Thrilling Rides (Unrestrained)

"David! David!" Olivia called out, as she wandered through a labyrinth of colorful and musical game booths. Teenagers and families were running around and laughing. Through the chaos, Olivia was drawn to a familiar figure.

She needed to consider whether it was actually her brother. He was powerfully throwing balls underneath a striped canopy. His physical movements were controlled and athletic. It was clear he was taking the carnival challenge seriously.

While approaching him, Olivia thought about how much he had grown. It was difficult to rationalize how he was the same skinny, little kid she had babysat when their mom was out of the house. Veins and muscles were popping out of his toned forearms and biceps. His face was perspiring.

He's been here for a while.

"Hey, Davey."

His concentration broke. His face suddenly became riddled with guilt and anguish. He clearly didn't want her to find him playing the game. "Oh, hey."

"Whatcha doin'?" She spoke nicely, almost making sure he hadn't lost his sanity.

"Oh, just trying this game out."

"Yeah? How many times have you tried it?"

"I don't know, but I think he almost has it," the carny interrupted.

Olivia read a sign stating it was five dollars for three balls. She then saw the stacked pyramids of metal milk bottles. "Have you been playing this game the entire time you've been gone?"

"No, no," David coolly answered. "I played some other games first. This one was the most fun though. And I think I'm best at this one, haha."

David took a deep breath and regained his focus. He rolled his shoulders under his gray t-shirt and carefully positioned his feet under his flexed calves. He then pegged the bottom two bottles of a pyramid with the white ball.

Unfortunately, only two of the bottles toppled over, and the third simply slid back and remained upright.

"Awww!" Olivia was bummed for him. Normally, she would have been taunting him for his bad luck and egging him to do better. But something felt off. Her brother was playing a game, but his face was that of somebody who needed to be playing it.

And after watching him perfectly hit another stack of bottles without it fully toppling, Olivia was baffled. Isn't HE the AP physics genius? With how well he was hitting them, he should've been knocking them all down. Even an idiot could see this is rigged. What the hell is wrong with him?

Fuck. It finally hit Olivia.

The evidence was overwhelming. There was only one reason why a level-headed guy like her brother would leave the group to hang out on his own. There was only one reason why he would painstakingly play a carnival game for minutes on end. And there was only one reason why his brain would be fooled by a blatant trick.

Olivia cringed in guilt and self-anger. She winced while she ran her eyes down the front of his body. There was the natural bump in his shorts, but no other activity. Still, Olivia knew she was looking at the culprit of her brother's pain. And she knew her words and behavior had, uh, inspired it. "Hey, Davey, just curious, how much money have you spent on this?"

The direction of the conversation made the carny uncomfortable. "You have one more ball!"

"Um..." David rattled his brain. He shrugged at his sister. "I don't know. Why?"

"Okay, well let me ask you this: How many times do you think you've played it?" Olivia dreaded he would say ten or twelve.

Not wanting to sound insane or like a loser, David low-balled, "I don't know, not too many. Maybe fifteen or twenty."

"Jesus Christ!"

The brother swallowed and clammed up. His sister's voice was scolding, but her eyes showed regret.

He could've fucking bought me five stuffed animals for that! Given how dedicated David was to win her affection, his "little" crush may have been more than a "little."

It didn't freak Olivia out. She thought it was misguided but sweet. That feeling just made the guilt even more unbearable as she watched him fail to knock over the bottles again. Stop, you cute, stupid idiot.

It killed Olivia to know her brother had spent over a hundred dollars just trying to win her a stuffed animal. He was torturing himself trying to put the same smile on her face Trey did. Little did he know, what he was doing was already more endearing. But despite it being the sweetest, cutest, dumbest, idiotic thing a guy had ever done for her, Olivia needed to stop him from throwing his money away on her.

Trying to cajole David out of his state, Olivia hinted, "Maybe we should head back? I'd rather spend my time on another ride with you."

"Oh. Really? Which one?"

Her brother's attention was hers, for a moment at least. While Olivia was not as intelligent as her brother, she was smarter. "We can go on whatever you want. We could do the Green Lantern or the Tilt-A-Whirl? And I guess Nitro was fun. I wouldn't mind riding that again."

