Unspoken Pleasure by Erotica

Family Vacation: >2

We stopped for lunch at a strip mall right off the highway. They had a Chick-Fil-A, manna from the gods, and we

went around the drive-thru. Dad insisted we couldn't stop but Mom had to use the bathroom. Since we were

down to about a quarter of a tank of gas, Mom won, and we all got out to stretch our legs.

As | left one of the worst bathrooms I've ever experienced, | saw Liam heading towards me. | jogged over and

grabbed his arm. He ripped it out of my hands.

"What is your problem?" | asked. He glared atand bared his teeth, like a jungle cat. "No, seriously, con.

Talk to me."

"I'm fine," Liam said. He reached to put his AirPods in his ears, but | slapped them away.

"You're not. Now talk to me, dammit, or | will sing Taylor Swift at the top of my lungs for the rest of the drive."

"You wouldn't dare," Liam said.

"WE ARE NEVER, EVER, EVER..."

Liam grabbed my arm so hard it hurt. "Shut up already, ok? I'm listening."

"Look, I'm not saying we have to be best friends or anything," | said, "But you're my brother, my twin. | legit care

about you and | don't want to live the rest of my life with us this way. If | did something wrong, or upset you..."

"You didn't do anything," Liam said.

"So then what the actual fuck?"

"I'm sorry," Liam said, he stepped back fromand kicked at the gravel ground. "I don't know what to say

except I'm sorry. I'll try to be a better brother."

"That's not good enough," | said, pressing my advantage. "You have to giveone thing each day that | can do

to be a better sister."

Liam sighed gratuitously and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Once a day, you have to tella secret. Something that no

one else can ever know."

| started to argue, but then I realized the genius of what my brother was suggesting. Saying nice things or even

doing them could be an empty gesture. | could still resent my brother while | did his chores or bought him a gift.

But if we shared each other's secrets we would build a true bond between the two of us, almost by accident.

"And you'll do the same?" | asked, hands on my hips. As if Liam hadn't already won.

"Yes," he said, his mouth dry. "You go first."

"You weren't snoring while you were sleeping before," | said, "I caught you doing, um, something else."

Liam's face went pink and he gavea sheepish look. Apparently, he knew exactly what he'd been dreaming

about.

"Mom and Dad didn't notice, but I'll take it to my grave," | said. "Your turn."

Liam looked atvery seriously. He put his hands on my shoulders. "I was dreaming about someone | shouldn't

be." And then he walked away.

*

We got to Aunt Tara's house around three in the afternoon. Their hlooked like it had been cribbed off a

postcard -- a classic Victorian painted green with black shutters and a wraparound porch. The day was almost

oppressively hot, but the land was shady, covered in twisted oaks. An old tire swing hung off one of the

branches.

We stepped out to the smell of fresh cut grass and honeysuckle. My footsteps kicked up the dust on the

driveway. | hadn't been there in over two years, but the place still felt familiar, almost as welcoming as my own

home. The front door popped open and my cousin Marissa raced out. My female cousin was thin and tall, with

dark, tawny hair and flashing brown eyes. She was wearing navy shorts and a tie-dye t-shirt, her hair tied back.

Marissa practically tackled me, wrapping her arms around my waist and swingingaround. Her emotions

flowed out like a cup, overfilled. "I'm so happy you're here!" she shouted, like she needed the whole

neighborhood to know. Marissa finally let go ofand went over to give Liam a similarly over the top greeting.

Meanwhile her brother, Logan, had cout of the house. He ambled over, his own brown hair flopping in the

wind, and gavea hug as well. Logan was taller thanby as much as a foot, and his arms were so long | felt

like he could have wrapped them around me, twice.

Logan stepped back and gavea wide grin.

"It's good to see you," | told him, meaning it.

