Hazel, an old friend of Sarah's, was staying with us for a few days. We'd been for a picnic which had ended very well...
We didn't talk about what had happened until much later. We'd gone home, Sarah had made dinner, and after we'd eaten we slouched in armchairs in the living room, clutching glasses of wine. I had a tight feeling in my stomach, of anticipation, and fear lest it should turn out that we really weren't going to mention it again. Hazel looked slightly tense, a bit how I imagined I looked. Sarah was more confident, but then she'd been knocking back the wine faster than us.
"Shall we see what's on the telly?" she asked, ironically.
"No, Monopoly, I say," I suggested.
"I think we should tell stories," offered Hazel. Sarah and I looked at her, but she looked at her glass, casually. "True stories. About things we've...got up to." She looked up at us in turn, seeking our views. I could only nod - my mouth had dried completely. Sarah was more obviously enthusiastic.
"Mmmm, yes. I can think of one or two." She looked at me and winked theatrically, and I grinned back. "Who's going to start?"
"Me," said Hazel, assertively. I wouldn't have dared argue, even if I'd wanted to. Sarah and I settled into our seats and looked at her again. I admired, not for the first time that evening, the form of her breasts beneath her patterned blouse. She was wearing no bra, and her right breast was firmly held by the fabric, so that its shape was clear, and her nipple projected slightly. She had her legs drawn up beneath her, showing a certain amount of thigh, but disappointingly decent.
"The summer after I finished university I went to stay with my aunt and uncle in Devon. They've got this place in the middle of nowhere, old cottage, nice garden, you know... I used to like going to stay, I could go for walks with them, or on my own, or read all day uninterrupted...or the sea was fairly near, and we could go to the beach. They've got a couple of kids, Dave and Sarah. Sarah was on holiday herself, she was about my age, and Dave was at home, he must have been 19. He's a really nice bloke, I've always liked him: even though there's three or four years between us, we always got on well. I hung around with him some of the time, took him to the pub, that sort of thing. It was like a brother-sister thing, we could be quite intimate without it being embarrassing, you know?
"Well, most days my aunt and uncle had left for work before I emerged, or Dave. I would get up and make a cup of tea and some toast, and take it back to bed to read. Dave would be around too. One morning I hadn't heard him and I thought he must still be in bed. I went down to make my tea and stuff, but I was only wearing knickers, and a little camisole top I'd slipped on for decency's sake. But it wasn't very decent, it was white and lacy, and pretty well see-through. It had thin straps over my shoulders, went straight across above my boobs, and finished just below them.
"I was pouring the water into my cup when I heard Dave coming down. I was surprised, and I put the kettle down. I had to make a quick decision - hide, grab a tea-towel, cover myself with my hands, walk back upstairs past him... But actually, I gave myself a little thrill by deciding to do nothing, just carry on. When he came into the kitchen his jaw dropped to see me like that, and it made me smile. I said good morning, and he mumbled something, and kept glancing at me but pretending not to. I decided to be brazen, and faced him squarely, and asked if I could make him a cup. He said yes, so I set about it, moving about the kitchen and seeing him staring at me out of the corner of his eye. While we waited for the kettle to boil again I stood with my back to the fridge, with one knee lifted up and my foot resting on the fridge, and my hands behind my back. Some of the time I looked at him, but mostly I looked away, so that he could look at me. I was really enjoying it, really.