Fake Boobs

by Ryan Ringbloom

She wanted Kyle? I ruined it for her? Girls like her couldn’t be choosy? I should have minded my own business? No way. The anger swelled inside of me, and I foolishly rang her doorbell a second time and lit into her just a little bit harder than I should have. I also called her pretty. I never should have done that. Her release of emotion triggered so much of my own to come flying out, and my mouth started running on its own accord.

  She yelled at me. It took me off guard. I’d never heard her even raise her voice. It was definitely a side of Tori I’d never seen before.

  I clunked down onto the step, her words ringing in my ear. She thought guys didn’t want her. That was insane. Her look was that innocent girl next-door look every guy fantasized about. Wholesome, beautiful…real. Okay, maybe not every guy. At least it was my fantasy.

  Dammit. No. It wasn’t.

  Tori, was not my fantasy. She was the little sister of my best friend. I rubbed my face, pushing my fingers against my eyelids. “Pink and perky and not fucked up.” Why the hell did she go and say that? The image of what she had underneath her shirt was not an image I wanted in my head. I shook it out. No, that was a bad image. One I needed to erase from my mind.

  I redirected my thoughts and concentrated on how I planned to approach the subject with Jim when he came home. Part of me was questioning if I was making too much out of it. Tori said nothing happened. Kyle said nothing happened. She was upset. Maybe it was best if I just stepped away from it.

  The door reopened. Two silky, lean legs lined up next to mine. The sweet scent of lemony shampoo filled my nose. I was taken aback by the way my body reacted. Parts of me stirred, my chest, my stomach…lower.

  “Pretty how? You said I was pretty before. How am I pretty?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  Oh, shit.

  “I’m not answering that.” Not for all the money in the world would I answer that question, or else, screw Kyle; I’d be waiting here needing to tell Jim all about the wrong things going on in my own head at the moment.

  “I figured you wouldn’t.”

  What did I get myself into? Run away now, Grant. How could I make her understand why I couldn’t tell her the reasons I thought she was pretty?

  “Tori, I explained before. You’re off limits. I don’t look at you as anything more than a friend.”

  “Friend? Since when are we friends?” She actually laughed at me.

  She was right. We weren’t even friends. It was a good reminder.

  “I guess we’re not. But I’ve known your brother for a long time. You were a kid when I met you.”

  “Yeah, I was. I’m not anymore.”

  “I know you’re not anymore. You’re all grown up, but you’re still Jim’s sister.”

  She is Jim’s sister. She is Jim’s sister. She is Jim’s sister.

  “Jim’s ugly sister.” She stood up. “You forgot to say that part.” Her pretty scent grew stronger as she breezed up from her spot on the step next to me. “Jim and Jeanie are spending the night at a motel. You can go home now. If you still feel you need to tell Jim what happened, go ahead; I can’t stop you. You just won’t be able to do it tonight, and by the time you tell him, Kyle will be gone anyway.”

  The door slammed before I could even think clear enough to react. I needed to get up and get the fuck away from here. I was out of this whole mess. Done. I tried to do the right thing, but maybe the right thing was just staying clear away from Tori myself.

  Fucking Kyle.

  Fucking lemony scent and lean legs.

  Fucking pink perky…I swallowed.

  It was no longer my problem.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The legal drinking age didn’t seem to be a factor at Cutsy’s. Every young girl in town had apparently been let in. Either the guy at the door was a horny prick or the fake IDs were getting a hell of a lot better.

  I agreed to one beer with my sister, just because I needed a place to go and forget the whole scenario from the past two nights. I held off on talking with Jim. Kyle was gone, and soon we’d all be gone, off to school. Everyone would be on their own, and they could all take care of themselves.

  “Mom and Dad are going to be so sad when you leave next week.” Julie took a sip from her beer bottle.

  “That’s doubtful. I don’t even see them anymore since they banished me to the servants’ quarters.” I’m not sure why I laughed. It wasn’t funny.

