Anna bugged at the cabin. She thought it was simultaneously hilarious and cute. Our parents were both happily surprised at her arrival. They loved Anna. Our dad had often dogged Liv with comments like “What’s Anna up to?” and “Why doesn’t Anna visit anymore?” even after it’d been a while since they regularly saw each other. It was fun having Anna over too, she spiced things up. The rain let up sometime in the early evening, and so we went for a quick dip. Even mom and dad came out and lounged on the sand, enjoying some time outside after a full day in.
I tried not to oogle Anna, but it was hard. She wore a more modest bikini than Liv, but there was still little left to the imagination. Liv and I were both more tan than Anna, our olive oil skin a light brown in the evening light, but she wasn’t pale by any means. Anna was bustier than Liv, with wider hips. However, it was her legs that really stuck with me. I found myself looking at them as much as her boobs, trim and shapely from her dancing. She was almost as tone as my sister, but shorter, and a bit more voluptuous. Thankfully we didn’t stay outside long enough for me to embarrass myself, and once inside we changed into regular clothes for a relaxed night.
Liv and I shared our tequila with Anna, and we played some games as a family plus one. Things were decidedly more competitive with Anna joining us. She managed to steal a win from Mom in Catan, and won a round of Dominion, much to Liv’s chagrin.
“What do I get for beating the card queen?” Anna asked after the Dominion game, a stupid grin on her face.
“You get to stay and go again.” Liv replied fiercely, already setting up another round. She won that one. I couldn’t help but smile at my sister’s competitiveness.
We didn’t really have dinner, us three college kids having had our late lunch. We grazed on fruit and chips, and drank and laughed.
The only thing I didn’t like about having Anna there was that it meant zero chance Liv and I could get away with any intimacy. Liv was once again purely my sister for the evening. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. There was no teasing while we swam, no quick pecks or wrestling or sneaky hands. There was no lewd massaging or nudity, and when we rinsed, she and Anna shared the shower’s hot water in their swimsuits, and I went after them, alone.
It did make me happy, seeing Liv have such a good time with her friend, especially after her forlorn words outside the diner. At the end of the day, it was only Tuesday. We still had most of the week ahead of us. Plenty of opportunities for Liv and I to be alone. What was one evening?
Of course, that one evening became one night.
Liv had taken Anna up to the loft after our gaming spirit died down. I lounged on one of the couches and talked to dad about fishing. It looked like the weather would be back to hot and sunny tomorrow, so we were going to go early in the morning, as we’d originally planned for today. I waited for Liv and Anna to come down, but they seemed to be preoccupied. Every once in a while a snippet of faint conversation drifted down, so it was clear they were in deep talks. I didn’t want to interrupt them, respecting my sister’s privacy and her chance to redeem this relationship too much. Even then I was surprised by how late it was getting.
Our parents turned in, and I did my best to get lost in the book I’d brought. I’d been planning to read a lot more on this vacation, but spending so much time with Liv had gotten in the way of that. By the time I heard from the two girls upstairs, my eyes were falling down the page, and my chin was at my chest. The ladder creaked. It was Liv coming down. Only Liv.
I started, sitting up at the sight of my sister, a questioning look on my face. She glanced at our parents’ shut door, then tiptoed over to me. And grabbed my face for a kiss.
I returned it readily, but a little stunned, eyes open and kept on the landing, worried about Anna following her out of the room.
“What was that for?” I asked quietly, when she pulled away.
“For being such a good brother. Sorry. I kinda iced you out of our room.”
“It’s fine, really. I don’t mind.” I said. “I’m really glad you guys got this opportunity to talk. Do you think you’ve made up?”
Liv gave me a confused expression. “On some things. Though I think we’ve more matured than exactly figured things out.”
“That’s just as good, better in some ways.” I put a hand on her hip, and Liv let herself be pulled down to sit sideways on my legs. I gave her another kiss. “By your rashness, and a lack of Anna, I sense another request coming.”
