Page 69 of You Know You Wanna

He scoffed. “That’s big talk for a city boy. You don’t scare me, Remington. In fact, we can put money on it that I’ll win.”

I chuckled. “Let’s do it. How much?”

“Ten bucks says I’ll kick your ass all the way into next week.”

“Ten bucks?” I glanced at Dec, who gave me a little nod in return. Ten bucks was absolutely nothing, but I followed Declan’s lead and stuck out my hand to shake with Alan. “You’re on.”

“Excellent.” The man flashed me a surprisingly gleeful grin. “You’re going to regret this, city boy.”

“Will you stop calling me that?”

“No.”

I sighed. “Fine, but don’t cry when I beat you.”

Laughing dryly, he selected his first club and we got underway, playing the nine holes on a course that I could easily imagine using for marketing material. As with the rest of this area, the views were majestic and beautiful, the mountains and woods we were surrounded by stunning in the mid-morning sun.

For the first few holes, I couldn’t stop staring at the views, already mentally writing copy for the ads we could put them on, but as the game continued, I suddenly realized Alan wasn’t going to be easy to beat. I’d figured that I had this in the bag, but the old timer was good.

Almost like he’s played this course every damn day of his life.

After jotting down his score for the hole we were on, he even fucking smirked at me. “Under par. Again. Want to make it twenty bucks?”

“You’re on,” I said again, shoving away all other thoughts when I realized he was doing better than me. A lot better actually.

My fiercely competitive side came out, but I’d still found my match in the old man. He was out of breath, but he was still refusing to let me show him up.

For the rest of the game, Declan was the only one who spoke again after we’d increased our wager. My friend was much too cheerful when we got to the end and he grinned at me. “Pay up, Remi. You owe the man twenty bucks.”

Alan’s eyes were practically shimmering with smugness. His glee was palpable instead of just being evident as he looked at me. “Yep. Pay up, Remi. Twenty clams.”

I dug my wallet out of my back pocket and paid up but not happily so. It had nothing to do with the twenty dollars I had to cough up, though. I’d just been beaten by a man who was almost a hundred fucking years old.

So disgusted with myself that I felt a little sick, I almost missed it when Declan spoke again. “It’s such a beautiful course on such a beautiful day. It’s a real pity we can’t keep playing. I could easily do another nine holes right now.”

His words snapped me out of my misery and I perked up. I might’ve lost the game, but I’d come out here for a much more important reason, and my partner hadn’t lost sight of that. It also seemed like winning had put Alan in a much better mood than he’d ever been in when in my presence because, instead of telling Declan off, he laughed.

“I catch your drift, Dec. I know what you’re up to.” He gave my friend an almost fond smile. “It’s not going to work, you know.”

“What’s not going to work?” Dec asked, feigning innocence. “All I’m saying is that this is one of the most gorgeous courses I’ve ever played on and that’s saying something because I’ve played all over the world. A course like this should be at least eighteen holes, Alan. You said it yourself. I’m just agreeing with you.”

“It should be, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you help me make it so,” he said, his eyes moving from one of us to the other. “I was young and dumb once, just like you two, and also just like you, I believed that I was always right. I thought older people were the stupid ones and that they’d lost their ability to reason.”

As he railed on us, Dec and I glanced at each and tried to keep it together. There were so many things I could say in response, but if he needed to tell us all this before he’d listen, then so be it.

“I’ve been to war, boys,” he concluded. “Fancy suits and gold cuff links won’t sway me into anything.”

“What about a million dollars?” Declan asked. “Would that sway you into something?”

My eyes bulged. That was way more than I’d have offered him, especially as an opener, but I went with it. Declan and I had to present a united front right now. I could ask him what the fuck he’d been thinking later on.

Alan leaned on his golf club, looking us up and down before he refocused on Dec’s face. “Make it two million.”

Declan didn’t react except for a slight flare of his nostrils. I couldn’t quite keep it together as well as he was, though. My jaw went slack as I stared back at the old man, wondering what the fuck he was thinking.

“Why do you need two million dollars?” I asked incredulously. “Dec was right when he said it was a nice course, but it’s not that nice.”

Alan glanced at me and shrugged, his eyes calm and his expression serious. “If you can offer me a million, you can offer me two million, so why would I settle for just one?”