The Neighbor #4 (The Neighbor Romance Series - Book #4) (4 page)

“Hey, I’m Jenna Walsh. I signed up to play best ball
with Ryder Curran. He won’t be joining me, so is there a spot available in shot
play?”

There was something wrong or perhaps obscene about
mentioning Ryder and best ball in the same sentence.

“I have an opening in a foursome. Do you have a
handicap, Jenna?” the woman asked.

“Not really. It’s high—
really high
.
I’m a beginner, but I know the rules of the game.”

“You will fit in this group just fine. We like to
have a mix of skill levels and they need someone like you. You will need to
head out right now. You foursome tees off in about fifteen minutes. You will
know them as the three ladies waiting by the cart who are looking for a
fourth.”

“Great and thanks.”

I lugged my golf bag out to the cart.
I
was paired with three ladies who seemed to be triple my
age. I imagined that each of them had spent quite a bit of time on the links as
they had leathered skin. Playing in the tournament with three strangers wasn’t
what
I
had envisioned when I signed up with Ryder. But
I had no exams to worry about—nothing else to do. Therefore, I decided to make
the best of it. One of the women noticed me and waved me down.

“Hi, I’m Jenna.” I suddenly felt very young.

“We found our stray, girls.
I
’m
Fran. These gals are Nora and
Liesel
. We hope you
will bring us some good luck”

“I’m afraid I’m just a beginner. I was supposed to
be playing with my golf instructor. He was unable to attend, so I figured I’d
play anyways.”

“It isn’t the first time a
golf instructor
has stood up a student. We will show you a good
time. You have an awful lot of experience in this foursome, if you know what I
mean.” Nora winked.

Great! They were like my mother.

It turned out they did have a lot of experience.
Nora had been married forty years and her husband had just retired. He was
driving her nuts.
Liesel
was a widow and she was
struggling to date a seventy-five year old. Fran was happily married to a
recovering alcoholic. They cared little about golf. They used the time to chat,
which I did as well. I was doing superb. I wasn’t ready for the LPGA, but my
score was respectable. Ryder would’ve been very proud. As much as the others
kept
me
occupied, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“I don’t know who your golf instructor is, but he
should know what an excellent student you are. That ball sailed perfectly out
of the bunker,” Fran commented.

“Yeah.
Ryder would be pleased.”

“Don’t tell me that your golf instructor is Ryder
Curran. We all love Ryder. He keeps his eye out for us ladies. He never
complains about our slow play and he’s always ready with a compliment. I heard
he was doing some private lessons. He’s young, very nice, and eh
em
—hot. Don’t blush. I may be an old married lady, but I’m
not dead yet. He must be about your age, perhaps a year or two older.”

“He is actually quite a bit older, he just looks
young,” I said softly.

“I see. I can tell by the look on you face that
there is more to the story, Jenna. You don’t have to share. We all have a story
and it’s everyone right to keep theirs private.”

“No. You three ladies have never been stupid enough
to get in a predicament like mine.”

“I can only speak for myself, but you would be
surprised,” Fran said.

“Well…I love him, but we don’t stand a chance,” I
said. I knew I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. I was expecting a lecture from
her.

“I have been married to Max since I was twenty-two
and things went according to plan for the first couple of years. His job was
great and we had two lovely children. We even bought our dream house. We never
had a fight and everyone considered us the perfect couple. Then tragedy struck.
Our daughter got sick and died of cancer. Max went into a depression and he
started to drink. It took us a long time and numerous public embarrassments
before we turned it around. I love Max more now than the day I married him. We
are much stronger as a couple.
I
’m sure that you have
heard this before, that it’s how a pair deals with the bad times instead of the
good that shapes them. It was easy to be happy when we had no obstacles before
us. When Max and I were tested, we proved our strength. You can learn from my
story or consider it just the musings of an old woman, but I wish you
luck
, Jenna. If you see Ryder, and I know you will, tell him
Fran from the Fearsome Foursome said hello.”

“Will do.”

We received a ribbon after the tournament. Everyone
got one, but I was proud of my accomplishment. Before heading home, I decided
to grab an iced tea at the clubhouse.

“Hey Riko.
I’ll have an iced tea,” I said as I walked in.
 
I took a seat at the bar.

Riko smiled at someone behind me. I turned my stool
around to find a clean-shaven smiling Ryder.

“Make it two iced teas, Riko. We will take a seat
over by the window. You can send it over there if this lady will agree to join
me.”

“Is that an invitation? If it is, then you should be
ready to start apologizing.”

I followed Ryder to his favorite table. He was
wearing a pair of cream-colored pants and a muted yellow button down. He looked
a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw him. Although
I
had to rethink that, because at one point he had been
shirtless.

“Me apologize? You threated to let your hound shit
on my lawn,” Ryder joked. “I acted like an ass Jenna…I cringe when I think
about some of the things I said. Of course, I care about your future.”

“You can’t talk to me that way ever again Ryder.
Words are abusive. My ears were ringing – you may well have knocked me up the
side of the head.”

“I would cut off my own hand before I would raise it
to your beautiful face. I really just wanted to carry you to my bedroom last
night.”

“Your new room?”
I asked.

“Oh, I lied about that. I was reaching for anything
that may have been hurtful. I did think it was hysterical when you fell on your
ass though. Those were some nice panties.” Ryder smiled.

“Really funny…But are you really selling your house
and leaving town?” I asked.

