It was an especially hot day when I came home. My plane landed at 3:31 pm and I sighed with pleasure when I took in that first breath of American air. I had spent the last eight weeks living in Lyon, France with a family as part of my school's summer exchange programme. I had graduated in June and left five days after graduation. I had missed everything. My hometown of Bridgeport, my school, my friends, my family and especially my twin brother Shane. It was now coming towards the end of August and I only had two weeks left at home before Shane and I would be leaving for college. I was eager to make the most of it.
I hugged my parents when I had got my luggage and they brought me out to our car. I was a little disappointed that my only brother wasn't there to greet me. "He wanted to come Scott, but we knew there was no way he would fit with all the luggage you've brought home with you. How many gifts did you buy over there anyway?" my mom laughed.
The drive home consisted of me regaling my parents with all the events of the summer. They had heard most of them sporadically over Skype but they always had to make sure they knew everything. The family I lived with were great, I got a job working in a sports shop and my French had even improved, even though I was terrible at it in school.
I barely paid attention to all the things my parents told me about their summer during the car ride home. All I could think about was seeing Shane. I had missed him more than I thought I would while I was away. The truth was, I had always had a crush on my brother. Well, more than a crush, I had fallen for him and it ate me up inside. I knew it was wrong, he was my brother and we had been raised together, but I couldn't help the way I felt. To make matters worse, we were identical twins. Even people who had known us for years occasionally had trouble telling us apart. The best way to tell is that Shane is 6'2 and I am 6'1. I had always thought he was better looking than me but my friends reminded me that we really did look the same no matter how many times I insisted we didn't.
Shane and I had not spoken as much as I would have liked over the summer. From what my parents told me, he had been spending all his time with his new girlfriend Brittany. Brittany had gone to our school too but I guess she and Shane didn't start dating till after because he never mentioned her before I left.
It was an hour and a half drive from the airport back to our house. As we drove through the suburbs, I spotted some kids from school I knew walking around, relaxing in the sun. A few that knew me, waved and smiled. It was good to know people were happy I was back. I smiled when we finally turned in the driveway of our house. I could feel my heartbeat beginning to quicken. I knew Shane was inside. I jumped out of the car and ran for the front door the second my dad turned the engine off.
"Well thanks for helping with the luggage!" he called after me.
I opened the front door and stepped inside. I was relieved to see everything was still the same. I had to remind myself that I really hadn't been gone that long at all, but it was the longest time I had ever spent away from home.
A pair of white sneakers appeared at the top of the stairs. They soon gave way to a pair of strong, tanned legs in light blue shorts. Shane descended down the staircase and skipped the last few by leaping to the ground. He landed right in front of me and greeted me with the greatest smile I had ever seen. I had never been so happy to see those dimples come into his cheeks as he grinned at me, I had forgotten how much I missed them. I had them too, but it wasn't the same. We threw our arms around each other and embraced. I pressed my head on Shane's shoulder and took in his familiar scent.
"Welcome back bro," Shane said. He brought his cheek close to mine and whispered in my ear, "I missed you, Scotty."
I ran my hands up and down his back and pressed my chest against his. It felt so good to have his body this close to mine again.
"I missed you too buddy," I replied, resting my head on his neck.
For a moment we stood in silence and held each other. While we had always been close, we were usually never this intimate. It felt strange for a moment, but mostly it felt amazing. I was relieved to see he was as happy to see me as I was to see him.
My parents trudged in with my suitcases a moment later and Shane and I slowly let go of each other. He looked into my eyes and smiled again. Those dimples.
"Ok buddy, we brought 'em in, now you take them up to your room," my dad said as he dropped my suitcases at the bottom of the stairs.
"Glad to see you're happy to see your brother Shane," mom said as she placed the remaining pieces of luggage with the rest. "He's been counting down the days to your return, Scott."
Shane rolled his eyes and gave a slight smile. I grinned back.
"I'm gonna thrown on some dinner," mom said as she headed for the kitchen. "You must be famished Scott."
"Starving," I replied, not taking my eyes off Shane.
A moment later, I decided it was time to take my eyes off my brother before it got too awkward. I walked over to my luggage and picked up as much as I could.
"Here, lemme help," Shane said and began throwing some bags on his back.
