Thursday, May 12th, Morning: Olivia

I’m so exhausted. I’m so over the golf course. The only brightspot is seeing Leo, but it’s not like I can talk to him. Which makes it worse. And I’m so tired of swapping phones and dodging Mom. I should just save myself the trouble. Tell her everything. Let her come home and tell me what to do. Let her fix it.

But I’m halfway through. Two days down, two to go.

Maybe today will be like yesterday and all I’ll have to do is drive Mr. Williams around. Maybe I can put some earplugs in and ignore him completely.

Sophie is asleep next to me in the bed, so I slide out without waking her. I remember to pack a swimsuit, a cover-up, and a towel in my backpack for Megan and Lindsey’s party. I feel like I’m catching a break with the party being so close. It should be easy to pop in and out, since it falls at the same time I took my lunch break yesterday.

My phone vibrates; it’s Wes telling me he’s on his way. Sophie sits up and grabs her phone, too, and I notice he actually sent it as a group text to both of us.

She stumbles downstairs, dragging a blanket from my bed with her, and curls up on the couch while I fix a cup of coffee to go. Wes drags himself in through the back door, still in pj bottoms and a T-shirt.

“Hey,” he mumbles, half-asleep. He slides his phone across the table to me.

“Thanks, Wes,” I say. “Mine’s on the coffee table in the den. Sophie is on the couch.”

I watch him walk into the den, then curl up around Sophie on the couch. She pulls the blanket over them both and within seconds they’re asleep. Watching them sends a slight pang of jealousy through me, not only because of their relationship but also because they get to go back to sleep.

The drive out to the course feels like it takes forever and of course by the time I find a place to park, I’m fifteen minutes late. But Coach isn’t there when I get to the clubhouse, and that feels like a miracle. Lily is waiting for me, though.

“Hey!” she says when she sees me.

How is she so perky this early in the morning?

“Hey,” I answer. “Please tell me we aren’t doing range balls this morning.”

Lily frowns. “Sorry.”

Following her to the closet that houses all the balls and trays and molds, I want to cry at the thought of spending the next two hours hauling buckets of balls and making those stupid pyramids. The only good thing is that I’ve finally become a pro at it and rarely have one that doesn’t look great on the first try.

By the time we have each spot on the range ready to go, the golfers are pouring in.

My walkie-talkie crackles to life.

“Olivia,” Coach Cantu says on the other end.

“Yes?”

“Drive a cart over to the delivery entrance of the clubhouse and pick up a couple of cases of water bottles.”

“Yes, sir. On the way.”

When I pull around to the back side of the building, there is a guy waiting for me standing next to the water.

“Where do I take these?” I ask.

“These are for the tournament guys. Take it to their check-in table.”

He loads me up and I pull away. Wes’s phone vibrates in my back pocket and I stop so I can check it while I’ve got a minute to myself.

I see my name on the screen.

“What’s up?”

“You’re on speaker with me and Sophie—” Wes says, then Sophie interrupts him with a loud “Hey!”

Wes continues. “We’re calling to tell you that you have a message from L.”

Uh-oh. “What’s it say?”

Wes reads it aloud. “‘Looking for you. I’m at the range.’”

I take a deep breath. “Is there anything else?”

“No. Is there anything you want to tell us?” he asks.

“Not at this time,” I mutter. It’s a miracle Leo didn’t say anything that would give him away. I debated telling him about the phone swap, but that would only open up more questions about why I’m here, so yeah, I’m just winging it. Which I have never done in my life! And now I know why—it sucks to wing it. Too many things left to chance.

“Give us a hint! Please!” Sophie pleads. “We won’t tell Charlie.”

I roll my eyes. “Wes would totally tell Charlie and he knows it.”

“Yeah, I’d probably break down and tell him. I would feel bad about it, though.”

I need to go so I can deliver these waters and find Leo. “Okay, thanks for relaying the message.”

Sophie jumps in before I can end the call. “Wait! Which bathing suit did you bring? Your mom wants to know what you’re wearing to the party.”

“Ugh. Why does she care what I’m wearing to the pool?! Tell her the pink one.”

“Wait, the pink one with the yellow trim or the pink one with the blue ruffle?”