Technically, Olivia was manipulating her brother's emotions. But she wasn't being dishonest. She truly had been having a blast all day. Remembering the image of her brother and Trey being so entranced by her that they couldn't even pay attention to the ride sent a warm feeling through her. In fact, she could still feel the pressure of their tight grip on her flesh from the Tilt-A-Whirl.

"Really?!" David spouted. He then quickly recomposed himself and tried again, "I mean, yeah, I wouldn't mind that either."

Rocking on the balls of her feet, Olivia grinned, "Good. Let's go."

"Okay!" Just like that, David walked toward Olivia. But then he stopped and stepped back in front of the booth. "Just let me try one more time. Then I'll be ready."

Oh my god. Olivia smacked her forehead. Give up, you adorable dumbass. "David, how about we go now? You looked much happier on Nitro than you do right now..."

The big sister hoped her tongue-in-cheek plea would work.

David was torn. How could he walk away from the booth after spending so much time and money? What about the dream of seeing her smile when he handed her a giant teddy bear? Looking at his sister, he could see the smugness in her curved lips. He could tell she found his infatuation with her body to be amusing.

His eyes flickered to the cleavage of her cantaloupe-sized breasts, which were held on her petite frame. He was still torn, but he did like his sister's direction of conversation. "Um... yeah," he dryly laughed. "I guess it was kind of funny what happened on the ride."

Now just standing around, Olivia felt how strange it was for her brother to check her out. It was foreign. But, regardless of how it felt, she had already decided she was comfortable using her body as a recruiting tool. "Yeah, it was funny. You and Trey looked like your faces turned to stone."

David blushed. "They shouldn't put the camera there. It's unfair," he humored back.

"Haha, why is it unfair?" Olivia folded her arms and chuckled.

Sensing he could go a bit further, David smiled at his sister, "Because, they float when they drop. Guys can't help it."

"Yeah, I know!" Olivia cracked up and brushed her hair back. "That's why it's so fucking funny! You couldn't help it — You were so fucking locked on!"

"I didn't wanna be. It was just, like, male instinct."

"Uh-huh," Olivia skeptically rolled her green eyes. "You 'didn't' wanna be staring at me — just like how you 'didn't' want to touch me on the Tilt-A-Whirl and 'didn't' want to spend half the day here trying to win me a prize."

David froze in embarrassment. He didn't know his sister had seen through all of his behavior. His fear returned, and he got defensive. "You let Trey do all of those things, too! I didn't do anything he didn't do. So if what I did was bad, then what he did was wrong, too."

Olivia was nearly keeled over onto the sand-colored sidewalk. Tears were in her squinting eyes. "Oh wow, haha. You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me. You knew exactly what he was doing, and that's why you did it, too!" She laughed some more. "When Trey gave me that panda, you were the one saying, 'Oh, Trey's so smooth. I bet he's better in bed than your boyfriend.' Oh god, Davey, you saw him flirting and getting handsy, and you tried to pull the same shit."

This was the worst ridicule David had ever suffered from his sister. "I wasn't flirting!" he claimed. "And if it was, that means you let Trey flirt with you, too. You're not supposed to let other guys flirt with you."

"Oh please... I'm sure — No — I've actually seen Charlie flirt with other girls. I couldn't care less. It's just harmless fun. Trey can flirt with me all he wants. Sometimes people just get along that way."

It then dawned on Olivia what was happening. She was flirting with her brother, right now. It was a bizarre cross between their typical brother-sister banter and frisky teasing. She had worked her brother into a flustered disposition, which she had enjoyed doing many times before. But now there was an added layer of energy and vulnerability. She felt a stronger connection to him than usual.

Suddenly psyching herself out, Olivia de-escalated the conversation. "Okay, I believe you. You weren't flirting. So, why else would you be trying to win me a prize?"

David loudly exhaled before his beautiful, chestnut-haired sister. "I know Mom forced you into bringing me today," he confessed. "I heard her on the phone. I could tell you guys were trying to make sure I couldn't go. But I wanted to come, so let her force you guys into it. So, I guess giving you the stuffed animal was kind of a way for me to 'undo' ruining your date."

Oh.

