Page 32 of Second Swing
“Yeah.” My shoulders shake from laughter. “I alsoremember you spilling most of it down your shirt and into the seventeenth hole.”
“Mm, that’s right.” Her voice is light, as if all the air has been pulled out of her lungs and she is squeezing out the last remnant of breath. Paloma pushes off the car and comes to stand in front of me. She’s so fucking pretty it hurts. When she locks eyes with me, I risk it and tuck a loose strand behind her ear. She leans into my touch, and I run my thumb along her soft jawline, lost in the feel of her skin against mine.
The breeze smells like rain, which must have passed while we were eating our ramen, and the asphalt reflects the street lights off the now wet parking lot. I tip her chin up, “Paloma, I—” Before I can finish my thought she leans a tad too far and slips on the wet concrete. She tries her best to stop herself from falling, tangling her fingers into my shirt.
“Woah! I got you.” I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her close to me. Her luscious curves mold into my hard lines. I don’t move an inch, consumed with her brown gaze fixed on me. I swallow hard, her eyes dropping as she hones in on the movement, her fingers inching up toward my throat.
She blinks rapidly, pulling us both out of the stupor we were in. “I swear, I am the clumsiest person I know. It makes no sense. Thank you for not letting me fall on my face.” But she makes no moves to step back, and my arm is still wrapped around her back, anchoring her to me.
“Do you remember what we did after we got back to your place when we had ramen at the course?” Paloma’s voice sounds like a siren’s song, forcing me to remember the night I asked her on a date and how we ended up on the couch back at my place. I lick my lips involuntarily, willing my body to remember what she tastes like.
She giggles before I answer, “I do, yeah.”
“Could you remind me?” I’m testing the waters with my question,but I can’t stop myself. Needing to know if the memory is as fresh in her mind as it is in mine right now. The restraint I’m using to hold myself back from pulling her up onto my waist should be written in the Guinness World Records. Fuck me, I want her but I can’t let myself have this, have her. Not until she’s ready. It’s something I’ve been telling myself, and at this point, I don’t know if it’s true anymore. Her body rubs against me as she presses her toes into the ground and lifts, then her lips are on mine. My spine goes ramrod straight, stiffening in surprise, butfuckdoes she taste good. The kiss is searching and tentative, as if she is asking for my permission. Now with her pillow-soft lips pressed against mine, I can’t hold back, and I kiss her like the starved man I am.
Her touch, her kiss, her everything is what I’ve been longing for, and I can’t stop my hands from tangling into her short magenta waves, anchoring her to me in a way that is both possessive and claiming. I pour every ounce of longing into this one moment because I know I need to pull back, no matter how much it pains me.
The reality of how badly I want her, and the knowing she can just run away again, comes crashing down on me. Giving me the strength to pull back and peel her divine body away, even as my desire bucks against my choice. Paloma’s chest is heaving, and her wide eyes glisten with disbelief and hurt.
“Don’t,” I whisper against her lips, tucking the loose strands that always seem to give me a reason to touch her. I fully pull back. “Don’t run from me, not yet, baby. I just—” The words begin to tangle in my throat at my need to express to her what she means to me, but there’s nothing that can truly encompass how she makes me feel.
“I want this, with you, our Mulligan.” I smirk, and her eyes grow glassy. “But not when you’re scared, not when you are unsure of us oryourself. When you come to me, I want you sure and ready for forever because it’s what our future looks like. Us. Always.”
“Can’t we have this tonight and figure the rest out tomorrow?” she asks. Her voice is tight, and it kills me to know I caused her pain. The memory of her texting me the night before my flight flashes in my mind.
“Tomorrow doesn’t work for me, Dove. Not with you. Not when forever is on the line.” I take a full step back from her, nodding toward her car, begging her silently to get in and she does. There may be pain behind her eyes, but there is also understanding. When she gets situated and buckles herself in, I close the door before tapping on the hood. I thought getting on a flight seven years ago was hard ,but this right here, right now is a test I was not ready for. The only person who can tell me if I passed or not is the woman I just asked to drive away.
Clinton
Tell me you made it home safe.
Dove
I’m home.
I’ve never been more glad to receive a text message. At least she isn’t shutting me out. Dove was her nickname when we were first dating, if you want to call what we diddating. She may be my little Heartbreaker, but she will always be my Dove.
Sleep doesn’t come easy for me, even after all the ramen. The kiss is etched into my brain, and I fist my dick at the memory of it. I didn’t think I would be pushing Paloma away after seeing her again, but I want her ready for the commitment I am here to offer her because it is all I can see.
Tomorrow isn’t enough for me. Not when she’s asked for tomorrowbefore and tomorrow never came. No. The only option is forever.
Sunlight blares from the window, and so does my alarm. At least, I thought it was my alarm until I pick it up and hit the ACCEPT button; my cousin’s voice comes through the line loud and clear.
“It's time to rise and shine, baby cousin!” Sel shouts.
“Don’t you ever sleep in or, I don't know, not bother me?” I grumble, my mood still sour from last night. All I wanted to do was thoroughly kiss Paloma, devour her, but no. I’ve chosen to be a fucking gentleman. It’s the right choice, for the both of us, but it eats me up nonetheless because I want Paloma so damn badly. Not until she’s ready, not until she stops running. It’s my one day off this week, and I fucking can’t with her sunshine personality, not today, not after last night.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she whispers. “Is the beauty from the ramen spot sleeping next to you?”
Unfortunately not. “No, she isn’t,” I groan.
“Mmhm. Meet me at the range. I think we need to hit a few balls.”
There's a fog covering the open water of the course, and it crawls up toward the rough, creating more hazard for those wanting a fair game. With so much mist covering the course, I’m glad to be hitting here on the range rather than down there fighting through fog so thick I could slice it.
“So let me have it.” Selene sits behind me on the bench. She may havetold me to get my ass to the range, but it did not mean she would be doing any golfing herself. My cousin may love me, and she appreciates all the hard work I’ve put into my career, but she’s not a golf person.
“She kissed me, and I can’t set us both up for failure. Not if she isn’t all in.” I square my shoulders and settle my feet into the ground before pulling my arms back and swinging my driver forward. Thethwackof the club hitting the ball is satisfying and settles a bit of my uneasiness of letting Paloma go. Not wanting to fully express my feelings out loud—it feels too real—I say it anyway, knowing my cousin won’t let up until I do, “I want to be able to fall back in love with her. There’s a forever there with the two of us, but I need her to be ready. I need her ready to be loved the way she deserves. She has to welcome the experience and the feelings. She has to. Maybe I need to take a step back and give her space…” My voice trails off as I hit another ball, watching it soar.
