Brothers and Sisters l

MAY 2003, SUMMER BREAK

I stirred awake when a beam of sunlight, coming through the crack in my curtains, drifted directly across my face. Grimacing against the unwanted illumination, I simply rolled back into the shadows and slept for another few minutes.

Unfortunately, that first attempt by my body to wake stirred my consciousness enough to become aware of the extremely painful splitting headache that throbbed against my skull. And eventually, after those few minutes drifting between sleep and wakefulness, the pain won out and I sat up in bed. I held my temples with both hands, hunched over and wincing. And I desperately prayed that someone ... anyone ... would stop ringing that damn oversized bell.

Sometime later, the ringing in my head faded to a dull roar, and I was able to pry my crusted eyelids open. I turned sideways to kick my legs over the edge of the bed, resting my heels on the bedframe.

I'm not sure how long I stayed there, perched at the edge of my mattress, wishing I could somehow go back to sleep. My mouth was parched and I was desperate for a drink of water; but I was still too tired to muster up enough energy to go get it.

Eventually, I managed to stagger to my feet and tottered over to the door, wincing with every single step. I'd had some hangovers in my life; but never anything this bad.

The hallway was filled with WAY too much light. I actually had to stop and shield my eyes against the glow when I opened my door. But feeling my bladder screaming at me, I forced myself to squint and stagger forward, heading for the bathroom.

"It's alive!" Dayna laughed from the living room as I came into view. My eyes were still barely cracked open and I grimaced as I turned to look at her. Brandi sat up from her spot on the couch and turned to look at me as well. But I was already continuing on to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, feeling somewhat relieved after emptying my bladder and splashing some water on my face, I staggered back out en route to my bedroom. My older sister met me in the hallway.

"Here." Brandi handed me a tall glass of orange juice. Gratefully, I took it and downed the entire contents in one long pull.

Then, smacking my lips and gasping for air, I handed it back. "What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"Just after 11am," Brandi answered. "What time did Adrienne say she was coming back?"

I scowled, the act of searching through my brain physically painful. "Noon. Said we'd pack up and go then."

Brandi nodded. "You should eat something first. Go get dressed and I'll fix you a plate."

I winced and started to turn away, but the search through my memory also pieced together some of the things that had happened last night. I stopped and touched Brandi's arm before she left. "Uh, did you see Gwen?"

Brandi sighed and nodded. "She left a couple of hours ago. You were still dead to the world."

I sighed. "I should call her."

Brandi shook her head. "She doesn't want you to."

I paused and frowned. "Huh?"

Brandi sighed, looking away. "You shouldn't have done that last night, Ben. I know you were upset, but you shouldn't have just dragged her into your bedroom. Not right in front of Rick."

My eyes popped open. "Huh?" I'd grabbed Gwen in front of her boyfriend?

My sister arched her eyebrow. "You didn't know? She was dancing with Rick when you came up and just... took her. He was banging on the door for a while. The guy was pretty upset. Started interrogating the rest of us about whether we knew about you two and how long it'd been going on."

Ah, hell. I winced, feeling a wave of guilt sinking down around me. I'd slept with girls who had boyfriends before, dating back to Tara Abbott in High School and even just recently with Julie Carpenter. But I'd never done it right in front of the guy.

Brandi just shook her head disapprovingly of me. "Someday one of these indiscretions is gonna bite you in the ass, Ben."

I closed my eyes and nodded, holding the bridge of my nose. I knew firsthand how cheating could fuck up a relationship; and I wasn't exactly proud of being the "other man". All of the crimes had been committed while I was in a weird place mentally, and I'd never pressured a girl, but those reasons didn't make it right.

"So, Gwen said she had to talk to Rick," Brandi continued. "She was breaking up with him anyways, and she'd already told him she wanted to see other people. But last night complicated things. She said she'd call you after everything died down."

I nodded. And then I glanced sidelong at the other bedroom door connected to the hallway. "Have you seen Dawn?"

