really that obvious?

Thankfully, Taylor was preoccupied with checking out their next torturous hole, an escape from a prison cell, to notice their exchangeandher subsequent fading flush. She took a quick gulp of the new drink and made her way over.

“So, whaddaya think?” She pulled up next to Taylor, their arms touching ever so slightly, sending tingles all the way to her spine.

Taylor turned and grabbed her by the shoulders, maneuvering her back to the jungle hole.

“I thinkyouneed to finish this timed hole before we move on. You’re not getting out of it that easy.”

“Damn it!” She swapped her drink for her putter, lined herself up, and dropped the ball into the timer.

She totally maxed out on the jungle hole. It took her well over the seven-stroke limit,andthe buzzer going off before she finally got the ball in the hole. Tonight was not her night for mini-golf.

“I’m sure you’ll do better on the next one,” Taylor encouraged, patting her facetiously on the shoulder. “How about you go first this time?”

“Fine.” Sam took another quick sip. “I can’t do much worse than I already am.”

She went to step into the jail cell, but her foot caught the edge, lurching her forward.

A strong arm wrapped around her middle.

“Woah, you all right?” Taylor asked, her voice awfully close to her ear, before letting go.

“Yeah, sorry. Stupid boots.” She pulled a face at them and straightened up, the room starting to spinjuuuusta little. She stood still for a second, blinking to get her bearings.

Taylor looked at her concerned as she passed her the ball. “You sure?”

“Mmmhmm.” She nodded her head. Way too vigorously it turned out, which wasnothelping.

Get yourself together Garner, you’ve only had two drinks!

She popped the ball down and whacked it before she had a chance to think about it. The ball shot straight up the skinny ramp and into the darkness beyond as the ball “broke out” of the jail. They quickly walked around the cell just in time to see the ball pop out of a tiny gap in the wall at the back and make its way over to the hole, stopping just shy of going in.

“Wow, not bad Sam. Maybe you need to go first all the time.”

“That’s what she said,” Sam deadpanned, then cracked up at herself. Taylor shook her head, her mouth pulling into an affectionate smile.

They finished off the last few holes much quicker than anticipated. Sam wasn’t sure whether to blame the green drink or going first, but either way it seemed to be helping and she was starting to feelreallygood.

Taylor wrote down their final scores. “Right, better go actually hang out with your friends.”

“But I like hanging out with you!” Sam whined.

That wasnotmeant to come out.

Luckily, Taylor just laughed it off and held out her arm again. She gladly snuggled into it as they made their way over to Alex and Will.

“Come on you,” was all she said, a smile playing on her lips as she bopped Sam on the nose.

It was no surprise that, once all their scores were added up, Will was the reigning champion, much to his delight. Alex came in second, with Sam tying with Taylor for third.

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