Sibling Rivalry

"You guys going to play in the water, or just soak up rays?" asked Joe.

"Sunbathing for now," said Cornelia, who as Penny had suspected was in a much smaller bikini than her own. "You going in the water?"

"Been looking forward to it the whole way here." Joe dropped his backpack on the blanket and, to both sisters' delight, he pulled his shirt off. "Penny, want to join me?"

"And how!" Feeling brazen after their intimate conversation on the way over, she hooked her arm through his. "Let's go!"

As they made their way down to the surf, Penny reflected on what he'd said about being seen in his skimpy trunks...if she looked half as wonderful to him as he did to her, she saw no cause for either of them to be embarrassed. As she could think of no cute or flirtatious way to say that, she said only, "I've been looking forward to it too. It's been ages since I've been anywhere near the beach."

"And never in a two-piece," he teased.

"Once you get used to it, I think I prefer it," she said.

"That's the spirit!" he said. "I know it's easier said than done, but it's worth it."

The water was cold. "Oof, it's early in the season, isn't it?" But Penny forced herself to wade in up to her knees, and Joe followed suit.

He did seem to welcome the excuse to pause where Penny did. "I get it. Every time I get in the water for the first swim of the day, unless it's a hotel pool, it's always frigid. You get used to it, but in those first moments you think you never will." Penny noticed he was struggling to look her in the eye as he said it, but she took no offense as she was still enjoying the view of his body as much as ever.

"Then shall we press on?" she asked, looking out at the serene blue that she had missed for so long.

"I can take it if you can."

Penny was taking her next tentative step when she put two and two together. Before she could stop herself, she burst into girlish laughter.

"What's up?" Joe asked.

Being utterly open had worked wonders so far, and Penny decided to stick with it. "No offense intended, Joe, but I noticed when we were talking just now, you were struggling to look at my face. I just realized what you were looking at!" She looked down to confirm. She had no way of knowing whether it was the cold water or Joe or both, but her nipples were hard as diamonds and very much on display through her bikini top.

"Sorry!" Joe said. "I did my best not to."

"Nah, I get it," Penny said. "Besides, I suppose you're used to it from the swim team."

"Well, that too," Joe said. "But I meant no disrespect, I promise."

"Joe, it's fine!" Penny surprised him - and herself, even - by throwing herself at him. "I don't suppose too many of your friends on the swim team were built like me, though!"

"Yes, and I hate thinking we guys kept them away."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's simple," Joe said. "I mean, we all told ourselves women with big breasts just weren't built for fast swimming, but the real problem was they probably didn't feel comfortable wearing a swimsuit in public. Because guys like me would never be able to keep our eyes off them." He smiled and shook his head and gazed out at the water. "I did try talking to the other guys on the team about it, but the consensus was even if we wore blinders in the pool, would the women trust us? Of course not." He let out a frustrated-sounding laugh. "Sorry, I'm sure this sounds like some kind of self-flagellating bullshit to you."

"No, Joe, you sound...like you're trying to be part of the solution. That's great, really!"

Now he looked at her again, this time having no trouble holding her gaze. "Wow. I wasn't expecting that from Neeli's sister."

"Oh, good God, Joe, the stories I could tell you about that! Yeah, you'll have noticed, Cornelia and I don't even look like sisters. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Our mother was a real ball of rage, always angry about something, and a lot of the time it was something I said that got her wound up. So Cornelia thinks she hated my feminism, and she became the worst sort of bat-your-eyes-and-look-silly girl in response."

"I take it you don't agree? About why your mom was angry?"

"It's not that I disagree, so much as I think Cornelia missed the point. I think Mom resented me because I reminded her too much of herself when she was younger, how she was out to change the world and be a trailblazer, and instead she became a stay-at-home-mom and hated every moment of it. So that's why she and I fought so much."

"And Neeli, being a youngest child..."

"You've got a bratty little brother or sister too, do you?"

"A sister," Joe said. "Haven't spoken to her in years, for similar reasons. But I'm sorry, Penny, I didn't mean for each of us to have to talk about this on such a nice day."

"No, it's okay," Penny said. "Feels good to have it off my chest."

"Yeah, that's already got plenty to support, huh?" Joe snickered.

Penny surprised even herself by bursting out laughing. "Well played, Joe, well played!"