He jumped up the stairs before me and I quickly followed. It was always nice to let Shane walk up the stairs ahead of me, especially on days like today when he was wearing such tight shorts. I bit my lip as I watched the fabric wrap around his muscular butt. My eyes travelled up his narrow waist and up along the curves and crevices of his back, right up to his broad shoulders. I couldn't help but wonder if he ever checked me out like this when my back was turned. It was at this point that I remembered Brittany. A pang of jealousy washed over me as Shane made it to the landing and walked towards my bedroom.
He opened the door of my room and threw my bags down on the bed. I followed in with the rest of the luggage.
"I'll help you unpack," he said and began opening up some of the bags.
I bent down and opened up a suitcase and began taking out my t-shirts.
"So, what've I missed?" I asked.
"Not a whole lot. It's been pretty quiet. Half the class went away or the summer so it's been pretty boring."
Boring? I scowled as I hung my shirts up, making sure not to let Shane notice. Why wouldn't he mention Brittany?
"But what about you?" he continued. "Nothing I got up to here will be anything compared to your summer. Meet anyone special?"
"Special? You mean a girl?"
Shane nodded and turned back to the bag he had been unpacking. It was filled with my underwear and socks.
"Yeah, a girl...or a guy, or just, anybody."
I raised an eyebrow. Shane had never asked me if I liked guys before. I figured he had always just assumed and it looked like I was right. I had been on dates with a couple of girls from school but nothing too serious. It was really just a distraction from the feelings that I had been having for my brother for so long. As for guys in general, I had never been with one, but I knew I really wanted to.
"Um, no. Nobody special," I replied.
Shane nodded and said nothing.
"I heard that you've started going with Brittany Martin," I said. If he wasn't going to bring it up, then I would.
"Yeah I have," he replied. "She's cool. We started dating about two weeks after you left."
"How come you never said anything about her to me?"
"I dunno. I guess I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It's not like we're in love or anything," he laughed.
"Well, yeah I know. I just would have liked to know," I said, as I opened my second suitcase.
Shane laughed. I looked up at him, he was staring down at me with a slight smirk on his face.
"What?" I asked.
"Are you jealous?"
"Jealous? Of what?"
Shane's smirked turned into a grin.
"You tell me."
I turned my head back down to my suitcase. I could feel my face turning hot. Crap, I was blushing. I prayed he wouldn't notice.
"Aw, now look at you going red," he said and walked over to me. For a moment, his crotch was in line with my face. I stared at his bulge for a moment before he squatted down to meet my eyes.
"Don't worry," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing it. "We'll still get to hang out all the time before college. For these next few weeks, you're my top priority."
I smiled and wondered was I still blushing. Shane hadn't let go of my shoulder and was gently rubbing his hand on it.
"So no need to be jealous," he winked at me and laughed.
"I'm not jealous!" I said as he got up and walked out of the room.
I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the time I unpacked my clothes. Sure, it was a little embarrassing that Shane could tell I was jealous, but he seemed to be sort of happy about it. He had rubbed my shoulder a little longer than normal. Maybe he had feelings for me too. Not that it mattered even if he did, he was my brother. We could never do anything with each other. It would be wrong.
Later that evening, my parents told us they were leaving to go to do dad's boss' birthday party.
"We probably wont be home until after two," mom said, as she fixed her earrings in the living room mirror. "Scott you must be completely beat. Try get a good nights sleep."
"Yeah I'll try," I said. "Still pretty jet lagged though."
"Well regardless, just take it easy," she said and headed out the front door with dad.
"Have a good night guys," they said, before shutting the front door.
With the noise of our parent's car driving down the street, Shane and I were left alone. Shane raised his arms up and stretched on the couch.
"I'm beat," he said. "I think I'm gonna crash. Why don't we cycle down to the lake tomorrow morning? We haven't been there in months."
I was a little disappointed. I wanted to spend the night talking to him.
"Yeah ok, sure," I replied.
Shane trudged upstairs to his room. I sighed. I had hoped we could spend the night filling each other in on our summers. Really, I just wanted to hear as much about Brittany as I could and find out how much Shane really liked her. Had they had sex yet? The thought alone made me furious. I wanted Shane all to myself.