Brandi sighed and bit her lip nervously. A feeling of dread settled over me while my sister glanced away and remained silent for a few long seconds. But eventually she collected herself and answered, "She went out with Ryan this morning. Dayna and I are driving her back home for dinner and we're going to spend the weekend with the Evanses."

I stayed quiet and waited, knowing there was more. Brandi wouldn't have gotten nervous over just that.

My sister took a deep breath, blinking slowly and then fixing me with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Ben. But we're supposed to call her after you're gone. Dawn said she doesn't want to see you before you leave."

Good God, could it get any worse? Adrienne, Paige, Gwen, and now Dawn ... My list of failures was snowballing.

I am alone.

"Holy shit, Ben. Are you okay?"

I looked up from my spot sitting on the daybed to see Adrienne standing in the doorway, silhouetted against the bright sunlight in the hallway. I could only imagine how I looked to her. My hair was an unkempt mess. Great big dark circles hung beneath each eye. And I was pretty sure my skin was a sickly, pallid shade. I was clad in shorts and a T-shirt, slumped against the wall, with my knees pulled up to either side of my chest. My forearms rested on each knee while my head hung down.

"Must've been some party last night," Adrienne whistled.

"Something like that," I groaned in reply. Then I took a deep breath and managed to lift my head. "Hangover."

"I figured." Adrienne nodded and looked concerned. "You okay to drive?"

I just nodded in response, then got off the bed and slipped my feet into my sandals.

Adrienne frowned and glanced around the empty state of the room. "Uh, did you already load my stuff into the car?"

I nodded again. After getting dressed, I'd eaten a little and then rather listlessly prepared for the drive home, loading both of our belongings into the trunk and backseat of the Mustang. I had very much enjoyed my first year at college and living in an off-campus house with my roommates; but right now all I wanted to do was go home — far, far away from here — and crawl into my own bed.

"Ben, I'm really sorry about everything," Adrienne began, furrowing her eyebrows as she saw how pathetic I looked. "I never meant for-"

I held a hand up to stop her. Then shaking my head slowly, I looked her in the eye and said, "It's okay. I understand."

"You do?"

I sighed and nodded. The sense of hope that I could somehow talk Adrienne into taking me back had faded away. Our romance was over and I knew it. So I tentatively walked straight over to my girlfriend of the past year. She tensed up just slightly at my approach, and then relaxed as I simply gave her a warm hug. "I'll always care about you, Adrienne. I'll always love you." Heck, I was still IN love with her. But I'd have to learn to let that part fade away.

She shivered in my grasp before answering, "I know. I love you too, Ben. Forever and always."

I pulled back and held her at arms length. The energy was fading away again and I felt like collapsing straight onto the floor. "Let's go," I patted her shoulder.

Together, we went outside and took a last look around the house. True, we were coming back to the same place in three months, but there was still a certain nostalgia at leaving a place that had been home for so long. We exchanged goodbye hugs with Dayna and Brandi, and then turned for the front door.

"Where's Dawn?" Adrienne asked as we descended the steps and turned the corner into the driveway.

I hung my head, sighing softly before saying, "It's complicated."

Adrienne gave me a funny look, but noticed the expression of infinite sadness that had crossed my face. And for a moment, it looked like she was going to move in and hug me again. But then Adrienne's eyes popped open and she looked over my shoulder.

I was just about to turn around myself to see what Adrienne was looking at when a sudden weight slammed into me from behind. I heard a choking sob as arms circled around my body, and a pair of firm breasts was pushed against my back.

"Dawn?" I instantly gasped as my hands came up to touch the arms wrapped around me. She didn't answer immediately, but I felt the soft touch of her lips as she kissed the back of my neck.

In that moment, a mountain load of tension slid off my shoulders as I sagged in blissful relief. She'd come back. She'd kissed my neck.

She still loved me.

"I'm sorry, Ben," Dawn said softly, right into my ear from behind.

I didn't answer. I didn't even turn around to look at her. I just bent my head and gently patted her hands.

She kissed my neck again and sighed. "I'm your Dawn. Forever."

