Unspoken Pleasure (erotica)
Family Vacation: >2

We stopped for lunch at a strip mall right off the highway. They had a Chick-Fil-A, manna from the gods, and we went around the drive-thru. Dad insisted we couldn't stop but Mom had to use the bathroom. Since we were down to about a quarter of a tank of gas, Mom won, and we all got out to stretch our legs.

As I left one of the worst bathrooms I've ever experienced, I saw Liam heading towards me. I jogged over and grabbed his arm. He ripped it out of my hands.

"What is your problem?" I asked. He glared at me and bared his teeth, like a jungle cat. "No, seriously, come on. Talk to me."

"I'm fine," Liam said. He reached to put his AirPods in his ears, but I slapped them away.

"You're not. Now talk to me, dammit, or I will sing Taylor Swift at the top of my lungs for the rest of the drive."

"You wouldn't dare," Liam said.

"WE ARE NEVER, EVER, EVER..."

Liam grabbed my arm so hard it hurt. "Shut up already, ok? I'm listening."

"Look, I'm not saying we have to be best friends or anything," I said, "But you're my brother, my twin. I legit care about you and I don't want to live the rest of my life with us this way. If I did something wrong, or upset you..." "You didn't do anything," Liam said.

"So then what the actual fuck?"

"I'm sorry," Liam said, he stepped back from me and kicked at the gravel ground. "I don't know what to say except I'm sorry. I'll try to be a better brother."

"That's not good enough," I said, pressing my advantage. "You have to give me one thing each day that I can do to be a better sister."

Liam sighed gratuitously and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Once a day, you have to tell me a secret. Something that no one else can ever know."

I started to argue, but then I realized the genius of what my brother was suggesting. Saying nice things or even doing them could be an empty gesture. I could still resent my brother while I did his chores or bought him a gift. But if we shared each other's secrets we would build a true bond between the two of us, almost by accident.

"And you'll do the same?" I asked, hands on my hips. As if Liam hadn't already won.

"Yes," he said, his mouth dry. "You go first."

"You weren't snoring while you were sleeping before," I said, "I caught you doing, um, something else."

Liam's face went pink and he gave me a sheepish look. Apparently, he knew exactly what he'd been dreaming about.

"Mom and Dad didn't notice, but I'll take it to my grave," I said. "Your turn."

Liam looked at me very seriously. He put his hands on my shoulders. "I was dreaming about someone I shouldn't be." And then he walked away.

*

We got to Aunt Tara's house around three in the afternoon. Their home looked like it had been cribbed off a postcard -- a classic Victorian painted green with black shutters and a wraparound porch. The day was almost oppressively hot, but the land was shady, covered in twisted oaks. An old tire swing hung off one of the branches.

We stepped out to the smell of fresh cut grass and honeysuckle. My footsteps kicked up the dust on the driveway. I hadn't been there in over two years, but the place still felt familiar, almost as welcoming as my own home. The front door popped open and my cousin Marissa raced out. My female cousin was thin and tall, with dark, tawny hair and flashing brown eyes. She was wearing navy shorts and a tie-dye t-shirt, her hair tied back.

Marissa practically tackled me, wrapping her arms around my waist and swinging me around. Her emotions flowed out like a cup, overfilled. "I'm so happy you're here!" she shouted, like she needed the whole neighborhood to know. Marissa finally let go of me and went over to give Liam a similarly over the top greeting. Meanwhile her brother, Logan, had come out of the house. He ambled over, his own brown hair flopping in the wind, and gave me a hug as well. Logan was taller than me by as much as a foot, and his arms were so long I felt like he could have wrapped them around me, twice.

Logan stepped back and gave me a wide grin.

"It's good to see you," I told him, meaning it.

