Candy Shops

"I'm trying to," Virginia said. "We have a date Friday."

Virginia used Dorothy McMann's credit card to pay for the candy and left the bell jingling over the door behind her. She answered her brother's text while she walked. "Vagina won't be there. She has a shift tomorrow."

She'd just started her car when her phone chimed. Virginia assumed it was Paul again, so she left the phone alone until she stopped at a traffic light. She found a message from Brian. "Do we have a thing Friday?"

"We do," Virginia answered. "Don't you dare forget it."

Brian forgot it, or he just didn't care. Virginia was sitting on her bed in her darkened bedroom when her phone chimed. She snatched up the phone, but it was just Paul. "Heidi told Carlos and Carlos told me that you broke up with Brian, so Vagina is alone tonight. I'll buy you a burger."

Virginia laughed to herself. "I'm not hungry."

Paul sent back, "Of course you're hungry. I'll pick you up in twenty minutes."

They sat across from each other under the fluorescent glare of the dining room lights, and Virginia studied Paul's face. "Why did you do this?"

"I thought you'd be happier pouting in public where people could see how sad you are. It's better than just pouting at home by yourself. That's kind of a waste of time."

Virginia threw her paper napkin in her brother's face. "I'm not pouting. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going without Brian." She toyed with her French fries for a moment. "Shit!" She looked up at Paul. "He was supposed to help with the Halloween party next week."

"That probably wouldn't have worked anyway, so no loss, right?"

Virginia spun through the contacts on her phone looking for ideas then put it aside and piled trash on her tray. "What are you doing for Halloween?"

"I have a shift lined up, but that's not carved in stone yet." Paul could tell that Virginia might not ask, so he offered. "I can help if you want."

Virginia stopped gathering trash. "They're paying me twenty bucks an hour. I'll split that with you."

"That hardly makes it worth it." Paul stood up and took his trash with him. "I'm not going to do it for money."

"Then why would you do it?"

First Paul and then Virginia stuffed the remains of dinner into the garbage. "It's a family thing." He nudged her as they stepped out the door. "Just like any other family thing, I'll hold it against you until you even the score."

Paul pulled out of the parking lot and Virginia pointed. "Go this way. I'll show you where the candy shop is." It was a short drive through pools of yellow light from the streetlights overhead, then down a tree-lined lane where new-fallen leaves gathered in the gutters and on the sidewalks. The candy shop stood out among the other old buildings because its lights were still on.

"It looks like they're still open," Paul said. He slowed and peered past his sister.

"Stop then. Let's see what's going on."

Hortense met them at the jingling door. She smiled at Paul as if she recognized him from the photo, and she told Virginia, "I thought you might come by." Virginia looked confused, so Hortense added, "Just call it a hunch."

Paul followed when Hortense pulled Virginia inside. "You were supposed to be out with your undependable boyfriend tonight," Hortense said, "and here you are with your brother. What happened?"

Hortense glanced at Paul again and again while Virginia complained about Brian. Her eyes traced his broad shoulders, his thick arms, his big hands, his narrow hips until Paul backed away and wandered through the shelves and bins and found the adult-only room.

Virginia's phone rang, and she checked the number. "I have to take this. It's work."

Hortense followed Paul, and Virginia—with her phone to her ear—sidestepped until she could watch them talking in front of a glass display case. Hortense had her hands on Paul as if she couldn't resist the urge to touch him.

Virginia took a weekend shift, thrust her phone into her back pocket, and startled when she bumped into a white-haired man behind her. The old man laughed and steadied Virginia while he checked her out. His eyes wandered from her lips to her breasts and down her body.

"I'm Neville," the man said. "I'm the candy maker here. You must be Virginia." They were talking about candy when Hortense led Paul from the back room and laid a small bag on the counter. She nodded to Neville without saying a word.

Paul paid for his candy then interrupted the conversation between Virginia and Neville. "Did you have a model for the chocolates? Some of them seem really life-like."

Neville glanced at Hortense before he answered. "I did have a model, but you should always imagine them as your own lover."

Paul tugged Virginia toward the door but talked to Hortense. "We're keeping you from closing, aren't we? We should go."

Virginia paused at the door while Paul stepped out without her. She heard Neville say, "They seem nearly ideal."

