Page 12 of Fore-Ever Yours

She takes my phone, her fingers tapping across the screen. “You know, social media isn’t all that bad.”

I groan and roll my eyes at her.

“You’ll be doing trends by the time I’m done with you,” she teases, a mischievous glint in her eye.

I shake my head. “Good luck with that.”

“Challenge accepted,” she declares with a determined grin.

As Beth works her magic on my phone, I find myself observing her. The way her brows pinch together in concentration, the soft inflection in her voice when she speaks, the curve of her smile.

She looks up, catching me watching her. A faint pink tint creeps up her neck, reaching her cheeks.

“I, uh, have an idea,” she stammers, an unmistakable shyness in her eyes. She shuffles until she’s sitting right next to me and holds up my phone. “Smile.”

I hesitate for a moment, then decide to go with it. After all, if we’re going to be playing pretend for the next four months, I might as well start behaving like a real boyfriend now, right?

“Alright,” I agree and lean in closer to her. She flashes me a triumphant smile before turning her attention back to the phone. The camera flashes, capturing our smiling faces. She taps on the phone a few more times.

“Done!” She hands me my phone. My old home screen, a picture of the fairway from my last tournament, has been replaced by Beth and I.

It’s surreal, seeing us staring happily at the camera as if we really are the couple we’re going to be pretending to be.

“Good?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I reply, stuffing my phone back into my pocket. “It’s good.”

“So there’s this town event tomorrow. And if you were my real boyfriend, you’d be going with me to it. Annnnd you’ll have to meet my parents.”

I take a deep breath. “Right. I saw the posters around town. Well, I guess we should brush up on our story before then. How about I meet you back here tomorrow morning and we’ll discuss it all.”

“Okay, boyfriend.”

I’ll need to get used to that one. I haven’t been a boyfriend to any woman in years. I’ve gone on dates, sure. Women aren’t throwing themselves at me, per se. But I’ve met women along the way. But my focus is on golf. Nothing else.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. And Beth?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you again for this. All of this. I really appreciate your help.”

“I should be thanking you. I was searching for a job, and now I have two. At least one of them is what I was looking for.” She softly chuckles.

As I reach for the door, it swings open. I’m met with a woman who is clearly Beth’s mother. She has the same curly brunette and doe eyes, except hers are brown.

“Beth, honey, I didn’t realize you had company.”

“Mom, Dad, you’re home!” She nervously chuckles. “This is Matthew. My, uh, my boyfriend.”

I resist making any kind of physical reaction that shows the shock rolling through me. It’s going to take me a minute to get used to that. Especially since it’s coming from a woman I’ve known less than a few hours.

“Boyfriend?” Her mother’s smile widens.

There’s that word again.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s such a pleasure to meet you both.” I reach out to shake Beth’s father’s hand.

“I’m Ray, and this is Anita,” her father says, firmly shaking mine. I’m six foot three, and he even towers over me. He has a full beard, broad shoulders, and bushy eyebrows. It’s like staring at the Hulk with facial hair.

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