by Mia Carson
“I think it’ll give us time to bond,” I laughed, trying to make light of everything.
Ryan and I had independently applied for a summer job at the same real estate company and had both gotten the internship. I had assumed there was a policy against family members being placed at the same site together, but since we had different last names, I guess their Human Resource department had missed that or simply didn’t mind. Initially, when Ryan told me he got the job, I had wanted to reject the employment offer from the company and find another job, but our town is so small there were hardly any jobs to be had for college kids home for the summer. We both needed to make money this summer, and luckily the real estate company hired paid interns.
“Well, it’ll be a professional work place. I’m sure we’ll be fine. Just forget I’m your stepsister while you’re at work,” I said, smiling at him. But, in my mind, I knew that I couldn’t cope. It had been a torturous week seeing him every day and night and not being able to touch him. How the heck was I going to get through twelve weeks of that?
“Of course,” Ryan replied, smiling at me. “It can’t be that hard.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
***
The next day, Saturday, we headed home first thing in the morning, each of us driving our own cars. Ryan drove behind me the entire hour it took to get home. When we pulled up to the house, Mom was at the door to welcome us.
“Liv,” my mom said, hugging me like she hadn’t seen me in years.
“Hi, Mom.” I kissed her on the cheek. My mom was an older version of me. I knew this because everyone we met always repeated how we looked so much alike - brown curly hair, a youthful face, a body most men never missed, and legs that stretched for miles. Mom was beautiful and energetic.
“Hi, Ryan,” she smiled. She had moved on to give Ryan a huge bear hug. She was about the same height as me, so Ryan towered nicely over her.
“Hi, Mom,” Ryan said. He had taken to calling her mom a few months after our parents had married. At first, I had been mad about sharing my mom, but as time went by, I appreciated how he had accepted her as his dad’s partner. It made things so much simpler.
“Where’s Dad?” I also addressed Ryan’s father, Peter, as dad.
“He’s gone to get some wine. He’ll be back soon.”
“Wine?” I asked. “What are we celebrating?”
“Who said it was for you?” she said with a wink as she led us into the house. “So, how have you two been?”
For the next hour, we updated Mom on our semester. I had to tell her the truth about the fact that Tyler and I had broken up. I swear, the smirk on her face told me she was happy about the break. She had never liked Tyler much and had never failed to tell me he wasn’t the right guy for me. I half expected her to tell me she told me so, but she didn’t.
“You’ll be fine,” she said, giving me a hug. “I’m sorry you’ve been hurt.”
“Oh, I’m fine. You were right all along. He didn’t deserve me,” I said. “Besides, Ryan took care of me this past week.”
“I’m glad you guys are there for each other,” she said, smiling and hugging us to her. “That’s how it should be.”
Ryan simply smiled. I knew he was probably thinking of how he had taken care of me. If only Mom knew. “We are,” he said, winking at me and causing me to blush.
If Mom had been paying attention more closely, our secret might have been found out. The energy between us was palpable, and I was not good at keeping secrets.
“You guys should really get an apartment together, your colleges being so close to each other. It’ll save us a lot of money with just one apartment to pay for. We need to think about that for next semester,” she said.
Ryan and I exchanged glances, but before either of us could respond, the door opened and Peter walked in. Another round of hugs and kisses commenced, and we were soon seated for a late lunch. As our lunch of salads and Paninis wrapped up, Mom and Dad excused themselves to go take a nap, leaving Ryan and I alone.
“What do you want to do?” I asked Ryan as we cleaned up the table.
“We can’t do what I’d really like to be doing now,” he said, reaching out to spank my buttocks playfully.
“Ryan!” I shrieked and jumped.
“What?” he smiled like he was innocent and hit my ass again.
“You’re going to get us in trouble,” I said, laughing. “You’ll wake up Mom and Dad.”
“I want to get us in trouble.” He moved closer to me and pinned me against the wall.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, escaping him and dropping the plate I was holding into the sink. “Ice cream?”
“Sure. Let’s walk there.”
We left the house and walked the five blocks to Icy’s Ice Cream, our favorite ice cream shop. I got my usual order of French vanilla, and he ordered his usual choice of caramel swirl. We decided to eat at the shop and chat before heading back.
“So, have you ever wondered what will happen if Mom and Dad find out about us? I’ve been thinking about what the worst case scenario could possibly be,” Ryan said, scooping a spoon of ice cream into his mouth and licking his lips.
“We’ll be grounded forever?” I replied as I watched him lick the ice cream off his lips. Gosh, I wanted to lick the ice cream off his lips for him.
“We’re too old to get grounded,” he said with a smile.
“That’s true,” I laughed. “But with Mom and Dad, you never know.”
