Jinx

Since hotels always have these huge boilers, so there's always plenty of hot water - especially hotels near the beach, where folks are taking extra showers to wash off sand and suntan lotion - I decided on a long and relaxing shower. After all, we still had better than forty-five minutes before we had to leave the room and head for the hotel's restaurant.

Andy's scent was stronger, in this shower, than it had been at home. Maybe the tall glass door helped to keep it trapped in the stall. Whatever the reason, it was making me hot - and I'm not talking the heat that was coming from the faucet! Try as I might, I couldn't get past those naughty thoughts, and I was just about to the point where I was ready to stop trying! Finally, I gave in and sat on the tile bench that was built into the stall, letting my fingers drift down between my thighs and take care of the worst of my arousal. Then, sated for the moment, I cut the water off, and stepped out onto the thick bathmat. Wrapping one of the hotel's overly-large bath towels around me, I went back out into the main area of our room.

Andy was lounging on his bed, watching some program on the television, as I proceeded to cross the room in front of him and dig my clothes out of my bag. I didn't accidentally drop the towel, or anything else that would be blatantly obvious, but I made sure to step into my panties and pull them up well within the range of his peripheral vision, knowing that the towel would creep up and give him at least a quick flash before the panties covered things up. I was rewarded, but tried not to give it away with a smile, when I saw Andy risk a glance. I knew he'd seen something that interested him, because his eyelids went wide, his pupils dilated slightly, his nostrils flared, and his lips unconsciously pursed themselves into a little 'o'!

Next, I slipped into a thigh-length skirt, which got no reaction from him, at all. Of course, he could have been looking away, afraid to stare too much lest I catch him, but I couldn't be certain of either. Finally, it was time to put on my bra. I'd saved that for last, as the BIG tease. I had it all planned out, how to drop the towel and flash my tits at him, briefly, all the while looking like I was trying to wrap the bra around me under the towel and had failed in the attempt. Everything went like clockwork, and I had to turn away from him for a moment, to wipe the smug grin from my face after seeing his jaw drop. By the time I turned back toward him, he was apparently focused on the TV, again, but his face was starting to color nicely and there was a fair-sized tent forming beneath his pair of Dockers!

Bra fully on, I went back to the bag to find a shirt. I found a semi-dressy one that went with the skirt, and put it on.

"How do I look?" I asked him.

"There's a full length mirror, on the closet door," he suggested, pointing.

"Andy, if you're ever going to find yourself a girlfriend, you better get used to the fact that a woman can check her appearance in a mirror a hundred times but, whenever there's a man around, she's going to ask him how she looks."

Andy swallowed hard and struggled to form words, "Oh - um - hm - nice. You look nice."

"Thanks," I said smiling. "Now, was that so hard?", I asked. Why'd I put just a tad more vocal stress on that last word? I thought to myself. I kept pushing his buttons; I guess I'd really missed the playful banter we'd always exchanged, growing up together.

"You ready?" I asked him. That, too, had been a loaded question, but it was a little more on the subtle side. He'd have to think about it for a moment, to connect the potential 'naughty' meaning with the earlier comments. For some reason that I was only partly aware of, I felt that I had to keep from pushing the envelope too far, with him. To borrow a line from one of my favorite movies, These things must be done delicately, or it ruins the spell!

"Yep; let's go," he nodded. He started to stand, then sat back on the bed, pretending to look for the remote, but I could see the problem. I reached over and grabbed it and turned the TV off.

"Oh, there it is," he said sheepishly.

"Come on," I said, as I pulled his hand helping him from the chair.

We were at the door, when I realized I needed to get that key-card from the wrist-wallet, which I'd left on the counter in the bathroom.

"Be right back, Andy," I said as I disappeared from the bathroom door. My absence wouldn't be long enough for him to do away with his 'problem' completely, but I figured he'd have at least a chance to make a quick adjustment in its position.

"We'll need this," I said waving the key-card at him as I came back into the room. Crossing over to him, I gently shoved it into the left-front pocket of his dress shorts. "I don't have any pockets in this outfit, and I don't want to lug my purse along, just for a stupid key-card. Do you mind?"

I felt pretty naughty as my fingertips barely brushed against the repositioned lump as I let go of the card.

