In Her Cousin's Footsteps Pt. 02

Lacey's first day of training could not have gone any better, she thought as she drove back home. She felt as though she had already learned more in two hours with Kristi than she had in two seasons on the team. She was smitten with her cousin, who treated her as if she was actually her best friend, and she wondered, could such an unlikely pair become best friends? As she drove, she fantasized about a life with a friend like Kristi. Double-dating, going to parties, being around the more popular people, maybe even spending time with Kristi at NC State. How awesome would that be?

"Stop it!" she told herself. "You're getting WAY ahead of yourself." Was she just being nice because she was family? She looked down at her new clothing. God, Kristi outfitted everything except her underwear. She was probably wearing three hundred dollars' worth of sportswear, but she actually really did feel like an athlete, and Kristi did compliment her on her progress. She couldn't wait to train with Kristi again.

When she got home, she parked and ate a quick lunch before taking her old basketball down to the playground courts. Trying to remember everything her cousin told her, she focused on her shooting, and at one point she made three shots in a row from the foul line for probably the first time in her life. Still, when asked to play in a pick-up game, she declined, knowing that she was not yet confident enough for the "big time."

She returned home to an empty house, drenched in perspiration and exhausted. In her room, she peeled off her new clothing along with her bra and panties, dropping them to the floor under her feet before wrapping herself in her terry robe and scurrying down the hall to the bathroom. She turned the shower's hot water on, and as she waited for it to warm up, she massaged her weary muscles. She didn't remember feeling this good about herself or her potential, and she found that she couldn't wait for her next training session with her new friend. She touched the water, gauging the temperature and adjusting it before stepping out of her robe and into the shower.

She couldn't remember the warm water feeling so good on her aching body, and she took her time as she washed her hair. A disturbing yet exciting thought crept in to her head from somewhere deep inside her mind. She imagined washing her cousin's hair, but unsuccessfully tried to block the thought. Was it the warm water massaging her body? Was she delusional? Memories of the earlier comments from Kristi rolled around and around in her head.

"Cute butt," she heard Kristi say.

"To friendships, and more..."

Lacey wondered what exactly her cousin meant with those comments, and as she ran her hands over her full soapy breasts, she thought back to Kristi bending over in the closet. She touched her nipple, rolling it between her fingers as she wondered if Kristi's nipples were as sensitive as hers...

"Snap out of it," she again told herself, and finished showering. She was determined to force any thoughts of her cousin from her mind, but she couldn't deny that more than a hint of the unexpected and forbidden desire was there. Should she stop going for training? Could she squelch the thoughts? Bury them? Put them back into whatever sick, hidden recesses of her brain from which they arose? She laughed it off, deciding that it was just some silly physical reaction to the trauma that she subjected her body to. She wasn't a sexual person, and in the rare times that she did touch when alone, her mind never conjured up thoughts of other girls. Still, washing Kristi's hair, sharing a shower..

"STOP IT!" She told herself again, but still as she drifted off to sleep, the thoughts resurfaced against her will, and she was powerless to stop them. Her dreams picked up where her conscious thoughts dropped off, with both of them, hand in hand walking to a huge multi-colored playground. They reached the foul line and her cousin turned, facing her, naked from the waist down. Rain poured down on both of them, but only Kristi was getting wet, and Lacey watched as the water drenched her cousin's hair and t-shirt. Kristi's small breasts and nipples were now totally exposed in the wet t-shirt, and she heard a far away voice saying over and over,

"If you make the shot you can touch them, cuz... Make the shot..."

As Lacey slept, her hand crept down between her legs, unconsciously playing as she dreamt. Finally, she awoke, relieved yet at the same time almost regretting that it was only a dream. Her fingers ran lightly over her mound, touching the fine hair and gently rubbing. Her mind drifted to her thoughts in the shower, washing Kristi's hair from behind, pressing their warm bodies together. In seconds, she felt herself nearing orgasm, and she suppressed a moan, whispering, "Kristi," to herself over and over until she had to press her face tightly into her pillow to keep quiet.