“Yellow trim,” I answer.

“Okay, I’ll pass that along,” Sophie says. “Better go find L!”

I end the call without saying bye.

It takes a few minutes to unload the waters, and then I’m hightailing it back to the range. From the tone of the text, it doesn’t sound like Leo’s just looking for me to say good morning.

I find him waiting for me, his bag on one of those pushcarts. Leo is scanning the area and looks relieved when his eyes land on me.

This can’t be good.

I pull the golf cart right up to him and hop out.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

He’s clearly concerned about something, but I still get a cute smile. “Morning. Wanted to see you before I teed off.”

His hand reaches for mine and he gives it a squeeze. I squeeze back and resist the temptation to pull him closer.

“Also, need to warn you. Mae and the girls are coming to watch me play a few holes. There’s some party at the pool here around lunchtime, so they thought since they were headed out this way, they’d come a little early. Mae just called me.”

Oh God.

He must see I’m about to panic, because he adds, “I know you didn’t want anyone to know you’re out here. I tried to tell them not to worry about it, but they feel bad my parents aren’t here to watch me play. I think my mom asked them to come. I’m sorry.”

It dawns on me that while he may want their support while he plays, he told them no for me. And he doesn’t even know why I’m hiding the fact I’m here.

“Please don’t be sorry. I’m glad they’re coming to watch you. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll be on the lookout for them.”

He seems to relax a bit.

“This is the last thing you should be worried about. Seriously! I’m good! You go out there and kill it today,” I say with the biggest smile I can muster.

And I mean it. If I know they’re coming here, I’ll just avoid them. At all costs!

His hand cups my cheek, his thumb stroking my skin. “I’m starting on hole three. Just so you know where we are.”

I want to lean in closer. I want those three kisses again. It looks like he wants the same thing. There’s a moment’s hesitation before he moves his hand from my face. He pulls his hat off, the faded blue one he’s worn the past two days, and drops it on my head.

“Maybe you can hide behind this if they get too close,” he says.

I put my hand on the brim, about to pull the hat off and hand it back to him. “No, I can tell this hat means something to you. I can’t take it.”

But he stops me from removing it. “I’ll like knowing where it is.”

I lean in before I can talk myself out of it and give him a very quick kiss on the lips. “Good luck today!” Then I hop back in the cart and pull away.

I park the cart behind the supply room and go back to refilling range balls. With Leo gone, my panic comes back full force. I am a nervous wreck. Everywhere I go includes a quick check of the area to see if Aunt Maggie Mae and the Evil Joes are nearby. I don’t take two steps without looking around in each direction. It’s madness.

An hour later, all the golfers have finished warming up at the range and everyone is about to tee off. I find myself back in the cart with the fun-sucker, Mr. Williams.

Aunt Maggie Mae and the Joes make an appearance not long after we get started. They have rented a cart and all three of them have squeezed onto the bench seat. They fit right in, since they’re decked out in gear just like the female players, bows and all for the twins.

I stuff my hair inside Leo’s hat and pull the brim down low. My sunglasses hide half my face and I’m praying they don’t recognize me, mainly because they aren’t looking for me to be here.

Mr. Williams has directed me to hole four, the one Leo should be on right now, so I hunch over in the driver’s seat, hoping the bare minimum of me will be visible. Mr. Williams is looking at me weird, and I get it. I’m trying to disappear into the small steering wheel.

“Pull up right over here and stop.”

We are literally feet from where Aunt Maggie Mae is parked. Great. Thankfully, Leo’s attention is fully on his game.

Leo lines up his shot, doing that same little ritual he does at the range. He looks down at the ball, then out to where he wants it to land, several times before settling his gaze back on the ball. He pulls his club back and then lets it go in a beautiful swing. The club connects and the sound echoes through the trees.

I don’t know how they know where the ball lands because I lose sight of it the second it’s airborne. But by his expression, Leo seems pleased.

Aunt Maggie Mae starts clapping and yells, “Great job, Leo!”

Mr. Williams is about to lose it, I can tell.

“Excuse me, but you must be silent while you are on the course!” He’s amazing at whisper-yelling. I’ve witnessed it a number of times over the last two days.

