Despite his reluctance to enjoy anything that indicated that winter was on the way, Nick had to admit that New York was beautiful in the fall. An Indian summer had pushed record warm temperatures into October, making it feel a bit more like early September than a week before Halloween.

The weather had been ideal for golf courses, many of which had been able to stay open much later than usual. Nick considered himself a lucky man to have found a girl who liked many of the same sports as him. He knew he would always have a twosome for golfing, a partner in tennis and someone boat-savvy to man the controls when he wanted to wakeboard, even if she didn’t appreciate the finer points of football, basketball and hockey.

Despite only getting a limited amount of sleep, after their night time activities stretched well into the early morning, both Nick and Peggy were bright-eyed and eager as they got ready to hit the links with her friends.

“I got you something,” Nick announced, popping his head in the steamy bathroom moments after Peggy had stepped out of the shower.

She stopped towel drying her hair and looked over at him curiously. She couldn’t help but smile at the bright yellow golf shirt he had paired with his khakis, loving that he was comfortable enough with his masculinity to appreciate how good he looked in yellow and pink. She hadn’t met too many men that had as colourful a wardrobe as her boyfriend.

“What is it?” she wondered and he motioned for her to come into the bedroom. Sitting on the bed Nick picked up a medium-sized gift bag and handed it to her, chuckling at her confused yet somewhat suspicious expression.

Peggy held the bag in her hands, still eyeing him. “What is this for?”

“It’s not for anything, can’t I just buy you presents?” he asked before quickly kissing her cheek. “I was going to give it to you at Christmas but I figured today was more appropriate.”

Peggy felt an unusual stir in her belly as she wondered what was in the bag. Something that he was going to get her for Christmas was surely going to be special and the bag was fairly light, making her think that there wasn’t very much in it. For a brief moment her mind went to whether she was going to pull out a ring box and she couldn’t help herself from getting a little excited at the thought.

She wasn’t sure what would have prompted him to move the present up to that date in particular but she assumed it had something to do with the amazing night they had just shared. If she was wrong, it would be the first time she had thought he might propose but she was hoping she wasn’t.

With a happy giggle she opened the bag and reached in and felt something soft and cotton-like. Masking her disappointment she continued to smile while pulling clothing out of the bag. She held up a pink Lacoste golf shirt and white skort, mentally chastising herself for getting her hopes up over something that was so completely unlikely.

“You kept saying you wanted some Lacoste stuff like mine so when I saw those I figured you would like them. Today seems like a perfect time to wearing them since we’re going golfing together for the first time.”

“It’s a little chilly for a skirt,” Peggy commented and Nick’s face immediately fell, “but I’m sure once I get moving and the sun comes out it’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to wear it,” he told her but she didn’t want him to feel as disappointed as she did just then so she waved him off.

“No, it’s fine! I love it, thank you so much,” she said honestly. Still holding the clothes in one hand she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. His hands came to rest against her shoulder blades, drifting downward into the top of her towel and she pulled away.

“Stop that,” she warned playfully. “We don’t have time for that.”

“It’s always worth a try!” he chuckled.

They shared a quick kiss before Peggy turned to finish getting ready. “I’m excited that we get to match today. We’ll be just like Brian and Leighanne!” she teased, pointing to the identical Lacoste alligator that was above the breast pocket on his shirt.

“In retrospect, that was bad present. You should probably wear something else,” Nick joked and Peggy shook her head at him as she headed back into the bathroom.

~*~

With a set of golf clubs slung over each shoulder Nick followed the path he’d just seen Peggy walk, trying to still look cool as he passed other golfers despite the bags throwing off his balance. As luck would have it, she was stepping out of the pro shop just as he got to the door and he dropped her bag near her feet. 

“You didn’t have to grab both bags babe,” she told him before leaning up for a kiss.

“Yes I did,” he challenged, pulling her close with his free arm. “I’m a gentleman.”

“Yeah you are,” she smiled, pressing her lips against his jaw line where light brown beard was continuing to grow in thicker. “That’s why I love you.”

“Here I thought you loved me for my money and my charm,” he teased.

Peggy smiled, “That too.”

She was cold in the mid-thigh-length skort he had bought for her but she didn’t dare complain about the discomfort. Instead she snuggled up closer to him, pressing her forehead to his cheek while her arms wrapped around his body. His skin smelled like a combination of Old Spice deodorant and her bodywash (he found it to be the best to adequately quench his dry skin) and she smiled at the thought.

“Awww, don’t we look sweet?”

Peggy turned at the sound of her friend Becca’s voice and saw the other woman standing alongside her boyfriend Tommy, smiling. The couples greeted each other, the two men shaking hands while the women shared a quick hug.

“We tee off first,” Becca explained. “The boys will be right behind us, about 15 minutes back. Amy isn’t here yet and Pete and Trish are just getting their stuff out of the car,” she said, referring to Peggy and Nick’s cousins.

“Who is Amy bringing to play with the guys?” Peggy wondered and Becca shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know. She was having trouble finding someone who was free today but she said she would ask around on Facebook or whatever.”