Logan nodded. Unlike his sister, he'd never been one for words. But his dark eyes were so deep, it sometimes

felt like staring into the abyss. Logan might coff as distant, but in truth his feelings ran strong, right below

the surface. Aunt Tara and Uncle Micah cout and greeted us. Tara and my mother weren't identical twins,

but they sure did look alike. They were both blonde, short women with pale skin and serious curves. The men

they'd married, however, couldn't have looked more different. Uncle Micah was a big man, tall, with a gut that

hung over his belt and a great, bellowing laugh. My Dad was short, even an inch shorter than Mom, and skinny.

But he also had a full head of silver hair, whereas Uncle Micah was down to a few dark wisps.

| got hugs from both my Aunt and Uncle. Then everyone stood on the front yard and stared, like we were

appraising each other for the first time.

"Holy fuck, Lemony, your tits got huge!" Marissa blurted out. She put her hands to her mouth, but far too late to

stop anything. The whole family turned to stare at Marissa. But | was the one who turned bright red.

Look, I did not need my cousin to tell| had massive boobs. This was not a surprise to me. It's not like I didn't

hit puberty till age 18, but there was no avoiding the fact that the previous summer I'd been a tidy A cup and

now, a year later, | was overflowing with Ds.

| knew | was supposed to be happy about this development, like getting a surprise offseason gift from Santa, but

| honestly hated my newfound assets. For one thing, every guy who couldn't givethe tof day before was

suddenly all over me. Like | needed more assholes in my life. And every girl who'd previously treatedas a

non-entity suddenly decided | was their worst enemy.

It was a pain, honestly, lugging those big boobs around. They always got in my way. Basic things like eating or

running turned into a huge ordeal. | didn't even like how they looked on me: fat, ugly and all out of proportion.

"I'm so sorry," Marissa said, spluttering, "I didn't mean to. | mean. It just cout."

"It's OK," | said, and gave my cousin another hug. The rest of the family started to head into the house. The

moment had passed. But | caught both Logan and Liam eyeingoddly as | went inside.

*

We all ate dinner together in the old farmhouse and went to bed. | slept in Marissa's room while Liam stayed with

Logan. | suppose there's that image of two giggly girls lying in bed talking about school, friends, and boys. The

truth is, | was so tired from eight hours in the car, | pretty much passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke up the next morning as golden sunlight streamed into the bedroom. The room smelled of cedar from the

closets and warm bacon from downstairs. | could have spent my whole life just breathing that in. "This is nice," |

said, absently.

"Eh," Marissa replied, "I could do without." | hadn't even realized she was awake. | rolled over to look at my

cousin. Her brown hair was splayed everywhere on the pillow. Her dark eyes dull with sleep.

"It's so pretty here. So peaceful," | said.

"So boring," Marissa said, "So narrowminded."

"You can't mean Aunt Tar... | mean your Mom and Dad."

"No, they're ok," Marissa said, slowly sitting up. "But now that I'm going to school in the city, everything else

seems so stultifying. | can't wait till | never have to cback here."

"I get that," | said, "I'm looking forward to leaving for school, too. | guess I'm used to a house full of yelling

parents and sucky siblings and this just seems so peaceful. Letask you something. When you and Logan

turned eighteen did you have, like, a big blowout?"

Marissa froze and he eyes went small. She hugged her arms around her stomach and stared at the ground. I'd

never seen her go so still, almost turning into her twin brother.

"No," Marissa said, almost accusatory. "Logan and | are fine. Totally normal. | mean, why would you even ask

something like that?"

"Liam and | have been fighting like cats and dogs basically since our birthday," | said, "I wondered if maybe you

had gone through the sthing."

Marissa visibly relaxed. She gavea big smile. "Oh! No, nothing like that. If anything, we grew even closer

after our birthday. | mean, in a good, supportive sibling sort of way, you know? Did something happen with you

two, you know, to cause the argument?"

"Not that | know of," | said. "In fact, the only thing I can think of is my parents started arguing at about the same

time." | got off the bed and started pulling clothes out of my suitcase. A canary (what else?) cami top and a pair

of navy short- shorts. Plus, fresh underwear, natch. "It's like my whole family caught a case of the angries."