Side Dish Ch. 03

Rose frowned, seeing that Julia's brother had come into their apartment. She was frowning for two reasons. The first was that she and Julia had just finished showering together and he was interrupting their new dynamic. Second, he apparently had a key and no one had told her.

Oh wait, she realized there was a third reason. They'd dated briefly and then he'd left the country. That sucked too.

"Um, I gave him a key the last time he was in town, in case he ever needed a place to crash," Julia said, glancing at her roommate. Julia's eyes widened. Rose was wearing just a towel, just as she was.

Rose caught the look and then glanced down at herself. "Excuse me," she said, and she darted into her bedroom and closed the door.

She paced her room. Shit, shit, shit! She'd unexpectedly spent the night with Julia and they hadn't really come to any conclusions about what it meant. It had been fun and sexy, but neither of them had any prior experience with girls. It was confusing to discover you liked eating your best friend's pussy. Having her brother show up right afterwards was just delaying figuring it out and adding a complication.

She didn't need him to suspect what they'd been doing. It was awkward enough trying to figure out what it meant without adding a third party to the mix. Rose didn't know what it meant to her, she really didn't want to explain it to somebody else. Let alone to someone she had dated!

She tossed her towel in with the laundry and started to get dressed. Rose picked out a subdued outfit, just jeans and a t-shirt, so as to not give him any ideas. Julia's brother was a bit of a flirt, which had been why she had gone out with him and partly why they'd gone their separate ways. He was very, very confident, and she liked that and hated it at the same time.

Rose opened her door a crack to see if she could hear what was going on in the rest of the apartment. She really didn't want to deal with this right now.

"National Geographic, really?" Julia was saying. She couldn't see anything, but from the sound of it Rose thought they were over by the kitchen.

"Yeah, can you believe it? They have to get back to me, but it's looking good. Up until now it's just been travel magazines and websites, but that's always been my dream."

"Mom and Dad will be psyched!"

Rose chewed her lip. Julia and her brother were really close, being twins. Their parents had annoyingly named them Julia and Julian, and to solve the similarity problem they were known as Lia and Ian around the family house. Their grandparents had lived on a commune and their parents were into yoga and granola so everything they did was a little unconventional. Julia was a bit more mainstream, which was its own form of rebellion, but her brother had gone into photography and travelled around the world.

It sounded like he was possibly selling some of his photos and was maybe home to celebrate or wait to find out. She hadn't seen him in at least a year, back when they'd briefly dated. It had been going well until she realized that he wasn't going to stick around. She had school and he had wanderlust. Those two things weren't that compatible. They hadn't yet slept together when he left but it was pretty clear that he'd wanted to and Rose usually wanted a commitment. That wasn't something that was in the cards with Ian.

Why did he have to come back today?

Rose sighed and figured it was best to get on with the day instead of hiding in her room. She opened the door and entered the living room. Just as she'd guessed, Julia and Ian were over by the kitchen. She was leaning in the doorway with a cup of coffee, and he was standing with one of his own. They both glanced over when she came into view.

"Good morning," Ian called out. "Sorry about barging in."

Rose shrugged and put her hands in her pockets. "No biggie, just a head's up would be good."

Ian ran his fingers through his hair and looked sheepish. His sandy hair was longer than when she'd seen him last, and with the scruffy beard it looked annoyingly good. Though he was acting slightly bashful there was also a bit of a grin in the corner of his mouth. She knew he was thinking about how she had been only wearing a towel when he saw her last. That was just him. He was polite enough to be embarrassed but enough of a guy that he was probably still picturing it.

"Yeah, sorry about that too. I lost my phone in South Africa. I could only remember a couple of numbers and your cells aren't listed."

"You were in Africa?" Rose said.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool."

"Pretty cool?" Rose said. That was Ian too, downplaying something other people would find life-changing.

"I can show you both some pictures later, if you like."

Rose glanced at Julia, who mouthed "I'm sorry" while her brother was facing the other way. The pretty blonde shrugged apologetically. Rose shrugged too.

"Yeah, maybe later, if you want," Rose said. "I just really want to grab some breakfast."

"Oh, sure."