Aunt Maggie Mae spins around to find out who would ever dare try to tell her what to do. I duck in the opposite direction and become very interested in the grass growing next to the back tire.

“Well, excuse me. I’m just letting my son know I’m proud of him!” she says.

Her son. I roll my eyes. I’m sure she thinks if she’s related to him, she gets certain privileges. But I could have told her every parent here thinks they get special privileges.

They do not.

“This is your only warning. The next time I have to remind you of the rules of the tournament, you will be asked to leave.”

I expect Aunt Maggie Mae to fire back, but she must really be worried he’ll kick her out. Next time I’m around her, I need to channel my inner Mr. Williams.

We stay with the players on this hole until they’ve all finished on the green.

“Hole six.”

Yesterday we went to all the holes in order, but it seems like today we’re only going to the even ones. I guess there’s a method to his madness, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

Honestly, I’m happy with whatever makes the day go faster.

Just as I’m about to hit the gas so we can get out of here, I chance a quick look at Leo. He’s pulling his cart with his bag toward the next tee. He nods at me. I nod back and throw in a big smile.

Phone Duty:Wes

I wake up on the couch alone.

“Where’d you go?” I mumble. “Come back.”

Sophie chuckles from the direction of the kitchen. I smell coffee and cinnamon and that’s all it takes to get me up and moving.

She’s in front of the oven, pouring melted icing over cinnamon rolls, when I come up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. “That smells delicious.”

“I figured we couldn’t go to Nonna’s for breakfast without Olivia or that would look suspicious.”

“Good call.”

Olivia’s phone is on the counter and it’s lighting up.

“Is Aunt Lisa texting already?” I ask.

“Yep,” Sophie says, laughing. “Started about thirty minutes ago. I told her which bathing suit Olivia will be wearing and now we’re discussing cover-ups.”

I move away from Sophie and head to the coffeepot, fixing myself a cup. “You’re so much better at this than me. Are you sure you can’t stay with me all day?”

She turns her head, looking at me over her shoulder, and I’m blown away by how lucky I am that she picked me.

“You know I can’t. I have to get to Minden to help set up for the party tonight. And you have to meet me there as soon as you switch phones with Olivia. The party starts at six.”

“I won’t be late.” Sophie spends a lot of her spare time in Shreveport with us, so I try to make sure we spend time in Minden with her friends, too. I know she misses them, especially Addie.

Her ex-boyfriend, Griffin, tried to make things difficult for me at first, but when I didn’t respond to his games, he finally quit playing them.

“Who’s going to man her phone tomorrow?” I ask her. “It’s going to have to be Charlie, since we’re staying in Minden tonight.” Whenever we’re there, her parents let me spend the night in the guest room so I don’t have to drive back. The first time they let me stay, her dad and I had A Talk. One that scared the crap out of me, especially since he’s the sheriff. But since then, they’ve always made me feel at home.

“Yeah, it’ll have to be him. You tell him.”

I throw my hands up. “Nope. That’s Olivia’s job.”

Olivia’s phone vibrates and I grab it before Sophie does. “I need to practice while you’re still here to check my work.”

But it’s not from Aunt Lisa.

L:Looking for you. I’m at the range

“Oh, well, well, well,” I say.

Sophie is peering over my shoulder. “What?”

“Ah! It’s that Locke guy! Call her and tell her!”

We call Olivia, and she’s as evasive as she was last night about who she ate ice cream with. Like we didn’t know she was with him!

“We’re going to have to get to the bottom of that,” I say, smirking, and Sophie agrees with me.

We hang out at Olivia’s until it’s time for Sophie to leave. I walk her to her car out front and linger there for a minute. I can’t wait until we’re living in the same town this fall.

“I’ll see you in a few hours,” she says. She’s behind the wheel and the window is down. My hands are braced on the roof of the car.

“I won’t be late.”

I lean in and give her one last kiss good-bye, then watch her drive away.

Olivia’s phone vibrates in my pocket as soon as the car disappears around the corner.

MOM:Don’t forget your sunscreen. You’re still recovering from that burn earlier in the week.

That’s not too bad. I can handle this.

