Chapter - Sixteen

It was good to be home, even though the trip was great and I had a
blast.  I helped unload the van and then flopped on the couch to
rest.  The last two days had been long and I was very tired.  I heard
Mom in the kitchen, listening to the messages on the answering
machine.  There were four or five from Cindy, the last three sounded
like she really wanted to talk to me.

I really didn't want to call anybody right then.  I went to my room,
opened my notebook computer and turned it on.  During the trip, I had
taken a lot of photos and I wanted to download them so I could see
how they turned out.  After the computer was booted up, I plugged in
my camera and started the process.  It took about ten minutes to copy
the pictures from the camera to the hard drive and when it was
finished, I began going through them.

Most of the photos were of the boat and scenery along the ICW.  When
I got to one of my brother, I paused and thought about what I was
going to do.

I was sure that Cindy wanted to know when she could come over and
see me, but more importantly, I knew she would want to see Eddie. 
Now that my brother had some experience with kissing, I felt he
wouldn't be so shy around my friend.

Eddie and I didn't have a chance to kiss as much as I would've
liked, but we had our fair share.  He was a good kisser, as far as I
was concerned, after all, he was the only boy I'd ever kissed, and I
wasn't too sure I wanted Cindy to feel his lips on hers.  I also knew
that given the opportunity, Cindy might just let him feel her up.

The more I thought about Eddie and Cindy, the more upset I became. 
I started to imagine the two of them in all kinds of sexual
situations.  Cindy and Eddie kissing, Cindy and Eddie touching, Cindy
touching Eddie, Cindy and Eddie…

By now I was seething.  When I visualized my brother and Cindy
getting married I jumped up to go and yell at Eddie.  I was going to
tell him to stay away from Cindy, that she was no good for him.  I
was also going to call Cindy and give her a piece of my mind.

When I opened my bedroom door and started to walk out, it dawned on
me that I was being foolish.  After all, Eddie was my BROTHER!  What
made me think that he wouldn't want to find a girlfriend?  What made
me think he wanted anything more from me than to fool around once in
a while?

I went back into my room, closed the door and sat on my bed.  I
thought about the few times my brother and I did anything and
realized that I was the one that initiated it.  It was me that put
his hand on my tit.  It was me that played with his cock.  It was me
that kissed him first.

Now I was upset for another reason.  Why did I always have to be the
aggressive one?  Why didn't Eddie start fooling around with me
instead of the other way around?  Why didn't my brother like me?

I continued to think until I had a headache.  I stretched out on my
bed, hugged my pillow and fell asleep.

A loud knock on my door woke me up the next morning.  I looked at
the clock and saw it was only six o'clock.  Glancing down, I realized
that I had fallen asleep in my clothes.  When I heard the knocking
again, I got up and opened my door.

"Good morning, sunshine!"  Eddie said as he stood in my doorway
grinning.  "Are you going running this morning?"

I looked at the clock again and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well then get a move on.  Change your clothes and let's go."

"Okay, give me a minute to change."

My brother remained in the doorway, staring at me.  I waited for him
to leave, but he didn't move.  Finally, I walked past him and went to
the bathroom.

When I came out of the bathroom, Eddie was still standing in the
same spot.  I went into my room and flipped the door closed behind
me.  I started to undress and heard the door open.

"What do you want?"  I asked.

"I wanted to watch you change, Jen, if it's okay," he said sheepishly.

I stood there for a moment, my shirt in my hand, and looked at my
brother's face.  He had a devilish grin and his eyes sparkled.

"Why?"

Eddie stammered for a moment and then said, "Because you're
beautiful and I like to see you."

I didn't know what to say or think.  All of the things that ran
through my head the night before disappeared.  Turning around, I
finished removing my clothes and put on my white running outfit.

"I'm ready, Eddie.  Let's go."

I glanced at my brother's crotch and saw his obvious excitement.  I
didn't stare or say a word; I just walked out of my room past him. 
We went out the backdoor, stretched and warmed up, and then went
around the side of the house and began our morning run.

It felt good to be running again.  I loved the sound of my shoes
hitting the pavement.  We started slow, more of a jog than a full
run.  I set the pace and Eddie followed.  It had been almost a week
since the last time we ran and I didn't want to over do it.

"Let's go that way," Eddie said, pointing down a street we normally
passed on our usual route.

We made the turn and I picked up the pace a little.  As we ran, my
brother began to lag behind me a few steps.  I looked over my
shoulder and he smiled at me.

After we had run a little over a mile and a half, Eddie yelled from
behind me.

"Turn right at the next corner."

I made the turn and saw the park at the end of the road.  I wondered
why we were heading there, but continued without asking.  Eddie
caught up to me and ran at my side.  We left the pavement and ran
across the grass until we were near a picnic table.

