by Tia Siren
I toyed with the glass of wine my mother poured for me for dinner. I hadn’t had any alcohol since my escapade at school, but I made a special excuse to drink with her as a toast.
“I’m happy for you, mom, I really am. But, this is going to take a little while to get used to. I think I’m going to turn in for the evening. Goodnight everyone,” I said.
Mother cleared her throat.
“Sweetie, Bill and the kids are going to spend the night tonight. Don’t be surprised if you wake up to strangers in the night,”
I sighed deeply.
“Would you prefer I sleep in my car,” I asked.
She shook her head.
“No, you sleep in your bed. I just want you to know that the toilet seat might be left up, so you should keep an eye out.”
“Goodnight, mother,” I said while rolling my eyes.
She giggled and sipped on her wine, as I made my way back upstairs.
5.
I woke to a cry in the next room over; it was Trenton in the guest bedroom. I heard Rick’s voice softly speaking in the darkness to his brother, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. I stepped from my bed and leaned against the door of my room, hoping to make out what he was saying. It was no good; there was too much between us.
I creaked open the door of my room and tip-toed down the hall. Every step made raised the volume of the voices.
“So you’re having a bad dream, buddy,” I heard Rick’s voice say.
“I swear I heard a monster under the bed, can you check again,” Trenton asked.
I heard shuffling around the bedroom.
“I saw one, but I scared it off with my ugly face. Most monsters are scared of me.”
Trenton laughed in the bedroom.
“Alright, get some sleep, pal,” Rick added.
I heard footsteps coming towards the door of the bedroom, and turned to rush back to my room, but I was unfortunately caught. The door to the guest room screeched open in the dimly lit hallway, exposing me in my pajamas.
“Casey?”
I stood still, hoping he hadn’t seen me, but my better judgment helped me realize that was impossible.
“Rick,” I stated casually, “I was on my way to the bathroom when I heard you guys talking. I didn’t hear anything, I swear.”
He exited the guest bedroom and pulled the door closed.
“Hey, when you’re done in the bathroom, do you think we can talk?”
“I don’t really need to go to the bathroom,” I said sheepishly.
He nodded and wandered down the nearby staircase, I followed. I had a lot of questions for him that I needed answered as well.
He propped himself on the couch, and I in my favorite chair.
“I don’t know what to say,” he started.
“I’m going to make some tea,” I said as I stood up and made for the kitchen.
“What happened to your dad,” he asked bluntly.
I hadn’t thought about it since it happened, and it felt odd talking about it with him. But, I think he knew loss about as well as I did. He might be one of the few people to understand.
“My dad always had a weak heart. It was a matter of time before the stress caught up with him. He passed away from a stroke a few years back. Mom’s always kept jobs for herself on the side, so it wasn’t hard for her to step up and take over the finances.
“I think about him from time to time. I miss his stupid smile and the way he’d watch hockey games.”
Rick laughed.
“So you were always a stick in the mud?” he asked.
“I was always what I am right now,” I said.
I offered him a cup of tea, and he accepted it but showed little interest in drinking it.
“Why did you pay that girl to force me into that stupid challenge?” I asked.
“Straight to business,” he replied, “very forward of you. I would have thought you’d ask about my mother first.”
“I was about to, but certain things came to mind first. What did you do with the video?”
He laughed.
“I suppose you would want to know what happened to that,” he said, “I kept it in a safe place so nobody would be able to watch it.”
“You’re not going to hold it over my head, are you?”
“I’ve no intention of doing that,” he replied.
“Then what are you going to do with it,” I asked.
“I have no idea. I haven’t even watched it at all. I felt guilty after taking it.”
“You felt guilty? Why?”
“Because, after you did it I couldn’t help but admire your adventurous spirit,” he said.
I didn’t think I had an adventurous spirit.
“Why don’t you just delete it,” I asked.
“Because it’s a masterpiece, I think. Watching you fall flat on your butt on the ice was quite a nice view,” he said with a smile.
“Well then, what did you think of the kiss,” I asked.
He pondered the answer for a moment before replying. I wondered what was turning in that ridiculous brain of his.
“I think that’s why I felt so guilty after taping you,” he said, “thinking of the kiss makes me think the video was a mistake.”
I thought about the kiss again, that moment was etched in my brain as though a splinter that had taken root. I actually fell asleep thinking about it earlier, and thinking about it now was making me more than a little aroused.
“It’s wrong to think about that now. We’ll be siblings soon,” I said.
“Yeah, we’ll be siblings really soon. Too bad, too. I was going to ask you out after the break was over,” he quipped.
I had to take a moment and sip at my tea before saying much more. This guy was gorgeous, and he wanted to ask me out. Why did our parents have to be getting married?
“You know, they’re not married yet,” I said, coyly while taking another sip.
He looked over at me, and his expression made it seem like his brain was overloaded trying to figure out what I had just said.
“That’s a good point,” he said.
“Does that mean you’re going to ask me out on a date,” I asked.