Back on the sand, Cornelia was watching. "Looks like they're getting along famously," she said. "Did you remember to tell him to bring up his feminist nonsense with her? And his family situation?"

"Course I did," Eric said, his eyes also glued to their figures as they receded into the surf. "You sure you want to pull this on her, babe? Your sister seems like a really sweet gal, and so what if you didn't get along when you were kids?"

"That's it, no more spying on her in the shower for you!" Cornelia poked him in the hip.

"Hey, come on, it's you I love!" Eric turned to her, looking as serious as she'd ever seen him. "Besides, what about Don from the coffee shop?"

"Dan," Cornelia corrected, "And can't you ever let go of anything? I said I was sorry, didn't I? And didn't I invite you to look at Penny in the shower in the first place?"

"Can't help it if she's beautiful," Eric said. "So are you, just in a different way, babe."

"No, she isn't! She's dumpy and hairy and I can't believe you're attracted to her. It's her boobs, isn't it? No way hers are as responsive as mine, you know."

"I don't care about that!"

"Liar."

"You mean like you lied about Dan?"

"Fuck you, Eric. Why don't you go play in the water, too?"

Eric decided to do just that, as he got up, Cornelia let out an annoyed grunt. "What?" he demanded. "You told me to get lost and that's what I'm gonna do."

"Not that!" She sat up and looked down at her calves. "There was oil on my legs, now there's sand on my legs...thank you so much!"

"Welcome to the beach." Eric took off for the water without another look at his true love.

He gave serious thought to joining Penny and Joe - not to sabotage the plan, just to say hello and maybe get a peek at Penny's bush - but something told him not to, and he set off in the other direction. The beach was starting to get a bit more crowded now, but the water was still fairly chilly and he had no problem finding a spot to wade in on his own once he was used to it. Standing up to his neck in the water, he could see Joe and Penny in the distance. They were splashing around a bit, but mostly they seemed to be deep in conversation. At least that was working out well, but it brought to mind the suspicion Eric had been harboring all through the trip.

If he was right, would Cornelia forgive him? Did she have any business forgiving him or not after Dan, who he doubted was the only one? But then, Eric knew he had no business judging her either.

What about Joe - did he know? Is that why he'd agreed to the ruse?

In that moment, with the two of them looking so happy together, Eric almost hoped Joe did know.

Joe and Penny talked for what felt like hours, and when the sun finally got too strong and they headed back for the beach, Penny discovered it really had been about two hours. They found Cornelia fast asleep on the blanket, while Eric was nowhere to be seen. "Just as well," Penny said with a conspiratorial smile. "Want to go have a look at the waterfront shops?" she asked, pointing at the far end of the beach; it was much too early to go home but definitely time to get out of the sun.

"Sounds great," Joe said. "Is there a secondhand bookstore there?"

"Two of them, unless one has closed down since the last time I was here."

"Oh, that's dangerous!" Joe said.

"For me too," Penny said. "But let's go!"

They returned to the house just long enough to drop off their beach garb and collect their wallets. Joe offered to carry Penny's so she could remain in just her bikini and t-shirt over it, and Penny more than willingly agreed as she was feeling utterly beautiful. On their walk back up the beach, their hands brushed a few times, and Penny was sorely tempted to just take Joe's hand in hers already. Only when she'd made up her mind to do it next time did the big question occur to her.

"So do you have a girlfriend?" She made it sound as casual as she could, and was rather pleased at how successful she was.

"No," Joe replied. "I was engaged for a little while but...she went back to Italy. Her father didn't want her marrying an American."

"I'm sorry!" Penny said, though she wasn't entirely. Of course a guy like this wouldn't stay single any too long.

"Oh, I'm getting over it," Joe said. "Never would've worked if she was still going to take orders from her parents at our age, would it? Besides, I already had my golden moment, when I knew things would get better."

"Golden moment?"

"It's happened every time I've ever had my heart broken. It's a moment when you feel real joy again for the first time. Mine came about a month after Carlotta went home. I went to New York for a weekend to clear my head, and it was pouring rain when I got to my hotel. I took a long bath and then just went to bed, and the sound of the rain and the city out the window while I was warm and dry inside...so comforting, you know? I think that night I got a good night's sleep for the first time since she left - and in an unfamiliar bed, too!"

"Oh, that's beautiful," Penny said.

"How about you?"

