Page 23 of Golden Days

“May I?” Levi says as he steps into my line of vision.

I nod and he grabs my wrist, bending it back and forth. I’m not wearing a glove, and the feel of his calloused fingers on my hand makes me shiver. He’s so close, and tall, the top of my head just reaching his chin. I have to lean my head back to look into his eyes. Up close, I can see little gold flecks mixed in with the green.

I hold my breath as he softly caresses my wrist and repositions my hand on the grip of the club.

“I think”—he says gently, searching my eyes for something—“you’re flexing your wrist too much when you need to keep it flat.”

Our eyes connect, holding for the briefest of moments. Suddenly, he takes a step back. For some reason, I find it hard to exhale.

“Okay.” I reposition myself. This time, I have no trouble emptying my brain, because I think Levi just wiped it clean with his proximity and soft touch. I do remember to keep my wrist flat, and when the club makes contact with the ball, I am in perfect form.

Levi laughs and shakes his head at me.

“What?” I say, still in a daze.

“You almost matched my distance.”

“No way,” I scoff.

“You got a straight two hundred and ninety-yard shot, and my average has been about three hundred today. That’s impressive, Thomas.” His lips twitch as he calls me by my last name.

I playfully narrow my eyes at him, but my lips lift up of their own volition.

I want to hug him, I want to thank him for the advice and for standing up for me with Xander, but whatever this banter is between us is fun, and I want to keep it going. “Maybe you need to up your game. Shouldn’t your average distance be higher than mine, mister pro golfer?”

Levi runs a hand over his mouth to hide a smile and I almost tease him about it again, but something catches my eye.

Brody is standing by the entrance with a paper bag in his hand, staring at me.

At me and Levi. Bantering.

Shit.

I give him a smile and wave as he approaches us. My first thought is that he’s going to say something stupid and embarrass me in front of Levi, but then I mentally scold myself. He’s still my boyfriend, I should have more faith in him.

“Brody, hey. What are you doing here?” I say, and cross one foot over the other as I lean into the driver.

My boyfriend stalks toward me and grabs me by the waist, slamming his lips slam down on mine with such force that it knocks me off-kilter. The kiss is…not enjoyable, and out of character for him, as he’s usually not a fan of PDA. I frown through it, not opening my mouth. I don’t need a makeout session at my place of work. When he gets the hint and pulls away, I take a step back and straighten my dress.

“You look hot today,” he says, handing me the bag. I look inside and see a sandwich from my favorite deli.

“Did you get me food?” I ask, feeling bad again. He’s trying to be nice and thoughtful and I’m just being weird. “Thank you.”

“Anything for my girl,” he says, eyeing Levi.

“Brody, this is Levi Carmichael, he’s our club’s resident pro.”

“Cool,” he says, and looks around the shop dismissively.

Why is he being so rude?

“Mr. Carmichael, this is Brody, my…boyfriend.” The word tastes sour on my tongue.

“Nice to meet you, Brody. what do you do for a living?” Levi asks.

I inwardly groan. This is not going well.

“I work for an insurance company in between tryouts.”