Ian moved to sit on the couch. Rose headed into the kitchen, and Julia followed her. Rose grabbed a bagel, popped it in their wide toaster, and got cream cheese from the fridge while she waited.

"Sorry," Julia said softly. "I forgot he was coming to town, thought it was next week. I would have told you. Mom only told me about it a few days ago."

"A lot of apologies this morning, it's not even lunch yet," Rose said.

"I know it's not great timing. But he's going to go to our parents' place later this week and then he'll be out of your hair."

"So not today?" Rose asked.

Julia shook her head. "They're not home until tomorrow, I think. He can crash in my room tonight, and then he's gone."

"What's wrong with the couch?"

Julia blushed and bit her lip.

"Seriously?" Rose asked, her eyes widening. "You want to... with me... tonight? With him here?"

Julia squirmed and drew on the countertop with her finger nervously. "I was hoping to. If you want me to wait until he's gone, I totally get it."

Rose felt warm all over. Julia was suggesting that she liked sleeping with Rose so much that they risk doing it again with her brother asleep in the next room. That was flattering, in a twisted sort of way. It was Rose's turn to blush.

"I thought it was just no-pressure fun?" Rose whispered.

Julia stepped a little closer to her. "But it's a LOT of fun," she whispered back.

The increase in proximity actually caused an increase in the tingles Rose was feeling around her friend. It was disconcerting. The day before they'd just been besties, no tension, and now they were like magnets. The closer Julia got to her the more Rose felt drawn in.

"I don't want him to know about it," Rose said in hushed tones, trying to control herself by changing the topic. "Our breakup was awkward enough, it's super weird having him here at all. The last thing I want is for him to suspect our nocturnal activities."

Julia nodded, with some chagrin. "I get it. Totally. But maybe you'll think about it?"

"You're insatiable!" Rose said, trying not to laugh.

She spread cream cheese on her bagel and started to munch. Julia sat on the counter, kicking her feet. Rose leaned against the counter right beside her.

"Okay," she said after a few bites. "I'll think about it."

Julia smiled with glee and kissed her cheek. She went back out to the living room and let Rose finish her bagel in peace. Rose stared into space as she chewed, trying to figure things out.

If Ian stayed on the couch it would be more awkward - if she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night she'd have to pass through the room he was sleeping in. The layout of the apartment put the bathroom right between her room and Julia's, so having him in his sister's room did create a bit of a buffer. He was very unlikely to hear anything. But having him there at all was like having an annoying fly at a barbecue - it wasn't a big problem but it wasn't ideal either. At the very least his presence was distracting.

Rose sighed. Better to face it than hide in the kitchen all day. She could put up with his presence for a few hours, it wouldn't be that bad. She cleaned up her breakfast things and went back out into the living room.

"So what did you ladies have planned today, until I derailed your routine?" Ian asked.

"Nothing so far," Julia answered. "We were just getting up when you got here. I broke up with Rick so I've been doing the solitary thing whenever Rose is at work, and she keeps me company when she's home."

"That's nice of you," Ian said.

Rose shrugged. "She's done it for me."

"Do you have to work today?"

Rose shook her head. "No, I worked late last night and have today off."

"Well are you two going to sit around the apartment all day, or what?"

Julia laughed. "We could pack a lunch, take my car and go to the beach? It's like an hour and a half away but it's nice out today."

"That's not a bad idea," Rose said. It was better than being stuck inside with Ian all day.

***

"The beach" that Julia meant wasn't just any public sandy spot on one of the local lakes. She meant the private beach off her grandparents' cottage. The family was free to use it anytime, and they took turns using the cottage itself if the grandparents weren't in residence. Julia drove with Rose beside her in the passenger seat and Ian in the back. The ride wasn't too weird for Rose as Julia kept Ian busy by talking about family events during his absence and gossip about her work at a local art gallery.

When they got to the cottage the twins went up to the house to greet their grandparents with big hugs while Rose stood back and offered a polite wave and hello. This resulted in the grandmother making more sandwiches and snacks than they had packed themselves and Ian had to carry out two coolers to the beach instead of one. The girls set up umbrellas and towels in the meantime.

