No Hard Feelings

Almost twenty years ago I was an eighteen year-old Freshman. Still wet behind the ears and sitting nervously in my chair, waiting for my first class of Twentieth Century American Literature to begin on that first week of September. Ever since I had been sixteen it was my goal to get accepted at Lawton University. I could hardly believe that day had finally come.

Like many students who graduated from the various schools around Chatham County, I wanted to attend Lawton because it was close -- close enough for me to remain living at home with my parents where my meals were cooked for me and there was no rent. They had bought me a used Honda Civic shortly after my graduation from high school so I could make the twenty minute commute to school each day. Being their eldest son I must admit that it meant my parents spoiled me somewhat, not that I ever complained.

After my American Lit. class ended I was standing in the hallway of the Reece Building, looking over my class schedule. I had Introduction to Psychology next. It was in the Chalmers Science Center. Now, how to get there, I wondered.

As I was looking about I noticed a guy a few yards away from me, looking as lost as I was. He was a little under six feet, with short black hair and a blue knapsack slung over his shoulder. He appeared to be about my age. In his hands was a slip of paper. He raised his head, looking about with a bewildered expression. When my eyes caught his he gave me a weak smile.

"Hey, do you know the quickest way to the Science Center?" he asked as his eyes searched left and right.

I laughed, then said "I was just wondering that myself."

"Intro. to Psych.?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah," I said.

"It's my first day here, so I'm still trying to find my way around," he told me. "I'm Cameron, by-the-way -- Cameron MacDaniel."

"David Hansen," I replied, sticking out my hand to him. He gave it a brief, firm shake. Together, Cameron and I wandered the halls until we eventually found our classroom. We arrived there only minutes before our professor, Mr. Foley, walked in and began his lecture.

Later that afternoon as I was leaving the parking lot for home I turned on to Beech Street. Standing at a bus stop amongst a group of people, probably students, I assumed, I spied Cameron. I pulled over.

"Want a lift?" I called out from the car.

Cameron nodded with a grateful smile and hurried over to my car. He tossed his knapsack on the floor and got in. "Where you headed?" I asked as I pulled away from the glass-enclosed bus shelter.

"Home... Union Avenue." He gave me a nervous look, as if to ask if that was too far out of my way. "Is that okay?" he asked.

"No problem. I live on Church Street," I told him. That was only two blocks east of his place.

As I drove it occurred to me that it was odd that Cameron and I had not met before, at least at school, given that we were practically neighbours. "Did you go to Fillmore High?" I asked him.

Cameron turned from the side window and shook his head. "No, we just moved here from Dayton in July. Dad got a transfer when the insurance company he works for decided to open a new branch here. My mom's parents live around here and she'd been bugging Dad to move here for years, especially now that my grandparents getting older," he explained.

When I turned in to the driveway to Cameron's house my first thought was that selling insurance must be more lucrative than I had realized. Their two-story brick house had a sizable yard with a pool and well-tended shrubs bordering a garden. Parked outside the two-car garage was a cranberry-red PT Cruiser.

"Nice car," I commented as I shifted my rusty Civic into Park.

"It's my sister's," he said, seeming unimpressed. "Want to come in for a while?"

The interior of the MacDaniels' house was as impressive as the exterior hinted at. There were hard wood floors throughout and paintings -- real ones, rather than the lithographs my parents owned -- hung from the walls. I clutched the strap of my knapsack as I wandered around the kitchen and downstairs hall, wide-eyed.

From the living room the sound of a television drifted into the hall. I followed Cameron through a dark wooden archway into the room. Sitting on the black leather sofa was a girl of about twenty. I stopped dead in my tracks and felt my heart begin to race when my eyes encountered her.

The girl on the sofa had wavy raven hair that hung down past her shoulders. She appeared to be about six inches shorter than me and was wearing sandals, jeans and a mauve blouse, the hem of which hung down loosely around her slender hips. When she looked up towards Cameron and me her steel blue eyes moved up and down my body. I grew anxious and shy. She smiled.

"How was school, Cam?" she asked.