  I’d dreamed of being a pilot since I was a kid, but I’d also dreamed of other things too. Jumping into things ill-prepared was never my style. Big decisions needed to be well thought out and carefully planned in order to execute them correctly.

  My parents acted like I was being lazy. Taking time off from school to play video games and slack off. They never really understood me, nor would they ever, but I still loved them. And they still loved me. Or else they probably wouldn’t be shelling out a small fortune for the extremely high tuition at my choice of school in another state.

  “What are you going to do about meeting girls while you’re away? Not exactly the ideal place to meet a girl where you’re going. That school is dude central.”

  “It shouldn’t be a problem. I wasn’t exactly meeting a lot of girls around here.” I raised my brows. “I guess I’ll just have to focus on my work and that’s probably the best thing for me. Besides, you know me and partying, that’s never really been my thing.”

  “I know.” Julie looked down uncomfortably and played with the label on her beer.

  “What?” I tried to read her.

  “Nothing just…are girls your thing?” She sat up straight. “It’s so okay if it’s not. I just want you to know you can talk me about anything and I’ll be fine.”

  “I like girls,” I assured her and she shrugged it off, trying to show me how cool she was with whatever my answer was. “I just haven’t met a girl who I felt a real connection with yet. The dates I’ve gone on or the girls I’ve met in the bars, I don’t know.” I sipped my beer. “I never really felt a real spark with any of them.”

  “There’s no rush, right?” She winked, knowing my philosophy on informed decisions.

  “No rush.”

  The bar filled up, packed tighter and tighter. I was thankful we had arrived early and grabbed seats at the bar. I switched to soda and Julie ordered one last beer. Her boyfriend Will was coming soon to pick her up. She was excited telling me about all the hints she kept dropping about her ring size and diamond cuts she liked.

  “So, I want a big round diamond, but I also want little ones on either side. But then I was thinking maybe that’s too traditional. What do you think about rubies on the side?” Julie asked, holding out her hand so I could picture some imaginary ring.

  I leaned my head back bored and spotted a circle of girls. “Shit! What the hell is she doing here?”

  “Who?” Julie craned her neck in the direction I was honed in on.

  “Tori Albert.” I grumbled.

  “Jim’s kid sister? Isn’t she like fifteen?”

  “No, she’s eighteen, but that’s still too young to be in here. When the hell did this place go so lax on its policy?” I barked.

  “You think you should go say something? Or call Jim and let him know she’s here?”

  “No.” I slammed my fist onto the bar. “Jim’s little sister is not my fucking problem.”

  Julie tilted her head. “Ya know, she really looks grown up.”

  “No, I don’t know. Can we just drop it?” I rubbed my forehead. “Emeralds, or rubies or whatever you said sounds nice.”

  “I said rubies, but yes, emeralds. That would look good.” We were right back onto ring talk.

  I refused to look in Tori’s direction. Well, a few glances, but I hardly noticed her there. I didn’t notice the shorts, the legs, nothing.

  “Someone was saying that a round diamond in a square setting might look nice,” Julie rambled.

  “Okay, now who the fuck is that?” I raised my hand in Tori’s direction. Some dark-haired slimy w
easel had his arm wrapped around Tori’s shoulders. She was smiling but her body language was closed and timid. The asshole had bought her a beer. She was guzzling it. Drinking way too fast.

  “Who is who?” Julie looked around confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “Nothing. Continue.” I was not going to look. Tori was a big girl. She could do whatever she wanted.

  My sister babbled. I pretended to listen. Tori and the jerk-off took a seat at the bar across from us. Only Tori didn’t notice me because she was getting wasted off the beers some potential rapist was buying her.

  “Will just texted me. He’s in the parking lot. You ready to leave?” Julie hopped off her stool.

  “No, you go. I have my car. I’m gonna stay.”

  “Okay,” she kissed my cheek. “Be careful. Talk to ya tomorrow.”

  Tori was on her fifth beer.

  I signaled the bartender over and he took our tab from a glass assuming that was what I wanted.