"Oh, there was a friend from college who ended up in the same neighborhood as me. We were together for about a year and a half before we both realized there was a reason why we were just friends before."

"No golden moment, though?"

Penny thought about it for a minute. "I think my golden moment was when we admitted to each other that it was over. I'd known it was coming for a while, and I was glad it ended fairly peacefully."

"That's good! Nothing better than having no bitterness at the end of the road like that."

The conversation was on to lighter talk as they approached the shops and tourist traps, and for the moment Penny forgot about the politics of hand-holding as they window-shopped and ate lunch at the margarita bar Cornelia hated and spent a lot of time and too much money at the two bookshops.

On the walk home, holding hands was out of the question as they both had books to carry. "I think your sister is going to take one look at us and take credit for setting us up," Joe quipped.

Penny felt herself blush. She'd never asked a guy out before, but there was a first time for everything.

But before she could find the words, Joe beat her to the punch. "Listen, after dinner, you want to go back there and see a movie?"

"Yes, I'd love to!" Penny hated the way she sounded like a schoolgirl who'd just been asked to dance for the first time, but she was also relieved that she wouldn't have to ask.

When they arrived home, Larry and Jan greeted them with an invitation to dinner at a newly opened restaurant in town. "That'd be great, Dad," Penny said, "But Joe and I were planning to go to a movie after dinner." She didn't look at Cornelia and Eric, who were sacked out on the couch together, but Joe did. Sure enough, they exchanged bemused looks.

"Oh, we can drop you off at the theatre," Jan said. "Eric and Cornelia have some sort of prior commitment, so it'll just be us four."

"Oh, that sounds great," Penny said. She saw no point in hiding her relief that her sister wouldn't be there to make passive aggressive comments all through the meal; she suspected there'd already been plenty of that before she and Joe had arrived.

"Is there time for us to shower?" Joe asked. "Lots of sand to wash off, you know?"

"Of course," Jan said. "The reservation isn't for about two hours yet."

Joe turned to Penny. "Ladies first."

"Thank you." Penny had half a mind to invite Joe to join her in the shower, but that was out of the question with everyone else there.

Besides, she had an idea.

The sun had long since dried her swimsuit, but it was still a relief to take it off and put it in the bucket by the shower to soak. It was a bigger relief still to get under the hot water, and she hurriedly washed off the lingering sand and salt. As she did so, she did her best to judge how long it would take Eric to lure Joe behind the chimney. That he would try was beyond question, after all. She had little doubt Eric had spied on her the night before and maybe that morning as well. While she didn't like that, at least it meant there was a decent chance she could give Joe a show.

She had enjoyed soaping up her bush more than usual last night, just to show Eric she didn't hate having a hairy pussy. Having not yet heard footsteps on the stairs when she finished washing her hair on her head, she did the same now, rubbing the suds gently in playful circles through her dark triangle.

Upstairs, Joe had made no move to follow Penny to the basement, choosing instead to make small talk with Larry while Jan went upstairs to dress for dinner. When Eric and Cornelia were persuaded he wouldn't go downstairs on his own, Eric got up and patted Joe on the back. "Sorry to interrupt, Joe, can I show you something downstairs?" Neither man took any notice when Cornelia reached for her purse and took out a tiny plastic bag.

"Sure, man," Joe said, and he followed Eric down the stairs in silence.

"What's up?" Joe asked when they got to the bottom of the stairs.

Eric put his fingers to his lips and pointed at Cornelia's room. When he had her door shut behind them, Eric whispered, "So, how'd the plan go? Did you remember -"

"Man, I remembered everything," Joe said. "Worked perfectly. I asked her out, but I think she was about to ask me out if I didn't."

"Great," Eric said. "Listen, did Neeli ever tell you about their shower?"

"What about it?"

Eric's voice dropped to a whisper. "There's a spot behind the chimney with a crack in the wall, and you can see -"

"No, man!" Joe said, holding up his hands. "She's a nice gal, it's bad enough we're pulling this trick on her, I'm not gonna violate her privacy on top of that."

Eric looked like he wanted to punch his friend in the mouth. "You don't know what you're missing, dude. But if you're not gonna look, I'm not missing my chance!"

"She's your girlfriend's sister, you perv!" Joe hissed. But Eric was not to be deterred, and he beat a hasty retreat behind the chimney. Joe, wanting no part of whatever might happen next, went to Penny's room to set aside a change of clothes, and then went back upstairs.