I cracked a smile. And only then did I turn around to give her the warmest hug I could imagine. She pushed her chin against my shoulder and I dipped my cheek against hers, feeling the moisture of her tears. We twisted together for a good minute, hugging each other tighter and tighter until neither of us could breathe.

And then I turned and kissed her cheek, whispering, "And I'm your Ben."

Happiness is relative; it's all a matter of what came immediately before it. And right now, my life didn't feel quite as bad as it had just last night.

If you'd told me a few months ago that Adrienne would break up with me and plan to separate herself from my family, I would have thought I'd be completely distraught. If you'd told me a few weeks ago that Paige would also be freeing herself of me, I would have felt even worse. Plus the Gwen thing. Plus this splitting headache. All of it bad, bad, BAD.

Well, while I wasn't thrilled my situation, I had to admit that I was feeling rather ... accepting ... of it right now. And it was all because Dawn had come back to me just before we left.

If Dawn hadn't come back, I wouldn't recommend anyone getting in the car with me. I would have been liable to flip the damn thing on purpose.

No, Adrienne wasn't getting back together with me. She was still planning to separate herself from my family. But I was okay with that. I could see in her eyes that she still loved me, in her own way. And she would still be around. Heck, maybe I could talk her into still coming with us to summer camp, and then I'd have a full month of distraction to try and change her mind.

So I drove the Mustang at a cruise-controlled 80mph, passing the occasional Buick-driving walnut and getting passed quite frequently as well. I never knew a Tercel could hold that speed without overheating.

And Adrienne and I talked about the future.

"So where are you thinking of living?" I asked, one hand on the steering wheel and one eye on Adrienne.

The stunningly gorgeous blonde leaned onto the door's armrest and played with her hair. "I don't know yet. I talked to Candy on Thursday about us. I floated the idea of getting an apartment together for the summer, but I don't think it's going to happen. It's not that she can't afford it, but she actually likes living with her parents for a few months out of the year."

"No need to rush. You know Mom and Dad are never going to kick you out."

She nodded. "I know."

I raised my eyebrows at her. "And broken up or not, there's really no reason we can't live under one roof. We'll always be your family."

"Bennn," Adrienne sighed regretfully.

I put both hands on the wheel and turned forward. "I'm not going to say any more. I don't want to make you feel awkward about it. And ... Okay, just one last thing I'm going to say."

Adrienne smirked and looked at me. "What?"

"You're running away again."

"Am not."

"Sure you are. And if Lynne were here she'd tell you the same thing. You're only moving out because you're running away from me. Because you don't want to feel awkward around me."

"I'm moving out because I'm not really a part of your family," Adrienne insisted. "Because I don't want to intrude any longer."

"It's not intruding if we WANT you with us."

"Fine," Adrienne huffed, looking down. "Because I need to put some distance between us, okay?"

"At least you admit it. You're running away from me."

"It's not 'running away', Ben!" Adrienne barked indignantly. Then she exhaled and visibly shrank. "I just ... If I stay living with you, I'm going to want to get back together with you. I love you so much, and I can't make these feelings go away if you're too close to me. Do you understand?"

"Sure," I grinned. "So if you stay living with us, I'll get you back. Now I'm NEVER letting you leave."

"Bennn..."

I sighed. She was probably right. If we were really going to stay broken up, and breaking up seemed to be the right thing to do for both our futures, getting some space between us only made sense. "Can you blame me for not wanting to break up?"

"No. But you know this is what's best," Adrienne said solemnly. "You DO understand, don't you? I can't be what you want forever. We both have to move on."

"Can't we postpone the 'moving on' until later?"

"No. We've gone as far as we can go."

I frowned, feeling dejected and yet resigned to our fates. I stared straight ahead and sullenly asked, "So there's nothing in the world that can change your mind?"

Adrienne shook her head. "No. Absolutely nothing."

"Anybody home?" I pulled my key from the door, glancing around the foyer. I moved forward and Adrienne followed in after me, dropping her purse and duffel bag onto the floor.