ME:It’s already in my bag

MOM:Perfect! And how are you doing your hair?

Okay, this is a little trickier. I move to Olivia’s front porch swing and try to remember what she normally does with her hair. I mean, it’s long. And sometimes it’s kind of curly.

ME:I may braid it

I don’t know what Charlie is complaining about. This isn’t hard.

MOM:I bought you some more cream for razor burn. You know how bad it gets around the bikini area. It’s in the middle drawer in my bathroom.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope. That’s it. I’m out. Not even responding to that.

Olivia

OLIVIA:I’m here

I’m in the women’s locker room changing into my suit and cover-up when Wes texts me from my phone. My hair is thrown into a loose bun and I put on a little lip gloss. Thank God I remembered to shave this morning.

Slipping on my tennis shoes since I forgot sandals, I jog out to the parking lot to meet Wes.

He’s parked near my car with his windows down and his seat reclined. The smell of fast food hits me when I get close.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey.” He hands me my phone through the open window. “Your mom was chatty this morning.”

There’s something in his tone that makes me worry what she could have possibly said to throw him off. Compared to Charlie, Wes is hard to rattle.

“Judd’s been texting you all morning.” I hand him his phone. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Anytime. I’ll be waiting out here until you’re done.” He points toward the burger and fries he has spread out on the bag in the passenger seat. “But I do need to be headed to Minden by four. Sophie has her grad party tonight.”

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Walking back to the clubhouse, I check my phone. No new messages from Leo.

The pool sits on the opposite side of the clubhouse from the driving range. There’s a brick fence and gate closing it off from the parking lot, but the back is open to the course. I’ve seen it when we lap the holes, and I’m pumped for the chance to enjoy it for a bit.

There are big gold balloons in the shape of the numbers of our graduation year attached to the gate. Most of the girls are already here when I get to the pool area. Megan and Lindsey greet me by handing me a towel with my initials monogrammed on it and a beach bag with my name. Both are super cute.

“We’re so glad you’re here,” Megan says.

“Yes! There’s food on the table over there.” Lindsey points to a long table behind them.

“Thanks so much for inviting me!”

They move on to greet the girls coming in behind me, and I spot Bailey and Mia on lounge chairs not too far away. I drop my stuff on the empty chair next to Mia.

“We had bets whether you’d be here or not,” Bailey says. “You’ve been curiously absent all week.”

“I know. It’s been crazy. You have no idea.”

Mia pulls her glasses down to look at me. “We’d have an idea if you filled us in.”

“I will, but right now can we just soak up the sun?” I have about twenty-four minutes before I have to be back to work. There’s no way they’re going to let me skip out of here without a good excuse.

God, I’m so tired of this.

More girls show up, including the Evil Joes, who apparently had their bikinis on under their golf-watching clothes. They sit on the loungers on the other side of the pool while Aunt Maggie Mae takes an empty spot at a table under a big umbrella with the other moms here.

This party is laid-back, and if I wasn’t checking my watch every five minutes, it would probably be my favorite. I would stay in this chair all day. Pull an umbrella up when my skin turned pink. Drink frozen drinks until I got a brain freeze.

About fifteen minutes in, Megan’s and Lindsey’s moms call out for us to gather around the shallow end of the pool. There are only a few people here who aren’t with the party and most of them are mothers with their young babies in the baby pool. The only students out of school right now are seniors, but I can imagine how packed this place will be once everyone is out for the summer.

We gather around the end of the pool and see lots of blown-up inner tubes, the kind that are shaped like animals. There’s a flamingo and a frog. A yellow duckie and a unicorn. A bull and a llama. And on and on.

“Time for party games!” Megan’s mom yells, and half us of groan while the other half cheer.

Lindsey’s mom holds up a few gift bags. “And prizes for the winners!”

Now some of the groaners have moved to the cheering side.

“For our first game, here’s what you do. Everyone picks a float! Sit on it any way you want. The first person to make it to the other end of the pool is the winner!”

I don’t know if I’m more worried about this game or the fact that it’s only the first game. I check my watch once more. I don’t have much time at all.