He smiled a devilish smile.
“Considering they’re planning on getting married while we’re here on break, I’d have to do it soon,” he said.
I felt naughty thinking about it, but this might be my only chance with one of the hottest guys I’d ever met.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to go skating for a bit. The pond out back freezes over and makes for a fine spot to practice,” I said.
He nodded.
“Would you like to go skating with me, Casey?”
“I’d be happy to,”
We set a time for twenty minutes. I sprinted up the stairs as silently as I could and threw on my warmer clothes with my skates propped over my shoulder.
The two of us snuck around the house and to the back door. I crunched in the snow outside, and Rick joined me. I balled up some snow and did my best to pack a snowball to smack him in the face, but he had the same idea and got to it first. Striking me square in the head, I returned the favor and hit him in the chin. After that, we formed a truce.
The small pond was barely half the size of a regulation ice rink, but just the right size for children to practice.
“I spent many hours out here,” I said while shoving my feet in my skates.
I finished first and started to get a feel for the ice. He joined me quickly after and did the same.
We skated in circles and side by side for a little while; it was bringing back memories of the ice rink from before break. I couldn’t stop blushing.
“I dare you to do a lap, on this pond, naked,” he said, laughing at his own stupid joke.
“You first,” I replied.
He stopped laughing and looked like he was thinking about it. Then he started taking off his jacket. I paused, as he stripped off his undershirt to expose his skinny but strong mid-s
ection.
“Oh, stop,” I said, hoping that he wouldn’t.
“You said ‘you first,' which means if I do it, you’ll do it. Right?”
“There’s no guarantee that I’ll go through with it,” I said.
“This is our one night that we get to be crazy, together. I already know what you look like naked. Let’s have some fun!”
That was it; he was right. It helped that he was super cute while he tried to slide his pants over his skates.
I kicked off my skates and started prying off my clothes. The air made me shiver for warmth, but I couldn’t imagine this ever happening again.
I peeled off all my layers until I was standing at the precipice of the ice in nothing but my panties and bra. He had already stripped off his boxers, and I could see he was enjoying this even though it was freezing.
“I bet I’m better at this than you,” he said, jokingly, “maybe I’ll stay on my feet in the end.”
I rolled my eyes and stripped off the last of my clothing. It was a trial by fire as my heart shot into my throat from the cold. It didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest as he started skating around, coming to a stop in front of me.
I reached out for help off the ground after I put on my skates and he was more than willing to do so.
I pulled up and into his arms, but didn’t pull away just yet. His heat felt good against my skin. I felt a good time to take a chance. I craned my neck up getting my lips closer to his.
It seemed he was waiting for this as he hungrily accepted me and returned the kiss in kind. My chest began to get flush and got a rush of excitement up and down all my limbs as we kissed.
I could feel his member rubbing against my bare stomach; it was growing. I wanted to be naughty, and I think he could tell.
He reached a hand down and grabbed my freezing behind. I welcomed the warmth of his hand and raised my leg to his waist to try to absorb as much of him as I could. Raising my leg shifted his position, and now his sex was rubbing against my own.
I could feel myself throbbing with passion, and I could hear my own heart beating in my ears. I stopped minding the cold altogether.
I reached a hand down to stroke his shaft as he reached a finger down and started to swirl around my clit. I let out a panting moan, and he twirled his finger around.
He began to skate backwards, and I fell into him, letting him take the lead as we skated to the edge of the pond. He sat himself upon his bundle of clothing and invited me to join.
I straddled myself atop his sinewy muscle and stroked up and down his chest. He reached out a hand and massaged my breasts, taking each one in turn, sucking on my nipples with his tongue and pulling me in closer with his other hand that rested on my back.
It was becoming too much to bear, so I lined his shaft up with my dripping wet sex and began lowering myself onto him. I offered little resistance to his entrance, as I could feel him pop inside and begin to fill me up.
I panted in the darkness, trying to stay quiet so as not to wake anyone in the house. I could feel myself get more wet just thinking about being caught. I wondered if he felt the same way, but didn’t care much to wait around for an answer.
I began working my hips around in circles while his manhood filled me. I could feel him throbbing inside. The spasms shot tingles through my spine, and I could feel myself getting close.
He lifted me from the ground while still inside me, and tossed his jacket onto the ice, lowering me onto it with the greatest of care. Then he started working his shaft in and out of my gaping wet hole. I started to beg for more of it with my pants of pleasure.
I think he could tell because he just started pounding hard and harder, smashing into my flesh. I wanted to scream, so I held a hand to my mouth and did my best to scream into it.
Then the welling feeling in the pit of my stomach grew until it encompassed the entirety of me, and I could feel a release. A flush of pleasure shot down my spine and tensed all my muscles.
I heard a sudden grunt come from Rick and could feel him shooting his hot sticky load inside. The feeling of him pulling out left me in shivers.
“Don’t tell the parents,” he said.
6.