The day was sunny and the lake looked inviting. Julia asked Rose to put suntan lotion on her back. The redhead got butterflies in her stomach as she straddled her friend's legs and started to rub it into her shoulders. Julia's skin was so soft it was exquisite to touch. She kneaded and rubbed the blonde's back, eliciting little "oohs" and "aaahs."

"You two could sell that on the internet," Ian chuckled as he set down the second cooler.

Rose blushed but didn't stop. After all, to anyone else it would probably just look like two friends helping each other out, right? He didn't know that they'd spent the night together. It was their secret.

Julia had her head pillowed on her folded arms. She turned her head to look at her brother.

"How much would you pay for a show like that, perv?"

Ian laughed. "Well, I wouldn't watch my sister, but otherwise every guy likes seeing two girls get close. It's like primal stuff. Haven't you ever danced together at a nightclub? I bet you get free drinks."

Julia laughed. "I've done that, but not with Rose. She's not much for dancing."

Rose shrugged and kept kneading Julia's back. She had her head down, which would be a usual indicator of her shyness and no surprise to Ian, but what he wouldn't have known is that it let her look at Julia's tight little ass. The pert cheeks tucked into a tight bikini bottom were suddenly more fascinating to look at even though Rose had seen them before. She blushed and thought maybe the beach wasn't a great idea. She didn't want to get aroused by Julia while they were around her brother.

"It's nice weather, I'm going to go swimming," Ian declared.

He stood up and tugged his t-shirt up and over his head. Rose couldn't help but admire his athletic form as his taut arms flexed. As the fabric went up more and more of his torso was uncovered, revealing well-defined abdominal muscles on his lean frame. Ian had what Rose thought of as a swimmer's body: definition without too much bulk. It was what she had always been most attracted to amongst men. There was a light dusting of dark blond body hair trailing up his chest, but not so much that it was unsightly. Like the scruff on his face it was just enough to establish his masculinity. He had matured physically in appearance during his time away.

Rose sighed, wondering if he was emotionally any more mature.

Ian didn't notice but waved and smiled at the girls before sprinting down the beach and hitting the water. He swam with perfect form out into the lake.

"Where's he going?" Rose asked Julia.

Julia sort of shrugged. "Probably going to swim out to the island in the middle, we used to race when we were kids. We get some alone time though."

Rose felt a blush at the intonation Julia put into that last sentence. "Alone time" with her roomie suddenly had interesting facets.

"Oh yeah?" Rose asked, smiling. "What do you want to do with that time?"

"I've been horny since our shower. Reach under me," Julia said.

"What, here?" Rose's eyes widened.

"They don't have a sightline here from the cottage, and Ian isn't going to notice. Otherwise I'm going to be wet the rest of the day until we find another chance."

Rose bit her lip and slid her hand down between Julia's warm thighs, reaching up and under. Her blonde friend lifted her hips to assist. Rose quickly found her mound and started to rub through the bikini briefs, exploring Julia's shape.

It felt really naughty to be doing this outside. The sun was shining, the air was warm, a light breeze was coming off the lake to tickle her hair, birds were chirping, and she was lightly massaging Julia's pussy through her swimsuit. It was way more public than she'd ever been before for a sexual act. The thought made her a little dizzy.

Julia moaned when Rose's fingertips rubbed the blonde's clit, and Rose found that made her head swim even more. It was deliriously sexy to be doing something like this where they could be caught at any time. She was usually way more restrained.

Rose used her two middle fingers to work Julia's clit in circles and the blonde responded by wriggling against Rose's hand. She bit her lip and moaned, squirming on her roommate's fingers. Rose found it fascinating. A woman's reactions were different than a man's, and so was every texture and touch and sound. She pondered that in the back of her mind as she focused on her friend's pleasure - she'd always enjoyed sex, as rarely as she'd had any. Perhaps she wasn't completely a lesbian but just enjoyed pleasure for pleasure's sake? Was that a thing?

"Fuckkk..." Julia moaned, closing her eyes as her hips moved instinctively. Rose could tell she was getting close. Having the ability to make her pretty friend orgasm gave her a heady feeling. It was a little addictive to know she could bring someone so much enjoyment.

"You like that, don't you?" she whispered, working her hand faster.

