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My face contorted and I gave her a questioning look. “What the hell type of analogy is that?”
She simply shrugged as she turned into the drive that led to the main banquet hall at the club. “I don’t know. I never said I was any good with words.”
I stared at her for a moment. “To answer your question, yes I am okay. It’s been a while since I’ve worn a dress that feels like it's squeezing the literal life out of me.”
Sutton smiled. “Well, it’s good to know there’s still something left inside of you.”
My eyes narrowed into a glare but I tore my gaze away from the side of her face and stared out at the golf course as we drove past a few of the holes. It was perfectly manicured with the soft rolling hills across the landscape. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes traveled over the raked bunkers.
Kai would spend hours out here working on perfecting his swing and his drive. Every aspect of golf, he had wanted to master. And according to my sister, since he had made it to the professional level, it seemed as though he was finally living the life he wanted. The one thing he had dreamed of and worked so hard to achieve.
As we passed the third hole, my eyes drifted to the tee box and the gazebo beside it. My heart crawled into my throat, lodging itself like a rock. My chest was collapsing in on itself as I sucked in a deep breath while trying to block out the memories as they came crashing down around me.
* * *
“No, that’s not how you do it,” Kai muttered with irritation as he slid his driver into his bag on the back of the cart. “Your form is all wrong.”
A frustrated sigh escaped me and my gaze sliced to his. “I don’t golf, Kai. How the hell am I supposed to know what my form should look like?”
His lips twitched but he didn’t dare smile. “Let me show you.”
My breathing grew shallow as the silence encapsulated us and Kai stepped behind me. His chin was just above my ear and his breath was warm against the exposed skin on my neck. Considering it was the middle of summer in Florida, the air was hot and stuffy—borderline suffocating. My hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and my skin was slick with sweat and sticky from the humidity.
Kai’s chest was pressed against my back and he slowly slid his hands down the lengths of my arms until his hands were closing over mine. “Like this,” he murmured as he positioned the golf club in front of me and moved my hands where they needed to be. “If you have the heel of your right hand resting here, it will make it a more comfortable swing.”
“Okay,” I breathed as I held my hands in place with him still holding mine. “Now what?”
“Show me your swing now.”
He didn’t move away from me. He guided me as I pulled the club back and swung it in front of me. The head hit the ground with a thud, kicking up some of the grass with it. Kai chuckled softly and the sound snaked around my eardrums as his breath warmed my skin.
“How did you grow up in this scene and never learn how to golf?”
“I’m a figure skater, Kai, not a golfer,” I reminded him. Sadness slid within my bones and my voice dropped lower. “No one ever took the time to show me because the ice was where I was supposed to be.”
Kai fell silent and we stayed unmoving, his chest against my back, his hands wrapped around mine.
“My time belongs to you, Winter.”
The air around us grew thicker with tension and he slowly loosened his grip around my hands. I instantly felt his absence as he moved them away from mine, but he didn’t step away from me. His palms fell to my hips and his fingertips were light against my skin as he held on to me.
“Try again,” he urged me, his voice soft and low. There was a tenderness to him that was only ever reserved for me. To everyone else he was cold and indifferent. He was the same to me as well, but every now and then the sunlight peeked around the edges of the clouds and he lowered his guard and removed his mask.
I obeyed his command even though my body felt like I had reached a boiling point. At any given moment, I would surely be melting into a puddle by his feet. Malakai Barclay was working his way under my skin, but I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted him in my veins like a drug. He was my addiction, and I would take whatever part of him he would give me.
His hands were firm on my hips and he held me in place as I tried shifting my weight while I swung the club. “There’s the problem,” he murmured as his lips brushed against my ear. “You’re shifting your hips wrong, which is throwing off your weight and messing up your follow-through on your swing.”
“What do I do?” I breathed as my lungs struggled against the thick air.
His lips curled upward and his fingers dug into my skin as he gripped me tighter. “You let me show you.”
* * *
“Earth to Winter.” My sister’s voice broke through the memory and reality came crashing down around me as I looked over at her. I hadn’t even realized that we were already in front of the building. “We need to get out of the car so they can park it.”
My eyes widened and I glanced around for a moment as I focused on my actual surroundings. I was no longer in the past, not with the memory of him. Instead I was sitting in my sister’s car while she stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“Of course,” I told her with a swift nod as I collected my clutch and climbed out of the car. My movements were rushed and the heels felt foreign on my feet. I stumbled on the concrete walkway before Sutton grabbed my elbow. Her eyes flashed to mine, filled with disapproval. “Sorry,” I spit out at her. “I’m as far as detached from this lifestyle as possible.”
