Lady in Red Ch. 10

"I'm sorry for all the fuss I caused. I didn't know what a jerk Larry was. He seemed like a nice guy at the gym, so I invited him to come with me tonight. It was our first date and it'll be the last."

"I suspect your friend may be into steroids pretty heavily. His muscle mass was way too great and his rather strange behavior was text book 'roid rage'. It's best you switch gyms and avoid him totally. He's headed down a bad road," predicted Laura.

I never thought about that," admitted Ashley as she looked in Steve's direction. "He looked so rugged and so handsome. Are most muscular men on steroids?"

"No, not necessarily," responded Laura as she followed Ashley's gaze. "I can assure you that Steve is not taking steroids, and it's unlikely any of the football players on any team coached by Mr. Watkins would be. He doesn't tolerate illegal, unethical, or unhealthy behavior by his players. These young men gained their strength the old fashioned way; genetics and hard work.

A little later, Steve found himself alone with Lisa's date. "I've to tell you that I was prepared to not like you, Steve. Lisa keeps saying all these great things about you, and it gets to me after a while. I really like her and want to date her, but she keeps talking about some other guy. This other guy is everything you could ever want in a man, and he isn't me.'

"I'll let you in on something I finally figured out about the Anderson family. You may find it hard to accept. If you want to get in good with Lisa, be good to me. That'll help. Be very good to Gwen and Kate and her parents. Be polite and respectful to her aunts and uncles and grandparents," advised Steve.

"Why would I have to be good to you to get Lisa to like me better? Do you have control over her or something, or are you just an egotistical asshole?"

"I thought it might be hard to understand, but I'll try to explain it better. Lisa loves her family. Because Gwen and I are close, Lisa loves me, but like a brother. There will never be any sex between us for a few reasons. Lisa will never betray her sister. I will never betray Gwen. That makes me safe for Lisa to flirt with and tease. She knows that I understand and she loves me for it. The same goes for Kate. They love me mostly because Gwen does. That's how close the sisters are.

"If you and Lisa get close, Kate and Gwen will treat you special, once they decide that you're good enough for their sister. They'll love you like Lisa and Kate love me. You have to tease and flirt back with them, but never make any sort of inappropriate advance that could make them think you would be unfaithful to their sister, regardless of how seductive and flirty they behave. They expect you to be safe to tease. Never break that trust.

"I know this is unusual, but I'll repeat myself. That's how close these sisters are. Watch Gwen when I dance with Kate. She'll beam that we get along so well. It makes her happy to know we're close. Jealousy seldom enters into their thoughts because they trust each other and love each other," concluded Steve as he walked over to Diane and spoke quietly to her.

"Okay, everyone. I've just received a suggestion that Steve and Kate give a preview of the dance they'll be performing at the Inaugural Ball next week. Of course they'll be dressed to kill, but here's the dance they'll do. Kate actually selected the music, which will be no surprise to anyone. Dancing to 'Little Sister' by Elvis, here's Kate and Steve!"

Kate smiled brightly as she stepped into the center of the studio to join Steve as the music began. It was a fast paced, energetic dance with Steve and Kate gyrating in unison at times and then coming together and dancing in perfect harmony the rest of the time. The steps were quick and appeared very complicated, but Steve and Kate never faltered. When it finished, Kate threw herself into Steve's arms and kissed him soundly.

Gwen was the first person to reach them as everyone whistled and clapped. "Kate! That was fantastic! You two were perfect. I'm so proud of you."

Steve turned to Mike and nodded knowingly to him as Gwen hugged Kate. When Gwen wrapped her arms around Steve, he again looked at Mike and gave him a big smile as he hugged Gwen back.

As midnight approached, Steve found himself enjoying a slow dance with Gwen. The TV on the wall was muted, but showed the countdown to the New Year. As the clock struck midnight, Steve pulled Gwen close and gave her a long, lingering kiss.

When he finally released Gwen, Kate was beside him. "That was nice, Steve, but there's a lot more girls here that need a kiss from you. Let's get the year started right!"