There is a mad dash for the pool floats. I’m one of the last ones to pick and I’m stuck with the giraffe. His head is so tall I’m going to have trouble seeing where I’m going and I’m worried it’s going to be top-heavy.

There are so many of us that we stretch across the entire shallow end of this gigantic pool. Some girls are sitting with their butts in the opening, their legs dangling out, but that’s a poor choice. Some are lying across the whole thing, while others are straddling theirs in a really awkward sort of way.

I go for lying across mine. That way I can kick and paddle at the same time.

Megan’s mom is at the edge of the pool, holding a green flag up high. “On your mark! Get ready!” There’s a short pause and then she finishes, “Go!”

And we’re off. It only takes a few minutes to determine that the ones lying across their tubes made the best choice as we break away from the crowd. Looking at my competitors, I see there are only five of us in this position. And of course, the Evil Joes are two of the five.

What can I say? Our family has always been competitive.

We are loud as we compete. Some of the golfers on the hole nearest to the pool have stopped what they’re doing and turned around to watch us. I’m sure Mr. Williams would have a stroke if he were here.

I kick and paddle and kick and paddle, edging into the lead. But then here comes Mary Jo.

We are in the battle of our lives. I’m sweating and my arms are burning and I can hardly feel my feet anymore, but I will not let her beat me.

From the way she’s moving, she feels the exact same.

Some of the girls who never got off the starting line have left the pool and are now at the finish line, cheering us on. I hear both of our names in the noise and I feel like I need this win more than anyone even knows.

We are so close to reaching the edge of the pool. Mary Jo and I are neck and neck. At the last possible minute, I throw myself off my tube, my hand touching the edge before I go face-first into the water.

I swim up, breaking the surface, looking for the official ruling.

Mary Jo is clinging to the edge, still on her tube, and saying, “That doesn’t count! She left her float!”

I’m treading water, since this is the deep end. My giraffe has floated away and left me to die. “My legs were still on it when I touched the edge!”

Megan’s mom and Lindsey’s mom are huddled up discussing it. I’m sure they didn’t expect such a cutthroat ending to their race.

They talk and talk and nod at each other then finally turn to us. “That ending was too close to call, so it’s a tie!”

“What?” Mary Jo yells while I shout, “A tie? Seriously?!”

The moms ignore us. “Let’s move on to the next game!”

I glance at Mary Jo and she’s looking at me.

“That wasn’t a tie,” she says. “I won fair and square.”

I roll my eyes. “I beat you and you know it.”

We both drag ourselves out of the pool and follow everyone else. My legs are Jell-O. I notice she’s limping a little, too, and that brings me some satisfaction.

We catch up with the crowd but realize it’s not all fun and games anymore. There are several tournament officials in their monogrammed golf shirts talking to the moms.

I hear the words “noise level” and “distraction” and I know where this is going. And then I catch sight of Coach Cantu.

And he catches sight of me.

I’m supposed to be working off my time, but instead he’s caught me dripping wet in a two-piece and causing a distraction to the golfers.

This is not good.

He nods for me to come to where he is and I slowly make my way to him. I glance behind me and notice Mia and Bailey are clued in that I’m in some sort of trouble, but they obviously have no idea why.

“I’m sure you’ll give me some explanation as to why you’re swimming instead of working, but I don’t want to hear it. You have five minutes to be dressed and back out on the course, or we can forget this whole thing and you can head home.”

He turns away and walks with the tournament guys out of the pool area.

I’m a little pissed at first because technically I’m on my lunch break, but then I look at my watch. My lunch break ended ten minutes ago.

I rush back to my lounge chair and scoop up my belongings, thankful for the bag and towel. There’s no time to even say bye to Megan and Lindsey. Bailey and Mia watch me from the other side of the pool, but I’m gone before they can make their way over. I sprint to the women’s locker room and throw on my other clothes while I’m still damp. My shirt and shorts are sticking to me and my hair is sopping wet. I pull it up into a bun and slide my tennis shoes back on.

I’m out the door with seconds to spare.

Coach is waiting for me.

“I’m really shocked I even have to say this to you, but this is your last chance. If you can’t do what I’ve asked, there’s no reason to continue.”