"We have just a week now to make the arrangements," Hortense said, and she touched Neville's arm. "Neville, they're a matched set—brother and sister, just like us."

Paul waited by the curb in the light that spilled from the candy shop. Virginia caught up, and they walked side-by-side to his truck. "I think your friends are a little creepy," he said.

"No shit. How much did Hortense feel you up?"

"She asked all the questions. Now, I think she knows my schedule for the next two weeks."

"Would you guess they're brother and sister?" Virginia asked. She stopped while Paul unlocked the truck. "They must have thought I left with you. They were talking about somebody, and I thought at first it couldn't be us because I was right there. But then it sounded like it was us. They have some kinda plan."

Virginia plucked at the bag in Paul's hand. "What did she sell you?"

"Some stuff I thought would be funny. I doubt it's part of a plan." He climbed into the driver's seat and stashed his candy in the console while Virginia buckled her seat belt, but he didn't move to start the engine. "What would you be doing now if you had your date with Brian?"

Virginia checked the time on her phone. "Probably putting up with his annoying friends and trying to get him to a movie. For him, it would have to be some action thriller."

"Then we'll do that." Paul started the truck and pulled away from the curb. He turned off the little lane and zigzagged from street to street until he found the now-empty road that wound along the creek.

"I don't know where you're going. There aren't any theaters here."

"I don't have money for a theater, and we don't need one anyway." Paul pulled off the road and fallen leaves scattered as the truck bounced along a path through the barren forest. He stopped where the rising moon cast its light across an oxbow pond.

Virginia watched Paul flip through some screens on his phone."It's pretty here, but it looks like a make-out spot or something." She leaned close. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see." Paul looked up from his phone and squinted at the pond. "The only time I've been here was when Mom volunteered me for a summer cleanup project. Then it looked more like a fishing spot."

Paul propped his phone up on the dashboard, and they leaned together in the middle of the seat to watch as music came through the truck's speakers. "What is this?" Virginia asked. "It isn't an action flick."

Paul turned the sound down to a tolerable level. "It's a Rom-com that Heidi said you'd like."

Virginia laughed. "I thought you hated Rom-coms."

"It isn't for me. It's for you."

They watched quietly for a while before Virginia asked, "You planned this. Why are we here? We could do this at your place, or at mine."

"Because I don't want to share you. At your place, I'd have to share you with Mom and Dad. At my place, I'd have to share you with Jeremy."

"That would sound real sweet if you were my boyfriend, but you're my brother." They watched a couple bickering on Paul's phone, and Virginia said, "But at your place or mine, we'd have snacks." She turned in her seat to face her brother. "Now tell me for real. Why did you bring me out here? No lies."

"I didn't lie to you, but there's something I need to figure out." Paul dug into the pocket in the door, produced a water bottle, and offered it to Virginia.

She looked at the bottle and wrinkled her nose. "That has your germs all over it. What do you need to figure out?"

"Your germs should get along just fine with my germs." He opened the console while Virginia tipped the bottle up, and he set the bag of chocolates between them. "Are we heading for bed, or is my dirty mind just fooling with me?"

"We aren't heading for bed." Virginia watched the movie for a moment before she went on. "And you aren't the only one here with a dirty mind."

Paul leaned closer to his sister. "Those naked hard candies made us talk about things that were ... intimate. It was like getting inside you. I liked it, and I want to get inside you again."

Virginia made a face at her brother before she opened the candy bag and peeked in. "Is there something here to make me talk?"

"No, they're more to talk about." Paul reached into the bag, and Virginia laughed when he opened his hand to show her a miniature, foil-wrapped penis with testicles attached. "See? It's a scale model of me." She plucked his little twin out of his hand, and Paul asked. "What did you see in Brian?"

Virginia bit the head off the penis. "You taste good. I guess Neville knows what he's doing." She let it melt on her tongue for a moment. "Brian was good at first. He paid a lot of attention to me, and he went down on me in bed. I don't think he really knew what he was doing down there, but still, he had me right then."

"Is that what you have to get over? No more head?"

Virginia glanced at the movie, then slapped her brother's arm. "No! He didn't even keep giving head." She swallowed and rinsed her mouth before she bit the rest of the chocolate shaft off the balls.

"We weren't together very long before I started thinking of myself as 'us.' That's what I have to get over. It's like an identity thing, but if you keep feeding me chocolate, then I might get over it pretty fast."