"Oh, I want a bath," Adrienne groaned, grimacing groggily. She'd fallen asleep for the last two hours of the trip and was still trying to wake up.

"You'll have to wait until we unload the car," I informed her, a goofy grin on my face.

She noticed the grin. "What?"

"Well, if I was still your boyfriend, I'd probably tell my girlfriend to go ahead and take a bath, get relaxed, and then I'd give her one of my famous massages. I'd tell her I'd take care of all the luggage, because that's what a good boyfriend does." I pinched my lips and shrugged. "But I'm not your boyfriend anymore."

Adrienne rolled her eyes and slapped my arm. "Jerk." But there was a teasing smile on her lips. She turned and went back out the door, heading for the car.

I was about to follow her when a voice called out, "Ben! We're in here!"

It was Eden, if I had to guess, though I'd been gone long enough that I wasn't entirely sure it wasn't Emma. In any case, I headed through the house and into the family room, where I stopped in surprise.

Eden and Emma had grown up even more since the winter. Only 13-and-a-half, they'd seemingly grown another inch in height and even more in curves. The twins were well on their way to becoming young women, and they sat side-by- side on one of the sofas wearing the skimpiest of summer tank tops that exposed their bra straps, and the shortest of shorts that revealed their creamy legs.

But they weren't the reason I stopped in surprise. If nothing else, I was expecting the twins to look more grown up. I stopped because there was a man in the family room with them, a tall, blonde guy who looked like he was in his late twenties. And as he knelt on the carpeted floor in front of the couch, each of his hands was on a thigh of one of my baby sisters. "Who the hell are you?" I barked.

The guy looked eerily familiar somehow as he turned around and flashed me a charming smile. There was a twinkle in his hazel eyes as he looked at me, patting the twins' knees absentmindedly. "Relax, Ben. I'm just introducing myself to your sisters. Aren't they just the prettiest girls you've ever seen?"

I wasn't sure exactly why, but something seemed definitely... wrong ... about the way he was touching their legs. And I couldn't help but angrily bark, "Get your fucking hands OFF them. And you either tell me who the FUCK you are or I'm calling the cops."

"Bennn!" Emma whined. "Relaaaax. He's practically family!"

"What?"

"We know the rules," Eden said firmly. "When we're alone in the house, we're not to let in any strangers. But Adam's not a stranger; he's Adrienne's brother!"

Holy shit. My eyes flew open and I went rigidly still.

A few seconds second later, Adrienne shrieked beside me as she entered the room and saw who was there. "Holy SHIT!"

Two conversations proceeded simultaneously from that point onward.

In one of them, I rushed forward, ready to kick the shit out of Adam Dennis, Adrienne's seven-years older rapist brother. But he backed away, so I went straight for Eden and Emma, grabbing their hands and rather violently jerking them off the couch and pulling them away. "What are you girls thinking?" I hissed. "You do NOT let in a stranger!"

"But he's not a stranger," Eden protested.

"Had you ever MET him before? How do you know he's who he says he is? He could be ANYBODY!"

Emma blanched, but Eden insisted, "We're big girls, now! We can take care of ourselves!"

"CLEARLY, you CAN'T!!!" I thundered, perhaps gripping their wrists a little too tightly.

At the other end of the room, Adrienne was yelling even louder than me. "What the FUCK are you doing here, Adam? You get out, RIGHT NOW! You have NO RIGHT to be here!"

"I have every right, Punkin," the blonde guy sneered. "You thought you could just take all the money and I'd never find out? There're millions. I'm here for my share of the inheritance."

We overheard that part, and the twins chose to ignore everything but the confirmation of his identity. "See..." Emma waved toward Adam. "He IS Adrienne's brother." She then struggled to break free of my grasp.

But I held on and dropped to one knee, tugging both girls to bend over and bring our faces closer together. I yanked their wrists toward me as well and growled with obvious rage on my face. "That man is a BAD man. Do you understand me? You are NOT to talk to him anymore. Do. You. Understand. Me?"

Emma looked frightened. Eden just whimpered, "Ben, you're hurting us."

