by Sienna Skye
They yelled Happy Birthday when I walked in. For the briefest of seconds, I thought my mother might have told them. They saw the surprise on my face.
“I snuck into your room and saw the package from your aunt. Mad or happy?”
“Happy. Definitely happy. Thank you!”
Hunter walked over with a present and told me it was from both of them. Inside was a beautiful charm bracelet. They had already added two charms to it. One was a little birthday cake, the other simply said “sister”.
After we had stuffed ourselves with pizza and the incredible cake Mrs. O’Brien baked me, they announced it was time for entertainment. They collected a bunch of the old 80’s movies, the ones I used to watch with my dad, and we hung out all night watching them.
It was late that night that I thought about how I had originally been so upset when my mother said she was getting married. But, if she hadn’t, I would be alone with a woman who didn’t give a crap about me. Now I had two people who had become very important to me in a very short period of time.
✽✽✽
Morgan
The three of us became almost inseparable during the summer. We took Jules most places we went. We brought her to parties and to the movies with our friends. She started to make friends which is what we were hoping would happen.
Hand eye coordination wasn’t her thing, though. I wrapped ankles, splinted fingers, and bandaged cuts. If I were a boy scout, I would have earned a first aid merit badge.
She came to us one day saying she wanted to try archery. We refused that one. There was no way I was pulling an arrow out of her. I had found she was better with strength and started coaching her on lifting weights. She was good with that. By some miracle, indoor rock climbing was a success.
We had a house down the shore and we drove down one weekend. Hunter had the brilliant idea to try to teach Jules how to surf. I stayed on the beach. A couple of hot girls in barely there bikinis caught my eye. By the time I remembered to look back, I realized I didn’t see Jules. Or Hunter. A moment later I saw Hunter break through the water, a sputtering Jules in his arms. I was probably an ass for laughing, but I was just so damn glad it finally wasn’t me who almost killed her.
She wouldn’t have been mad at him, though. She worshipped Hunter as a big brother. Jules and I were more like great friends. Still she was fiery and passionate, and on the occasions when her temper flared, it could be downright frightening. Unfortunately for me, I was the one who usually pissed her off. I couldn’t help it, I liked getting her attention.
Chapter Eight
Julia
Living with Hunter and Morgan was interesting to say the least. Luckily, we all got along pretty well, and we never really had any step sibling rivalry or anything. They were always good about letting me hang out with their friends. And let me tell you, those two hung out with some extremely hot guys, so there was always plenty of eye candy. Despite the fact that I had started to grow boobs and hips, their friends pretty much saw me as Hunter and Morgan’s little sister, at least when it came to anyone thinking about asking me out. And trust me, I tried. Every time the guys all got together to swim and hang out by the pool, I would be right there, in one of my favorite bikinis. Sometimes I would catch some of them watching me from behind their sunglasses. Sometimes, when I was in the pool, one of them would pick me up and toss me around in the water, their hands maybe getting a little close to places that were screaming for attention. Every once in a while, one of them would offer to help me out with my sunscreen, their hands lingering a little bit. But, every look, every touch, every lingering would rapidly come to an end whenever Hunter or Morgan looked up or came into the vicinity. So, I soaked up the view and enjoyed whatever attention I got.
But, living with those two gave me a very interesting education. By any standards, they were totally hot. While I had finally turned into something other than long skinny arms and legs, the Stone brothers had already matured into men.
Hunter, at six foot four, was the taller of the two. His brown hair and steely grey eyes were very much like Parker’s. In fact, he looked like a younger clone of Parker. The man’s shoulders were so wide, I sometimes wondered if he would have to turn sideways to get through the door.
Morgan was slightly smaller than Hunter, but still larger than most other men. Morgan topped off at six foot two and he had his mother’s coloring with his black hair and intense emerald green eyes. I once saw a girl who was so caught up looking at his eyes that she walked straight into a wall. Seriously, straight into a wall. Morgan played football, basketball, and baseball with Hunter, but he also was a Taekwondo black belt.
The two of them were these tall, muscled, six packed, handsome guys who also happened to be very athletic and extremely smart. It goes without saying that there were girls falling all over themselves to get to them. They may have been good guys, but they also ate up the attention. I don’t remember any of the girls hanging around for extended periods of time and there were no relationships that I remember lasting more than six months. The cougars hunted them down too.
Like I said, they were good guys, so they never crossed the line of hooking up with anyone who had a boyfriend…or a husband. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of married women who were looking to take one of them on a wild ride. I actually overheard one trying to get them to have a threesome with her.
There was this one time we were at one of the banquets we were forced to go to. There was an older gentleman who had come with his new and much younger wife. She was gorgeous and exotic looking with her olive skin and deep brown eyes. Hunter had arrived late and had missed the introduction to the new wife. Shortly after he arrived, I caught the new bride follow Hunter into a side room. As I got close, I could see she was rubbing herself all over him. They were kissing and then she pulled away to drop to her knees. While I knew I had to do something, I really didn’t know what that something actually was. I could have run to get Morgan, but who knew how long that would take, and from the looks of her, she had a lot of practice doing what she was doing. I figured that meant that it wouldn’t be quick, but I had no real experience to go on. I sure as hell knew I didn’t want to see what was about to happen. I went with the quickest plan I could think of. I stepped back and called Hunter’s name as if I were looking for him. I called his name like I was auditioning for a freaking Ricola commercial. Hoping I wouldn’t vomit if I walked in and found out they hadn’t heard me, I walked into the room. Thankfully, they must have heard me coming. And even more thankfully, I didn’t hear either of them doing the same. I walked in all sunshine and butterflies, putting my hands on my hips for dramatic emphasis.