  “That girl over there, the one you keep serving drinks to. She’s eighteen. Stop serving her now. Do you understand?” I slapped a fifty down on the counter to more than cover our bill. “And bring her a water. She needs to sober up.”

  I watched the bartender do what I asked and the reaction of the guy seated next to Tori. The bartender pointed and the guy snarled in my direction. Then he ushered a wobbly Tori up and began walking her out the door. I was up on my feet fighting my way through the crowd in no time.

  Outside, Tori was on her knees throwing up into the sand. I pulled the guy lurking over her heaving body by the neck of his shirt, shoving him forward.

  “Get the fuck away from her!” I shouted.

  “Who the fuck are you? Go mind your own business.” The guy fixed his shirt like some cocky son of a bitch. He was half my size. That was some big fucking balls for such a small guy.

  I took a deep breath. “Walk away now. This is your last warning.”

  “Or what?” The guy tipped his chin up, talking in his tough-guy voice.

  I stepped forward. He stepped back. That was all it took.

  “That ugly whore ain’t worth it.” He turned and walked away.

  So close.

  And to think, I almost let him go. With one precise punch, I broke his nose and then scooped Tori up before a scene erupted in front of the bar. Only a few people had noticed us so far and the quicker we exited, the less trouble there’d be.

  I nestled Tori’s slumped body into my front seat and buckled her in. She was out cold. I started up the car with no fucking clue what to do next.

  I was involved all over again. I didn’t have to be. But I was.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I was on my way to talk to Tori, to give her a lecture. I had nothing planned. I didn’t even know what I was going to say or how I was going to say it. Whatever it was, I just wanted it to be quick.

  Jim was out of the equation. He’d left for school. I missed the chance to do what was right. If I was smart, I would have driven her right home last night and had a long talk with Jim. But I spent too much time overthinking the situation, weighing the options in my head. Now it was too late. There was no more - Do I tell Jim? Do I not? At least not for now.

  The two full hours of driving around last night with Tori in the car had my brain rattled. She was drunk going in and out, waking up saying silly things, telling me how I nice was. Once even reaching over and touching my leg telling me I was cute. None of that had helped make the situation any better. The alcohol had loosened her tongue and she was saying a bunch of nonsense. She wasn’t even sure who I was.

  When she woke up and her drunken haze started to lift, her words couldn’t be ignored. She didn’t even realize how dangerous what she did was. Drinking with some loser she just met. Thinking just because he had a fucking dog and bought her a few drinks that the guy was great. Saying once again that she wanted to “do stuff” with him, thinking he really liked her.

  It infuriated me. My blood boiled. I told her flat out that he didn’t. If she thought a guy like that really liked her, she was headed for a world of trouble.

  I needed to fix this as quickly as possible, say a few words and be done. I pulled up to her house. The plan was talk and leave.

  She ran out to my car. Shorts. A tank top. The plan changed.

  “Get in,” I motioned to the passenger seat without even thinking. She gave me a big smile and ran to get her stuff and lock up.

  I figured by the time we got coffee, I’d have a new plan. But I still didn’t. The next thing I knew I’d taken her back to my apartment where we could be alone. Alone was not a good plan.

  In my apartment, I said the things I needed to say and then she somehow got me to say a few things that I did not need to say. I should have stopped after saying her eyes had a honey hue. Telling her she had a good body…what the hell was I doing?

  Time for her to go, put her back in my car and take her back home. Wave goodbye and leave.

  “I’ve got Netflix. You in?” Noooo. What’s wrong with me? I made a plan, car, home, waving…where the hell did Netflix come from?

  “Yeah,” she answered a bit surprised.

  One show. We’d pick one show. Watch one episode.

  Okay, Grant, all you need to do is pick out the most boring show on here and we’ll both be yawning by the end. Boom! Take her home.

  I scrolled through and landed on the show everyone was talking about. “This one?” I asked, blowing up yet another plan by picking out a show that was rumored to be anything but boring.

