Elliot's hand is creeping slowly down my stomach. My eyes remain closed, and I pretend not to notice. When she reaches the waistband of my boxers, she laughs. "I know you're awake, Hunter."

"I was waiting to see where you were going with that," I say with a smirk and then roll her brusquely to her back. She lets out a squeal in response, and my heart skips a beat. These are the kind of games I'd rather play with her.

Her lips find mine, and I start to get lost in her all over again. One thing I can be sure of is the harder we fight, the harder we make up. When her hands begin to travel south once more, I have to stop her.

"As much as I would like to hold you hostage here all day, I have plans with Oliver to play golf at the resort this morning."

She squeezes her hand around me in response. "Oh really? You'd rather shoot balls with my brother today?"

I let out a deep groan, and thankfully, she loosens her grasp. "You know that's not true."

Elliot gives me a knowing smile before planting a chaste kiss to my lips. "Let's hope so."

She gets up from the bed and starts to pull on her jeans. "Speaking of Ollie, we should probably think about finding a way to tell him."

"You're right." I let out a sigh and run my hand down my face. "I hate keeping things from him. He's bound to get suspicious with the amount of time we've been spending together."

Elliot laughs from inside the hoodie she's still pulling over her head. "I don't know if you noticed or not but Ollie's not the most observant person." She fluffs her hair and glances in the mirror behind my door. "I love him and all, but he's pretty self-involved. If it doesn't somehow directly affect him, it won't enter his radar."

"Elle, this most definitely directly affects him. You're his sister, and I'm supposed to be his best friend." I stand up and grab a T-shirt off the chair. "He's going to lose his shit."

Her eyes drift to the floor then back to me. "It may not be for the reason you think." The unease in her voice confuses me a little.

I finish pulling on a pair of jeans and go to her. "What do you mean by that?"

She shakes her head and gets a look of sadness on her face, borderline shameful even. "Ollie's not as much concerned about you destroying this than he is me doing it."

I smooth the line that forms across her forehead with my fingers and kiss her gently. "Why would you think that?"

Her eyes cast down again. "Because it's true."

"Hey, look at me." I wait until her eyes meet mine again before I continue. "Whatever happened before doesn't matter. You and me are something different."

"I feel like all of my relationships up until this point were shallow. I've never really wanted something to work out as much as I want it to with you. What if I mess this up, or I hurt you?"

Something in the tone of her voice makes me wonder if Oliver told her more about my past than I would like. It's not really a conversation I want to get into right now, so I decide to brush it off. "You won't, I promise."

***

Elliot sneaks back over to the house twenty minutes later, and I wait another five before walking over to meet Oliver. He's standing in the driveway dressed like the posterchild for sports endorsements. His dark, brown hair is gelled to perfection and there are crisp lines in his shirt and pants. He goes all in no matter what he does, I'll give him that.

"Hey, man," I say as I approach.

A grin spreads across his face and then he shoves his golf bag in the back of his truck. "You ready to learn a thing or two about the art of golf?"

I scoff. "I play golf pretty well thank you very much."

He pops the collar on his polo shirt. "Okay, but I've been told by more than one person that I remind them of a young Tiger Woods."

I give him a questioning look. "It might not be for the reason you think."

He laughs and gives a shrug. "Hey, either way, I'll take it."

I'm about to reply with an excellent comeback when a familiar truck pulls in the driveway. Judah hops out with a smile on his face carrying a brown paper bag. Even though my eye begins to twitch, I try not to jump to conclusions.

"What's up?" he asks, swaggering over like he owns the place.

"Oh, me and Hunter are about to tear up the golf course at the lodge. What are you doing here? I half expected Elle to just be stumbling in after she clenched the crown two years in a row."

Judah laughs, and I shove my hands in my pockets so I don't punch him. "Nah, she's not feeling well." He reaches into the bag and pulls out a container. "I got her this disgusting soup she likes from the Chinese restaurant and her favorite candy from that store downtown."

Oliver raises an eyebrow. "Geez, you're really laying it on thick."

Judah shrugs. "I have to. I really messed up when I left. I didn't realize how much I love her, and now I can't stop thinking about it." He pauses for a moment and grips the back of his neck. "I'm thinking about transferring next semester. I can't be that far away from her anymore."

"Dude, that's something you should probably discuss with her first," Oliver remarks patting him on the back. "That kind of thing will most likely scare the shit out of her."

