Page 9

S ebastian knew it was creepy to follow her after she had locked up the pro shop and raced away. But leaning into his bad decision, he started his own golf cart and tailed Endy, keeping a block behind her.

After she had bumped into him, as he held her in his arms, he had instantly felt a mega-spark of attraction. And when she’d turned around and jogged off and he saw “Big Dink Energy” printed on the back of her huge neon-green T-shirt, Sebastian had actually laughed out loud.

He didn’t know her, but he knew he wanted to.

Big time.

He’d followed her around the perimeter of the racquet club’s tennis courts to where she joined a group of wild and out-of-control kids.

She had stepped in the middle of that chaos and let loose with the most joyous laugh.

Watching her twirl, her long, dark hair fanning out behind her, had Sebastian bewitched.

All of the kids seemed to love her—the young ones ran around her, screaming, while the older ones walked next to her, their faces upturned with relaxed smiles.

But when she’d gotten all the kids out onto pickleball courts and they had started hitting the bright green wiffle ball, Sebastian knew it was his cue to move on.

Sure, maybe pickleball was picking up across the nation, but it wasn’t at all for him, and the sound of those stupid paddles hitting those annoying plastic balls was quickly getting on his nerves.

Sebastian clicked the switch on the golf cart to drive forward and cranked the steering wheel into a U-turn.

He looked over his shoulder one last time and saw her under the awning, bent over the picnic table.

He tapped on the cart’s accelerator and slowly rolled away just as he heard some Harry Styles song from the speaker on the table.

Looking back, he saw the girl tug her short tennis skirt over her hips again.

He cruised around the country club slowly, enjoying the end-of-day quiet.

The landscaping crew had gone home hours before, so calm had settled over the lush green golf courses.

Smooth as mirrors, the water of the ponds reflected the last rays of the sun dipping behind the San Jacinto Mountains.

Someone grilled steaks on their back patio, the smell making Sebastian’s stomach growl.

Heading home, Sebastian took the road next to the pickleball courts, where the kids were all now waiting on the nearby grass.

Evening was just coming on, and he didn’t yet need to put on the headlights.

So he parked in the same place he had earlier, a block away, and watched the kids gather around the girl in the “Big Dink Energy” T-shirt.

He heard a little girl yell, “Look!” Then he saw a massive flock of gray-and-brown geese cruising above them all in a huge wedge-shaped V. Echoing off the walls of the Spanish-style homes, their nasal hooonks seemed to strum through his bones.

He inhaled and then blew out a thin stream. “Whoa,” he whispered, captivated. He didn’t know the last time he’d seen anything so achingly breathtaking.

But then Sebastian saw that chonker of a little dude push his way next to the beautiful girl in the neon T-shirt and slip his hand into hers… . Well, that tugged at his heartstrings so much that it just about killed him.