Logan nodded. Unlike his sister, he'd never been one for words. But his dark eyes were so deep, it sometimes felt like staring into the abyss. Logan might come off as distant, but in truth his feelings ran strong, right below the surface. Aunt Tara and Uncle Micah came out and greeted us. Tara and my mother weren't identical twins, but they sure did look alike. They were both blonde, short women with pale skin and serious curves. The men they'd married, however, couldn't have looked more different. Uncle Micah was a big man, tall, with a gut that hung over his belt and a great, bellowing laugh. My Dad was short, even an inch shorter than Mom, and skinny. But he also had a full head of silver hair, whereas Uncle Micah was down to a few dark wisps.

I got hugs from both my Aunt and Uncle. Then everyone stood on the front yard and stared, like we were appraising each other for the first time.

"Holy fuck, Lemony, your tits got huge!" Marissa blurted out. She put her hands to her mouth, but far too late to stop anything. The whole family turned to stare at Marissa. But I was the one who turned bright red.

Look, I did not need my cousin to tell me I had massive boobs. This was not a surprise to me. It's not like I didn't hit puberty till age 18, but there was no avoiding the fact that the previous summer I'd been a tidy A cup and now, a year later, I was overflowing with Ds.

I knew I was supposed to be happy about this development, like getting a surprise offseason gift from Santa, but I honestly hated my newfound assets. For one thing, every guy who couldn't give me the time of day before was suddenly all over me. Like I needed more assholes in my life. And every girl who'd previously treated me as a non-entity suddenly decided I was their worst enemy.

It was a pain, honestly, lugging those big boobs around. They always got in my way. Basic things like eating or running turned into a huge ordeal. I didn't even like how they looked on me: fat, ugly and all out of proportion.

"I'm so sorry," Marissa said, spluttering, "I didn't mean to. I mean. It just came out."

"It's OK," I said, and gave my cousin another hug. The rest of the family started to head into the house. The moment had passed. But I caught both Logan and Liam eyeing me oddly as I went inside.

*

We all ate dinner together in the old farmhouse and went to bed. I slept in Marissa's room while Liam stayed with Logan. I suppose there's that image of two giggly girls lying in bed talking about school, friends, and boys. The truth is, I was so tired from eight hours in the car, I pretty much passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up the next morning as golden sunlight streamed into the bedroom. The room smelled of cedar from the closets and warm bacon from downstairs. I could have spent my whole life just breathing that in. "This is nice," I said, absently.

"Eh," Marissa replied, "I could do without." I hadn't even realized she was awake. I rolled over to look at my cousin. Her brown hair was splayed everywhere on the pillow. Her dark eyes dull with sleep.

"It's so pretty here. So peaceful," I said.

"So boring," Marissa said, "So narrowminded."

"You can't mean Aunt Tar... I mean your Mom and Dad."

"No, they're ok," Marissa said, slowly sitting up. "But now that I'm going to school in the city, everything else seems so stultifying. I can't wait till I never have to come back here."

"I get that," I said, "I'm looking forward to leaving for school, too. I guess I'm used to a house full of yelling parents and sucky siblings and this just seems so peaceful. Let me ask you something. When you and Logan turned eighteen did you have, like, a big blowout?"

Marissa froze and he eyes went small. She hugged her arms around her stomach and stared at the ground. I'd never seen her go so still, almost turning into her twin brother.

"No," Marissa said, almost accusatory. "Logan and I are fine. Totally normal. I mean, why would you even ask something like that?"

"Liam and I have been fighting like cats and dogs basically since our birthday," I said, "I wondered if maybe you had gone through the same thing."

Marissa visibly relaxed. She gave me a big smile. "Oh! No, nothing like that. If anything, we grew even closer after our birthday. I mean, in a good, supportive sibling sort of way, you know? Did something happen with you two, you know, to cause the argument?"

"Not that I know of," I said. "In fact, the only thing I can think of is my parents started arguing at about the same time." I got off the bed and started pulling clothes out of my suitcase. A canary (what else?) cami top and a pair of navy short- shorts. Plus, fresh underwear, natch. "It's like my whole family caught a case of the angries."