Penny, having heard them both tromping downstairs, had waited a long moment. When she judged that there was time for Joe to be poised behind the chimney, she took the showerhead off the hook to rinse off her bush. This she did, slowly and thoroughly, running her left hand through the curls even more than she really needed to. Then she clicked on the pulse setting on the showerhead and gripped at the bar with her left hand for balance, and aimed the rhythmic pounding of water at her clit.

Penny closed her eyes and remembered the way Joe looked at her in the water, and imagined he hadn't only looked. The intense sensation had her wanting to moan out loud, but she didn't want Eric or Cornelia overhearing that and contented herself with bending her knees and wiggling as she felt her orgasm building up.

Behind the chimney, Eric was nearly catatonic. He reached into his shorts and started playing along with Penny, not caring who might see him, wishing he could hear the heavy breathing that her gaping mouth was so clearly hinting at.

It was just as well that he didn't care who saw him, for Cornelia did. "What are you doing?" she hissed in a whisper loud enough that she couldn't be sure Penny wouldn't hear; at that moment she didn't care.

Eric made a clumsy effort at pushing her away with his free hand, but his attention was riveted on Penny. Cornelia effortlessly dodged his hand and pulled him away.

"You bitch, let me..."

"Shhhh!" Cornelia looked even angrier than she'd been when he'd come clean about that night with his ex last fall, and Eric was cowed into silence. Cornelia helped herself to a look just as Penny came, her head thrown back and her hips wriggling wildly against the showerhead. Cornelia whipped her head away, disgusted at what she'd seen, but it was too late.

Eric was sitting nervously at the foot of her bed when she returned. "I tried to get Joe to look, but -"

"Shut up!" Cornelia hissed. "How could you possibly enjoy that?"

"How could I not?"

"It's gross, that's how! You'll never see me doing that!"

"Believe me, babe, I know!"

"You asshole." Despite her harsh words, Cornelia had set about undressing, and she didn't stop now. "You want to make it up to me?"

"Of course."

"Lie back," she ordered. "Now."

Eric lay back on the bed and assumed the position, with his hands up near the posts. As usual, he gave no indication to Cornelia whether or not he actually enjoyed it as Cornelia took a pair of his socks and tied his wrists to the bed one by one. He awaited the number, which she chose at random depending on how serious his transgression was. After he'd confessed about that night with his ex, it had been 20. He contented himself with the knowledge that surely this wasn't that bad.

Sure enough, it wasn't. "Five," she proclaimed as she pushed her shorts and panties down. "And I expect you to show some respect for the sister who does keep herself groomed!" She patted her freshly shorn vulva, then reached down and cupped his head in her hands and forced him to give it a close look. "Isn't it beautiful, Eric?"

"Gorgeous!" Eric squealed. "So feminine!"

"Don't push your luck. You know I'm not big on being feminine, and I could still change your number!" She climbed onto the bed and straddled him, hovering just over his mouth. "Now eat!"

Once again Cornelia was reminded, her boyfriend might be an immature little twit, but he had a very talented tongue. As soon as the command was out of her mouth, his nimble licks had her writhing in pleasure and hanging onto the headboard for dear life as she indulged.

"Onnnnnhhh God! Who's the boss, Eric?!"

"You!" He'd had plenty of practice grunting out the answer between furious licks on her clit, and didn't miss a beat.

"You gonna question me agaiiiiieeeeeeeyessssss!" One down, four to go. "Gonna question me again about Penny?"

"No!"

"Ever want to see that ugly body again?"

"No!"

"Yessssssss!" With the second orgasm well on the way, Cornelia shut her eyes and replayed her favorite memories of getting Penny in hot water with their mother. Eric's heavenly licks made for a lovely consolation prize for the knowledge that it would never happen again, but that remained a sore point. She settled on replaying the one and only time Mom had been moved to violence against any of the three of them - a beautifully executed campaign, so successful even Cornelia had been scared off from ever trying it again. But why bother when it had played out so perfectly the first time?

It was after Penny had brought home a rare bad grade, on a geography test. Mom and Dad were out and Penny was busy studying to avoid letting it happen again, making for a perfect time for Cornelia to have a little fun. Recalling Penny's promise to study the capitals of Europe so she'd be ready for the next quiz, a quick look in the world atlas she'd never even opened before was all Cornelia needed.