Dirty Little Secret

We've said goodbye to all of the relatives and I've been accepted as part of their welcoming family. The house and routine returned to normal as the month of December approached.

During dinner one Friday night Steve cleared his throat and asked, "Cori, do you know anything about golfing?"

"My dad does all of his biggest business deals while golfing, that's really all I know. But I do have a set of my own clubs, why?" I ask.

"Well, every year around this time, Hank likes to get some of the guys together to teach their daughters how to play golf. I don't have a daughter so I never went. And now that I have a daughter figure, I was wondering if you would accompany me to the father daughter golf tournament this Sunday, if you don't already have plans?"

"I would love to," I smile, genuinely excited.

"The winners get to bring home a big trophy, so start dusting off those clubs."

"You better be extremely good to make up for my lack of hand-eye coordination."

Steve smiled and gave me a cheerful wink.

**

I am up bright and early Sunday morning, showered and dressed in my new golfing attire, excited to go golfing with Steve. Tate didn't understand why I was so excited since I didn't know how to even play golf and I was never a fan of the sport anyways.

But it wasn't playing golf that I was excited about. It was the fact that Steve considered me part of his family, enough to ask me to a father daughter event. The only thing my dad has asked me to do was for me and Eric to be present at some of his business deals because a person who has a good relationship with his family must be a good person in general. This was nothing like that though; this was just a couple of guys from work bonding by teaching their daughters how to golf. I loved it.

"I didn't know a thing about golf until Alex brought me out here and showed me how. Now I enjoy it. I would like to golf more but can never get away from work and it's no fun to golf alone."

"I never pictured Alex as much of a golfer. Isn't this a quiet game?"

Steve laughed. His father in law was definitely not the quiet type. "I couldn't see it either until he taught me, and he's a damn good golfer."

Steve and I drive in a golf cart to meet up with Hank and a couple other people from work.

"Cori! It's great to see you again," Mr. Greenwall says as I take my bag from the back of the golf cart.

"It's great to see you again too, Mr. Greenwall," I say going to shake his hand but he pulls me into a hug.

"It's Hank everywhere but the office. May I say you look fabulous in anything, Tate better keep a firm grip on you Missy. Someone might try to steal ya," Hank winked. I smiled and gave a small laugh.

Steve taught me the basics of golfing. Which golf club to use and how to hold them, how to stand, the right way to swing and how to measure distance.

When it came down to actually hitting the ball, I was surprisingly good. I had an amazing amount of arm strength that allowed me to hit the ball easily two hundred and fifty yards away. Steve was also impressive, and together we took everyone else by storm. After eighteen holes the numbers were tallied and we had won.

Steve and I walk back to his car after bidding everyone a good day. He placed the huge trophy in the back of his car and strapped the seat belt over it. I laughed long and hard as he would periodically check his rear view mirror to see if it was still safe.

"Should I call Liz and tell her she'll be sleeping on the couch tonight since she's been replaced?" I joke.

"Oh no, this is going into a special place. Right on my desk at work so when anyone comes in they know that we were pretty kick ass and next year everyone better watch out."

"I had fun being kick ass."

"Thanks for coming with me. I wasn't sure if you'd say yes. I'm glad you did."

"Why wouldn't you think I would say yes?"

"You might think it would be weird to do something alone with your boyfriend’s stepfather."

"It's not weird. I'm really glad you asked. I enjoy spending time with you and Liz. I'm extremely jealous of Tate. "

"Your parents are idiots not to want to spend time with you."

"Yeah, that's what everyone says but it never lessens the sting of your mother telling you that she never wanted you."

Steve and I remained quiet for the rest of the trip home. Before entering the house, Steve hugged me tightly and placed a kiss on the top of the head. "Just know that no matter what, we'll always want you," he whispered before sliding open the backdoor for me.

Liz came from the study. She must have just gotten off work because she was still in her scrubs. "How was it?"

"Amazing," I answered as Steve holds up the trophy.

"We cleaned the whole golf course with those suckers. Cori is a natural, couldn't be prouder," Steve beamed. "This beauty is going straight to my office at work. I just have to change then I'll be off. I think we should have breakfast for dinner to celebrate."

"Where's Tate? He's not in the garage," I ask Liz once Steve heads up the steps.

"He's in his room."

I head up the stairs and enter Tate's room slowly. It was unusual for Tate to be in his room during the day. When I opened the door I found him lying on his bed with his laptop sitting on his lap.

"What are you doing?" I ask. Tate looks up, smiles and closes the laptop setting it on the nightstand.

"Nothing. It's boring without you here."

"Why aren't you working on your motorcycle?"

"She's finished," Tate smiles.

"She runs?" I asked surprised.

"Yup."

"Have you taken it out for a test drive yet?"

"Nope, I was waiting for you. Put on some jeans."

Tate barely waits for me to change before he jumps off his bed, grabs my hand, he pulls me down the steps and out the door towards to garage.

The motorcycle that Tate's been slaving over is parked in the middle of one of the car spots looking all shiny brand new. Two helmets are sitting on his work desk, a flat black one and a shimmering purple one. I was guessing the purple one was for me and the black was for him.

Tate pulls on the hand tie that is securing my hair in a high pony tail. He tousles my brown waves with his fingers lightly before placing the helmet on my head.

"Aren't you supposed to have a special license to drive a motorcycle and take a class?" I ask as Tate swings a leg over the bike.

"Yup," He says as he offers his hand to help me on.

I get on knots forming in my stomach. "Do you know how to drive this thing?"

"I've spent over a year repairing her, yes I do. You'll be okay; we’ll go slow and only take the back roads."

With that Tate revved the engine and off we went, feeling like I was flying.