He nods slowly. "Yeah, I know. I have to hope that what we had still means something to her. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to convince her I've changed, that I want to be better for her."

I'm scared to see what my face looks like right now. The blinding rage surging through me is almost impossible to control at this point. I close my eyes for a moment to regain my composure until Elliot's voice makes them snap back open.

"Judah, what are you doing here?" She crosses her arms when she comes to a stop right beside me. I fight with everything I have not to grab her and show Judah who she belongs to now.

He smiles a little, clearly nervous. It's really strange actually. I almost believe him at this point. I've never seen him be this sincere about anything. "I brought you some things to make you feel better. I was worried—you never called me back last night."

I release a breath at the fact that she didn't call him to come over. It's shitty for me to automatically go to a place of doubt with her, but considering how their relationship was up until this point, it's kind of hard not to.

"I fell asleep."

"That's okay, babe," Judah says as he places a hand on her arm. "I'm here to take care of you."

Oliver tugs on my sleeve, but I can barely tear my eyes away to look at him. "Let's hit the road. These balls aren't going to drive themselves." He smirks again and nods toward the truck.

I steal a glance back at Elliot, and she shoots me an apologetic look. I can't be sure how I will my feet to move away from them, but the sight of her and Judah walking back to the house is something I carry with me.

***

Oliver is currently knelt beside me as I line up my putt. To say that the first nine holes were a disaster would be an understatement. I tighten my grip on the club and try to clear my mind for a moment.

"Okay, Hunter. This is a distance putt, but you can make it. Open your stance a little and stand up straight."

I grit my teeth but do as he says.

He stands up from beside me. "Now, just give it solid consistent contact—but not too hard," he adds.

My eyes focus on the ball, and I line up my shot.

"Remember, you are the ball," Oliver whispers before taking a step back. It's a good thing too, because now I kind of want to hit him instead.

I take in a breath and attempt to tap the ball, but instead I send it soaring straight off the green. "Fuck!" I can feel my face becoming redder, and I give the putter a forceful toss toward the hole.

Oliver's hand clasps my shoulder. "That wasn't too bad. You lacked control, but aside from that, good form."

I shrug him off. "Alright, Ollie. I fucking get it."

He laughs. "I'm sorry, man. You're so serious all the time." I watch him walk over to his marker and set his ball, inches from the hole. "You know what your problem is?" he asks over his shoulder.

I cross my arms over my chest. "No, but I bet you're going to tell me."

He flashes me a crooked smile before effortlessly sinking his putt. "You always let your emotions control your mood. There's obviously something bothering you." He turns back to me and gives a shrug. "You could tell me what it is, and maybe I can help."

Oliver walks to the hole, retrieves his ball, and then starts walking back to me. His concern for me is nice and all, but I'm still not at the point where I can be honest with him. I hate the fact that I'm keeping something this huge from him. I have no idea what to expect when he does finally know the truth. He's kind of unpredictable sometimes.

He stands beside me and clasps my shoulder again. "Come on, tell me. I'm sure it's an easy fix."

"Not everything in life is an easy fix, Oliver."

He raises an eyebrow and lets out a whistle before stepping back from me. "See. That's what I'm talking about. You need to go with the flow, let things comes as they may and just roll with it."

"God, Ollie. I seriously can't take your bullshit philosophies on life today." I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a few breaths.

When I open my eyes again he's looking over at me with a shocked expression. "You think I'm full of shit?"

I shake my head. "No, man. I'm sorry. It's just not a good day for me."

He nods. "It's cool."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "No, it's not. I shouldn't take it out on you."

Oliver flashes a smile and pats me back. "Seriously, it's fine." He walks over to the golf cart and loads his club before turning back to me. "You know I may seem like it's all glitter and fucking rainbows all the time, but I get down sometimes too. What's important to remember is that there are some things we can't control. When that happens, you have to trust it will work itself out, and if it doesn't, then we were never meant to have it anyway."

"That's the most sense I've ever heard you make."

A smug smile crosses his face, and he shrugs. "I'm a fucking genius. The sooner everyone realizes that the better off we'll all be."

I can't help but laugh. "So true, man."

The next nine holes aren't any better, but somehow, I manage to keep my rising temper in check. I never thought I would say this, but Oliver is right. If fate meant for Elliot and I to be together then no matter what obstacle we face we should be able to overcome it. Even though it seems that literally every force is trying to pry us apart, I have to believe we were brought together for a reason.