"Mmmmhmmm," Julia responded as best she was able, whimpering under her and humping her hips. Rose increased her pace and saw Julia start to tremble.

"OH!" Julia cried out, arching her neck. Her whole body tensed and Rose kept up with her fingers, relentlessly rubbing until Julia was shivering and shaking on the towel.

Rose gradually pulled her hand back and let her friend recover. Julia lay still for a few moments and then opened her eyes, smiling.

"Let's go swimming!"

***

Rose and Julia splashed around near the shore, just taking lengths, or talking and floating. The summer sun had warmed the lake but it was cool enough to be refreshing. Rose had to mentally applaud her friend's cunning: when Ian came back the only wetness he'd notice would be from the water despite Julia's beachside orgasm.

They were idly lying on their backs and floating, talking inanities, when Rose felt herself tugged underwater. She barely had time to shriek before she found herself submerged and hands tickling her ribs. She slapped at strong arms and kicked away, finding the surface and taking a gasp of air.

Julia had a surprised look on her face and swam over to see if she was okay as Ian popped up, laughing.

"Jerk!" Rose snapped, slapping her hand through the water to splash him.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist!" Ian chuckled. "We used to do shark attacks when we were kids, I thought you were Julia under the water."

"Well I wasn't!" Rose said, exasperated. Julia put her arm around her friend and got between them.

"Not cool, Ian," she scolded him. She and Rose floated to a shallower depth and then walked up to the beach.

The blonde wrapped her friend in a towel and rubbed her arms.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just he's a jerk sometimes."

Julia laughed. "Try growing up with him."

***

Rose sat in the back of the car on the way back home staring out the window. Julia drove and lectured Ian to leave her alone, so he was pretty silent too. Julia compensated for the quiet by playing music.

Rose appreciated her friend's defense of her, but Ian's teasing wasn't all that had bothered her. She was finding herself increasingly attracted to Julia, but at the same time there had been a moment when Ian's hands were on her that she'd felt twinges of her old attraction to him. The moment she was under the water she had realized who was grabbing her, she wasn't stupid. She'd been alarmed to be having mixed feelings about both siblings, and knew her loyalty should be with her roommate. She felt torn.

It was really confusing. Until last night she'd assumed she was straight, but witnessing two women enjoying each other at the restaurant had aroused her and led her to making out with Julia. Ian was interrupting that new relationship, and at the same time tugging on her default setting. She had dated him, after all, and leaned towards men so far in her life. Part of her wanted to go back to what felt "normal" because women were a big change, with lots of unforeseen possible ramifications. But Julia was her best friend and that made it harder to decide. She didn't want to offend the blonde but she also didn't know if she wanted to change her whole life around for her either.

Plus she didn't know what Julia wanted besides orgasms.

She sighed and rubbed her arms, staring out the window at the scenery as it zipped by. Life was more complicated than childhood made it out to be. She never thought she'd be trying to figure out her sexuality like this, that's for sure.

It also wasn't going to get sorted out right this minute. She needed Ian to go away so she could have a talk with Julia, and she really thought that talk should happen later, after some more exploring of how they made each other feel. There was no point in making commitments until she knew more but that was unlikely to happen with him in the way.

***

Rose went to her room as soon as they got back, closing the door. She lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling for awhile, trying to figure out the complexities of her interior universe. Before she knew it she'd fallen asleep. That sort of made sense, considering she and Julia had been up late and then the day had been busy. She woke up late in the afternoon and yawned, stretching.

Rose got out of bed and scratched her fingers through her hair, opening her door to see what was going on in the world. She immediately regretted it, as Ian turned around from his seat on the couch and looked at her with a sheepish expression. He paused the movie he was watching.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she answered begrudgingly. "Where's Julia?"

"She got a phone call and went into her room a little while ago. You okay? I need to apologize again for before."

Rose sighed and wandered towards the kitchen. "It's no big deal, really."

She went to the fridge to look for something to eat and found things to make a sandwich when nothing else jumped out at her. Much to her chagrin Ian followed her into the kitchen. She tried to ignore him as she went to the cupboards to get bread and a plate. Then she opened a drawer and got out a butter knife.