"Not a bit," he shook his head. He was blushing again, but at least there was a cute little grin on his lips.

"Come on, we'll be late," I said, taking his hand and pulling him after me.

True to form, on family outings, we arrived in the lobby before our parents.

"I guess they're going to be late," Andy said

"As usual," we finished simultaneously, and I jinxed him.

He looked at me, smiling but frustrated, as there was no way other than pantomime for him to ask me what his penalty was.

"The same penalty Dad extracted from Mom, when he jinxed her on the beach," I told him. "And do it nicely!"

Stepping over to me, his face beet-red but still holding a smile, he leaned in and gently brushed his lips against mine. I almost regretted the penalty I'd chosen, because it took me an immense effort to appear 'normal' when I was fighting an electric tingle that started in my brain and rocketed downward to my dampening pussy, shooting a pair of side-discharges at my nipples in the process.

"I think we're eating in the restaurant here. Let's go check," I said, taking him by the hand.

Andy walked over with me to the entrance of the hotel restaurant.

"Do you have a reservation for the Riley's?" he asked the hostess.

"Yes, right this way," she said. Then she led us to a table for six. "Here, you go. Is it just you and your wife, this evening?" she asked, obviously confused by seating two people when the table was reserved for five.

"No, another couple and their son will be joining us," I told her, before Andy could open his mouth to correct her.

She led us over to a large table, and we took seats.

"Your server will be with you, shortly," she said, and then she strode off toward her hostess station.

When we were alone, Andy asked, "What was that all about? What game are we playing, now?"

"It's not a game," I explained quietly. "She must have seen you kiss me, in the lobby, and that made her think that we were a married couple - "

"But we're not wearing wedding rings," he objected.

"You're not wearing your class ring, either," I commented. "Why?"

"I took it off in the room and left it in my toilet kit. I don't want to lose it on the beach."

"My point, exactly," I nodded. "Most folks don't wear jewelry on the beach. Did you see that guy, out there, with the metal detector? He's not looking for seashells! He's looking for coins and lost jewelry that he can sell for cash. Even without wedding rings, we could be a married couple, for all the hostess knows. She made a choice - a logical one - on how to address us, and I simply chose not to embarrass her by correcting her when it might be overheard by others."

"I see," he nodded. "But you're fine with embarrassing me?"

I pouted, "You'd be embarrassed, if I was your wife?"

He was stumped; there was no right answer. It was one of those 'no way out' questions, like "Have you stopped beating your wife, yes or no?" I admit I was being a trifle mean, but a part of me really wondered if he would be embarrassed to have a girl who looked like me, as his wife, or even as his girlfriend.

Finally, he said, "No, actually, I wouldn't. I take it back."

I wasn't expecting that, but it earned him a big hug and a peck on the cheek. Fortunately, for him, the hostess was just then leading Mom, Dad, and Jason over to the table. Also fortunately, for him, I'd forgotten to apply my lipstick before we left the room, so my kiss hadn't left a mark on him.

Once Mom, Dad, and Jason were seated, the hostess produced a stack of menus and handed one to each of us.

"My name is Tess. Your server will be right with you. If there's anything you need, just ask."

The menu was pretty decent, offering a fair variety of choices. There were steak, chicken, and seafood platters of various sorts, with an array of side items. Additionally, there was part of a page offering burger-and-fries type platters sized for children.

"Do I have to get a kid's meal, Mom?" Jason asked in a kind of pleading tone.

"Not tonight or tomorrow, sweetie," Mom told him.

He lit up, "I want to get what Andy gets."

"How do you know what I'm going to get, little guy?" Andy asked him.

"I love how he looks up to you," I whispered to Andy, behind the cover of my menu.

"You always get popcorn shrimp, any place they have it," Jason said authoritatively.

"I might change it up, tonight," Andy teased.

Jason thought about that for a while and then looked over the menu himself. We were all a little tired from the long drive and our afternoon of swimming, so the conversation died down a bit as we tried to decide which of the selections looked most appetizing to us. Apparently, while the hotel was fairly new, the staff in the restaurant was well trained. Our server waited until we'd all decided on our meals and put our menus in a stack at one corner of the table, before approaching us. He was very sharply dressed in a grey suit that did little to hide his athletic physique.