Her finger teased her clit and she could no longer hold back, arching her back and raising her hips as her body spasmed, almost violently. Finally, her body relaxed and she took a deep breath, drenched in perspiration. More shocking was how wet the dream, intermingled with her conscious fantasy, had made her. Although she felt guilty and confused, she also felt incredibly satisfied. She rolled onto her side, smiling, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

She followed a similar routine the next morning, eating a small breakfast before heading over to meet Kristi. She looked down at her attire. Taking her cue from Kristi, she wore a pair of navy shorts this time, rather than sweats, along with a white V-neck t-shirt. She slipped on nearly knee-high socks with two bands of navy at the top, and her ensemble was complemented by the new navy basketball shoes. As Kristi suggested the day before, Lacey rang the bell before just punching the garage code to let herself in. She entered the kitchen and found the coffee pot, desperate to please her new friend. She wondered what her reaction to Kristi would be, and she hoped that she wasn't too transparent, knowing what transpired in her mind the night before. Lacey found herself hoping to see Kristi again in boy shorts or panties, but instead was only mildly disappointed as she bounded down the steps, already dressed for their training session. This time Kristi was in yoga shorts, with a tank top over her sports bra. The attire stirred the new unanticipated desire once again in Lacey, and she fought to avoid staring. She refused to admit to herself that she was as anxious to see her cousin as she was to continue the training, maybe even more so.

Their practice was similar to the prior day's, with layups and shooting drills. Kristi again encouraged Lacey to keep her right elbow closer to her body, and at one point stood behind her, positioning her in the proper way. She felt Kristi's warm breath on her neck as she instructed her. Kristi held her elbow from behind with her right hand, as her left hand gently rested on Lacey's left hip.

"Square up, feet facing the basket," she said as she nudged Lacey's left him forward a bit.

"Elbow should almost graze your body, with your shooting arm straight up and down, not angled."

She gently moved Lacey's elbow in, a fraction of an inch from her breast, and Lacey blushed, relieved that her cousin was unable to see her face from behind.

"Good," she said. "Perfect. Now shoot!"

Lacey shot from the medium distance and the ball bounced a few times before dropping in.

"Score!" Kristi yelled as she ran to retrieve the ball.

Lacey embarrassed herself as she watched her cousin's ass move in the yoga shorts. Try as she might, she couldn't NOT look. She smiled and blushed as Kristi retrieved the ball and passed it back to her.

"Either I'm a great coach or you're a good athlete, or both," she smiled as Lacey eyed the basket and took another shot.

They continued for nearly two hours, finishing with a game of "HORSE" which Kristi won handily.

"Wanna play again, Lacey? Maybe we should make it more interesting. A bet?"

"Um, there's no way I'm going to beat you, Kristi. That wouldn't be fair."

"How about if I start with 'HOR', well, not 'whore,' the letters H-O-R. That way you only need to make two shots to my five. Deal?"

"I guess so, if you think I'm ready."

"Yep, now for the bet. What would be a good one for the loser? Something kind of demeaning, but not TOO bad. Let's see..." Kristi rubbed her chin as she thought.

Lacey's mind reeled, and she felt a warmth building up as she imagined the possibilities, knowing that she was going to lose, despite the head-start that was offered. She hated herself for the fleeting thought, but actually found herself getting excited at the prospect of a demeaning loss.

"Seriously," she asked herself, what was wrong with her?

Kristi smirked, and a somewhat evil, diabolical laugh escaped from deep within. Lacey braced herself.

"Loser has to do fifty sit-ups. What do you think?"

Lacey tried to hide her disappointment, but felt some relief.

"I don't think I could DO fifty, Kristi," she confessed.

"Then you better not lose!"

They started the game, and if Lacey thought that Kristi was going to ease up on her she was sorely mistaken. She did manage to get Kristi to "S"- one made shot from victory - until Kristi drained a series of difficult shots including one from behind the backboard.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay. I should probably do daily sit-ups anyway," Lacey said as she patted her tummy.

"Well, thanks to my first two years in school, I don't exactly have 'six-pack abs' either," Kristi admitted, briefly lifting her tank top just enough to expose her firm stomach.

Lacey bit her lip, knowing she was rapidly falling prey to this foreign desire and unsure how to handle it.

"Yep, well it would take me months to lose my belly - if not years," Lacey blushed. "I just have a really active sweet tooth. I can't resist chocolates or ice cream."

