*
Author's note: This is fourth installment of I Keep Reaching. This is a story of forbidden love between a brother and sister. Please read the first three chapters before reading this one. As usual, any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated.
"Is this the residence of Erik Hamilton?" the police officer asked.
****
The events that followed our dinner and evening conversations were a blur. I complied, almost robotically, to the police officer's questions and instructions and found myself handcuffed, riding in the back of a police car.
The moment we arrived at the police station and the officer guided me through the glass doors, I recognized Nathan and his parents sitting near the reception desk. They were arguing.
I wasn't sure if they were going to immediately toss me in jail or further bombard me with questions but as we walked past reception, Nathan jerked up from his seat and ran towards us.
"Hey, wait!" he yelled.
All things considered, Nathan's recently broken nose didn't look that bad. There was just a small bandage covering the gash at the top of his nose and it looked like I did a good job snapping it into place.
The officer stopped and looked to him. "Yes?" he asked.
"I'm Nathan, the guy Erik punched. I'm not pressing charges."
"Oh? We got a call from your house saying you were attacked. Are you sure?"
"It was just an accident," Nathan responded. Clearly there was some kind of misunderstanding between Nathan and his parents but my mind was in too much of a haze to have a noticeable reaction.
"I'm not a minor and I'm not pressing charges," Nathan repeated.
"Open and close case is fine with me. Okay, then," the police officer said with a grin. He turned me around and uncuffed me. "You're free to go, then," he said. "Apologies for the inconvenience."
I turned to nod at him then met Nathan near the reception desk.
"Thanks," I told him. I reached out a hand and he shook it.
My father had followed the police officer to the station and was waiting for me in his car when I was released. Even up to this point, the realization of what I just went through still hadn't quite dawned on me.
After I entered the passenger side of my dad's Ford pickup, I looked to my dad. He turned the ignition off and pulled the key to his pocket.
Uh, oh.
"Is this what you had in mind when you said you were 'going to take care of it?'" Dad snarled at me.
His eyes were wide open; his cheeks were tense and his lips slightly parted. I'd seen this face many times before and it was never good. It was obvious that he was angry with me for brutally assaulting someone, an ex-teammate no less, but Dad was so short-tempered that he would show similar levels of anger when I accidentally left a drink on the stand next to his chair.
I took a few deep breaths before I responded. He could corner me and make me feel like a little boy so easily it was alarming. I tried to act like a man and responded truthfully.
"Yes. He had it coming."
Dad looked down at his lap and played with his keys. His anger seemed to be dissipating but I was still on edge. He was quiet for half a minute before he responded, still looking down at his lap.
"What you did was stupid, careless and immature. Don't let it happen again," he said in a taut voice.
He reached to put the key back in the ignition and looked to me as he turned the key and fired up the engine.
"And I'm going to need a better explanation than
that
!" he barked, his nostrils flaring.
These kinds of situations weren't that uncommon but they were spread out enough that I never quite had enough experience to learn how to talk my way out. This was different though. It wasn't just me that was being prosecuted, it included Chloe and I didn't want to reveal everything without Chloe's permission.
"He was a dick to Chloe," I said. I didn't want to be too specific and left it at that.
I saw his right lip bend in a smirk. He put the truck in reverse and pulled out of the station. I could barely hear him mutter "that's my boy" under his breath. I realized at this point that my heart had been racing. Not from the cop arresting me or from being in handcuffs, but from the ridicule of my father. Fortunately we drove in silence the rest of the way home and I calmed down.
Dad slapped me in the shoulder when I caught up to him at the porch.
"Try to be more discreet next time when you're looking out for Chloe," he said to me. "I appreciate you looking out for her, but there are better ways to deal with people than violence. I don't want to hear about you getting into any more trouble."
He pulled me in for a warm hug and said, "I mean it."
I heard him inhale sharply through his nose.
Was he crying? Was he scared? Was he proud of me?
"I love you, kid," he said behind my ear as he gave my back two hard pats.
I smiled at him as he pulled back. "I love you too."
When we entered the house, I was immediately tackled by Chloe. I grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled us to the couch.
"Oh my God! What happened?" Chloe asked, pulling away from me. She was sitting up, leaning towards me with her hands resting on my legs. I was a little uncomfortable with how touchy she was being around our parents. Fortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham had left.
I was happy when Dad took over the conversation and explained what happened. He had a way of disarming the women of our family and explained that it was all a big misunderstanding. Chloe sat silently on the opposite side of the couch as my parents both lectured me but it wasn't demeaning and frightening like similar situations from the past. They were speaking to me like I was an adult, an equal, and it was a pleasant surprise. Honestly, I just wanted to go upstairs and speak privately with Chloe but it didn't seem appropriate to leave the room, all things considered.
I was
finally
starting to realize the severity of my crime, primarily from Mom and Chloe's shocked and scared reactions. So I was happy when everyone calmed down and we started watching a movie. It was
Ironman
and we were watching it on a cable network so we had to watch commercials, but I didn't care.
As we settled in, with our parents' in their recliners, I found myself lying down on the couch opposite of Chloe. It was later in the evening at this point and the small amount of light that leaked through the sunroof was slowly starting to fade away and the living room was soon dark, save for the sporadic light flickering from the television.
Early into the movie, Chloe grabbed my foot and peeled off the sock on my right foot and started drawing circles around my big toe with her fingernails. 'Tickling each other's feet' is what we called it and it was a regular activity between the two of us before I left for college. I responded by grabbing her naked foot and immediately running the back of my fingernails from the sole of her foot to the very top, in one quick motion. Chloe whole body violently shook momentarily and she gasped before she playfully nudged me in the side with her foot. Despite countless hours spent tickling each other's feet like this, her feet were still highly ticklish if you knew which buttons to press.
The movie quickly became background noise as I focused more on her petite foot. I didn't have a foot fetish but with one hand on her bare calf for support and my other hand gently caressing her foot, our innocent sibling contact took on a new meaning for me that night. She felt like my girl now and it felt more like I was holding her, claiming her as mine. Usually this kind of intimacy between us was mutually beneficial for both of us, as we would both work each other's feet after all, but this time it felt different. As I gently held her leg against me, it felt much more for my own benefit than hers and my inhibitions were quickly fading.
Chloe's attention seemed entirely focused on the television as she mindlessly ran her fingers over my foot. My attention, however, was becoming less and less interested in the eccentric Tony Stark. Eventually, my right hand that was supporting her leg moved on top and pushed her leg against me while it gently caressed the pale skin of her lower thigh. My left hand, which was responsible for the tickling, was holding her foot on my chest, like a prop. My fingers would switch between massaging the arch of her foot and gently petting the top and bottom of her ankle. I knew I was being too openly intimate but our parents' gaze was firmly on the television and I couldn't help myself. I was so drawn to her!
Each time the movie went to commercials, I would move my hands to more appropriate places but as soon as the movie came back on, I went right back to selfishly holding her against me and running my fingers over the soft, pale skin of her thighs.
As this continued on, I felt myself getting hard. I had to reposition myself a few times to not make it obvious, but as the movie came to a close, my sexual urges were in complete control of my higher functions. As soon as the movie ended, I bolted off the couch to the staircase to hide the bulge in my pants and told everyone I was going to bed.
I left my door cracked open so I could stare into the hallway while I lay on my bed and waited. A few minutes later, Chloe walked upstairs and stood in front of the bathroom door. She looked at me knowingly from the hallway and slipped into the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and stared blankly at my phone while I waited. The normal things that I could do to pass the time weren't working and my mind was utterly fixated on my sister.