“Oh good,” Tommy chuckled. “So we could potentially be playing with someone she hasn’t spoken to in years beyond that one time when they met at a party and stalked each other online?”

Becca glared at her boyfriend, “Be nice.”

“I’m always nice!”

Once the other couple had met up with them the girls decided they should head towards the starting tee box where they would wait for Amy to meet up with them. Nick loaded Peggy’s clubs into the back of one of the golf carts that the girls were taking before pulling her close for a lingering kiss, hoping it would tide him over for the duration of the round.

“Love you,” he told her, moving his lips to her forehead. “Play good. Not too good though, I don’t want to pay for lunch.”

Peggy felt herself being pulled out of Nick’s arms while Becca laughed sarcastically. “Sorry lover but this one doesn’t have a job so either way you’re paying.”

Peggy rolled her eyes while Nick simply shrugged and smiled. “If that’s the worst thing I have to do today,” he said, “then I will consider myself a lucky man.”

Becca chuckled and wrapped her arm around Peggy’s shoulders, leading the brunette along with the other girls to their golf carts so they could go wait for Amy at the tee box.

Pete walked up alongside his older cousin, nudging him gently with his arm as they watched the girls drive away. “Did you make sure you grab your balls out of Peggy’s golf bag before they left?”

“What?” Nick asked, his face covered in a confused expression. “I have my own golf balls.”

Pete smiled, “Not those balls.”

“Asshole,” Nick said though his smile let the other man know he wasn’t anywhere near serious.

They were just loading their things on to their own set of golf carts when Amy arrived with the man who would complete their foursome in tow. She quickly set off to catch up with the girls, leaving the guys to finish getting ready to get their game started.

Nick vaguely recognized the man who joined them. He couldn’t place him from the party at the club but knew he’d seen him there that night. As wide as he was tall, the other man was a looming figure with biceps like tree trunks and hair cut short in a military style.

Nick wracked his brain trying to think of where he knew the guy from when Pete suddenly grabbed his forearm, gripping it tightly. Nick gave him a questioning glance as he eyeballed his cousin’s fingers digging into his arm. Pete’s eyes were full of panic but before Nick could ask him what the issue was the big guy came approached them.

“Hey Peter,” he said with a smile before turning to address Nick. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Nick smiled, giving the man the same megawatt smile that won over the hearts of millions of girls around the world. “I’m Nick.”

The other man chuckled, his deep voice resonating against Nick’s eardrums obnoxiously. “I know who you are.”

Recognition was something he was used to dealing with on a regular basis but rarely did the acknowledgement of his celebrity come with sarcastic laughter attached to it. With his own chuckle he shrugged it off.

“I get that a lot.”

“You don’t remember me from the other night, do you?” the other man asked.

Nick took a moment to mentally put the pieces together in his head. The fear that was in Pete’s eyes, the vague recognition from the night at the club, coupled with his physical appearance could only lead to one person.

“I’m Dustin.”

Dustin. His girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend and the man who had in many ways screwed her up for anyone who came after him. This was the same guy who had emotionally abused the woman Nick loved, called her names, degraded her and started rumours about her so vicious and foul that it ruined her reputation in college and still had people talking.

Luckily, another one of his skills was pretending he was happy when all he wanted to do was act like a child and throw a tantrum. The smile that had sold a million teen magazines was still spread across his face and he stuck out his hand to shake the other man’s.

“Did we meet the other night? I didn’t realize you were at the club.”

Dustin couldn’t have missed the sharp edge to Nick’s question, making it clear that he wouldn’t have been impressed if Peggy had extended the invitation to her ex-boyfriend. Dustin returned the false smile as both their hands returned to their sides.

“I wouldn’t really say we met. I wasn’t there with your group,” he clarified. “It was a coincidence. I go to that club all the time. I did catch your performance though and I was nice enough to help you down off the bar.”

Nick’s cheeks involuntarily flushed pink out of embarrassment. “That was you? You almost cracked my head open,” he pointed out.

Dustin rolled his eyes and Nick had to resist the urge to reach up and hit him in the hopes they might stay like that.

“You pointed that out, already. You’re fine. You weren’t even bleeding.”

“Yes, I was.”

“Oh, look!” Pete interrupted, not wanting to be in the middle of a fight between two men that were considerably larger than both him and Tommy. “It’s almost our tee time, we should probably go.”

Tommy immediately jumped forward to usher Dustin forward to the first golf cart, leaving the cousins behind to load their stuff into the second.

“Are you okay with this?” Pete asked. “Seriously man, we’d rather be with you today so if you want us to ask him to leave...”

Nick raised one hand, cutting the other man off swiftly. He adjusted his hat on his head, ignoring the twinge of pain he felt when the adjustable strap rubbed against the remnants of the goose egg on the back of his skull.

“It’s fine. I’m a big boy. I can handle golfing with some guy I don’t particularly like. I’m in entertainment, I spend most of my life pretending to like people that I can’t fucking stand.”