"Let's take a break, Jen."

I nodded; we slowed down and ran in place for a few minutes next to
the table.  My brother sat on the bench with his back against the
table and watched me as I continued to cool down.  I finally stopped
and sat on the table with my feet on the bench next to my brother.

"It feels good to run again," I said.  "We should have done it while
we were on our trip."

"Yeah, I missed it too, Jen."

Eddie and I sat quietly for a few minutes and let our breathing
return to normal.  He was staring off into space and I thought that
something was bothering him.

"What's the matter, Eddie?  You seem to be somewhere else."

"Jen, I need to talk to you about something."

"What?"  I asked, not really sure if I wanted to know.

"It's about Cindy."

My heart was in my throat.  Here it comes, I thought, he's going to
tell me he wanted to get serious with my best friend.  My mind was a
blur as I anticipated his next statement, and my response.  I decided
that I was going to be strong and tell him I understood, even if I
really didn't.  I was going to give him encouragement and let him
know that I was happy for him, even if I really wasn't.

I knew in my heart that Eddie was my brother and there could never
be a serious relationship between us.  I knew about incest and that
it would not only be impossible, but illegal for a brother and sister
to be romantically involved.  I also knew how I felt about my
brother.  I knew that I was willing to take any chance necessary to
be loved by him.

I was just about the tell Eddie that I knew how he felt about Cindy,
but he spoke first.

"Look, Jen.  I know Cindy is your best friend and I would never do
anything to break you guys up," he began.

I took a deep breath and held it.  Tears began to fill my eyes as I
waited for him to tell me what he wanted to do with Cindy, that he
wanted her to be his girlfriend.

"I don't really know how to say this, Jen, but…"

"I understand, Eddie," I told him as tears ran down my cheeks.

"You do?  You don't care if I don't want Cindy as a girlfriend?"

"WHAT!"  I said, completely shocked.

"Cindy is really nice and she's cute.  I know I asked you to get us
together, but, well, I just don't like her like that.  Not as a
girlfriend."

I wasn't really sure if I was hearing what my brother was saying.  I
had convinced myself that he wanted to be with Cindy and had tried to
prepare myself for it.  Now I didn't know what to think.  Was it that
he just didn't really like Cindy, or was there more?  Did he feel the
same way I did?

"Jen, I don't know how to tell her.  I don't want to hurt her
feelings.  Cindy and I haven't ever done anything together, not even
kiss, but I know she wanted to.  What should I do?"

My heart was no longer in my throat.  Now it was pounding against my
chest so hard that I thought I would burst.

"Just tell her, Eddie.  I'm sure she'll understand.  It's not like
you have been leading her on or anything."

"Do you think she'll understand?  Are you sure she won't be mad at
you?"

"I don't know, but if she gets mad, she'll get over it."

"I really hope so; I don't want her to be mad, especially at you."

We had been talking for almost an hour.  The sun was up and it was
getting warm.  Eddie stood up, turned to me and said, "Let's go."

I jumped off the table and we started to run back toward the house. 
Once again, Eddie lagged behind me as we ran across the park to the
road.  I looked back and said, "Why are you back there?"

Eddie laughed and said, "Because I like watching your ass when you
run."

I turned around, wiggled my butt and broke into a full run.  I felt
like I was running on air as I replayed my brother's words in my head.

When we got to the house, I led him around back and jumped into the
pool.  Eddie followed me into the water and swam to the far end where
I was hanging on the side.  He looked at my white sports bra, grinned
and said, "You know you can see right through that thing when it's
wet, don't you?"

I swam to the shallow end, stood up and turned to my brother.

"You can?"  I giggled.  "Well, we can't have that, can we?"

I grabbed the bottom of the bra, pulled it over my head and tossed
it onto the deck.  I swam back to my brother, put my arms around his
neck and pressed my boobs against his chest as I gave him a quick
kiss.  I let go and swam away on my back.

Eddie came after me and caught up to me in the shallow water.

"Why did you do that, Jen?"

"Because I wanted to."

I heard someone calling my brother's name and realized it was his
friend Kevin.  I scrambled out of the pool, grabbed my sports bra and
got it on just as Kevin came around the corner of the house.  My
cheeks warmed as I saw Kevin's eyes moving over my body, knowing that
the boy could see through my outfit.  I smiled, said hello and ran
into the house, soaking wet.

My mom was sitting in the kitchen with my dad and she started to
laugh as she looked at me dripping water on the floor.  She got up,
went to her room and came back with a towel.

Mom tossed the towel to me and said, "Almost got caught, didn't you?"

I nodded as I dried myself.

"I guess we'll have to have your father put a privacy fence around
the pool so you don't have to worry about that," Mom chuckled.