“Hunter! There you are! I’ve been looking for you. Oh, hello, Mrs. Baldwin. Nice to see you again. I saw your husband looking for you a few minutes ago.”
Hunter’s face blanched. I looked at Mr. Baldwin’s wife and noticed she had taken off her rings. She thanked me for relaying the message, but I got the feeling I didn’t want to be caught alone in any dark hallways with her. When she left, I glanced over at Hunter and was mortified to see the state she left him in. I stared up at the ceiling, because I really didn’t want to see the evidence of all her hard work.
“Thanks for the save. I had no idea she was married.”
“Yeah, I figured.” They really had lovely ceiling tiles. Quite the intricate design. “Ummm, Hunter I’m not really sure what you need to do to…Maybe you should go outside or …I mean you gotta do something…Ah hell, just go take care of…however you have to…I don’t know…I don’t want to know. Just do what you gotta do and I will cover for you.” The lighting fixtures really did bring out the ambience in the room.
“Julia?”
“Can we make this quick? My neck is starting to hurt.”
“I just wanted to ask if we could keep this to ourselves and forget it ever happened.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.” I started to back out of the room, twisted my ankle, and fell to the floor. Hunter st
arted to come toward me. Still not looking at him, I held up a hand. “Stay there! I will be fine.” My ankle was freaking killing me and starting to swell already. I took my shoes off and crawled back out until I could pull myself up on a railing. I hobbled to find Morgan. He had tons of practice wrapping my ankles.
Now, here’s the thing when you have parents who travel all over the place. There were a lot of nights they were not at home. That meant there were a lot of nights that Hunter and Morgan had girls staying over. You know, for a big fancy house, that place really wasn’t sound proof.
I felt like I was going to suffer from permanent insomnia with all the bed banging, moaning, and screaming going on. By the sound of things, those two certainly knew what they were doing. It was like living on a porn set. And let me tell you, they never had a dissatisfied partner. They probably would have had incredible yelp reviews.
My little virginal self was growing more and more frustrated. You can only listen to a girl being satisfied for just so long before you start feeling a little edgy. I started entertaining myself so often that I felt kind of obligated to send myself flowers with a note thanking me for a lovely time.
It got so bad that when the guys asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I asked them to chip in and get me a good pair of noise cancelling headphones. I don’t think they ever figured out why I asked for them, but I have to tell you, those suckers rocked!
It wasn’t just the nights, either. Mornings. Afternoons. They didn’t discriminate. I found myself going down to the gym to avoid not only the noise, but also running into whichever female visitor was the catch of the day. I rarely bothered to learn their names. I soon discovered working out also helped to work off some of that pent up sexual frustration. I spent a lot of time on the stair climber and with the weights. I credit all their sexual antics with me having a pretty kick ass, well….ass.
I remember one day in the summer before my junior year. It was late afternoon when I walked into my room to find a rather attractive woman with long red hair propped up on my bed. Oh, did I mention she was naked? Yup, propped up in what I imagine was her sexy pose. She reminded me of the Little Mermaid. I doubted she was there for me, though I might have considered that option since I wasn’t getting lucky elsewhere. It was hard not to scan her body. I mean, how often do you find a mermaid camped out on your bed? I briefly wondered if I was supposed to douse her with water or something. Something caught my eye. Instead of a landing strip, she had her hair shaped into an arrow. Pointing down. Sheesh, what kind of guys had this girl been with that they needed road signs?
She just stayed in her sexy pose looking at me with giant, surprised eyes.
“Hey, ummm, who are you here to see?”
Silence.
“Okaaaayy. I’m assuming you are here for either Hunter or Morgan”
Still silent.
“Which one are you here to see?”
Not a word. Hell, maybe she really was a mermaid. Didn’t Arielle lose her voice or something?
“Let’s try it this way. Just nod or shake your head. Are you looking for Hunter?”
A shake of the head. For some reason it irked me that the answer would be Morgan.
“Morgan then. He’s the second door on the right. I’m the second door on the left.” Maybe she was the one who needed the arrow.
“I thought the room looked a little girlie.” It speaks! “I guess I should go and find him.”
“I’ll tell you what. I will send him to you. You just hang out here. Keep your hands folded or something.”
I left and stormed into Morgan’s room without knocking.
“What the hell, Jules?”
“Arielle got lost and she is currently resting her fins on my bed.”
“Wait…what?”
“Arielle. Your… What shall we call her? Your date? She is in my room.”
“Arielle? Haha! You mean Brianna. Arielle. Good one! What’s she doing in there?”
