Chapter 09


Golden and gorgeous, my sister had outdone herself for our adventure. Her hair was brushed out and flowed like liquid across her shoulders. Thick, shimmering locks with just a hint of curl that framed a face too beautiful for the screen, too poised for common society. She’d done something with her eyes that made the pale blue pop more than usual and her lips weren’t clad in their customary red. Instead, they were the palest pink, almost white, and I realized she wasn’t wearing any lipstick, that her natural lip color was prettier than any lipstick she could have worn.

“Cat got your tongue, little brother?” Aniston asked, turning back to look at me at the end of the hall. The thin, white linen shawl she wore swept away from her body, outlining it, and I swallowed hard and forced my eyes away from it, or risk making myself look more the fool.

A quip surfaced, and I was about to deliver it when I met those pale blue eyes and saw that hint of vulnerability. It hadn’t left, and had in fact grown, but she struggled mightily to hide it.

“I was just thinking,” I said, feeling the smile play along my lips as Aniston’s eyes tightened in expectation of some cutting comment. “That you are, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman on this earth and I don’t think I’ve ever told you that… to your face.”

I grimaced at my lame finish, but the beatific grin spreading across Aniston’s face made up for it. She drew in a deep breath, and nodded her head, once. I thought she might say something in response, but she turned and headed out, white linen billowing around her.

“Nice one,” Victoria whispered as she passed me, offering me a wink of approval.

Laura paused when Victoria followed Aniston out and threw me a wink, “Just promise not to forget about me, ok?”

“How could I ever?” I asked, unsure what Laura was talking about, but unwilling to question her when the girls were watching.

“Is everyone ready?” Mom asked as she came downstairs.

“Aniston and her friends are in the car alrea… Jesus, mom,” I blinked, swallowing hard when I took her in.

Mom typically wore a single piece bathing suit to the lake. She didn’t like all the attention she received when she wore a bikini, but she must not have minded today, because she wore a string bikini that left little to the imagination. The tiny bottoms conformed to her bare sex, and I could see her lips clearly defined, while her massive breasts swayed within the confines of the tight top.

“What?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes, as she pulled a linen shawl around her shoulders, twin to the one Aniston wore.

“You look incredible.”

“Thank you, honey,” she said, pausing as she moved past me to cup my cheek with one hand and I thought she might pull me into a kiss, right there in the foyer but she pulled back at the last moment with a wistful sigh. “I wanted to look good for you.”

She blushed as I led her down to the car, and I felt eyes boring into me. When I glanced up, I caught Aniston watching me with a curiously fixed expression, her breath coming heavily. When she saw me watching, she turned away as if nothing had been going on and started talking with Laura and Victoria.

I climbed into the driver's seat, while mom acted as DJ. The girls talked about school and drama going on in their sorority house. Mom eavesdropped while trying not to appear to. She’d always been interested in Aniston’s life, but typically didn’t get much information. The trip to the lake was a gold mine for her, while I could care less about who wasn’t doing their dishes or couldn’t pick up wet clothes in the bathroom.

While I drove through the countryside and made my way up into the foothills, I let my mind wander. It kept coming back to my major problem and my eyes would stray to the rearview mirror and I’d find myself staring at my gorgeous sister. I couldn’t be sure, but she didn’t look fully engaged in their conversation, like something was on her mind and each time our eyes met in the mirror, I’d catch another blush suffusing her cheeks, which wasn’t like her at all.

Soon enough, the windy road held my attention, and I didn’t have time to worry. It’s an hour's drive to the lake, but I made it in 50 minutes without traffic. The resort was busy when we pulled in and found a parking spot, but most were boaters, and we found the beach mostly empty.

I helped mom set up the sunshade and lay out the blankets, while Aniston and her friends laid out their towels and ran down to the water to cool off. When Victoria and Laura dropped their long shirts, revealing the white and blue bikinis they wore, respectively, I noticed several heads turn and give appreciative glances their way.

Then Aniston let her linen shawl slip down her arms and pool around her feet and the world came to a stop. Conversations stilled, women turned to stare with envy and awe, and I even saw one married man trip over the back of his wife’s heels and face planted into the dirt. The woman barely glanced at the man who bled from a busted nose, so intent on Aniston was she.

I managed to keep my shit together better than the rest, but I’d already confronted the phenomena that is my eldest sister in a bikini. The red material stood out against her pale skin, cutting into the smooth flesh ever so slightly at hips and bust. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her firm little ass as it swayed back and forth, and even though I could feel my mom’s amused smirk as she took the towel from my hands to lie out, I couldn’t look away.

