A few hours later, Alex gave Bryce a kiss goodbye and told him to text her soon after he walked her to the front door. He gave her a confident wink and flashed her his disarming smile.
“You know I will,” he said, his hand trailing behind him for a few seconds as he clutched hers and turned.
She continued to watch and forced a smile as he walked to his truck, then went inside and shut the door. Leaning against it, she frowned as she tried to figure out what the hell was bothering her. Throughout the evening with Bryce, she’d felt… off.
The movie had been fine, and Bryce had been great for their first real date. It felt… okay, but she hadn’t been blown away. Of course, it wasn’t the first time they’d hung out and it was certainly an odd start for a date. But she didn’t think that was what was bothering her.
She shook her head and turned, heading upstairs and into her room. Surprised to find her twin waiting there, she forced a smile and moved over to join her on the bed.
“What’s wrong?” Toni asked.
Alex frowned. She should have known better than to try and fool her twin.
“I… don’t know,” she said. “I feel off.”
Toni brushed the hair behind her ear and gave her a caring look. “Bad date?”
“The date was good,” she said, shaking her head. “I just… something isn’t right…”
Toni frowned and sighed deeply. “Well… how about I sleep in here tonight to make you feel safe?”
Alex smiled and turned to hug her. “I’d like that.”
The two went and got ready for bed, taking a few minutes to talk to Sam and then climbing in together.
*****
Sam
Later that evening, Sam came out of her room and checked for the 10th time to see if Dane was back yet. He’d successfully avoided talking to her after the party and had left with Sally before she could pull him away.
She wasn’t going to let that ruin her birthday, though, and after finishing up homework, she pulled a long shirt over her panties, then went back downstairs to hang out with her mom and dad. She found them watching TV on the couch and snacking on some of the leftovers from the party.
“Hey, birthday girl,” her dad said, smiling warmly as she went over to sit between the two on the couch they were sharing.
“Hi, daddy,” she said with a smile, and definitely didn’t immediately think about the accident that morning.
As she sat, her mother pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her without a word, then started to stroke Sam’s hair idly while they watched some nature show.
“Did you have a good birthday?” her dad asked as he set his paper plate down on the coffee table.
“Mmmhmm,” she confirmed, looking over at him briefly. “Thank you.”
He offered her another smile and went back to watching his show. Content to sit there and pretend to be interested in what they were watching, Sam stayed with her parents until her mother got up and excused herself. A few minutes later, she heard the front door open and close, followed by the heavy footfalls of one of her brothers.
Waiting a few minutes so that it didn’t look too odd, she yawned and stretched before scooting over toward her dad. She’d intended to give him a kiss on the cheek, but her stupid horny brain got in the way, and she looked down at the bulge in his pajama pants. As she looked, she saw that even though it wasn’t hard, it was still a sizable presence and completely forgot what she’d set out to do.
She looked up as her father looked over at her with a perplexed look on his face. She was kneeling on the couch and looking at him like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“Leaving me already?” he asked.
She smiled, immediately feeling ridiculous and forgetting all about her stupid horny thoughts and impulses. This was her dad, for God’s sake.
“Yeah, I’m gonna go back upstairs and put away my new clothes and stuff.”
He sighed animatedly and tossed her a wink. “If you have to leave me alone here by myself, then I guess that’s okay.”
She giggled. “Daddy…” she protested.
“Can this old fart get a hug at least?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said, and leaned over. He had other ideas though and reached over to grab her waist. Both hands found purchase on her soft hips, and he pulled her into his lap before she knew what he’d intended.
When she was little, she would give him hugs in that fashion without a second thought. Her legs on the outside of his, her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder. The feeling of his strength against her smaller form had always brought her such comfort when she’d been sad. His smell, his steady breathing, even his heartbeat; all had been an easy way for her to start feeling better when she was little. That was surely what he’d intended this time.