He huffs out a breath as he heads toward the range.

I feel terrible and I want to bang my head against the wall.

And then I remember Wes in the parking lot.

“Hey,” he says after the first ring.

“Hey,” I say. “I got busted by Coach at the party and he’s pissed. I can’t go out to the parking lot right now. Will you meet me at the clubhouse to switch phones?”

“Yeah, sure, on the way.”

While I wait for Wes, I act like I’m busy by picking up left-behind water bottles and putting them in the recycling bin. Mr. Williams is off to the side, talking with some of the other officials, and I know at any minute, I’ll be back to driving him around.

The second Wes comes into view, I rush to where he is. We switch phones again and he asks, “How much longer do you need me to stay?”

I shrug. “You can leave now. I don’t care anymore. If Mom asks, just say I have a headache and I’m going home to nap. And if my friends start blowing up my phone trying to figure out why I disappeared, just ignore them. I’ll text them back later. In fact, turn my phone off. I really just don’t care.”

Wes puts a hand on my shoulder, which prompts me to look up at him; his face is full of concern. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s fine. I just need this to be over.”

He hesitates a second, but there’s nothing more he can do. He’s already doing so much. They all are. I got myself in this mess, so I’ll have to get out of it.

“Okay, well, call me if you need me. Even if it’s just to talk.”

My eyes get misty and I’m afraid I’ll break down at any second. “I’ll make sure I’m home by four so you’re not late for Sophie’s party.”

Wes leaves and I want to sit on the ground and never move. But Coach will surely banish me for that, so I walk toward Mr. Williams and wait for him to tell me he’s ready to hit the course again.

I stand there patiently, but Mr. Williams isn’t in any hurry. My eyes wander around the area and I see Leo off to the side, next to the now-vacant check-in table. All his clubs are out on the table and he seems to be rearranging his bag.

I judge the distance between us and weigh the pros and cons of going to talk to him. He’s only a few feet away and I will hear Mr. Williams the exact moment he calls for me. And Coach has ridden off in his cart, so he’s not around. And it’s not like I’m talking to Leo while he’s playing.

“Hey,” I say when I get close. “How’s it going today?”

He stops what he’s doing and turns toward me. “Hey! It’s going pretty good, actually.” He moves in closer, his hand reaching out, and I’m not sure if he wants to touch me or hold my hand or pull me to him, but I’d be good with all of the above. He stops midway as he remembers where we are, and his hand falls to his side. “I’ve managed to shave a few strokes off my game today.” He tilts his head to really look at me. “Is your hair wet?”

I scrunch my face up. “Yep. Made an appearance at the party at the pool.”

“Ah!” he says. We both glance in the direction of the pool even though we can’t really see it from here. “I’m guessing Mae and the girls are still over there.”

“Yeah, at least for another hour, I think.”

“But you couldn’t stay the whole time?”

“This feels a lot like you’re asking an off-limits question.” I just know he’ll hear about the inner-tube race from Mary Jo later, but I don’t want to waste what little time I have with him talking about her.

He puts his hand to his chest. “I would never!”

I wave toward the table that has all his clubs and things on it. All of them with that neon-green grip, except for one in the middle. “What are you doing?”

“Rearranging my bag. Mae and the girls bought me a new club as a gift and I’m trying to make room for it.”

“Oh, that was nice of them,” I say. I mean, look how nice I am, giving them a compliment.

He ignores the clubs and focuses on me. “What’s the grad party tonight? I don’t have to dress up in a costume, do I?”

“No. It’s a scavenger hunt.”

“Like we have to go into the woods and find sticks and leaves?”

“No, not like that. Someone did this party for a group of girls a few years ago and it was a hit, so now every year someone has The Scavenger Hunt. There are teams and you go around town and do things. And you post it to your team’s Instagram account so everyone can see what everyone else is doing.”

He steps a little closer. “Like what kind of things?”

I shrug. “Well, I don’t know what we’ll have to do tonight, but last year, they had to do things like go in front of Starbucks and sing ‘I’m a Little Teapot.’ With the dance and hand motions and everything. It was fun watching the team accounts last year.”

“I bet,” he says, laughing.

“Olivia!”