We both woke up the next morning, completely spent and barely making eye contact. The rest of the vacation went similarly, as neither of us could look the other in the eye.
I didn’t complain; what we did would be wrong. Siblings shouldn’t be close like that. I did finally manage to ask him what happened to his mother, and he was straightforward with the answer.
“She died giving birth to Trenton,” was all he said.
I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like losing one person and gaining another. His father Bill took it hardest; Rick was too young to know what was really going on.
As the end of the break neared, we received our invitations to the wedding. It was a small ceremony, with only the local family attending, which included a couple of cousins, aunts, and uncles. We barely managed to fill the small twenty person church.
I played the maid of honor, and Rick played the best man, it was hard to take my eyes off him when he was dressed up, he looked incredibly professional.
I felt like he had the same thing on his mind, he might not be looking at me, but the corner of his eye was always facing my way.
Bill and Gladys were married on a Sunday, and it was a small and quite cute ceremony. They ate more than half the cake themselves.
I hadn’t seen mom this happy in a long time. The day filled her with a radiance that I had never seen on her face. Bill, as well, had rosy cheeks and the two of them danced liked they were the only ones in the room.
I giggled when I caught Bill pouring a bottle of Vodka in the punch; I avoided the bowl but seeing mom drunk was the highlight of the day.
Rick finally made his move over to my side. I knew this moment would come, the moment we had to decide how things were going to be from here on out.
“I’ve been thinking about it for the last two weeks,” he started, “we have done things that can’t be taken back. But, those were different people living different lives.
“We’re new people now, two brothers and a sister. Before, I had to decide whether or not I cared about you, but now that we’re family, I found that I love you.
“In some way, I wish that meant that I could love you as a girlfriend, but being siblings had an air of permanence. I’ll always be there for you, and you’ll always be there for me.”
I looked at him with tears in my eyes. I had lost a lover and instead gained a brother.
He held out a USB flash drive and gestured for me to take it. I plucked it from his hand and examined it.
“What is it,” I asked.
“It’s the video I took of you when you were skating on the ice,” he said, “it’s better kept in your care so you can do what you want with it. It’s the only copy.”
I took the drive and slipped it into my purse. He didn’t appear to have any regret.
“Sis, I hope we get along from now on,” he said.
I nodded and reached in to give him a hug. It wasn’t the hug of two lovers any longer; it was the hug of two siblings and I hated it. My body yearned to be closer than a sister. I wanted to pull him in and give him a kiss, and I could see he wanted nothing more than the same.
I wondered what people would think. I could see their eyes silently judging us in our prolonged hug, and I did my best to hide from their gaze. Rick slowly pushed me away, and I accepted his guidance.
It was difficult to see, but I could make out a small tear forming in the corner of his eye. I pretended that I didn’t notice.
We didn’t spend much time together during the short reception. But, I continued to feel his gaze on my back as I talked with other partygoers. They would all pat me on the back and give me a hug of congratulations. I didn’t feel lucky in the slightest.
The night wore on and my mom and her new husband left in the most absurdly decorated car I’d
ever seen. She looked at me with such a face of content that I couldn’t help but want to slap her. As though every little bit of happiness she felt was a small knife stabbing into my own.
I still kept Rick in the corner of my gaze, wishing that things had been different. I caught him sneak behind a stack of chairs and throw a meaningless punch into the wall out of frustration. I could tell that he wasn’t too keen on the new living situation either, and that was enough.
It would be a long year at school.
7.
The vacation passed, and I returned to school as a victor. I received more invites to parties from people I hadn’t ever met before. None held much interest for me, but I now had become a bit of a hockey fan. I began attending any game that I could, hoping to see Rick play.
He seemed a different player, more driven and focused. I managed to catch his eye from the stands a couple of times, and he would immediately turn away, almost wishing that I weren’t there.
That is until our team won a major victory over our biggest rival and made it into the playoffs.
I was incredibly excited for the team and made a point to attend their victory party. By now my exploits had become something of a legend, and getting into any party was easy. I recognized plenty of people, and while I was still embarrassed, I accepted their fawning.
Rick was standing next to the glass that surrounded the ice, and I made way straight to the nearest available drink.
I stood there, talking to Kathy while my mind wandered towards Rick. As though the world fell away when we were both in the same room, and trying to avoid thinking of him was counterintuitive. I skirted the outside of the crowd and caught him looking at me more than once.
I wanted nothing more than to walk up to him and leap into his more than capable arms and have him carry me off, but it didn’t feel right. Something was different now, and I wanted to know what.
I pulled my old skates from my bag and took a seat nearby him to put them on. He turned his eyes towards me as I prepared to take the ice. I think he was just as earnest as I was to talk about our shared history.
He politely ended his conversation with his fans as I carefully made my way to the ice. He followed along, closely from behind as I started to skate. A few people hooted and hollered in the crowd, and I had a feeling they were hoping I’d give them another show. I wasn’t interested and just smiled and waved off their collected screams.