Startled, I let go of them. The girls backed up, rubbing their wrists. But they looked over my shoulder to where Adrienne was still before her brother, tears streaming in rivers down her cheeks with her hands clenched in front of her chest.

"Go away! Please? Just go away! You talk to whatever lawyers you want," Adrienne blubbered. "I don't care. Just go away!"

I instantly moved beside her, wrapping my arm around Adrienne's waist and staring down the slightly taller man. "Leave this house. You are not welcome, and if you don't leave right now I WILL call the police."

The blonde guy held his hands up defensively and backed away. "Okay, okay. I'm leaving. But this isn't over, Punkin. I ain't leavin' town until I get what's mine," he growled. And then with a sneer, he looked past us to Eden and Emma. "And I'll see you girls later, huh? Maybe next time Uncle Adam will show you all that... fun stuff we talked about." And then he laughed.

The laugh was short-lived as I stepped forward and clocked him right in the face. The big guy staggered from the punch and immediately went up to hold his nose, which wasn't quite broken but certainly looked rather pink. "That's fucking assault!" he yelled behind his hands.

"That's defending my home against an unwanted intruder," I snarled. "Now get the FUCK out!"

Adam wiped his nose and narrowed his eyes, looking at me with a world of hatred in his hazel irises. But he turned and quickly left, hustling out the front door and leaving it wide open in his wake.

I followed Adam out to the foyer at least to be certain he was gone. Then I turned around and looked back toward the family room. Adrienne and the twins had come to the hallway entrance as well, looking shaken but unharmed. Only then did I exhale slowly and begin to calm my racing heartbeat.

I blinked twice and sighed. "You know, I used to think that everyone had some good inside. Even guys like Drew Walker were just being hormonal, reckless boys. I'll always hate him for what he did to Brooke, but I can almost understand."

I put my head down and then looked out the open doorway. "But that man is just evil."

Adrienne turned and bent over, planting her hands on her knees as she stared the twins dead in the face. With tear tracks still running down her cheeks, she made sure she had their undivided attention before intoning, "You both stay the HELL away from him. Got it?"

The girls nodded 'yes', their eyes wide.

And then Adrienne collapsed.

With a reminder to the twins not to let ANYBODY in the door, I scooped Adrienne into my arms and carried her upstairs to my bedroom. And while straining my arm muscles to keep us balanced, I maneuvered myself onto the bed with my back against the headboard and Adrienne cuddled up beside me.

She was a sobbing mess against my chest while I held her in my arms. I wanted nothing more in the world than to soothe her in this moment as I rubbed her back and repeated over and again that I loved her and that I would always protect her, no matter what. I may not have been her boyfriend anymore, but I knew that she still needed me.

She gripped my arms so tightly that her nails were digging rather painfully into my skin. But after a few minutes, Adrienne managed to get her sobbing under control and relaxed her hands. She made no move to free herself of my embrace, simply laying her head against my chest as she let out a final, keening wail. "How did he find me? How did he FIND me?"

I didn't know how to answer her. Sure, Adrienne had lived just a few houses away for most of her life, and most of Adam's childhood; but that still didn't point to our family. Unless...

I sighed. "He said he was here about the inheritance, right? Well, if he's got any lawyers, they can track down records that Mom and Dad took you in after your father died. And that would give him our address."

"But it's not right! He shouldn't be allowed to come near me! Not after what he did to me!" Adrienne wailed.

I patted her back and buried my nose in her hair. "Adrienne, please." My mind raced to figure out what was going on. "Did your parents ever report what he did?" I didn't remember all the details she'd told me so long ago. I was pretty sure they hadn't.

She exhaled with a mournful tone. "No. Nothing official. They just shut down his college fund and told him never to come back."

"Never disowned him, legally?"

She shook her head. "Don't think so."

I sighed. "But your father left you everything in his will, right?"

Adrienne nodded. "Yes. But I'm guessing Adam can still challenge it, though."

"But they can't let that... monster ... take all that away from you!" I growled. "Maybe if you tell them what happened when you were younger? No judge would give him part of your family's estate knowing the circumstances around why he left."

