Page 4 of Love or Leave

"Which driver do you want?" he asked as he pulled the gloves over his hands.

She eyed the four remaining drivers, then reached for one, hoping it was the right choice. When Jalen bent forward without a word to place a ball on his tee, she figured she'd selected appropriately.

Luckily, she'd had the foresight to look up a few golf basics after registering, so she at least knew the difference between a driver and an iron. But that's where her knowledge ended. She hadn't got far enough in her research to determine the difference between different drivers.

With a shrug, she took a ball and placed it on the tee in front of her, then threw up a prayer and swung.

And missed the ball entirely.

She braced herself and glanced over her shoulder at Jalen. Unfortunately, he'd seen the whole thing.

"You didn't see that," she said, trying for a joke.

Jalen laughed. "It's all good. It takes time to get used to new clubs."

Cara's brows shot up. "Yeah, that's definitely the problem." She discretely shook her head, hoping for this to come to an end without embarrassing herself further. Jalen was cute and nice, but there couldn't be much kicking around in his brain if he really thought she'd done this before.

Or maybe he was too focused on himself to notice.

Behind her, Cara heard the whooshing sound of a club breaking the sound barrier followed by the high-pitched smack of the ball. She turned to see Jalen's ball sailing through the air in a perfect arc toward the 300 yard sign in the field.

"Wow," she said.

Jalen wagged his eyebrows. "Thanks."

She suppressed an eye roll at his cockiness. "Have you been playing long?"

Jalen nodded. "All my life. My grandpa gave me my first lesson when I was three. We still play every Easter morning. He's a member at Glenn Abbey."

Jalen's expectant stare made her suspect she should know what Glenn Abbey was and be impressed—what with being a golfer and all.

"Oh, wow," Cara replied with unnaturally raised brows and a bob of her head.

Jalen beamed. "Yeah, it's pretty great."

He turned back to load up another ball. Cara made a mental note to look up Glenn Abbey. This whole situation was hilariously beyond her capabilities, but she'd come too far to quit now.

She lined up her next shot, but before she could take another swing, her phone rang.

"Thank God," she murmured. She reached into her pocket, happy for the distraction until she looked at the caller.

Cooper.

"Ugh."

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head at Jalen and ignored the call.

"I can give you some pointers, if you'd like. You look a little rusty."

Cara’s cheeks flushed. "Sure, that would be great."

Jalen put his driver back in his bag, then came to stand beside her. "Widen your stance a little and keep your knees loose."

"Loose knees," she said with a nod. "That makes perfect sense."

Jalen chuckled. "Keep your grip strong and your front arm as straight as possible." He took her wrist in his hand and extended it down so her elbow wasn't bent.

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