I was still laughing and hadn’t noticed that a girl had sauntered over to us. She planted a full kiss on Ryan’s mouth and sat on his thighs with such familiarity that left no doubt in my mind that they were or had been sexually intimate.
“Ryan, baby! I didn’t know you were home. What a great surprise!”
“Sarah!” Ryan sounded shocked, but he didn’t push her away.
I looked at her in confusion, even disbelief, and it took all the self-control I could muster to ignore what was happening right in front of me. She was a pretty woman, about the same height as me, skinny, and had a sexy smile plastered on her face. She was certainly well-dressed in a hunter green short dress and leather brown stilettos. I could imagine Ryan’s cock rubbing against her skin.
“This is my sister, Liv,” Ryan said, introducing me. “Liv, this is Sarah, a friend.”
“Ryan, I’m just a friend? You don’t want your little sister to know?”
“Know what?” I asked, wanting to hear the words from her mouth. I wanted her to tell me she was fucking my stepbrother.
“Oh, you’re probably too young to know,” she said dismissively.
“That’s enough, Sarah,” Ryan said, lifting her up from where she was still casually seated on his legs.
She sat down next to him, a pout on her face. I could tell immediately that she was one of those girls who was used to getting her way.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, extending my hand to her. She reluctantly shook my hand. “What luck that you spotted us here. Ryan hadn’t mentioned that you might be around. He usually tells me the most important stuff.”
“Liv…” Ryan murmured.
“Oh, sorry. That’s your business,” I said to Ryan. I plastered the fakest smile I could muster on my face. I knew I was acting a little childish, but Sarah was rubbing me the wrong way and I couldn’t ignore the pain searing through my heart at the thought of she and Ryan being intimate together. Ryan was spoken for! He was mine, even if we couldn’t be together.
“It’s okay, Liv. I deserved that. Your name is Liv, right? I guess Ryan is keeping me a secret still.”
“Apparently,” I replied as I rose. “It was good to meet you, Sarah. I’ll let you guys catch up. I’ve got some other errands to run.”
“No need, Liv. I’m about to….,” Ryan started to speak, but Sarah cut him off.
“You know she’s right. We do have a lot to catch up on,” Sarah purred into Ryan’s ears, her lust for him apparent. If we weren’t in a public plac
e, she’d have been fucking him on the table.
“I insist,” I smiled at Ryan and picked up my ice cream. I quickly walked out of the shop before he could say no.
The walk home was horrendously lonely. It hadn’t dawned on me how much I wanted Ryan to myself until that girl showed up. How dare she kiss him like he belonged to her? He was mine, and in an ideal world, we should have been able to kiss in public. I let the tears loose. It was simply unfair and wrong. As much as I tried to keep my mind clean, thoughts of Ryan and Sarah fucking in the bathroom of the ice cream shop filled and tortured my mind. Would he pin Sarah against the wall and repeatedly thrust into her until she came? Would she scream his name a million times over? Would Ryan touch her like he touched me? Would he go down on her like he always went down on me? Would he tell her how much he cared for her? Would they refer to me as “just” his little sister?
The truth was that Ryan and I, regardless of how much we cared for each other, could never really be together. It would always be that way. Our need and love for each other would always be a secret.
I did my best to wipe all thoughts of Ryan from my mind as I approached home. Thankfully, Mom and Dad were still upstairs when I opened the door. I headed straight for my shower. I needed to clean up and wash away all thoughts of Ryan and Sarah. If anything, maybe I needed an evening alone in town.
Thirty minutes later, I had showered and dressed for Zatter’s Lounge, a place that catered to young college kids. I was sure to meet one or two guys there; maybe that’s what I needed to rid my mind of Ryan. I left a note on the kitchen table to let Mom know where I would be and headed out.
“Welcome to Zatter’s,” chirped a young woman standing at the door as I walked in.
“Thank you.”
“Party of one?”
“Yes.”
She walked me to a booth meant for two. “A waiter will be right with you to give you the specials,” she said.
“Thank you,” I replied, sitting back and relaxing into my seat, thoughts of Ryan and Sarah a million miles away. Suddenly, I felt a familiar presence behind me. I turned around half expecting to see a stranger ready to chat me up, but it was Ryan.
“Liv?” It was a voice I knew too well, a voice that made my heart skip each time I heard it. “Hey, can I sit?”
“Suit yourself.” I pointed to the empty seat next to me. I wasn’t sure how to feel. He had obviously spent very little time with Sarah this afternoon. That was a good thing, but I wasn’t going to let him off the hook.
“Can we talk?”
“I’m really not in the mood,” I said. “Besides, how did you find me? Never mind.”
