All Fun and Games

"All yours," she said, nudging Roxy's nose with hers.

Two out, two to go. Although it was mathematically nonsense, I was keen for her to hit the jackpot this time. Jackpot was me, by the way.

Sadly, again it didn't. The bottle had stopped just inches short of me and instead pointed at my sister's knee. Oh cruel fate.

But Roxy's smile turned into a wicked grin at the outcome, and she pinched a Pocky between her lips and crawled up to my sister, the muscles under the tanned skin of her arm flexing tantalizingly. I watched in awe as my sister accepted the far end of the stick in her mouth, and they both began to steadily, almost sensually, nibble closer to each other, not more than an arm's length away from me. Roxy gave me a mischievous look from the corner of her eye before closing the remaining distance, giving my sister a full kiss on the lips. Instead of backing away, she tilted her head and returned the kiss, her hand slowly trailing up Roxy's arm.

After what felt to me like an eternity of erotic delight, Roxy broke the kiss and scuttled back to her spot. I saw my sister lick the remaining bits of chocolate from her reddened lips, slowly trailing along where her friend's had been only moments ago, her cheeks flushed and her breath heavy.

"Your turn, sweetie," Roxy declared in a husky voice.

It took her a few moments of recovery before my sister grabbed the bottle to continue the game. I was very glad that I had chosen to wear baggy shorts, for understandable reasons.

I was still reenacting their sensuous play inside my head, as a collective of gasps and giggles brought me to attention. The bottle had stopped and pointed directly at me.

"Um, seriously?" my sister asked nobody in particular.

"Come on, Lynn. I you don't, I will." Shirin encouraged her.

Me, I just grinned at her uncomfortably.

She turned to me and put a chocolate stick between her teeth and I leaned towards her to receive the other end. I had fully expected her to pull away first, or to just snap off the stick and declare me the winner right away. But she didn't.

And so I was dumbfounded when neither of us budged as we munched towards each other, on a crash course of thoughtlessness. I could already feel the hot breath from her nose on my mouth, and I instinctively tilted my head, while the whispers and giggles around us fell silent. As if there was nothing we could have done, our lips finally connected and I felt like electricity was flowing through us.

We both froze, unable to react, our gazes locked in a state of disbelief. It was no actual kiss we were sharing, our pursed lips pressed against each other, unmoving. No less innocent than your every-day's friendship smooch. But still, the softness of her lips, the heat radiating from her face, the highly charged atmosphere. It had awakened something in me, and I had no idea what it was.

My sister was the first to recover from the initial shock, recoiling from me like she had been burned. She looked terribly confused and her view was skipping between her friends for a sign of approval. The heat I had felt before was instantly replaced by a winter's chill.

"Guess I won?" I asked sheepishly, trying to defuse the situation.

"Game's over, everybody had their turns," my sister said harshly, then suddenly bounced up. "I'm hungry, anyway."

And with that, she stormed out of the room, followed closely by Roxy, who almost kicked me in the head jumping over me. The remaining two girls got up in a more relaxed pace and Shirin gave me an apologetic look, while Allie mouthed a 'sorry' before they left for their friends.

I fought the urge to go and apologize right away and sat in silence for several minutes, waiting for my shorts to un-tent. Confusion started to creep up on me and I decided to better head back to my own room. I didn't expect to be needed—or wanted—for the rest of the day, not before dinner-time, anyway.

On my bed, I pondered and stared at the ceiling, as if the patterns up there had an answer hidden between them. Had I done wrong? Of course I hadn't, nothing ever happened. Our lips touched, smooch smooch, big deal. It's not like we had no physical contact whatsoever. It had just been a childish game, nothing more. And yet, the tension, our obvious arousal, the whole situation in general made it seem so much more intense, so...sexual.

A nap would help me clear my thoughts.

*****

I awoke to the sound of girls laughing and the trampoline creaking. I pulled myself to the window and watched them for a while, recollecting my pre-nap predicament. My sister didn't look very upset from up here, lounging in a garden chair, a soda can in her hand. I couldn't see any burning straw men with my name on them, either. Chances were, the storm had calmed down before it even formed.