“We drank quite a bit. Anna doesn’t feel like driving back to their place.” Liv said, her voice guilty. “I told her I’d ask you if she could stay the night. Well… sorry, I said she could, that you wouldn’t mind staying on the couch.”
“Wow… way to assume.”
“Sorry.” She gave me another peck, and ran a hand up my shirt, her hand on my side and chest. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“I’m just giving you a hard time. It’s fine.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Liv beamed at me. That made it worth it. Sleep always came easy to me, sleeping on the couch wouldn’t be any more than I originally expected from the trip. But there was one thing I would miss… I glanced back at the landing, and seeing no sign of Anna, slipped my hand up Liv’s shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and I found her boob and gave it a squeeze.
“I am going to miss sleeping with you tonight, though…”
“It’s just one night.” Liv said. It was my turn to smile when I heard the shortness of breath in her voice. We kissed goodnight, and then reluctantly let each other go, lest Anna wonder where Liv got off to.
After my sister was back in our room, I went and flipped off the lights, then did my best to make a comfortable bed on the couch. Just one night. I thought, as I slowly drifted off. Just one night.
It turned out to be two.
**
Dad woke me up as early as promised, finding me on the couch.
“Anna stayed over?” He said it more like a statement than a question.
“Yeah.” I answered anyway, rubbing my eyes.
“Good. Better safe than sorry with you guys drinking. And it’s good to see them getting along again.”
We had everything mostly ready, especially since our adventure had been delayed a day. It was humid, and even though the sun wasn’t past the horizon yet, the rising heat was already palpable. It was enjoyable, a relaxed time out on the lake. The canoe we’d rented was more than serviceable. We stuck mostly to our cove, and were the only ones out there. We talked and fished and enjoyed the calm quiet of nature. I caught a few, but nothing of any size. My dad caught one decent sized walleye, but we weren’t planning on keeping anything and let it go. After he had me snap a picture, of course.
We were out there for about four hours, finally deciding to go in a little after ten.
“Maybe your sister will join us tomorrow.” Dad suggested as we pulled the canoe onto the sand.
“Good luck getting her to wake up.” I said, chuckling.
“She’ll go if you ask her too.”
“Maybe.” My thoughts hadn’t really left Liv all morning. Granted, it would be a lie to say they’d been focused on anything else since our vacation began. My sister who I’d developed feelings for that went beyond familial love. My sister who for the past few days had been my lover. My sister who wanted to keep being my lover. I shook my head. Shit’s wild.
I was understandably disappointed when we entered the cabin to find both Liv and Anna gone. Mom said they’d gone to Anna’s place. Anna wanted to show Liv around her much larger rental, and spend more time together. They hadn’t told mom when they’d be back.
“That’s good,” Dad said. “They need to realize friendships like theirs are rare. It would be good if they patched things up before heading to school.”
I mumbled some agreement. I understood completely, but still, it looked to be a boring day without Liv around. I wandered upstairs to our room, and laying on the bed shot her a text, asking idly what they had planned. It was slow, and imesage didn’t work, but they go through. She replied almost immediately.
Nothing really, Anna’s place is crazy cool
Thanks for the invite. I sent back, with an upside down smile emoji.
Anna’s going through a really hard time. Her bf is being a dick and there’s some family stuff going on with her dad
When isn’t there? Jk tho, glad you’re being a good friend. I’m only half serious about the invite, day will be boring w/o you is all
I’ll be back
You better be. Just one night, remember?
Just one night
I stared at that for a while, thinking if I should pry some more. I decided not to. I could ask Liv for all the details later. No point in making her text with Anna right there.
I lounged the day away. I read. Accompanied mom and their dad on their now regular walk. Read some more. Thought about going for a swim but decided against it, not really feeling it without Liv. The afternoon dragged by. We had dinner without Liv, mom getting a text that she was eating with Anna and her mom. The three of us watched a show, some Friends episodes on the projector. My dad had some miscellaneous ones downloaded for mom. It was one of her favorite shows, though I didn’t care for it all that much. Eventually I got bored and went upstairs to read in Liv and I’s room. Around nine I got another text.