The girls waded into the water, chatting easily, and dipped below the surface. When they came up, each swept their hair back, water cascading off their bodies, and I was surprised to find them all facing me, eagerly watching my reaction to the sexy scene. It was Laura’s giggle that alerted me, and I glanced down in alarm to find my trunks tented away from my body to an obscene degree. Several people had noticed, and I was getting my own stares.

“Jake,” mom said, her voice with a hint of warning in it. “Why don’t you lay down with me…” She glanced to the side where a woman and her daughter were staring at me. “I think you might be too much for some of them.”

Feeling my cheeks heat, I started to lower myself then stopped when Aniston rose out of the water and stalked over. There was an annoyed expression on her face as mom kept motioning me down.

“Oh, stop it, mom,” Aniston said with an exasperated sigh. “If they want to stare, let them.”

She looked around as she said it and miraculously, every head was turned away, busy with their own tasks. The girls climbed out of the water and lay beside Aniston, sunbathing, while I pulled out a book. Things went back to normal after that and I only noticed the odd glance our way from the other beachgoers. Ten minutes after they’d lain down, I started to feel the heat and pulled off my shirt and headed down to the water.

When I dipped my head under and rose, cool and refreshed, I felt eyes boring into back. Turning, I found not only Mom and Aniston’s friends watching me with avarice and heat in their eyes, but in my sister’s as well. Until she ducked her head down and buried her face in her book.

The other mom’s and girls’ attention was flattering and would have made my weday any other time. But my attention was riveted upon Aniston as I climbed free of the water and approached our spot. She must have felt my eyes upon her because she looked up as I drew close and that fragile emotion was there again, quickly suppressed behind a plastic smile.

“Don’t track mud onto the blankets,” she said, pulling back as I dripped onto her towel, “Hey, Jake!”

“Come on,” I said, grabbing her hand and hauling her to her feet. The book flopped to the ground as, once again, that bolt of charge passed through me when our skin made contact. “Let’s rent that kayak before it gets too hot out.”

I thought she might protest. Aniston lets no one push her into doing anything, but she didn’t even frown. Keeping her hand in mine, she offered Laura and Victoria a little wave.

“Keep my mom out of trouble, you two.”

“Don’t have too much fun,” Laura grinned.

“Remember, sound travels over water!” Victoria cackled, and I was shocked to see Aniston’s cheeks turn a pale shade of pink as she turned her back on her friends.

“This is weird,” Aniston said, and I was pretty sure she wasn’t talking about renting a paddle boat.

“What is?” I asked, feigning ignorance, and hoping she would say more, but she frowned up at me, wide-set lips pressing into a line.

“Don’t tell me you’re that oblivious, Jake,” she said, giving me one of her frowns of disapproval.

“Being oblivious is one thing and understanding is something else.”

Her frown faltered, and she broke out into a grin, “I guess I can be a little hard to understand sometimes.”

“You could say that again,” I laughed.

“I bet you wish I was easier to read, like Laura or Fiona. She’s never had trouble landing a man.”

“Is that what this is?” I asked, feeling my heart quicken and nerves come alive as we drew closer to the heart of things.

We were at the rental shop, and Aniston held her tongue before the counter. Her pale blue eyes danced with amusement as I picked out a kayak and got life jackets for us. The man behind the counter took twice as long because he couldn’t stop staring at my sister in her bikini, but eventually we were outfitted and heading to the water.

“Remember the first time we did this?” Aniston asked.

“You were terrified of looking stupid,” I said, remembering with a laugh. “You wouldn’t paddle because you might be doing it wrong. Ended up flipping us when we hit the current.”

“I was such a little bitch,” Aniston snorted with laughter. “And you were such a dweeb, remember the dry bag and our lunch?”

I winced in memory and again when Aniston barked a laugh. I’d been insistent that everything had to go in the dry bag, even our water bottles. After flipping the kayak and hitting some rocks on the shore, the water bottles had broken open, soaking out lunches.

“I wonder if we can make it all the way up to the falls now that we’re stronger,” I mused as we pushed the kayak into the water.

“We aren’t going to the falls,” Aniston said, and I couldn’t see her face as she moved up to the bow of the boat, but I thought I detected something in her voice, some added emotion or excitement that awoke my nervousness. “I thought we could go to the Rock. I’ve… never been out there… you?”

“Never.”​
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