I took a shower to fully wake up and to wash away my unjustified guilty conscience, then headed for the kitchen. Someone had to make dinner after all, and I wasn't in for a delivery service. In the kitchen, I ran into Shirin, who was just pouring herself a glass of water as I entered.

"Hey James." She flashed her lovely eyes at me.

"Hey."

"You'll cook for us tonight?"

"Uh, sure. Anything you want in particular? I could make pizza, or a salad maybe?"

"You know I'll eat anything from you."

The sultry tone in her voice brought back the excitement from earlier, and it wasn't helping at all right now. I went to the fridge to check its contents, hoping for the cool breeze to have a positive effect on me.

"Soo, um, how's Lynn?" I asked while examining an eggplant.

"Don't worry about her. She was just...surprised."

"She's not mad or something? I mean, not that she should be, there's nothing to be worried about, but I was-."

She interrupted me with laughter. "She's fine, really!"

"Okay..." I said, half questioning.

"Look, we just thought it would be nice to include you in our fun. We all like you. We couldn't have expected you two to have a make-out session on the carpet."

"We didn't make out!"

She came over to me, smiling, and patted my cheek. "Relax. I was just joking."

I wondered if any of the girls took me seriously at all.

"Are Lynn and Roxy, you know..." I said as she was about to leave.

"Together?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, something like that."

"If they are, they haven't told me."

"But she is into girls, right?"

"Which one?" she smirked.

"Lynn. I mean I could tell she was into it, I was right next to her."

"James."

"Uhh, yes?"

"Maybe you should ask her yourself, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're right. I should probably do that." I smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," she replied and sashayed off.

I decided on warm potato salad. I wasn't keen on having a talk just today and that way, we didn't have to eat together and I was able to practice my escapism alone in my room, in front of my PC. Not that it did really help much. I had to face her sooner or later, even if I was about ninety percent sure that there was nothing standing between us. But why the hell did it affect me so much, then? Guess I had to find out tomorrow.

*****

I spent the next morning shopping for groceries. I already felt stupid about racking my brain yesterday, and I was anxious to get it over with as soon as I returned. When I opened the door to our house and carried the groceries inside, I could already hear the familiar engine sounds from the TV. My sister was at her game again.

"Mornin'," she said without taking her eyes off the screen.

"It's 10:30."

"That sounds awfully early to me."

I just smiled and shook my head as I went to the kitchen to put away the goods. After that was done, I poured myself a glass of water and flopped on the couch next to her.

"You want a sip?" I offered her the glass.

"Sure."

I held out the glass to her for several seconds without getting any reaction from her.

"Not?" I inquired.

"I'm busy, just feed me."

I sighed and put the glass to her lips until she signed me with a "Mh-hm," that she was done.

"You really are spoiled, you know?"

"Can't pause, playing online."

"Just saying."

I fought the odd urge to lick the edge where her lips had just touched the glass and watched the race in silence for the next minutes.

"Fuck, second place!" She startled me and I almost drenched my shirt. It seemed I hadn't been paying much attention to the race after all.

"That bitch blocked me, did you see that?"

I assumed it to be a rhetorical question. She was already logging into the next race as I raised my voice again.

"You have a minute, maybe?"

"Sure, what's up?" She gave me a quick glance before returning her eyes to the screen.

"Are you and Roxy..." I hesitated for a few moments, "...a couple?"

"No."

Well, that had been blunt.

"But you like girls, do you?"

"Yep."

"I don't mean if you like girls like you-"

"Sexually," she cut me off.

"Uh-huh."

"Still a yes."

"How come you never told me that?"

"You've never asked before."

That's what you get for asking stupid questions, but I wasn't done, yet.

"About yesterday..."

"Yeah? What about yesterday?"

"You know, the silly game and what happened between us?"

She lay aside the controller, turned to me and put her hand on my knee.

"James," she looked me in the eyes properly for the fist time today. "I'm sorry I overreacted back then, but I assure you that there's nothing standing between us. From my side, anyway."

"Neither from mine," I assured her.

"Good, and now stop worrying. Here," she bent to me and gave me a small kiss on the cheek. "All better now."

"Alright, thanks. Glad we talked that out." I said sheepishly.

She took her controller and went back to the game. She was at least one lap behind the others, but she didn't seem to care.

"Hey, one last question?"

