Note to Reader: This is the long version of this story. If you are just looking for a quick 'read' see version one titled, "Can you keep a secret."
I made a few writing decisions with this story that I would, in particular, like to get some feedback on how they worked for you. The story has only two characters, a brother and a sister, and I never give them names. I want you to be able to imagine these people however you want, right up to putting yourself in the story. I also shy away from physical descriptions. You can infer from the story that both characters are attractive or at the very least find each other so, but I wanted the reader to be able to imagine the characters however they want. If your fantasy is a tall blond with large breasts or a flat chested petite brunette, a cute nerdy guy or a muscular jock, go with it, my story won't make you have to change the image in your head as you read. While the story is told mostly from the brother's point of view, there is one instance where I switch to third person. I felt that the story told from this perspective would be more effective. Hope this doesn't jerk you around mentally. This is only my second story, so I would love some feedback and if you can let me know what you think of these choices, all the better.
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"You want to sit in the hot tub tonight?" My sister asked.
"Sure," I replied, "something you want to talk about?"
"Yeah, but mainly I just want to relax."
"Okay. I have to do some homework for biology lecture but I should be done by eight. Sound good?"
"You bet."
My sister and I sat in the hot tub pretty often since our parents had gotten it three years ago. That had been my senior year in high school and her sophomore. We had always gotten along great for siblings, but there is something about a hot tub that relaxes you, and the next thing you know you're talking about things that you would have thought too embarrassing to mention. We talked about crushes that we had. Who we liked, who we thought were pricks, what we thought of movies, music, god, religion, politics, sex. We were close, best friends. Maybe it worked so well because we were brother and sister so we didn't have to worry about the tension that is so common between close friends of the opposite sex.
When I was done with my homework, I saw that it was 7:45 so I changed and went out to the patio and got in the hot tub. My sister never had to be reminded that we were coming out here and I knew she would only be a couple more minutes. I relaxed. It was March, so it was still dark outside. As I sank down in the water so that only my head was in the cold air, I let my mind wander where it would.
Where it wandered was to wonder if my sister would be wearing her usual one piece with a t-shirt over it, or the two piece that she had worn on a couple of occasions. The thought of her beautiful stomach and that I shouldn't even care what suit she was wearing jumped in my head at the same time and then I heard the patio door and she was coming out. I looked over at her and she was wearing the two-piece. I looked at her stomach and knew that I shouldn't be.
"Care if I sit in your lap?" she asked.
"Um... sure." Wasn't I finding it difficult enough to control my thoughts without her sitting in my lap.
She got in the water and sat down on me with her arm around my neck. We sometimes sat like this if we were talking about something especially private and we wanted to whisper to each other to make extra sure that our parents wouldn't hear what we were saying. But it hadn't happened either of the two times that she had worn this two-piece before. If she had been wearing it and then the conversation had turned private, that would have been one thing, but she came right out and sat in my lap. These thoughts flitted through my head right below the unconscious telling me that something didn't quite fit.
"So did you get your homework done?"
"Yep, just in time. So what did you want to talk about?"
"The trip to Europe that mom and dad are taking next week... during our spring break."
"Okay, what about it?"
"Well, I just thought that they're going to be gone for nine days, we don't have school... we ought to do something that we wouldn't normally do."
"Oh, you mean like have a party with two hundred people and spend the rest of the week scrambling to clean up the mess before they get back?" I joked, referring to the movie cliché.
"No, we're not exactly the party types. I did have some things that I was thinking of, but we need to get started on them before our parents are gone."
"Okay."
"First, I think we should get in the hot tub every night. We're going to be on vacation too after all."
"Yeah, but we could do that even if our parents were here."
"Let me finish. Second, I think we should get some liquor. I want to sit in the tub and sip margaritas. You're a junior; certainly you know somebody in one of your classes that would help us out."
"Yeah, I do." I had a lot of people that I studied with pretty regularly that wouldn't have thought it any big deal. "What else."
"Okay, the third, I'm sort of asking you if it's okay. You know how a lot of times we stay up watching a movie together, and then when it's done we're tired and we still have to brush our teeth and get ready for bed?"
"Yeah, so"
"Well while they're gone I think we should get ready for bed, then just watch the movie together on the bed in your room. That way if we fall asleep: no big deal. Mom and Dad probably wouldn't want us sleeping together, but since they're not going to be home, I thought it might be kind of fun.
"So you want to sleep together, I mean, in the literal way?"
"Yeah, I mean, if you think its weird then no, but we've always been close. Is it any weirder than me sitting on your lap right now?"
"Hey, I wasn't trying to give you a hard time; you just surprised me, that's all. That's cool with me, but I have a question. When we watch TV in the living room, we generally sit next to each other, I don't mean to use the word cuddle, but that is sort of what we do. Are we going to cuddle in bed too? I mean, is it going to be like, "I'll sleep on that side and you sleep on this side," or are we going to, I don't know, sleep next to each other?"
"How about we just see how it goes?"
"Okay... I'm kind of looking forward to that. Sleeping by yourself can get kind of old. I mean during the day I'm busy with classes or studying or hanging out with you. But at night, sometimes it gets a little lonely."
"I know," she whispered, almost to herself, and then, resting her head on my shoulder, "I feel the same way."
"Anything else while they are away?"
"Yes... but it's a little embarrassing."
"You can tell me... it's me."
"I know I can tell you and I will," she was quiet for a moment, "you know how even girls that aren't planning on having sex will wear sexy underwear?"
"Right, it makes them feel sexy."
"Right, well I bought this bathing suit. And if I had told you that I bought it you would have asked me what I was getting it for, because there is no way that I could actually wear it anywhere."
"What do you mean? Why?"
"It's too skimpy."
"Well just because you can't bring yourself to wear it in public doesn't mean that you can't wear it." My mind was reeling. The sight of her now was driving me crazy. How was I going to react to something even more revealing?