Cameron let his knapsack slide from his shoulder and down his arm. It fell to the sofa beside the pretty girl. "Okay, I guess. But it's too soon to tell since it was only my first day," he said. Then, almost as an afterthought, he turned to me and grunted softly. "Oh... this is David. We're both in Intro. to Psych. this year. David, this is my sister, Shelly."

I mumbled a greeting at Shelly, or at least I'm sure I did. I stood there, mesmerized. I tried not to gawk at her as I surveyed her pretty face. Her full lips were fixed in a smile and her bright eyes seemed to glisten like jewels.

"Hey. Nice to meet you," Shelly replied in a friendly voice. "How much is my little brother paying you to hang around with him?" She gave Cameron a teasing grin.

"I, ah... no, I met him on the way to class this morning and saw him waiting for a bus a while ago, so I gave him a lift home." The words poured out of my mouth. I began to worry that I was rambling and making no sense whatsoever. I felt myself blush. Now my knapsack seemed ten pounds heavier and I hoisted it higher on my shoulder.

"Don't pay any attention to Shelly -- no one else does," her brother retorted. He slowly raised the middle finger of his right hand and directed it towards her with a sneer.

Shelly had gotten up from the sofa to stand beside Cameron. Her left arm slipped around his back. Her brother's raised finger was now less than a foot from her pretty face. "Don't show it unless you're going to share it, Cam," she said with a sly grin.

Almost instantly I felt my cock begin to thicken and swell at the thought of sharing my finger with Shelly, or any other body part for that matter. I stared at the oak-coloured hardwood floor as my cock swelled.

"Speaking of sharing..." she continued, darting her eyes towards me. "Make sure you get Cam to give you gas money if he's going to be bumming rides home with you, David. He's good for it and he'll never have a car of his own -- at least not until he gets a job or wins the lottery." She looked back at her brother, flashing him a smug grin.

Cameron winced visibly, seeming embarrassed by his sister's remark. He gave me a look that seemed apologetic.

"It's no problem. I just live a block or so away -- on Beech." I said. I was hoping to avoid getting caught in the middle of any sibling rivalry, not to mention wanting to make a good first impression with the lovely Shelly.

"Has Cam told you why he doesn't have a car of his own?" she asked me. Her eyes moved back to her brother.

I shook my head, giving Cameron a nervous glance.

"It's because he can't be trusted with one. Isn't that right, Cam?" Shelly's condescending tone made her brother frown. Now his middle finger was in her face once more. She let out a chortle. "Go on -- tell him about what happened last year, Cam," she prodded.

I gave Cameron a curious look, then regretted it. Whatever his sister was referring to, it was none of my business and I didn't want to fuel her hectoring of him. I clenched my jaw, then saw him turn towards me.

"Mom and Dad promised to buy me a car when I turned eighteen and started college. My birthday was a few weeks ago, but as you can see, I still don't have a car. And like Shelly said, it's probably going to be a long time before I do." Cameron seemed chagrined to have been forced to explain this bit of news to me.

"Oh... well, it's no problem for me to give you a lift to school," I assured him.

"Thanks," he said. "And I will help out with gas money."

I waved my hand, refusing his offer. "It's no problem," I said.

"What my little brother neglected to tell you was that the reason why he doesn't have a car, and isn't getting one -- at least not from Mom and Dad -- is because last year he came home from the prom, drunk as a skunk and puked all over his bed." Shelly gave her brother another grin as she related this information to me.

I shrugged, stifling a laugh. Then I noticed that Shelly's arm had slid down her brother's back. Now it was around his waist, hanging off of his left hip. Her posture had caused her blouse to be pulled tight over her chest. I could see the shape of her firm breasts pushing out at the cotton. Nice... definitely more than a handful, I thought to myself.

"Can you stay a while?" Cameron asked, turning his head my way. "It's great to have someone to talk to besides my airhead sister for a change."

"Yeah, sure," I said with a nod.

Cameron went to the kitchen and returned with two cans of Pepsi. He handed me one, then I followed him up to his room. I dropped my knapsack on the floor beside his bed, looking around. He sat down at a desk, on which rested a computer. He booted it up. I sat down on a chair in the corner, over which a shirt and a pair of jeans were draped.

"Don't pay any attention to Shelly," he advised. "She's not always that much of a bitch."