Paul turned the movie sound down. "We aren't really watching this. Can I turn it off?" Virginia nodded her answer. The speakers went quiet, the screen went dark, and they sat in silver moonlight.

Virginia bit into the chocolate balls and cream dribbled down her chin. She gasped and leaned forward so the goo wouldn't dribble on her clothes then used one finger to wipe it off her chin. She watched Paul while she sucked the cream off her finger. "Jerk. It's like you came in my mouth."

Paul held his hands up. "I didn't do that." He laughed at the expression on his sister's face as she swallowed the last of the balls.

Virginia rinsed her mouth while Paul searched the bag. "We probably shouldn't be doing this," she said. "The first time was like some party game. This feels more serious."

She stopped for a moment, and Paul sat back with something in his hand. "You need to get intimate with your girlfriend," she said, "not your sister. Why don't you have a girlfriend? You're a good-enough guy."

"I'm a Senior." He peeled the foil off a candy and held it out to his sister. "Most of us are leaving after graduation, and all in different directions. No-one's getting into relationships."

"What are you going to do?" Virginia asked. "I don't want you to go. Who's going to be my rock if you aren't here?" She squinted at the chocolate. "I can't see that."

Paul shrugged. "I'll miss you too, but I need a job or grad school. Either way, it probably won't be here."

Virginia took her phone from her back pocket, shined it on the chocolate, and pushed it back at her brother. "That one's for you. It's a pussy, and it even looks recently used."

"Huh. The ones in the store didn't look used. Maybe I shouldn't have put it in the bag with the penis." Paul bit into the chocolate and laughed. He tipped his head back so the juice inside ran down his throat. "Tastes like you."

"Oh shut up!" Virginia sat back to look at her brother. "I mean it. I don't want you to go."

Neither of them had anything to say until Virginia broke the silence. "Besides Heidi, what do you think about when you jack off?"

"I thought you didn't want to get intimate." Paul wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Recently, Penis has been thinking about Vagina. What have you been thinking about?"

Virginia touched herself and squirmed. "I'm not answering that."

"That's not fair." Paul clenched his jaw, but instead of saying more, he reached into the bag for another chocolate. He held it up in the moonlight to see what it was. "It's a nipple. I bet it's just like yours. Let me see."

Virginia crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not going to show you my tits."

Paul dropped the chocolate nipple back in the bag, cupped his hand behind Virginia's neck, and pulled her closer. She tried just once to push his hand away while he unbuttoned her shirt and laid it open. "You're getting into this, aren't you?" he asked. "I can strip you myself, or you can show me."

Virginia didn't say a word. She slipped her bra off her shoulder and pulled the cup away from her tit.

Paul found the chocolate nipple again and laid it on his tongue. He was looking into his sister's eyes when he touched her breast. He caressed her skin with his fingertips. She was soft, but her nipple was hard. "You have beautiful tits."

"You dope. You aren't even looking at my tit." She pushed his hand away and put her clothes back in place.

"I think you want to do it, but you won't admit it," Paul said and rested his hand on Virginia's thigh. "If Penis were to touch Vagina right now, would he find her wet or dry?"

Virginia looked down at the bulge in Paul's jeans. It was obvious even in the moonlight. "Soaked." She pushed Paul away. "This is wrong. This is dangerous. You need to take me home."

Paul sat back in his seat and started the truck. "There are still two mints in the bag. They're both the same, but one is for you and one is for me."

The truck bounced over the leaf-covered trail to the road, and they were under streetlights again when Virginia found the two chocolate disks left in the bag. She unwrapped one and gave it to her brother then unwrapped the second and looked at it in the dim light.

"This is an anus!" Virginia laughed and watched Paul suck on the mint. "Did you see the way Neville looked at Hortense when you asked if he had a model?" She bit the mint in two. "We might be eating Hortense's asshole right now."

Paul shrugged. "Then Hortense has a fine asshole."

They stopped in front of Mom and Dad's old house, but Paul kept Virginia from getting out. "You still owe me an answer."

Virginia jerked her arm away and climbed out of the truck. "You'll get your answer when I feel more comfortable giving it to you." She slammed the door, and Paul watched his sister walk away.