I spin around when I hear my name. It’s Mr. Williams. I clutch Leo’s hand, giving it a big squeeze, then say, “The fun-sucker calls. I have to go. I’ll see you tonight!”

And I’m sprinting away before he can say anything else.

I skid to a stop in front of Mr. Williams and he hands me a stack of papers. “Can you go inside the office and make a copy of these? And then I’ll meet you back out here.”

I nod, accepting the papers. The copier is ancient and it takes forever, but after about fifteen minutes, I have the task completed. Mr. Williams is right where I left him, talking to the same group of people. I take a quick moment to check if Leo is still at that table but he’s gone.

But there’s a single club leaning up against the table. Its handle is neon green.

“Oh crap!” I mutter to myself.

I go to pull my phone out to call him but remember I have Wes’s phone instead of mine. It’s not like I’ve memorized Leo’s number. I don’t see him anywhere, but finally I spot his bag sitting in his pushcart right by the tee box for hole ten.

I only have a few minutes before Mr. Williams will be ready, so I grab the club Leo left behind and run like wild to the bag, dropping it inside.

And then I haul it back to Mr. Williams. He’s turning around looking for me the second I get back.

I hand him the papers and he motions toward the golf cart.

“Ready?” he asks.

I nod. “Yes, sir. I’m ready.”

Just as we’re about to pull away from the clubhouse, Leo walks out of another door, a bottle of water in his hand. I raise my hand and give him a small wave, hiding the motion from Mr. Williams. He returns the wave. He’s smiling big and there’s pep in his step. I’m thrilled he’s playing so well today.

And how cool will it be if he’s playing for LSU this fall! I could go watch his matches, cheer for him from the sidelines—quietly of course.

Wait. Am I thinking about long-term things with Leo?

I am. I really am.

It’s dumb to think a couple of days of flirting are going to amount to anything serious. I haven’t seen him in years!

It’s ridiculous.

Thinking about him makes me happy. So maybe that’s something to build on.

But it’s not something I can worry about right now. I have to focus on getting through to tomorrow afternoon without completely screwing up. Again.

Phone Duty:Wes

I’m leaving the clubhouse area when I run into Locke. Charlie told me last night after Olivia left that he was supposed to show up at Superior, and Charlie’s convinced that’s the “friend” Olivia got ice cream with.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” I say as I’m about to pass him.

“Hey, Wes, what are you doing here?” he says.

“Just bringing Olivia something she forgot at home,” I say, glancing back at the area behind me. “How’s it going?”

He loses the smile. “Okay. Could be better. I was hoping for a top-five finish, but doesn’t look like that’ll happen.”

I wince. “That sucks. Sorry to hear it.”

“It is what it is. Lots of good players here this week. There’s this guy from St. Francisville who is killing it. He’s playing better than he’s ever played. And I’ve played with Leo for years. Wasn’t expecting it.”

This throws me. “Leo?”

“Yeah. Leo Perez. Do you remember him? He went to school with us when we were younger.”

“Uh, yeah, I know him. Didn’t know he was playing, though.” And honestly kind of surprised Olivia never mentioned it.

“Yeah, he’s got a chance of finishing top three.”

I put my hand out and he shakes it. “Well, good luck. Hope you can pull it out.”

“Appreciate it,” he says.

I’m just about to walk away when I turn back to him. “Did you hear Judd’s in a band?” I ask, laughing because I can’t not laugh when I say Judd and band in the same sentence.

“Yeah, I saw on someone’s story the other night that he let loose on his drums! I would have loved to have seen that.”

We both laugh and head in separate directions.

When I’m back at Olivia’s, I start thinking about the whole L thing. So I text my phone.

ME:I ran into Locke at the course when I was leaving.

Olivia doesn’t answer right away, but it doesn’t take too long.

WES:Oh. Okay

ME:He said Leo Perez is killing it out there

Those three dots jump around a lot longer than they should and I can almost picture Olivia typing and deleting and typing again.

WES:I saw him like once yesterday. From a distance. I hear he’s doing pretty good but I don’t know

Yeah, she’s full of it. I’m thinking the L in Olivia’s phone may not stand for Locke after all.