***All characters are over 18 and are fictional. Any resemblance to any real-life persons or situations is purely coincidental.
...
COMING HOME
Ray was driving a brand-new navy-blue Mercedes convertible with the top down. The car was a graduation gift from his parents; it was the most expensive gift they ever bought him. They said they could afford it since he already saved them a fortune in college tuition by getting a full scholarship that paid for everything, including textbooks and the dorm. He even got a part-time job to have his own income to use, so he didn't have to ask them for money too often.
He was on his way back home after taking a much-needed vacation with some of his college friends. They spent the last two weeks at a beach house belonging to one of his friends' parents. They were all going to separate pretty soon to start their new lives as graduates, so they wanted to have some fun before they joined the workforce.
Ray had a good job waiting for him when he got back home. With his biochemistry degree and the internship he had done during college, he got a job as a junior research scientist for a prominent pharmaceutical company. One of his friends said he had the nerdiest job he had ever heard of, and Ray loved it. He was a big nerd, and it was finally paying off for him.
When he was about twenty minutes away from home, he started receiving texts from his mother.
Mom:
You almost home?
Ray slowed down a little so he could text back. Normally, he would never text and drive because it was too dangerous, but there was no one else on the highway, so he felt it would be safe for a quick, short text.
Ray:
20 minutes
Mom:
Good because we got company.
Ray:
Who?
Mom:
Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam, and your cousin Annie. They're visiting for a while.
Ray:
Cool
Mom:
We have other family guests here now to see them. Some of your cousins are here and are already using the pool.
Ray:
Cool
So far, his responses have been simple enough to text back while keeping his eyes on the road.
Mom:
So you won't be surprised; Annie is staying in your room while they're here.
"What?" Ray said out loud.
The last time they visited, she slept in his sister's room, and her parents took the spare bedroom. He had no idea why he suddenly had to be kicked out of his own bedroom like this.
Ray:
Cool
He figured he wasn't going to argue about it on the phone through texts while he was driving. He wasn't even going to call them directly. He would have to wait until he got home to discuss the living arrangements with them.
At the same time, he wasn't going to be a dick about it to his parents. After all, they bought him a kickass new car that made his friends jealous and impressed a few women he met during his vacation. So, he wasn't going to suddenly be selfish about it and have an adult conversation with them.
He was cool with that side of his family, especially Annie, with whom he always connected with. She was a nerd like him and shared the same experiences about it. Back in high school, they were both your typical nerds. They both had big glasses, they both enjoyed reading and watching sci-fi and superhero movies, and they binge-watched the same shows. They were both big gamers too, and they played either against each other or teamed up with each other in online games.
But things have changed for Ray since he went to college, especially in the last couple of years. He still wore glasses but was fonder of contact lenses. He still loved sci-fi and video games, but he broadened his horizons with football and music. He even began working out a lot, keeping himself in good shape and having good muscle tone to show for it, which helped him a lot when it came to meeting women.
He hadn't seen Annie in a couple of years, but he imagined she must not have changed much. They both don't like using social media, so they have no idea what the other person looks like. But he remembered her being about 30 pounds overweight with an acne problem and braces. When he talked to her while they were gaming online, she did mention she had lost some weight but said nothing else about it.
He calmed down by the time he got to his parents' house. He had to park across the street as there were several cars in the driveway and parked in the front. His parents were glad to see him, and he got some handshakes from uncles and plenty of hugs and kisses from his aunts. They all asked about what he was doing now that he had finally finished college, and of course he got a couple of them asking if he had a girlfriend or two. He gave them the best answers he could, getting a little vague on the girlfriend part so he wouldn't disappoint them.
After a while, he met up with his mother in the kitchen so he could talk to her about his room. She was working on a couple of salads while a couple of pots brewed on the stove.
"Your cousins are in the pool; you should join them for a while before we all have dinner," she said.
"I'll join them soon, but first, can we talk about Annie staying in my room?" Ray asked.
"Where else is she going to stay?"