"Hi, my name is Will, and I'll be your server tonight," he greeted us. "May I get you started, with some drinks or appetizers?"

Dad ordered some calamari and a basket of onion rings, for the table. We all put in our drink orders and Will told us he'd have them right out.

Will was back with the drinks after only a couple minutes and, after placing them in front of each of us, he took our orders. Mom and Dad both ordered steak-and-shrimp platters, with baked potato and side salads. I got the broiled shrimp and scallops. Andy mixed it up with a trio of fried shrimp, oysters and broiled scallops, and Jason immediately declared that he'd have the same. The little guy had such a bro-crush, it was absolutely adorable.

"You sure you're going to eat those oysters?" Mom asked him.

Jason nodded and smiled broadly.

It was only a few minutes before the appetizers came out. The calamari was a big hit and disappeared quickly. The onion rings were not a good as we'd expected, but we eventually at them while awaiting the food. As it turned out, a side salad came with each of our meals, but they were quite ordinary, and the dressings lacked the sort of zesty flavor we were used to, back home. We wound up just picking at them.

"Just so you don't feel disappointed," Dad told us quietly, just before our main meals arrived, "I want you to know that tomorrow we have reservations at a different restaurant. It's down the beach a few miles, on a pier out over the water. A couple of my friends told me about it, and said that the food was excellent, and so is the service. According to all the tourist guides, it gets extremely high marks."

Our meals arrived out almost immediately on the heels of Dad's comment, and they were much better than we'd anticipated, based on the quality of the onion-rings and salads. My food was perfect. I couldn't finish it all (I ignored the vegetable and left some of the potato, but ate all the seafood), but it was yummy. Dad, Andy and Jason all consumed everything on their plates. Andy and Jason had even eaten the heap of French fries and hush puppies, and Jason was about to munch on a sprig of parsley when Mom told him that restaurants only put that on plates for decoration. Mom didn't finish her steak, but appeared to enjoy it very much.

Will had popped by our table, on several occasions, to make certain that we weren't lacking anything, and - when he observed us pushing back our plates, he returned.

"How was everything, tonight?" he asked.

Mom told him honestly, "We all thought the meals were very good. The salads were poor, though, and the onion-rings were mushy or something."

She was often blunt, like that, and I guess that's where I picked up the trait.

Dad had Will bill the meal to his room, tipped him in cash. Then we headed back out into the lobby, to turn in for the evening. In the lobby, as we waited for the elevator, we discussed plans for the morning. Everyone except Jason seemed to think that sleeping in was a good idea. Jason, of course, was pushing to get up at the crack of dawn, and hit the surf again. We finally managed to agree that we'd meet up with each other at around noon, down by the pool. Finally, the elevator arrived, and we said goodnight to Mom, Dad, and Jason. As the doors closed, Andy and I turned to walk to our room. As we walked, I took his hand.

"Should we wait up until midnight, to celebrate?" I asked, yawning.

"Nah, it looks like you're as tired as I am," he said.

"Yeah, it has been a long day," I agreed.

Again, Andy played the gentleman and held the door while I entered our room, then locked and bolted it securely behind us. Once inside, I walked to the closet, stripping down to my bra and panties and putting the skirt and blouse on hangers. Across the room, Andy had stripped down and slipped into the pair of boxers he wore as sleep-shorts. I guess we were both so tired, after the long day, that it never occurred to either of us that we were undressing in front of each other for the first time since we were maybe five years old. We even brushed our teeth together, in the bathroom, making foamy-mouthed faces at each other, in the mirror.

"You can have first dibs on the toilet, Sis," he told me, as we dried our hands.

"Okay by me," I smiled, stepping into the cubby and closing the privacy door. I'd expected him to wait outside, and tried to keep my task as silent as possible, though why I thought the sound of my urine hitting the water in the toilet bowl was somehow embarrassing, I don't know. I was surprised when, after flushing, I opened the door to find the outer portion of the bathroom empty.

Walking out into the main room, I learned the reason why. Andy was standing out on the balcony, staring out over the moonlit ocean and deeply inhaling the salt air.

"Someday, I want to live and work in a place where I can hear the sound of the surf, and smell the ocean breeze, every single day," he commented, turning and smiling across the room at me as he heard my soft footfalls on the carpet.