I giggled, wiped up the floor and went to my room to change.  I took
a shower, put on clean clothes and decided to go out and face Kevin. 
I knew he had seen me almost naked, but I didn't care, I wanted to be
near my brother.

When I got outside, Eddie was sitting in the sun and Kevin was gone.

"Where did Kevin go?"  I asked my brother.

"I don't know, probably to see his GIRLFRIEND!"

"Kevin has a girlfriend?  Who's he going with?"

"CINDY!"

I could see my brother was upset, but I couldn't figure out why.

"Kevin and Cindy?  When did that happen?"

"While we were gone I guess.  He came over to tell me that they had
started to hang around and the next thing they knew they liked each
other.  I can't believe he did that to me!"

"What are you talking about, Eddie?  I thought you said that you
didn't like Cindy like that, not as a girlfriend."

"That's beside the point, Jen.  Best friends aren't supposed to
steal another guy's girl."

"I thought you said she wasn't really your girlfriend, Eddie."

"Yeah, but Kevin didn't know that.  When we left on our trip, he
thought that she was.  He even told me he liked you."

"I remember, but I hardly know him.  He's cute; I can see why Cindy
is attracted to him."

"You're a lot of help.  My best friend does something like that to
me and that's all you can say?"

"Let me get this straight.  You didn't really like Cindy, not as a
girlfriend anyway, and now Kevin is going with her and you're mad at
him?

"Yes."

"BOYS!  You're all jerks!"  I said as I got up to go into the house.

"What's that supposed to mean?"  Eddie called out, but I didn't
answer him.

Eddie moped around the house for the rest of the day.  My mom asked
me what was bothering him and I told her to ask him, not me.

"I did ask Eddie, he told me to ask you.  What's going on?"  Mom said.

I told her about the conversation my brother and I had and about
Cindy and Kevin.  As I told her, my mom smiled and nodded her head. 
When I finished, she chuckled.

"What's so funny, Mom?"  I asked.

"Boys, I'll never understand how they think."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Jen, if your brother had broken up with Cindy and she started
to go with Kevin everything would be fine."

"Eddie wasn't even going with Cindy, they never even kissed or
anything."

"I guess it's an ego thing.  Your brother doesn't like what happened
because he had nothing to do with it.  He thinks his friend has
stolen his girl, even if she wasn't his girlfriend in the first
place."

I sat and though about what Mom said for a few moments and then she
added, "Don't worry, Jen.  Eddie will get over it quickly, boys
always do."

I went to the backyard to look for my brother.  He wasn't there so I
went back inside and checked his room, finding it empty.  When I went
out to the garage, I saw that his bike was gone and figured he was
off with one of his friends.

After going into my room and getting a magazine, I went out to the
patio to read.  While I was sitting there, Cindy showed up and sat
down by me.

"Jen," Cindy said, "I know that you heard about Kevin and me.  I
hope you aren't mad."

"I'm not mad, Cindy.  Why would I be?"

"I don't know, Kevin called and said Eddie was really pissed."

"Yeah, but he'll get over it."

"I like Eddie and all, but you know, he never tried to kiss me or
anything.  I just thought that he didn't like me, not like that. 
When you guys were gone, Kevin called and we started to meet at the
park."

"That's cool."

"Yeah, really cool.  We started kissing one afternoon and, well you
know."

I nodded and said, "Have you guys done anything else?"

"No, we've just made out a few times."

"Are you going to let him go any further?  You know, feel you up and
stuff?"

"Maybe, I don't know yet.  He's really cute and he's nice too.  I
had to kiss him first."

I grinned as I thought about my brother and I.

"Does your dad know, Cindy?"

"Are you kidding?  If he knew I was kissing a boy, he'd go nuts!"

"Yeah, I guess my dad wouldn't like me kissing a boy either, not at
fourteen."

"How was your trip?"

"You wouldn't believe it, Cindy.  My dad bought a boat."

"Really, a boat!  That's so cool.  Is it very big?  Where is it, I
didn't see it when I came over."

I laughed and said, "I don't think it will fit on a trailer.  Come
in the house and I'll show you the pictures I took while we were
gone."

Cindy followed me into the house and to my room.  I turned on my
computer and opened the folder with the pictures of our vacation.  I
had sorted them out and put the ones I didn't want anyone to see in
another folder, so Cindy wouldn't see my mom topless.

The first picture was of the bridge and really didn't show how big
the boat was.  As we looked at the photo, I told Cindy about all of
the things on the dash.

"Did you get to drive it?"  Cindy asked.

"Yeah, I even got to bring it in when we were in a storm.  Dad
helped me and said I did real good."

I clicked to the next photo and it showed the salon.  Cindy looked
at the picture and then she asked, "Is that the place you stayed?"