"What will I tell them?" Adrienne whimpered. "At this point, it's just my word against his. There are no records that he raped me. My parents are both dead. I don't know if there's anything I can legally do if he denies it." She sniffled and buried her nose against my chest. "I don't care. If giving him half the estate makes him go away, then give him half. I just don't ever want to see him again!"

She started sobbing again. I squeezed Adrienne tighter and started rocking her gently. And then I was back to trying to calm her down.

The twins were still freaked out when the rest of our family came home. The parentals had been running errands and Brooke was visiting friends. Eden and Emma immediately told Mom and Dad what had happened upon their arrival, and of course our parents immediately came to find Adrienne and me.

We were still in my bedroom when they came bursting in without knocking. Mom immediately opened her arms to Adrienne as she slid onto the bed and Dad stood nearby looking righteously angry.

When Adrienne slid away from me and fell into Mom's hug, I rubbed my sore arms and stood up from the bed. Dad nodded to me and I went to him, standing off to the side.

He glanced back at Eden and Emma, who were cowering in the doorway. "The girls said Adrienne's brother was here. They said you and Adrienne told them that he was a bad man, but they don't know exactly why, and you had to hit him to get him to leave. Ben ... what's going on?"

I bit my lip nervously and glanced back at Adrienne. Up until now, no one but Brooke knew the history Adrienne had with her brother. All my parents ever knew was that he was estranged from the family, but not for what reason.

Adrienne overheard what my dad was asking and met my gaze. Taking a deep breath, she looked at me and nodded.

I winced and then glanced over at the twins. "Maybe the girls should leave."

"Ben!" Eden complained, immediately defensive. "We're old enough to know!"

Before I could say anything Adrienne spoke up, "Go ahead. They need to know why they've got to avoid Adam and people like him."

I grimaced and looked around for my desk chair. Half-moving to it and half-rolling it to me, I sat down heavily and collected myself. This was Adrienne's story, but she clearly was depending on me to tell it for her. I paused and looked around the room, meeting each of my family members in the eye. And then I told the story in much the same way Adrienne had told me two years ago.

"I first met Adrienne when we moved into the neighborhood. We were both ten. I was the new kid and looking for any potential friends my age. Plus, Adrienne was quite pretty even then." That drew the faintest of smiles from both Adrienne and Mom.

"But something happened that summer." I sighed. "Both of Adrienne's parents were workaholics, rarely home before like nine or something." I waffled on the exact hour, not quite remembering it. But I pushed on. "Adam, Adrienne's brother, was seventeen and going to be a Senior in High School. Being the big brother, he was in charge. And he was old enough that they didn't need a babysitter. So it was just the two of them alone in the house all summer."

Mom and Dad started to get an idea of where I was going with this, and looks of horror began to creep across their faces. I didn't delay. "Adam started raping Adrienne that summer," I said plainly. Then I waited while my other four family members all gasped in disbelief. Even Eden and Emma, while still very young, understood the concept of rape.

I started breathing hard, old fury building inside me. My hands gripped the armrests on my desk chair so tightly that I felt the entire chair vibrate. I looked at Adrienne and she simply stared back at me with a blank expression. She'd already lived this nightmare enough times.

"Look, I'm not going to get into the details. The point was that he kept raping Adrienne throughout the year. She couldn't escape and as a 10-year-old, she didn't fully understand what was happening to her. And then the next summer he went away to college."

Mom and Dad started breathing a little easier, thinking it was over. But it wasn't. I took a deep breath and continued. "But Adrienne was pregnant. Only eleven, and she was pregnant."

As expected, Mom and Dad gasped again. Eden and Emma just looked nervous. I pushed on. "Adrienne's parents found out and eventually got the story. They talked down Adam and got him to confess. Then they cut him off financially from the family and told him never to come home. And Adrienne got an abortion."