That was not the answer Olivia was expecting. His confession hit Olivia hard. "Davey," she swore, "first of all, you didn't 'ruin' anything. I promise I'm happy you're here. Yeah, I was angry this morning, but that was because of Mom changing my plans for me. That wasn't because I didn't want to spend time with you. And secondly, you don't need to buy me gifts for spending time with you. That's crazy! I enjoy our time together just as much as you do. And thirdly, thank you for trying to win me something. It's seriously really cute," she sang, seeing her brother blushing with eyes toward the ground. "And, you know, you're more than welcome to be honest with me and say you were flirting. I won't judge you for it."

David hated when his sister got mushy with him. But he also loved it. "I was just going to buy you a souvenir from the gift shop as a thank you present. Um, I did try to win this game instead though because of Trey and the flirting," he bashfully admitted.

"Yeah, I fucking knew it," Olivia laughed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her suspicion was true.

Oddly, she was celebrating being right about her brother having spent all his cash and time trying to win her stuffed toy just so he could believe that if they weren't related and she were single, he would get to fuck her.

In an unfiltered thought, Olivia granted, In his defense, if a guy who looked like him just did that for me, I probably would've taken him to 'bone town'.

Olivia quickly tried to shake that thought from her head and distance herself from it. You would never date an eighteen-year-old anyway, she rationalized. But her brain retorted, No, but you're probably enough of a slut to fuck one.

Naturally, Olivia passively studied her brother's younger-looking face, wondering if under different circumstances she would fuck a hot eighteen-year-old. Fortunately, her brother's announcement saved her from her unfettered thoughts.

"Hold on, I wanna try this once more. It'll be quick."

Olivia blinked and snapped back to reality. Her brother was back at the counter, reaching into his wallet, and handing the carny another bill. He was still clinging to hope.

Are you fucking kidding me? Davey, you seriously don't need to. Olivia was wits' end. He's gonna end up like Gollum from Lord of The Rings. She had to put an end to it.

Like clockwork, David nailed all three stacks of bottles with the balls only to end up just shy of success. "Goddammit!"

"David, please, stop putting money into this rigged game. I wanna ride a roller coaster with you."

"This game's not rigged, ma'am," the carny interjected. "Look!" He quickly set up the nine bottles, turned around inside the booth, and then knocked them all down. "See?"

"The heavy bottles were on top. You're just putting heavy bottles on bottom when he goes!" Olivia was pissed off at the carny for taking advantage of her brother.

The carny shook his head in denial, a bit too excessively. "Nope! All the bottles are the same weight. Trust me, ma'am, it's not rigged. Your boyfriend almost won twice already."

"He's not— Whatever. He should've won this game twice just in the five minutes I've been here. Give him his prize. If you don't, I'll report you." (Olivia had no clue to whom the hell she could report him, or who would even care.)

At this point, the minimum-wage employee behind the counter was not ready to deal with the woman's tirade. He had already taken enough money from the boy. "Alright, fine. You think you should've won twice?! Here ya go!" He set a softball on the table. "Knock one of the bottles over, and you can have anything from the second row. Fair enough?!"

David didn't know his sister had that in her. He also realizing how stupid he had been more not realizing the game was unwinnable. Nevertheless, he grabbed the ball, drew in his elbows, and knocked two of the bottles over.

"Alright, we have a winner!" The carny boomed, with thick sarcasm. "What prize do you want?"

Given how he deserved to win earlier, David was no less ecstatic. He scoured the middle row of prizes and then turned to his sister. "Pick the prize you want."

Olivia could see the joy, pride, and nervousness in her brother's bright eyes. But Olivia could also see behind the veil of his excitement. Her brother was now an adult male. And that meant, on a basic level, he was just like every other guy.

All day long, Olivia had failed to take his lustful eyes, his flirting, his attempts to impress her, or even his erection as seriously as she should have. The inescapable truth was, his desire to be close to her and fuck her brains out was no less serious than any other man's. And all day, she had not just condoned, but encouraged that fantasy for him. It was a fantasy he could never achieve, but Olivia couldn't take any of her behavior back. Though, if she was honest, she was having the best day she had ever had with her brother, so she wasn't sure if she would want to.