Kristi hesitated, before saying, "There are worse addictions. Besides, bony girls are over-rated. I'd take a ..."

She caught herself before saying it. God, did she almost actually tell her own cousin that she would prefer a thicker girl? She wondered how long it would take for that rumor to spread in the family, then quickly dismissed it, changing the subject.

"Let's go. Fifty good ones. There's a shady area over next to the trees."

They were both drenched in perspiration to the point where Lacey's white tank was nearly transparent. Luckily her sports bra was supportive enough to keep her from the embarrassment of further exposure, although a voice inside of her head told her that she wanted Kristi to notice her.

They picked a shady spot behind the pavilion, and Kristi commanded, "On your back Cuz."

She then giggled, "I'm sure that's not the first time you've heard that!"

Lacey laughed too, although she wasn't sure why. She sat down gingerly on the grass, which felt cool to the touch from the shade, and she looked up at Kristi.

"Go ahead, I'll keep count. Only fifty to go," she laughed, looking around.

Lacey laid back on the grass, crossing her arms over her chest as she was taught in middle school gym class.

"Nope, hands behind your head, Cuz. Interlock your fingers. That way you can't cheat."

Lacey looked up at her, fearful of exposing her chest, but relenting. As she started, she grunted and her V-neck T rose to expose her stomach with each downward motion. Kristi stood aside of her, counting.

"Come on, all the way down and all the way up," she demanded.

"Wait, stop. Bend your legs more," she said as she knelt at Lacey's feet on the grass, and reached to hold her calves.

"Okay, now start over."

"What? I already did like thirteen," Lacey complained.

"Okay, okay, ten. Let's go!"

Lacey struggled, closing her eyes as she strained, hearing Kristi count them off as she completed each sit-up. She struggled to focus on the proper form, but all she could feel was Kristi's soft yet firm hands on her calves as she held her legs in place. Why was her body reacting this way, she wondered, feeling the moisture building between her slightly parted legs.

She peeked down her body at her cousin kneeling in front of her as she counted, and although Lacey tried to keep her legs perpendicular to the ground, she felt them parting slightly as Kristi held her in place by putting pressure on her calves.

"Twenty one, twenty two..."

Lacey found herself straining and knew she wasn't going to reach fifty, but she was determined to fight through the pain. She regretted wearing the short navy shorts, and nearly panicked as she tried to remember which panties she wore for her training.

"God, what if she can see them?" she wondered, assuming that her cousin would have a glimpse up Lacey's shorts from that angle.

As she reached thirty, Lacey realized that Kristi stopped counting, so she continued to count in her own head. Thirty-two, thirty-three... Lacey opened her eyes on her way up for the next pushup and found Kristi, still in position at her feet, but gazing almost as if in a trance. Lacey dropped back down and as she strained, her legs parted just a few inches more. She rose for the thirty-fourth sit-up and found Kristi biting her lip, eyes nearly closed, but gazing directly between Lacey's legs.

"I... I can't do any more," Lacey admitted. No response.

"Kristi? I don't think I can do any more."

Kristi didn't hear her as her mind flashed back to her freshman pledge days and a foggy sorority party. It wasn't the first time she tasted alcohol, but it was the first and only time she blacked out. She wasn't sure if it was the kamikazes or - as some of the other pledges speculated - something more potent that may have been placed into their drinks. She had a strange sense of déjà vu, and although she had no recollection of anything sexual taking place, she continued to experience flashes such as this one as she assumed her position nearly between her cousin's thighs. She agonized over what may have happened that night, and was both relieved and regretful that she couldn't remember.

"Kristi? KRISTI? Are you okay? You're scaring me!"

"What? Oh, sorry Lace, did you finish the fifty? I was just...just thinking about some ... some school stuff."

"Um, no. I got pretty close. Like thirty-five I think. I can't do any more. I'm sorry."

Kristi relaxed her grip on her cousin's calves, and stood. She reached out to help her cousin up.

"It's okay. You did really good. Most of your teammates probably couldn't even get to twenty, I bet."

Lacey wondered what happened. Kristi was clearly not her happy, confident self, and she wondered if she was the cause of it.

"Kristi, you were off somewhere for a minute or two. If you... I mean, I know I'm not in college, but I AM a good listener, lots of people tell me. If you ever... need to talk..."

