Happy Holidays all! I'm really excited to submit this story for several reasons. It's been a long time since I've submitted anything and this is a story I've had on the brain for a long time. I had initially started it before the Christmas contest started, but as I perfected my story the time slipped away, and now the contest is almost over. Regardless, I hope that you will vote and enjoy this story over the Christmas holiday and for the rest of the year(s).
This story has a lot to it. It is not short. It may not be a "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" type of story which is one page and straight to sex, but I promise you the build-up makes the sex so much sweeter. Please feel free to comment and send feedback. Big thanks to my editor!
All characters are 18 and over.
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"Honey, can you help me in here?" my mom called from the room next door to mine, which used to be my brother Ryder's. I got up from my desk and stood against the doorway of his room, my eyes flitting back and forth. My mom was sitting amidst a pile of crap from the closet, the dresser's contents nearby, and the bed half made. My eyes narrowed as she looked up at me sheepishly. "I was trying to clean things up and one thing led to another," she trailed off with a shrug of her shoulders. "Help me up, dear." I took hold of her hand and tugged, bringing her to her feet.
"Can you bring a few empty boxes from the garage? We'll get all this in there and then we can clean it up and finish making the bed."
"Are we having guests?" I finally spoke, my voice monotone and strained.
"Your brother is coming home for Christmas break!" My mom's eyes shined brightly and a smile broke out on her face. I slowly turned around and silently left the room, heading downstairs to retrieve the boxes, my head spinning. I opened the garage door and headed down the steep set of stairs, holding tightly on the railing.
Why was he coming home now for break? Why hadn't he told me? Or at least, why hadn't mom sprung the news earlier?
Re-entering the bedroom with the boxes, I put the best fake smile on that I could, my heart thumping in my chest. I felt like throwing up. "Thanks honey!" My mom said with a smile. I nodded and left the bedroom before she could force me to help organize, clean, and make his damn bed.
To say that my brother and I had never really gotten along would be both an understatement and a lie. There had been a time when he and I had been quite close and one would never have suspected that we'd turn out to be as vicious as we had. Ryder is three years older than me, giving us what felt like the worst possible age gap. Not quite enough to let us leave each other alone, and not enough for us to be forced to get along. Just enough for my brother to breathe down my neck every possible second of the day and for us to bicker like unhappy spouses.
When he had gone away to college three years ago, I had been relieved. Sure, maybe a tiny part of me deep inside had felt sad, only because it left me alone at home with my parents. But most of me had been so grateful of the age difference and the fact that he had chosen a college across the country. Of course, the fact that Ryder got accepted to Yale only helped him earn more points with our parents. They already favored him as the first born and were constantly suspicious of my actions. Somehow he had convinced them of his perfect ways and hidden all of his devious acts. That was definitely part of why he and I had never really gotten along and fought constantly. We had barely spoken to each other in the three years that he'd been gone, including the first and only time he had been home to visit. I'd always loved my brother and thought he was handsome and smart and funny, but the way he treated me had driven a wedge further and further into our friendship and sibling rivalry had been born. Badly.
I shivered at the memory of his arrival the last time he'd visited. He and his best friend from high school, Adrian, had visited during their freshman year Spring break. At that point, he hadn't completely earned my parents trust to stay at school or go traveling during breaks. Adrian and my brother had spent most of their week home out partying or playing video games in the living room, only paying attention to me when Ryder had something to yell about.
Adrian always looked like he felt bad, but never stuck up for me. I always had this silly fantasy that Adrian (who I always had had a little crush on) would be like my knight in shining armor, whisking me away from the asshole of a brother I'd been cursed with. It was never the case, of course. I'd seen Adrian a few times throughout the first year or two of college, when he'd come home on his own for breaks, and he always gave me wickedly handsome smiles that made my stomach queasy. He would say hi or ask how I was doing, but it was casual and quick. I wondered if he and my brother were still friends.
My mom came by my room hours later, as I was reminiscing about a fight Ryder and I had had before he left for college.