"What about Susan's room? She stayed there the last time they visited."
"I thought you knew that Susan and her fiancé moved back in recently," said his mother as she went to check on the pots. "They had a falling out with their landlord and are staying here until they find a new place. They're thinking of buying a home this time."
Ray remembered his sister complaining about the landlord a few times in the last year. He actually suggested to her that they just move out and find a better place, so he can't complain about it now since he might've been the one who gave her the idea.
"So, where am I going to stay while they're here?" Ray asked. "I can't just sleep on the couch."
"Don't worry, you won't be sleeping on the couch," his mother assured him.
"Thank you."
"We got you a sleeping bag, and you can share your room with Annie."
Ray was just stunned and couldn't say anything. He didn't expect to be sharing his room with one of his girl cousins, and he especially didn't expect to hear that his mother was OK with this.
He pleaded with his mother about finding another way around this situation, telling her that it was inappropriate for them to sleep in the same room together. She just laughed and said he was being silly; she said Annie may be his cousin, but she's like a sister to him, so it's perfectly acceptable.
Ray decided not to argue with her anymore about it. His parents did by him an expensive new car so he figured the least he could do is just shut up and do as they want. Plus, he figured he could probably talk to Annie about their sleeping arrangements; he figured she might feel the same way he did about how inappropriate this was.
Ray took his bags upstairs to his room and quickly changed into his swim shorts. As he changed, he realized that a couple of his more attractive girl cousins may be at the pool in their bikinis. His cousin Jessica was your typical beautiful blonde with a gorgeous body. Her sister, Zoe, a redhead, was just as beautiful; she wasn't as busty as Jessica but she was more flirtatious.
Ray wasn't a complete pervert; he might think his cousins are attractive and admire their beauty, but he would never pursue them. He wasn't the only one; a couple of his other guy cousins confessed feeling the same way. A few times over the years, he had jerked off to Jessica and Zoe, and he enjoyed it, but it wasn't something he would do regularly.
Upon reflection, he wished that if he had to share a room with one of his girl cousins, it would be one of the more attractive ones. At least then, he would have some eye candy around.
He walked outside to see at least a dozen of his cousins there. Some were swimming around the pool, while others were just hanging out around it. He even saw his sister and her fiancé by the drink table having some lemonade with a couple of other people. He went over to say hello to his sister first before he met up with two of his favorite guy cousins to hang out with, Tony and Mike, brothers from one of his aunts on his father's side. They greeted and fist-bumped each other and went straight to trash-talking each other, as most guys like to do.
They told him how they checked out his new car while he was inside the house, saying it was a sweet ride. They seemed jealous of him, which made Ray a little happy about it. Tony asked if he got any pussy with that car, just as Ray expected he might ask. The car did attract a few women on his vacation, and he did get laid once inside of it. But he wasn't the type to brag about his sexual conquests, so he kept the answer vague, saying he did alright.
Ray looked around for Annie but couldn't find her. He did see Jessica and Zoe sitting on the other end of the pool with their legs in the water. The bikinis they wore were just as sexy as he hoped they would be. He waved to them, and they waved back with big smiles.
"Be careful with those two," said Mike. "You're a good-looking guy now with a good job and an awesome car."
"Yeah, they may want a piece of you if they don't get a piece of one of us," said Tony as he fist-bumped his brother.
"They're our cousins," Ray reminded them.
"So?" They both asked in unison.
"Come on, we joke about that, but we don't actually do it," said Mike.
"Yeah, every guy has that one or two hot cousins they think about," said Tony. "Just like I think about your sister, who is looking --"
Ray interrupted Tony with a quick jab on the arm, just hard enough to send the message. The jab caused Tony to wobble a bit, but he laughed at the situation. They didn't have a sister for Ray to joke about nailing, so he had to endure them, which led him to bruise their arms plenty of times over the years.
"By the way, have you guys seen Annie?" Ray asked.
They both looked at each other before turning back to Ray.
"You haven't seen her yet?" Tony asked.