"Yeah?"

"Whose idea was it to ask me to join in, anyway?"

"Mine." she smiled.

*****

The following two days went by rather uneventful. My sister should have been proven correct, nothing had changed between us and everything was back to normal. Or was it? At least one thing was noteworthy: whenever I saw my sister, she had a Pocky in her mouth. Apparently, Shirin had supplied her with several boxes and, coincidence or not, she was always eating them when I was around. That alone wouldn't have been a problem, if it didn't regularly remind me of our little incident. And the fact that I perceived her habit of absentmindedly sucking the chocolate off of the stick as highly erotic, didn't help much, either.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked as I walked into my sister's room in the afternoon of the second day.

She was lying on her bed with her laptop, the second most likely place to find her when she wasn't on the couch playing games.

"Just chatting," she replied, as customary without caring to look in my direction.

"With whom?"

"Roxy."

"Why not just call her?"

"Pff, talking on the phone is lame. It's not the nineties anymore, you know? Watcha want anyway?"

"Well, I've planned to drive down to the lake and go for a swim before the weather changes. You're in?"

"I'm kind of busy here, but don't let me stop you."

"What's the matter, did you gain weight? Too much sweets lately?" I teased.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, James."

"Come on, weather forecast said it's going to get bad over the weekend. We could eat out on our way back. You've ever been to that new Vietnamese restaurant that opened up on main street?"

My sister groaned. "You won't give up until I come along, won't you?"

"Hadn't planned on it."

"Fine," she sighed. "Give me twenty minutes."

"That's settled then."

It took her at least half an hour to get ready, but I was happy she agreed at all. We threw our bags in the car and I headed for the driver's door.

"You want to drive, maybe?" I asked her.

"Nah, you do. I don't like driving myself."

We got into the car and I started the engine.

"You drive all the time, you know. For fun."

"Okay, then tell me how many dragons you've killed in real life since, say, yesterday?"

"Point taken," I murmured.

I pulled out of the driveway and set the destination for the GPS. I'd done the route many times, but today I had trouble concentrating on the road. My sister had settled back in her seat, feet up on the dashboard, lips around chocolate, and I snuck glances at every opportunity. It was hard to look away as her pink, glistening lips slid along the sweet treat, her eyes closed and her face in bliss, her agile tongue licking up the dark, delicious...

The tires squealed as I pulled the car back on the lane. Fortunately, there wasn't too much traffic at the moment or it might have gotten hairy.

"Careful, James," my sister chirped with no hint of accusation in her voice. "You'll get us both killed if you don't keep your eyes on the asphalt."

"I...uh...sorry," I stammered.

I fixed my eyes back to the road, not daring to be diverted this time.

"You want one, too?" she said eventually.

"Want what?"

"A Pocky."

"Not now, I'm driving."

"And we all know what an awfully good job you're doing. Come, I'll even feed you."

She took one out of the box and brought it up to my mouth, gently pushing past my lips, and I chewed on what I was offered. They actually were quite delicious and the first time I had one, I had other things in mind than their taste. Although unnecessary, she kept her finger on the other end, until the tip brushed against my lower lip. She lingered for a moment, then pulled away. She slid back down in her seat, and my gaze followed her finger to her own mouth, where she gently sucked on it.

"James?"

"Huh?" I replied dreamily.

"The road."

*****

Luckily, my erection had subsided before we arrived at the lake. Only few people have had the same idea as I, so we were mostly for ourselves. My sister quickly stripped down to a black bikini, while I pulled off my t-shirt and shoes, already wearing my swimming trunks. We spent the better half of an hour swimming and splashing each other, until we decided to relax on the beach to catch a bit of sun before it was too late.

I was reading a magazine I brought, but felt my attention being drawn more and more often to my sister laying beside me, her eyes closed behind sunglasses. She looked stunning in that bikini, the black fabric sparkling in the lowering sunlight, stretched tightly over her perky breasts, rising and lowering with the rhythm of her breathing. The creamy skin of her belly, flat but not skinny, trailing down to her cute navel. The two vales forming at her hip, leaving just a little space between her skin and the hem of her bikini panties. Enough space to slide a hand under and inside them, over the smooth rise of her mons, down to the velvety petals of her...

"You okay?"