"It's okay," I said, taking a gulp from the can I was holding. "She was probably just giving you a hard time since I'm here."

He nodded. "Yeah, she likes an audience."

Cameron and I discovered we were both taking another class together: European History. Our schedules were also similar enough to warrant him getting a ride with me to school on almost a daily basis. As he had promised, he gave me money for gas, although I'd assured him that wasn't necessary. Soon I was spending almost as much time at his house as I was at mine -- mostly after our classes got out in the afternoon, but sometimes into the evening as well. I enjoyed hanging out with him, but the truth was I was also eager to be around Shelly whenever I could.

Eventually I learned that Shelly was twenty-one. She had been attending college in Ohio before they moved to Cedar Point, but had dropped out after one semester. Their father had arranged for her to get a job as a receptionist at the insurance company after they had moved, although it was only part time. I got the impression from Cameron that their parents were somewhat frustrated with his sister and were anxious about her settling on a career.

"She's a hot piece of property, but the attic's for rent -- if you know what I mean," was how he had described her.

I laughed, then worried that maybe I shouldn't agree so readily. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"No, don't be. Everyone knows it. She'll make a great wife and a good mother someday. God knows she won't have trouble finding a husband because she's sexy, but she'll never make it by using her brain," he said.

Later that night, when I was back home in my room doing homework, Cameron's comments about his sister came back to me. I'd had friends before who had attractive sisters, but none of them had openly commented on them in the manner that Cameron had regarding Shelly. Certainly none had called them 'hot' or 'sexy'. It wasn't that I disagreed with his description of her; it was that I found it quite odd for a brother to be so frank when describing his sister. I shrugged it off though, concluding that everyone has different standards of what's appropriate. Besides, Cameron wasn't blind and there was no denying how enticing his older sister was.

###

One evening in late October when I was visiting Cameron there was an incident that made me further question the nature of his relationship with Shelly. He and I were up in his room. We were supposed to be doing research for a psychology essay that was due in a couple of weeks, but were listening to music and playing video games instead. Cameron's parents were downstairs watching television. Shelly was with them when I arrived, but about an hour later she stuck her head in the doorway to her brother's room.

"Will you guys be needing the bathroom for a while?" she asked. "I'm going to take a bath."

I looked up towards Shelly. She was wearing a knee-length white cotton bathrobe with pink flowers embroidered on the lapels. It was tied tightly around her narrow waist. I ran my eyes down to her half-exposed legs. They were smooth and tanned, even though it was fall and too cold to sunbathe. She must go to a tanning salon, I concluded. Further up, I noticed how her breasts seemed fuller than I had ever noticed before, probably because it was the first time I had seen her without a bra holding them in place. They jiggled slightly as she moved and her nipples made faint bumps in the robe.

"No, I don't need it. Go ahead," Cameron said, then turned towards me.

I shook my head, forcing my eyes up to Shelly's face. Her moist lips curled into a smile, which excited me and made me feel a little flustered. Words lodged in my throat.

Soon I heard water running, then the sound of it sloshing about. I pictured Shelly stepping naked into the steamy water and running soapy hands down over her breasts to her flat stomach before slipping them down between her lean legs. My cock stiffened and my pulse raced. A few minutes later I heard Shelly call out. Her soft voice echoed from inside the bathroom.

"Cam... you there?" she asked.

Cameron got up and went to the doorway. "Yeah, what is it?" he asked.

"I forgot my conditioner," his sister replied. "It's probably lying on my bed. Can you get it for me, please?"

Cameron disappeared and a few moments later I heard a click as he opened the bathroom door. Not having a sister -- only a younger brother, I wondered what the proper etiquette was in such a situation. I thought that Cameron might stick an arm in to the bathroom and toss the bottle of conditioner to his sister, or maybe he'd close his eyes as he approached her in the tub and reach out towards her blindly so she could grasp the bottle. When he closed the door behind him I sat in stunned silence. My jaw went slack in surprise. I could hear their muffled voices coming from the other side of the wall, then her cheery laugh. I reached down to give my erection a quick rub through my jeans as I wished I was Cameron at that moment, or could at least see through his eyes. As the minutes passed, my arousal was tinged with questions and an overwhelming curiosity as to the status quo between Cameron and Shelly.