“That is an excellent question. She apparently gets easily confused telling her right from her left. You need to go get her.” He looked confused. I wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t figure out how she got lost or he couldn’t figure out why I was so pissed. Well, I could help him with one of those things. “By the way, just so you know, she’s a natural red head.”
I watched as it dawned on him. He looked horrified as he jumped off his bed and started to run to my room. As I headed down to the gym, I looked over my shoulder and yelled, “Morgan, you better make sure my comforter is washed by the time I get back!”
Chapter Nine
Julia
It was December. My senior year of high school. There was a holiday formal my school held each year and I was so excited because I had been invited by someone to go as his date. I hadn’t dated much in high school and figured I would end up going alone. Blake had moved to town and started going to our school midway through our junior year. With his good looks and easy charm, he quickly became one of the more popular kids in school. Blake had golden blonde hair and those baby blue eyes and combined with his ripped body, he had most of the girls fawning all over him. I was shocked when he had asked me to go with him. I wasn’t necessarily one of the more popular kids. I had easily been brought into the fold of Hunter and Morgan’s friends, but they had all since graduated. I had my own friends, but like I said, I didn’t date a lot.
Parker and my mother may have been lacking in parental warmth, but they were pretty loose with their platinum card and I searched until I found the perfect dress. It was sleeveless, in a deep jewel tone green velvet, with a draped neckline. The floor length dress hugged my curves and when I put it on, I felt grown up for the very first time.
When Hunter had called me a few days earlier, I had chattered on to him about the dance and the dress and told him how excited I was. He said that he and Morgan were finishing exams that day and would be back to see me off. Being the best big brother ever, he indulged my excitement and told me he couldn’t wait to see how pretty I was going to look. So, I was disappointed when he texted and said they were running late and probably would not be there in time for me to leave. But, when Blake arrived and rang the doorbell to pick me up, excitement replaced the disappointment. There he stood, looking handsome in his tux. He pinned a red rose corsage on me and I melted on the spot. I was so happy that beautiful boy liked me, it almost seemed too good to be true. And that’s exactly what it turned out to be.
✽✽✽
Morgan
Hunter and I were sitting at the kitchen table after having just devoured a bunch of leftovers. We got home much later than we expected and since we were delayed we decided not to stop for food. We were both beat but wanted to wait up to see Jules since we missed her before she left. Hunter told me that she had been all sorts of excited about going to her dance and I felt bad nobody had been home when she left.
We heard the front door open and Hunter called out to her. “Julia, is that you?”
“Yeah.”
I looked at Hunter, kind of surprised she didn’t come bouncing in chattering on about her night. “Jules, come here so we can see you all dressed up.”
“I…I’m tired and want to go to bed.”
Something was wrong. The tone of her voice was off, and it sounded far too shaky to me. Like she was trying not to cry. I saw the look on Hunter’s face and knew he heard it, too. We both shot up out of our chairs and raced out of the kitchen. She had already made it up the few steps to the first landing on the staircase. I knew she had heard us coming, but she did not turn to look at us. She was pulling her coat tight around her, her shoes dangling from one hand, a handbag in her other. She was looking down at the floor. We both ran to her side and stopped her from going any further.
“Julia. Julia honey, look at me.” Hunter’s voice was gentle and soothing.
She shook her head but never looked up. I could feel cold coming off of her. She was freezing. Sure, it was cold outside, but walking from the car to the doo
r shouldn’t have made her that cold. Then I noticed her hair, it looked…messed.
“Jules!” My voice was much more forceful than Hunter’s, but I couldn’t help it. I was starting to worry. I looked at the shoes in her hand and something hit me. Not possible. Just. Not. Possible. “Jules, did you walk home?”
She nodded, but still didn’t look up.
“What the hell? Idgit, why did you walk?”
She was still silent. I was losing my patience as the overwhelming feeling that something was horribly wrong took over. I put two fingers under her chin and lifted her face. I heard Hunter’s sharp intake of breath. Her lower lip was swollen and had been bleeding. Like someone had hit her…or bitten her. I was so shocked that I almost missed the mark coming just over the top of her coat. I pulled at the collar and saw the start of bruising, unmistakably made by fingers. She turned her head away, her face turning red. I heard a small sob escape from her. Anger was starting to take over, but I managed to keep calm enough to gently pull her hands away from her coat and pull it open and down off her shoulders. Her dress was ripped and there were more finger marks on her upper arms. I couldn’t contain myself any longer.
“Jules, what the fuck happened? Who did this to you?”
Hunter looked over at me, shaking his head, silently telling me not to scare her any more than she already was. “Julia. You need to talk to us. Tell me. Did your date do this?”
Another small nod as she looked down again at her feet.
“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs.” Hunter picked her up and carried her to her room. I trailed behind, so full of rage, I could barely see straight.
When we got to her room, I took her shoes and bag from her and removed her coat. I knew what I had to ask her, no matter how hard it was to form the words.
“Jules, I need you to look at me. Come on… Good girl. Did he…” I took a breath and swallowed the lump in my throat. It was going to be hard enough to ask, but I truly feared her answer. “Jules, did he rape you?” I swear those were the most difficult words I had ever uttered, and time seemed to stand still while I waited for her to answer.