* * *

It was Tuesday night before Virginia was ready to give her brother the answer. She leaned on the counter at work and watched the door close behind her last customers. From then on it was drive-up business only, and she didn't work the drive-up.

She picked up the empty coffee cups, wiped crumbs off the table, and sent a message to her brother. "Do you have time to talk?"

Paul's answer was almost immediate. "I didn't have to close, so I can."

"I'm at work. Heidi gave me a ride here. Can you give me a ride home?"

"Right now?"

"I do have to close, but if you come now, I'll let you in."

Paul didn't wait, and Virginia met him at the door. Heidi smiled from behind the counter, and Paul wondered as he slipped into a booth just how much his sister might have told her.

Virginia cleaned and stocked all the tables then helped Heidi close the counter. The girls split the tip jar and both clocked out.

Heidi waved as she left, and Virginia slipped into the booth with her brother. "I owe you an answer. I've been thinking about it, and I want to give it to you now." Her eyes searched Paul's face before she went on.

"Lately, Penis is all Vagina thinks about when she masturbates. We're the same that way, but it's a new thing for you. It isn't a new thing for me. In my head, we've done every gooey, sticky thing." She ran her fingers over her brother's thigh. "I think it was Penis who gave Vagina her first orgasm, but that's hard to remember. I know for sure that Penis gave Vagina her last orgasm."

Paul followed as Virginia slid to the end of the booth and stood. "And her next orgasm?" he asked. "Penis wants to give Vagina her next orgasm, too."

"You're talking to your sister." Virginia glanced at the guys working drive-up. "I need to go to the girls' room. I'll meet you in the truck."

It seemed impossible to Paul that his sister called him there just to tell him that. He sat in the darkened truck under the parking lot lights with his cock aching in his jeans. He turned to watch the coffee shop through the passenger-side window and ground the heel of his hand against his shaft.

Virginia stepped out of the coffee shop and turned to wave to someone inside before she spotted Paul. She ran to the truck and climbed in without looking up. "Ready," she said, and then looked at her brother for the first time.

Paul had his hard cock in hand. He shoved his jeans down to pull it free of the denim, reached under his balls, and bared his whole package for his little sister to see.

"Oh, God! Would you put that away?"

"No. I want you to know what you do to me. I want you to touch it."

Paul snatched Virginia's hand. She didn't struggle hard enough to pull away, and Paul wrapped her hand around his shaft. "I didn't do this to you," she said. "It's all in your head."

"It isn't just in my head. It's in your head, too." Paul watched her hand slip down to his balls and up his cock again to caress its smooth cap. "In your head, how many times have we done it?"

"Hundreds of times." Virginia looked up and her eyes searched Paul's face. "But in my head, you're sometimes just every guy. We've done it all and sometimes you're a complete asshole—like now."

Paul pointed at his sister's chest. "Show me your tits. Both of them this time." He wasn't going to listen to "no," so Virginia didn't argue.

"Are you going to look?" Virginia unbuttoned the top button, and then the second. "The first time you touched, but you didn't even look." She slid her shirt and then her bra straps off her shoulders and pulled the cups away from her tits. Her breasts were each a beautiful handful, but Paul already knew that.

Virginia looked at Paul's face and then at his pulsing cock. "What do you imagine when you imagine sex with me?"

"You're never just every girl. I imagine how you would feel when I hold you, how you would taste, how you would smell."

Paul wrapped Virginia's hand around his cock again. She tipped her head back to let him kiss her throat while she stroked him, and he whispered in her ear. "I imagine how it would feel to have you wrapped around me, and to be inside you when you come. That's about as long as I ever last."

"Do you ever fuck my mouth?" Virginia hesitated like maybe she wouldn't go on. "Sometimes in my head, you pull my hair and fuck my mouth."

"I like your mouth," Paul said and slipped his tongue between his sister's lips.

Virginia turned her head and pushed Paul away. "We have to stop."

"You can't stop now." There was an urgent tone in Paul's voice when he pushed Virginia's hand down on his cock again. He caught his breath against her throat and clenched his teeth. He groaned in her ear and held her tight while his cum erupted in her hands. "Oh God!" he gasped. "Oh God, Ginny."

"Jerk," she said, and pushed away from Paul's relaxing body. She wiped her hand on his jeans then watched headlights as a car pulled through the parking lot. "You need to take me home. You should've taken me home before we got that far."