"I second that emotion, Andy," I told him. "Your turn in the bathroom, by the way."

Thanks, Sis," he nodded, heading in that direction.

I heard the privacy door close, as I slipped into bed and pulled the covers over my body. We'd agreed to let the sliding door open a bit, with just the screen door in place so that we could fall asleep to the lullaby of the surf, and I wasn't sure how chilly the nights here might get.

I must have fallen asleep even before Andy finished with the bathroom. The next thing I knew, I was awakened by a noise and saw Andy pulling up a pair of beach shorts over his naked body.

"Morning," I called to him.

"Morning, Annie," he replied, smiling.

"What time is it?" I asked, yawning and stretching.

"About seven," he answered.

I sat up and looked to the nightstand between our beds, reaching for my cell phone. I thumbed the 'Home' button to wake it up, and saw that the time was 6:45. As I returned the phone to the table, I saw a Styrofoam cup sitting at the corner closest to me.

"Coffee?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I hope I got the cream and sugar right."

I picked up the cup, sniffed the fragrant steam rolling off the top, and took a small sip.

"Just about perfect, Andy," I smiled at him. "You're a sweetheart!"

"No big thing," he shrugged. "I just remember how hard it is for you to wake up without a cup of coffee handy. Yesterday morning must've been a rare exception."

"That it was," I agreed. "I had an adrenaline surge, from being excited about the trip! What are you up to?"

"I was about to go for a run on the beach," he said, as he pulled a fresh tank top over his head. "You wanna come with?"

"Yeah, that sounds perfect. What's the weather like, out there?"

"Very sunny," he said optimistically.

"Smart ass!" I chuckled. "It's always sunny, in Florida!"

"I thought that was Philadelphia," Andy quipped, referring to one of his favorite TV shows. "But you know, they do get hurricanes here."

"Too early in the year," I shook my head. "Hurricane season doesn't start until June."

I picked up my phone again, woke it, and touched the little 'cloud' icon, bringing up the local weather.

"Seventy degrees, outside," I told him. "Perfect temperature for a morning run. Do me a favor and toss me my swimsuit? I hung it over one of the chairs on the balcony, to air-dry."

"Get it, yourself," he laughed.

"Not dressed like this, I'm not!" I informed him. "You're lucky I let you see me in bra and panties!"

"And you'd look different, how, in a two-piece bathing suit?" he laughed, turning to the curtains and drawing them open. The grey light of early morning flooded our room as he slid the screen door aside and stepped out onto the balcony. A second or so later, my swimsuit came flying across the room at me.

"Here you go, Sis," he said.

"Thanks," I told him.

Plucking my suit off the bed where it had landed, I slid my legs over the edge and stood up. Taking my coffee, I headed for the bathroom, grabbing a pair of gym shorts out of my suitcase as I passed it. That swimsuit was okay, on its own, in the water, but there was no way I was going to go running without a pair of shorts to help camouflage my pasty white butt-cheeks! It only took me about ten minutes to change and run a wet washcloth over my face. I'd gotten more sun than I'd expected, in our few hours on the beach, the previous afternoon, and my pale complexion was already showing a nice flush of color. Running a brush through my hair a few times, to straighten it out after sleeping, I gathered it into a ponytail and bound it with a white scrunchy. I took an extra minute or so to give my lips a coat of Pink Sugar lip balm. Then, grabbing my wrist wallet, I headed back to the main room.

"That was quick!" Andy said, as I walked over to the nightstand to grab my key-card.

"Really?" I grinned at him, stuffing my card into the wrist-wallet. I took a couple more long swallows of coffee, perched my Oakleys on the top of my head, and looked over at him. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Great! Let's go!"

Of course, we still had to wait for the elevator, but the hallway was deserted except for the two of us.

"You're up early, for a guy who suggested sleeping in, this morning," I commented as we waited for the cage to arrive from several floors above us. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, giving me a wry grin. "I just couldn't sleep any longer. I woke up, and I could hear the waves and see some light coming in under the curtains at the sliding door. I just wanted to get outside."

Here was that excited little boy I used to know, who never wanted to miss out on any opportunity. It had been a long while since I'd seen that side of him, and it hit me, then, just how much I'd missed that, in him - in fact, how much I'd missed him, period.