Busted.

"Wha-? Ehh, sure, okay. I am. I'm okay, I mean. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"You haven't turned a single page in at least five minutes."

She hadn't turned her head, but I couldn't see her eyes behind the glasses.

"I was...thinking about, um...things."

"What things?"

"Uhm, that article here." I waved my magazine around. "It's about..." I paused for a moment to actually look at it, "...image editing software. Yeah."

A blatant lie, but the best I could manage in the situation.

"Was it hot?"

"Hot?" I asked confused. "Why would it be hot?"

"Just wondering."

That's when I noticed I was rock hard and straining against my shorts. I quickly threw the magazine into my lap to cover what had apparently already been seen and tried to look as innocent as possible. I failed miserably.

"I, um...think I'll take a quick dip before we leave."

"You do that," my sister chuckled.

I scuttled up and rushed to the water, eager to cool off and regain my composure. When I came back some refreshing minutes later, my sister had already changed into a black tennis dress. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd seen her in anything remotely like that. Her hair was up in a ponytail again, the way I liked it best.

"Wow, you look great!" I wrapped a towel around my waist and wiggled out of my trunks.

"Thanks," she beamed.

I put on boxers, a jeans and a polo shirt, and stuffed everything else back in the bag.

"You're ready?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

We walked back to the car and I went for the driver's door again.

"You know, maybe I should drive this time," my sister said. "You seem...distracted."

"Sure, suit yourself." I held open the door for her.

She climbed in and adjusted the seat, while I went around and got in on the other side.

"No offense James, but I don't wanna be the one to tell mom and dad you crashed their car and killed your sister."

"How would you tell our parents, if you-"

"I was joking, silly." She nudged my nose. "You really are kind of slow, sometimes."

"So it would seem," I sighed.

*****

Despite her digital racing efforts, my sister was a calm and secure driver and we arrived at the restaurant without any further incidents. I spent most of the ride noticing how her dress had ridden up her thigh, which was kind of absurd, considering I had seen her in a bikini minutes before.

On our way inside, she took my hand and interlocked our fingers. I had no idea whether she was out to confuse me further, or just trying to appease me, but it actually felt quite nice. It was an unobjectionable sign of sisterly and brotherly affection. Nobody would mistake us for being a couple or anything. Not a chance.

The restaurant itself was homey, with the typical Asian decor you'd expect in a place like that. It wasn't very crowded and we chose a quiet table in the back, and each ordered the dish that had the most funny looking name to us, along with Coke.

We passed most of the dinner without further teasing or innuendo, instead talking about my time away from home, work, school, relationships—mine at least—and life in general. Although we had more than enough opportunities to talk at home, the circumstances of our conversation provided it with a mature character. It felt more like going out with a good friend, or maybe even...yes, a good friend.

"Fancy a dessert?" I asked after we were done with the main course.

"Only if you'll share one with me, I'm almost stuffed." She patted her belly.

"Very well then, what do you want?"

"How about..." She took the menu and flipped to the desserts, pointing at one randomly. "Chè Khoai Môn," she said in a silly fake accent.

"Sounds good to me."

I called for the waitress and ordered my sister's choice, and soon we had a bowl of green, jellylike stuff topped with white, milky stuff between us. I gave the thing a suspicious look and handed her the spoon.

"You picked it, you go first."

She took a spoonful and tasted it with the facial expression of a snobby gourmet.

"Sweet, a bit sticky, the white stuff is coconut cream. It's quite tasty, actually."

I took my turn sampling the exotic oddity, but I had to agree with her, it wasn't bad at all.

"Say," I started and interrupted myself with another spoon of dessert. "You and Roxy."

"I thought we'd already talked about that. We're not together."

"Yes, I know. But have you ever, you know...fooled around?"

"Fooled around?" she laughed. "Jesus, James, how old do you think I am, fourteen? Why do you wanna know, anyway?"

"I was just curious."

"Ahh, I see, you're curious about your little sister's sex life."

The way she pronounced the word 'sex' sent a tingle down my spine.

"Hey, I was just asking. Sorry to show any interest in your personality." I was somewhat irritated by my sudden defensiveness.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, we did."

"Did wha-? Ohh!" it dawned on me. "Like, all the way?"