Mom looked ready to collapse herself. Dad looked ready to run out and strangle Adam with his bare hands. I knew how he felt. And even so, I still wasn't done. "Adrienne's mom couldn't handle the whole thing. She became an alcoholic and shortly after, died in a drunken car accident. Her dad buried himself in his work and Adrienne has more or less been alone ever since."

I went quiet, lost in my thoughts. No one else in the room said anything, either. The twins were pale and frightened. And Mom just looked too shell-shocked to even move. She wasn't doing Adrienne much good anymore so I got out of the chair and returned to my ex-girlfriend, wrapping her up in my arms and rocking her once again.

Dad found his voice first. "Why is he here?"

I sighed and rubbed Adrienne's back. "Adrienne's father left the entire estate to her in his will. Plus, there was a substantial settlement from the cab company." I grimaced. "Adam's here for the money."

After getting reassurances from Mom and Dad that they would do everything they could to protect Adrienne, and promises from the twins never to see Adam again, my family broke up and went their separate ways. The twins holed themselves up in their bedroom, no doubt to discuss the whole thing. I stayed with Adrienne in my bedroom while she cried herself to sleep on my chest.

It was a somber house Brooke walked into an hour later. When confronted, she admitted that she'd known Adrienne's secret, and she quickly made her way up to my bedroom.

The mere sight of my sister brought back to mind all the drama around Adrienne first discovering that I was sleeping with Brooke. I couldn't blame her at the time; her brother had left her nothing but a legacy of fear and confusion. And now he was back, bringing all those painful memories with him.

But when Adrienne woke up and saw Brooke this time, it was as if she'd forgotten entirely that Adam had returned. After brushing the tears out of her eyes, she sat up and started grilling my little sister about everything she'd been up to the past semester.

I was a little surprised. "You want to gossip about what Brooke's been doing in High School?"

Adrienne furrowed her eyebrows at me. "Yes," she answered flatly, almost robotically.

I frowned. "You don't want to work out what we're going to do about this Adam situation?"

Adrienne shook her head and just as flatly replied, "No. I don't."

I looked at her in confusion and worry, wondering about Adrienne's mental state. But her voice perked up as she added, "Now why don't you leave us girls alone for a bit? I don't want Brooke to feel self-conscious about dishing all the good stuff in front of her overprotective big brother."

My jaw waggled up and down while I stared at her in astonishment. But I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, Adrienne's modus operandi for dealing with these traumas was to shut it out. When her dad died, she'd gone catatonic. When she'd first caught me sleeping with Brooke, she'd walled herself away from me. Avoidance was her thing.

Eventually, I figured out that she just didn't want to think about Adam for a little while and I got up off the bed. Brooke was thinking a little more clearly as she sat up and said, "Let's go to my room." It certainly made more sense.

But as Adrienne got up to leave, she stopped and came back to me, hugging me fiercely with her arms flung around my shoulders and her cheek pressed tight to mine. "Thank you, Ben. You're always here for me."

"And I will keep being here for you, if you'll let me," I said softly.

Her eyes were liquid as she searched almost nervously through mine. Then she pecked my cheek and turned to leave with Brooke.

My stomach gurgled. Dinner sounded like a really good idea right now.

There was no sign of Adam the next day, and no one volunteered his name, either. It's not that we pretended he didn't exist and that yesterday's incident had never happened; but we didn't try to think about it, either. The idea that there was an unresolved issue hovered in the background, unforgotten but unfocused on.

Besides, I had something new to freak out about.

It was a casual Sunday and I decided to take Adrienne for a walk. The silver lining in the whole Adam-incident was that any plans she had for moving out on her own were put on the back burner. Here, she was surrounded by people who cared about her. Here, she had security, and a group of defenders to help ward Adam away. For the foreseeable future, she would remain with our family and remain a significant part of my life. And this afternoon, with absolutely gorgeous Orange County weather in May, it seemed like a good time to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

We took a loop through the neighborhood out to one of the many parks in our hometown. I held Adrienne's hand the entire time, the way I used to when we were still together (or even "nottogether" for that matter). And for a few moments I let myself believe that we hadn't actually broken up.