  “I never even heard of it. Is it supposed to be good?”

  “I don’t really know. I never heard of it either.” I lied because I thought if we watched it and she loved it I could take credit for…what? Picking out a good show? Sick.

  The show started. Simple enough plan. No talking. I glanced up at one of the black and white photos of a vintage B-17 propeller. I told her what I was going to school for and never even asked about her.

  “So, what are studying? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

  “I always wanted to be a teacher.” She blushed when she answered, her pretty pale skin pinking up.

  “That’s great. I’m sure one day the kids will all think Miss Albert is their favorite teacher.” I needed some water to moisten my dry mouth. I combed my fingers over my hair and tapped my foot, putting the show back on.

  I spent three years figuring out my future, making plans and now a girl was making me so crazed I couldn’t keep a plan straight for five seconds. Not just any girl, Jim’s sister. Wrong.

  Take her home.

  The credits rolled. She stood up and grabbed her purse making it easy to end the night. Perfect.

  Take her home.

  The next episode would automatically start in 16 seconds, 15, 14….

  Take her home.

  “Want to watch the next one?” I pushed my arms back in a casual stretch.

  “Really?” She seemed surprised. “I figured you’d want to take me home and get rid of me.”

  I didn’t want to take her home.

  “The other night you mentioned we weren’t friends and maybe it’s time we changed that.” Friends. I gave it a label so it wasn’t weird.

  She used her hair to hide her smile. I had to turn my head to hide mine.

  We watched the next show and then the next one. I even asked her to stay for a fourth episode and it was fine, because we were friends. No one could accuse us of doing anything funny. We were just two friends watching TV. It was innocent.

  Episode four ended. I could have watched more, but it was late. The harmless night needed to be over. The ride home to her house was quiet, a little awkward. It had that end of a date feel. One that had me wondering how it would end when I dropped her off.

  When we pulled back into her driveway, it put back into perspective the situation. Seeing my friend’s house reminded me that all I had done was just stepped in and acted out a brotherly duty on my frien
d’s behalf. I talked to Tori, watched a little TV and now I was saying goodnight.

  “Thank you, Grant, for talking to me and watching shows with me. I don’t really, um, do things, like hang out with guys and watch TV.” Her breath caught as she laughed, flustered and embarrassed. “I mean I do. With Jim. But that’s not…okay, I need to stop talking.”

  Fuck.

  I wanted to kiss her.

  She sat there silently, biting her lip almost like she was waiting for a kiss. I had to do something to break the weird moment.

  “How about you come back over tomorrow night and we can watch a few more episodes?”

  Oh, yeah, brilliant idea. Spend four more hours with her. That would help the whole wanting to kiss her feeling. Why did I do that? Say no to me, pretty girl.

  “Yes, okay.” She lit up and bounced a little in the seat. “I would love that. What time?”

  Tell her, you just remembered you can’t. Tell her you have plans. Anything, a sick aunt, taking a friend’s dog to be neutered…bottom line: you’re busy. You can’t see her again.

  “Around eight?” Perfect. Maybe we can leave the lights off and cuddle in the dark on the couch. I can sport a huge Woodrow and pretend like it’s nothing. Fantastic plan.

  “Okay, eight o’clock.” She opened the door and paused, looking back over at me. “Are you sure? I know you’re just being nice, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to hang out with me because of what happened. I promise I won’t have any more crazy nights of drinking. You don’t have to rescue me from anything else.”

  “I’m sure.” I was so unsure it was frightening.

  She smiled one of her sweet smiles and gave me a wave before closing the door.

  I was in so much trouble.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Her petite frame cowered next to me and she gasped. I was so aware of her sitting just a few feet away on the other end of the couch. Her scent, every move she made…every sound. I was having a tough time concentrating.

  The show had taken a few creepy turns. It was the perfect show to cuddle up and watch, the kind where a girl would bury her face into your chest so she couldn’t see what was going to happen next. My chest was available but Tori picked up a pillow and used it to hide her eyes.