My mind filled with ribald thoughts. I knew that although it was forbidden, both socially and legally, incest did certainly happen. But my preconception of it at that time was of it occurring non-consensually -- usually between an older male relative and a minor. That scenario repulsed and angered me. I had read stories online in which it transpired in a loving and mutually consensual context between adults, but thought that was pure fantasy and totally divorced from reality. Still, the idea had always excited me. It gave me a forbidden thrill. Despite not having a sister and never having found my mother or any of my aunts attractive there was a cousin of mine, Krista, whom I only saw at weddings an funerals who I had lusted for.

When Cameron returned to his bedroom I noticed that his cheeks were slightly flushed. I wondered if mine were too. I thought he might comment on his lengthy stay in the bathroom with his bathing sister. He didn't and I did my utmost to act like it never happened. But the memory of that incident lingered in my mind for many weeks and never failed to turn me on.

###

One morning in late November as I was driving with Cameron to school he told me something that didn't mean much to me at first. It was only in retrospect that I realized what a seminal moment it was. I guess that's how those moments usually are.

"Mom and Dad are going to Italy next week," Cameron said. He turned towards me, wearing a smile.

"Lucky them!" I exclaimed. The thought of being in a warmer climate made me wish I could join his parents. The trees were already bare of leaves and I knew that soon they would be laden with snow.

"Yeah, they go to Europe every year around this time for two weeks to celebrate their wedding anniversary," he elaborated. "Last year it was France."

"Think I could stow away in their luggage?" I joked.

Cameron laughed. "You could try, but I'd rather stay at home. I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks without them." He had a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke.

I nodded as thoughts of my friend and his alluring sister being alone for a fortnight filled me with arousal and envy. I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I wondered if I would see Cameron much outside of our classes during his parents' vacation. If I were him I wouldn't want anyone intruding on us.

As it turned out, Cameron's routine during his parents' absence never varied. I had also wondered if he might skip classes in order to stay home with Shelly. He didn't. The morning of the first Saturday after his parents had departed for Italy I got a call from him. He asked if I had any plans and invited me over.

When I arrived at Cameron's around noon Shelly answered the chiming of the doorbell. She greeted me with a warm smile and invited me in to the kitchen and offered me a chair. There was a greasy fry pan on the stove. On the table was a plate with remnants of egg and bacon grease coating it.

"Cameron will be down in a little while," Shelly said. "Would you like some juice? I'm afraid all the bacon and eggs are gone."

"No, thanks. That's okay," I said.

Shelly was wearing the same white robe I had seen on her the night she had asked Cameron to fetch her conditioner. Her damp hair hung limply down over her shoulder blades. But what I noticed most was how her robe was tied loosely around her and the narrow patch of tanned, smooth skin peeking out from between the embroidered lapels. Her breasts moved freely beneath her robe as she brought the fry pan to the sink and ran hot water over it.

Shelly pulled a chair away from the table. When she sat down and crossed her legs her robe fell open, revealing her silky smooth legs almost all the way up her thighs. If it bothered her, she never reacted.

"So, how's school going?" she asked.

"Not bad," I said. "We'll be having exams soon and I'm a little worried about those."

Shelly gave an understanding nod, then shrugged. "I'm sure you'll do well. You seem like a smart cookie," she said.

"You wouldn't say that if you saw my mid-term grades," I joked.

Shelly laughed and folded her arms on her lap. The movement caught my eye, but soon I was distracted by the curves of her breasts, sloping gently towards the belt of her robe.

I struggled to maintain a conversation with Shelly, all the while reminding myself to not lower my eyes from her face. When I heard Cameron descending the stairs about ten minutes later, relief filled me. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but like his sister, his hair was still damp from the shower.

After greeting me, Cameron looked in the sink at the fry pan. He frowned as he turned back towards his sister. "Well, thanks for saving some for me, Shelly," Cameron said, his voice full of sarcasm. He opened the fridge and pulled out a container of yogurt, then began scooping it into his mouth with a spoon.

"Hey, ya snooze, ya lose, little brother," she replied. "Besides, I was hungry." She looked up, giving him an impish grin.