“You left a note on the kitchen table.”
“What do you want from me? Go back to your girlfriend. She’s ready to pounce on your lap.”
“Come on, Liv. Don’t be this way. She’s just a friend.”
“A friend who just walked up to you and kissed you without reservation? What type of friendship with benefits is that? What if I were your girlfriend?”
“But you’re not,” he said softly.
His words struck a raw chord in me. He was right. We weren’t together, at least not as a couple, and when we had sex, it was just plain sex with no attachments. “You’re right. We’re not together. I’m just your fuck buddy. Your sister fuckbuddy.”
“Liv,” he whispered, trying to keep his voice low. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re not together. We can never be together no matter what happens. It’s time I grew up and moved on.”
“Liv, please stop. You know you’re one of the most important people in my life. You are not my girlfriend, but you are…”
“Save that speech,” I said, getting up. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
“What about dinner?” he asked.
“I can’t possibly enjoy food right now,” I answered as I walked away without looking back.
He didn’t come running after me. I had half hoped he would get up and come after me, but from past experience, he probably knew I was beyond listening to him. I was in a different world. I walked out of the restaurant, resisting the urge to look back to see what he was doing. Our first day home had turned out to be disastrous. How were we going to get through the rest of the summer?
****
The rest of the night was restless for me; thoughts of Ryan fucking several women haunted my sleep. Finally, when I couldn’t take it anymore, I got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. I might as well make myself useful and make coffee instead of tossing around in bed all day.
Dad was the first one downstairs.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Hey, Liv. You’re sure up early,” he said, smiling at me as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Peter was a handsome man, and Ryan took after him, dimples and all. It was easy to see why my mom had married him. If only Ryan understood loyalty the way his father did.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes, just one of those nights. I guess I’m anxious about tomorrow. The internship and all.”
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “They should feel honored to have you working for them. It’ll be a great experience for you both.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said.
Mom came down next, followed by Ryan. I did my best to ignore him, but he kept talking to me. In the presence of my parents, I had to act normal.
“So, what are you two up to today?” I asked Mom. I was hoping she didn’t have much planned, and I could distance myself from Ryan under the guise of going somewhere, anywhere with her.
“Peter and I are going down to the Inner Harbor for a couple of hours.”
“I forgot,” I replied with a smile. Mom and Dad always took a long walk along the harbor every Sunday. “It’s Sunday.”
“Yes. It is. You and Ryan should probably go shopping for some work clothes,” Dad told me, pulling out a couple of hundred dollar bills from his pocket.
I couldn’t refuse a chance to buy new clothes, but I didn’t want anything to do with Ryan.
“Sure, Dad. Thanks,” he said as he took the money.
“Thanks,” I echoed.
Our parents left for their walk. Ryan and I sat in the kitchen, an awkward silence hanging in the air between us.
“Liv,” he whispered. I ignored him. “Sarah was out of line yesterday.”
“She did nothing wrong,” I answered without looking at him. Instead, I grabbed my phone and began playing on it.
“I met her a few weeks ago at school. She wanted a relationship, but I didn’t,” Ryan admitted.
“You don’t have to explain.”
“I do, because you don’t understand. There is nothing going on between us. We met, exchanged numbers, and then went out to a movie once. That was it. She wanted more and I didn’t have much to offer her.”
“Why not? You’re not dating anyone. What’s stopping you?” I was still playing with my phone distractedly.
“Liv, you’re being stubborn,” he said, coming close to me. “I told you there’s only one girl in the world for me. And that is you. Yes, things are complicated right now, but they won’t always be.”
“So, you expect me to believe you, kiss you, and let you fuck me?” I asked, looking at him. His eyes told me all I needed to know - Sarah clearly meant nothing to him. She had craved his attention and he had not fallen for it.
“Something like that,” he said.
“Doesn’t work that way,” I pouted, but I knew my defenses were down. If he took me in his arms, I would let him thrust into me repeatedly until I came.
“That’s how it works in my world.” He was dangerously close.
“I have other things I need to be doing now,” I replied, standing up and grabbing a dish with the intention of washing up.
“There’s one thing I’d like to do now and I know you’ll like it too.” He moved close to me, and took the dish I was holding away from
me, and placed it in the nearby sink.
“What?” I pretended not to be upset.
“You know what,” he said, pulling me into his arms.
“Ryan,” I started to protest, but my voice was drowned out by his kisses. I responded by kissing him back, pulling him close to me.
“I shouldn’t,” he murmured, still kissing me.
“Hmmm?”
“I shouldn’t,” he repeated and broke the kiss and our embrace. “I’m so sorry, Liv. I keep getting us into these situations.”