“I’m taking things one step at a time, Jenna. I want
to hear what the doctor has to say before I make any decisions and I will
definitely consider you when making those plans.”

“Then it makes sense if I go to the doctor with
you.”

“No, Jenna. It’s something I have to do by myself.”

“That makes no sense, but whatever, I will respect
your decision. It’s getting dark, Ryder. Can I ask you as my golf instructor to
walk me to my car?”

“I suppose I can do that. Nice ribbon by the way.”
Ryder smiled.

As we were walking out, I noticed Fran and the other
women. Ryder gave them a smile and I winked and Fran gave me thumbs up.

“So, Ryder, it looks like we’re continuing the sham
that we’re golf-instructor-slash-student. Is that the story you’re going to
tell the dean? I’m meeting with him with my mother tomorrow.”

“Yes. If all they saw was a kiss at putt-putt then
we could explain that as an overly jubilant celebration. I would worry about
our night in my office if I was in an updated building, but the
Canooth
Building has no key card system and it’s not on the
university camera network.”

“I think that Meadows would have a heart attack if
he ever had a camera on us that night.”

Ryder threw his arm around my shoulders when we were
safely in the parking lot. “Yes he would.”

It was dark and nearly empty, as most of the tournament
participants had departed. His hand slipped down the arch of
my
back before being firmly planted on my ass.

“I missed you, Ryder. I missed this,” I said.

“Me too,” he said as we arrived at my Sol.

Ryder pushed me against the cold metal. He kissed me
passionately and pressed up me hard against the door.

“When is the last time you did it in the backseat of
a car?” Ryder said against my lips.

He grew hard and his body pulsed.

“I haven’t had a lot of sexual partners, but I have
always managed to find a bed. But I have a busy day tomorrow. We’ll have the
car and many other places to explore in the future. I will leave you pondering
where those places might be.”

I had to peel him away from me. We stood at arm’s
length with hands clasped.

“I can’t believe you’re turning me down. If this is
payment for my horrible behavior last night, I will never raise my voice to you
again.”

“I’m not punishing you. I don’t have the evil heart
to do shit like that. We’ll make up for it—we’re going to explode in each
other’s arms sometime soon…”
I
let the idea hang in
the air.

“Fine, I’ll let you go. I don’t want to, but I will.
Be sure to drive safely.”

“I always do. I’ll give you a jingle tomorrow when I’m
finished with Mean Dean.”

I kissed Ryder goodbye. My prize ribbon sat on the
passenger seat next to my phone, which blinked constantly with messages from
Ryder.

Chapter
Five

Sleeping again in my childhood room was odd. I felt
like an adult in some respects and a little girl in others. The cadence of my
mother sleeping in the next room was soothing, except when Claude was around.
In those cases, I inserted my ear buds. I was even a little comforted by the
sounds made by Potato. The familiarity made me feel safe. On the other hand,
there was Ryder next door, and with him, I felt every bit an adult.
I
wasn’t really a college student since I had been
suspended. It made me
feel
confused and scared and
banished me into some sort of limbo.

I put the pillow over my head hoping to sneak in a
few minutes of extra sleep, but the doorbell shattered my peace. I didn’t feel
like a grown-up or a kid—I felt pissed off. Who was fucking stopping by at 8
AM? It seemed Claude had come in handy, as he answered the door. Unable to fall
back to sleep and curious, I padded down the steps in my t-shirt and a pair of
boxer briefs.

“What’s up, Claude?”

“It was a delivery sort of,” Claude answered.

“What is a delivery
sort of
?” I asked.

“The bell rang and when I answered it, there wasn’t
a person in sight. But someone left behind this stuff for you and your mom. Oh
jeez—does your mother have a secret admirer?”

I discovered sitting on the table in the entryway
two lovely flower arrangements. My mom shot down the stairs when she heard my
gasp.

“What are these? Claude.
You sly
fox.
I didn’t know you were the romantic type,” my mom said.

“I’m not.”

I opened up the card addressed to me.

Good
Luck!

Love,

Ryder

My bouquet of stargazer lilies and pink roses
smelled divine.
My
day was made and I was still in my
pajamas. My mother rushed to her arrangement, which was more like a plant but
just as lovely. It was a lucky jade surrounded by delicate yellow flowers.

Show
the dean what the Walsh women
are made of
!

Go
Get
Em
,

Ryder
Curran

“I officially approve of my next door neighbor,
professor, golf instructor or whatever the hell he is. Claude, you can learn a
thing or two from Ryder.”

I laughed. I was on cloud nine.

I dialed Ryder.

“You got the flowers,” Ryder answered.

“Yep and they’re beautiful. My mother loves hers as
well. Thank
you,
and it was great that you remembered
her.”

“No problem. You deserve flowers every day.”

“Sounds good to me.
Get on it, Ryder.”

“Right.
Remember that I’m unemployed
at the moment
. Shoved in
amongst the flowers is my lucky divot replacer tool. I picked it up at Augusta
when I thought I was
gonna
die. It carried me through
a lot of bull-shit.”

“I got it. I will keep it in my shoe for good luck.
Have you changed your mind about allowing me to go to the doctor with you?” I
was hopeful.

“No. This is a solo mission, but I appreciate it. I
know you aren’t exactly a church goer, but if you’re feeling godly, put in a
good word for me.”

“Yeah, I will have a long discussion with the man
upstairs. Do you think he’s aware of our antics? It must be against some of his
rules.”