"Thanks cuz. It's nothing really. Hey, let's get some lemonade inside. It's hot out here."

Lacey shrugged, disappointed. After all, why would she expect her popular cousin to confide in her after all?

The next two days followed a similar pattern, but with one exception. Even though they finished their daily workouts with sit-ups, Kristi opted to do them together, side by side but from a comfortable distance. Although Lacey's stomach muscles were killing her, she was determined to keep up. Kristi was easily able to do fifty sit-ups and on the second day she completed seventy-five before Lacey even reached forty. Although Lacey was ecstatic about her improvement and one on one attention that she was given, it was clear that something had changed between them. The "old" Lacey would have simply let it go, but she felt the need to understand what had happened. Was it something that she did or said, she wondered?

As they relaxed following their fourth daily workout, Lacey fumbled with her cup of lemonade, rotating it slowly, first clockwise, then counter-clockwise, and watching the ice adjusting to the change in motion.

"Kristi, can I ask you something?" She was surprised to hear her own meek voice, and she almost immediately regretted it. It was so unlike her to speak up.

Kristi nodded, quietly sipping her drink as they sat across from each other at the kitchen island. Again, they were both drenched from another full workout under the sun.

"Did I... did something happen? I mean, you were so nice - you are still nice, but more, well, distant I guess. I just want to apologize if I did something or said something wrong. I don't want to screw this up."

Kristi smiled at her, but remained quiet for several seconds before responding, "Cuz, it's definitely not you, I mean.. well in a way it is, but not how you think. Anyway, I really like teaching you stuff. You're a really good student."

"I like being taught. You should consider a teaching minor, Kristi. You're patient and positive, but firm. I still don't really understand though. How can it be me, but not be me that's a problem?"

She realized that she may have been pushing the issue, and was afraid that Kristi would shut down, but she wanted to know. She needed to know if she did something wrong. Kristi shuffled in the high seat, dangling her legs. She started to comment a couple of times, but kept stopping herself.

Lacey pushed her glasses back up on her nose and said quietly, "Whatever I did, I'm really sorry."

For the first time, Lacey looked at her older cousin as an equal, down from the pedestal that Lacey and virtually everyone else had placed her upon.

"I... I get these, well... these blurry flashbacks sometimes," Kristi said quietly. "Like, déjà vu stuff, kind of. It happened a lot in school, but then it went away for the most part, that is until this week."

Lacey was concerned that Kristi was going to break down in tears, but she held herself together.

"It's okay Kristi. Whatever it is, tell me and I will try to stop it from happening. What do you think triggers it? Do you know?"

Kristi turned beet red before sipping more of her lemonade.

"Kinda, I think, but I would need something stronger than lemonade to be honest."

They sat quietly across from each other, finishing their drinks. Perspiration transferred from Kristi's arms to the granite counter top, and she used her finger to trace it, absent-mindedly writing, 'so confused.'

Lacey tried but struggled to read the upside-down words, and they disappeared before she deciphered it.

"Kristi, at least tell me what I did or even when the flashbacks started. Maybe I can stop whatever it was that caused it."

Kristi smiled, but shook her head. "I don't want to bring you into my drama, Cuz. It's confusing enough to me. It would probably make your head explode," she said with a half-hearted laugh.

"Listen, I won't be able to spend time with you tomorrow. I have to get back to school for an optional softball practice." As soon as she said it, she saw Lacey slink down in her chair, nodding her head.

"It's not personal, Lace. Seriously, I really like you and it's fun hanging out with you."

"If you don't want to show me stuff anymore, would you just tell me, Kristi? Please?"

Kristi again bit her lip, thinking.

"Tell you what Cuz... Do you think Uncle, I mean um.. your dad would let you come along to school with me? I mean, the practice is only two or three hours. Maybe we could pack for the beach, or just stay in the dorm if it gets too late. What do you think? There are always pickup basketball games going on there. Maybe we can even play an actual game."

Despite what she offered, Kristi wondered if it was a wise request. After all, the flashbacks were clearly triggered by being around Lacey - innocent Lacey. What if they continued, or got worse? What if she actually finally remembered? Still, she found herself praying that Lacey would agree to go.