Snapping back to reality, Olivia explored the second shelf of large stuffed animals. "I don't know which one I want!" When she looked over at her brother and saw the hopeful smile on his face, a mischievous one grew on hers.

Olivia turned back to the prizes. "I want that one!" she declared. "I definitely want that dog."

The carny handed the plush dog to David and snarkily told him to have a nice day.

As soon as the siblings started walking away from the booth, David eagerly presented, "Well, here you go!"

"Aww, thank you!" Olivia smiled, brushing her hair behind her ear. She admired the plush dog and then hugged her brother.

For David, the moment his sister's arms wrapped around his body, all of his struggling became worth it. In addition to the warm, loving feeling inside him, he also got to feel his sister's pillowy chest and comforting body pressing into his. David softly curled his fingers on the small of her back.

The hug was not a normal one. Olivia could feel her brother's heart pound in his chest, she could feel his fingertips on her back, and she could then feel slight movement against her belly button. Nope, not normal...

Originally, Olivia had planned to give her brother some peace of mind from his fantasies later on in the day. And she certainly didn't plan on saying it during a hug — let alone a hug where he was slowly inflating against her. But, her instincts told her to keep her hands on his back and go ahead with it now.

"Do you know why I chose this little doggy?"

David shook his head at his sister's playful whisper.

"Because," Olivia explained, "if we were two random people on a date, and you worked that hard to make me happy, this would be the position you'd get to take me in."

Olivia backed away just as her brother's erection sprung to full-mast.

David was dazed, stunned, and warm. Olivia proudly smiled at her brother's overwhelmed reaction. She determined she had told exactly what he needed to hear.

Turning away, she heard her shallow-breathing brother trailing closely behind her on their way back to meet up with the rest of the group.

*****

"Well, there you are." Charlie nodded at Olivia.

"Yep. We're back."

"What's that?"

"It's a Superman dog!" Olivia held up the dog dressed in a Superman suit.

"Where'd you get that?"

"My favorite brother won this for me in that 'throw the ball at the milk jugs' game," she boasted. When she smiled at David, his ears were still beet red.

"Gotcha," Charlie bristled. He stared blankly at the stuffed dog in Olviia's arms and the panda on Trey's shoulders. "You gonna have space for all of these?" he gritted.

"Definitely! My apartment's tiny, but I have some space for them."

"You can always just cuddle with them if there's no other space," Trey lightheartedly suggested.

That comment struck a sour note with Charlie. "Well, anyway, what do you guys wanna do now?"

"Umm, I think Nitro would be fun to ride again," Olivia tossed out there, as if it were a random thought.

David was electrified. His sister had followed through on her promise. "Yeah, I'm in!"

Concealing a grin, Trey joined the brother and sister in agreement. Charlie nodded and led everyone through the park toward the tall, yellow track. But before they crossed a bridge over a canal, Charlie got sidetracked.

"I actually have a headache, I think. Do you guys mind if I sit this one out?"

"Are you sure?" Olivia pressed. She didn't understand how he managed to suddenly fall ill. But after her boyfriend walked off, she glanced back to see him walking down a different path. When she read the directional sign, she scoffed.

"That's a bummer for him," Trey sympathized. "I hope he's okay."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "First of all, he's not sick. He's pissed off you two won me stuffed animals, so now he's going to try to win me one to 'prove himself.' Secondly, you are not upset he left, so don't bother pretending you are."

David and Trey shot each other another humorous glance over Olivia's head.

"We do honestly feel bad he's acting this way, though," David assured.

The sister could hear in her brother's voice that he meant it. "Thanks."

They walked in silence for a bit.

"You know, the best cure for boy trouble is having fun hanging out with friends," Trey smiled, hoping to cheer up Olivia.

She broke from her self-reflection and smiled. "I'm not upset about Charlie. I was just thinking about stuff. " Then, starting to giggle, she added, "And I wouldn't call this 'hanging out', based on how you guys have been treating me so far."

David and Trey bashfully smirked and stared down at their shoes. They were stopped at the end of the short roller coaster line.

"I mean, how has it been different than hanging out with friends," Trey instigated.

Leaning against the line railing, Olivia crossed her arms and looked at the two boys, who were leaning on the opposite railing and holding their stuffed animals to their sides. "Oh, I have a laundry list of key differences."