I giggled and said, "Yes, we stayed on the boat."

"That living room is on the boat!"

"Yup, it's called a salon though.  That settee folds out into a
bed," I explained as I pointed at the screen."

"That's so cool!  Where did you and Eddie sleep?"

"Just wait and I'll show you."

I went through several more pictures of the salon taken from
different angles.  Cindy sat with her mouth hanging open as I pointed
out the things in the salon and galley.  Whenever she would call
something by the wrong name, I corrected her.  It was fun showing off
my new knowledge of nautical terms.

"This is my parent's room," I said as the picture of the master
stateroom appeared.

"That bedroom is on the boat?  How big is this thing anyway?"

"It's called a stateroom, on a boat the bedrooms are staterooms and
the bathroom is a head.  The boat is forty-four feet long."

I went to the photo of the guest stateroom and said, "This is where
Eddie and I slept.  One of us was going to sleep on the settee, but
it was kind of uncomfortable and we didn't want to mess with folding
it out."

"Did you guys sleep in the same bed?"  Cindy giggled.

"No!"  I fibbed.  After all, we didn't sleep together every night.

"This is the head.  That's the shower," I said, as I pointed.

The next shot was one of Eddie standing on the bow that I took from
the pier.  It showed just how big the boat really was. 

"That thing is huge, Jen.  Where were you guys when you took this
picture?" 

"In the Keys.  It took two days to get down there."

"You and Eddie are so lucky!  I would love to be able to go on a
trip like that."

"That's not all," I was beginning to brag now.  "When we learn
everything about the boat, my brother and I can take it out, without
my parents."

"You're lying!  Your dad would never let you take his boat out alone."

"Yes he will, as soon as I'm sixteen.  If you don't believe me, go
ask my mom."

"Yeah, but you won't be sixteen for two years."

"One year and ten months," I said, correcting her.  "Eddie will be
sixteen next October."

"What else did you guys do?"

"Promise not to tell anyone?"

"I promise," Cindy said and we hooked our little fingers.

"We went to a nude beach."

"No way!"

"Yeah way!"  I lifted my top and showed her my tanned boobs.  "See,
no tan lines."

"You went nude in public?"

"Not completely, just topless."

"With your brother there?"

"Yup!"

"What did he do?  Did he stare at you?"

"He stared at all the boobs on the beach!"

We both laughed.

"Your mom and dad too?"

"Yeah, my mom and dad too."

"What was it like, you know, going topless?"

"At first I wouldn't do it, but then I did, and after a little while
it was no big deal."

Cindy lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "You let your dad see
you that way."

I nodded and then said, "Yeah, it was really embarrassing at first,
but he acted the same way he does when I'm not topless.  Like I said,
it's no big deal."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care, it's true!"

"Your mom doesn't care if you run around showing your tits?"

"My mom thinks that a girl should be able to go topless anywhere a
guy can go without a shirt.  She says it's a double standard, or
something, because girls can't.  After being on that beach, I can
kind of see why she feels that way.  Some of the men had bigger boobs
than I do."

"That's gross!"  Cindy said, making a face.

"It sure was; some of the men should have been wearing a bra."

Cindy and I laughed, made a couple of comments about men's boobs and
then settled down.  My mom came into my room with some clean laundry,
set it on my bed and asked what we were laughing about.

"I was just telling Cindy about the men on the beach that had bigger
boobs than I do," I giggled.

"It's sickening, isn't it?"  Mom said as she left.

I told Cindy about New Years Eve, leaving out some of the things
about what Eddie and I did.  She kept repeating the fact that my
brother and I were so lucky and I kept telling her more about the
trip.  I enjoyed the reaction I was getting from my friend.

I wanted to tell her about Eddie and me.  I wanted to tell her the
things we did together and how wonderful it was, but I didn't dare. 
I really didn't know if she would keep my secret, after all, she told
me about Kathy and Brad.

Cindy had to get home so I walked her out.  As we went around the
house, my brother was walking towards us.  I took a deep breath,
afraid of what might happen, but relaxed when Eddie spoke up.

"Hi Cindy, how's it going?"

"Good Eddie, how about you?"  Cindy replied.

"Real good, I just left your boyfriend's house.  He and I are going
to go fishing next weekend," my brother told her, shocking me.

I told Cindy that I'd see her in school and followed my brother to
the backyard.

"What was that all about?"  I asked my brother as I caught up to him.

"What?"

"You just told Cindy you were at Kevin's house.  I thought you were
mad at him."

"Not anymore.  You were right."

"About what?"

"About me, I was being a jerk.  After I thought about what I said, I
realized how stupid it must have sounded.  I went over to Kevin's
house and now everything's okay."

"That's cool, I'm happy that you two are still friends."