“A treat?” he asked.
“My mother may not win any mother of the year awards, but she was a good cook. Do you like salsa?”
“I do but I’m not sure I’d like yours.”
“I’ll go light on it. I promise. But it’s really good, especially because it’s fresh.”
“I’d like to try it,” he said. “Maybe you can make it tomorrow?”
“You don’t have the ingredients in your house. And is that your way to get me to spend two nights in a row?”
She was on to him. Might as well be honest. “Yes. And we can get what you need when we are done golfing if you want.”
“I’ll think about it.”
They got to the golf course and stopped talking about food and spending the night. It was time to pay and get on the course.
He had fun watching her play. She was better than she let on. She could definitely drive the ball, she just didn’t seem to have a lot of control or finesse as they got closer to the green. Chipping and putting went out the window on her.
“You just wanted to do this so you could kick my butt,” she said, poking him in the side with her finger. A nice playful move she never did out in public. Or did rarely if at all.
He pulled her close to his side. “That wasn’t the reason, but it’s a nice side benefit. I don’t complain when you beat me.”
“I’m not complaining,” she said.
“Whining then?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes and he loved the spark in them.
“I don’t whine. I’m not a sore loser.”
“Good to know,” he said.
They finished out their eighteen holes. He’d wanted to stop keeping score halfway through. There was no reason to continue, but she said she wanted to see how bad she did so she could improve next time.
He liked that trait in her too. She didn’t do well but wasn’t going to throw in the towel either.
“I’m going to run to the bathroom quick,” she said when they were putting the clubs in his car. “I’m starving.”
“We can eat lunch in the clubhouse,” he offered.
It was close to three. They’d gotten a little bottled up from the people ahead of them. He was glad in a way, as he didn’t want the two of them to be causing the backup. They’d caught up to people and were waiting for their last four holes and he could only imagine the bottleneck behind them.
“Works for me,” she said.
When they got back inside, she went into the ladies’ room, him into the men’s room. As he was standing in the hall waiting for her, he looked up and saw his brothers come around the corner the same time Adriana opened the door saying, “I could eat a whole cow. I hope they’ve got big burgers on the menu in the clubhouse.”
“Fancy meeting you two here. Just get done?” Drake asked.
“About ten minutes ago,” he said. “Why? Were you behind us?”
“Yeah. Someone was holding everyone up. I think we caught up to you guys at one point. I wondered if it was you two going so slow since you were walking but then realized you were waiting too.”
“I suck,” Adriana said. “But we still moved fast and were waiting around that last four holes.”
“I don’t know about that,” Noah said. “I saw a few of your drives from the distance.”
“Oh, I can connect with the ball off a tee. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.”
Wyatt laughed. “She takes a full swing at every shot.”
“Oh,” Drake said. “Wyatt has the magic touch on the course. He and Jade. The two of them always kicked our butts.”
“So you guys are all competitive?” she asked. “I thought Wyatt didn’t care if he won.”
She was smirking when she said it. “I want to win when it’s important.”
“Jade is the one that had to best us,” Drake said. “She always pushed Wyatt too.”
“Did I hear you two kids were getting lunch?” Noah said. “I’m starving myself. Weren’t you just talking about wanting something to eat, Drake?”
“I sure was.” Drake put his hand on Wyatt’s back. “Table for four.”
“Sure,” he said. Damn it.
“So is it safe to say you aren’t just friends?” Noah asked Adriana at the table. “Wyatt tried to say you were but no one believed it.”
She looked at him and he just shrugged. “We’re dating. Got any advice for me in dealing with your baby brother?”
Noah started to laugh. “We could tell you all sorts of things. For some reason Sebastian just idolizes Wyatt though.”
“That kid loves me,” he said. “Noah is an authority figure to him.”
“Only during the day,” Noah argued.
“Even after hours you’re still going to be his ‘dad.’ He’s never had one and he looks up to you for that. But me, I’m the cool uncle that he can say what he wants to and I’m not going to take his video games away.”
Adriana laughed. “There is something to be said for that.”
“Paige takes his games away. I don’t,” Noah said.
“No. You punish him in other ways by fixing his wrongs and making him join clubs and spread the word,” Drake said.
“He’s doing a good thing for Voices Matter and you know it,” Noah said.
“Boys,” Wyatt said. “You’re ruining my lunch.” He turned to Adriana. “Sebastian was bullied in school and got into some fights. Rather than be suspended, Noah made him and another kid start a club to talk about bullying. An anti-bulling campaign.”
“It’s called Voices Matter?” she asked. “That’s a great name.”
“Sebastian’s idea,” Noah said. “He’s a smart kid. And it was a good move. He’s made a lot of friends and he’s having a good time doing it.”
“My point is,” Wyatt said, “he doesn’t have to be guarded with me.”
“He just likes that you’re the prankster of the family,” Noah said.
“Hey, he bested me with the Elf on the Shelf,” he said.
“I’m confused,” Adriana said. “The Christmas toy?”
Drake shifted in his chair as if he was uncomfortable. “Let’s not talk about that. Wyatt had