But the one time I tried to kiss her, Adrienne turned her face away, mumbling, "We shouldn't, Ben. I still need to find a way to get over you."

"I still want to be here for you until this whole Adam-thing is taken care of."

Her hazel eyes flickered up to me and she gave me a serious look. "Then be here for me, but not as a boyfriend. Or do you really have to fuck me to be supportive?"

"No, of course not," I protested indignantly.

"Then be here for me, Ben, like a brother. You keep saying I'm a part of your family; I need you to mean it."

I nodded and hugged her platonically. It was easy, actually. I knew she wasn't in a lustful mood so I simply embraced her with all the intimacy of our prior relationship, but with none of the sexual pressure. Adrienne sensed it as well, and she happily sagged into my arms.

She felt better after our walk, and we were almost back home when I came to a dead stop on the sidewalk, jerking suddenly enough to throw Adrienne off- balance. My jaw dropped and my eyes went wide in disbelief.

The statuesque blonde re-set her feet and then looked at me curiously. "What?"

I didn't answer, and Adrienne simply followed my line of sight. And then she gasped in surprise, bringing her free hand up to cover her gaping mouth.

Keira McNeil had been kneeling in the little flower garden in front of her house. A red bandanna covered her dark hair and a full-length, green-patterned gardening apron covered her torso. But the apron couldn't hide the curvature of her body. The beautiful older woman sat up straight as Adrienne and I looked over at her; and then she tossed off one of her gardening gloves before laying a bare hand on her round, distended belly.

Keira was pregnant. Certifiably pregnant.

I stood shock-still on the sidewalk, not able to believe my eyes. Adrienne wasn't much better off.

Keira's green eyes glittered as her gaze met mine. Carefully, she stood up and arched her back, stretching against the rotund weight attached to the front of her torso. Then she smiled and said, "Hi, guys. I think I should explain."

"Would you like some iced tea?" Keira came out of the kitchen with a pitcher of the dark refreshment. Still slightly shell-shocked, Adrienne and I just nodded from our spots at the dining table.

"The baby is Sean's, before you start to freak out," Keira said plainly, focusing on pouring the drinks. "He went out to pick up lunch and will be back soon. I keep getting these cravings for spicy Mexican food."

I exhaled slowly at mention of Keira's ex-boyfriend (current boyfriend?). It was too late for me not to freak out, but I started to relax at Keira's pronouncement that the baby wasn't mine. "You got back together with Sean?"

She chuckled. "Sean is a wonderful man and we make a very good couple. But I guess he needed to see what he was missing to realize it. After spending almost a year without me, he came crawling back and begged me to give him another chance. He said he'd changed his mind; that he wanted to settle down and raise a family with me. And now he's making good on his word." Keira patted her belly lovingly.

"I'll say," Adrienne remarked, staring at the belly.

"We'll have a Spring wedding, after the baby is born," Keira continued. "I'll get you the invites as soon as we lock down a date."

"When's the baby due?" Adrienne asked, managing to look at Keira's face. My own gaze was still stuck on Keira's belly.

"Mid-November," Keira said before glancing away. I wasn't looking at her face but I caught the almost nervous twitch as she turned to the pitcher. "More iced tea?"

I looked down at my nearly-full glass. I'd barely taken two sips and shook my head as I did the math. Mid-November would place her last period in mid- February. Meaning she had have been knocked up well AFTER we'd had sex. So the baby really wasn't mine. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

Keira looked out the window, her lips quivering. She took a big gulp and then exhaled slowly before saying, "I'm sorry. I was going to tell you and I know you would have wanted to hear the news sooner, but I..." She sighed. "I didn't want you overthinking things, Ben. I didn't want ME overthinking things. It was an intense thing I asked of you. I'll be forever grateful for your willingness, but this is what's best for me and Sean."

Keira then fixed me with a serious look. "Ben, I'm not ashamed of what I asked from you. But ... ah ... I'd rather that Sean didn't know ... ah ... about us..."

Suddenly all of Keira's awkward looks and hesitation to inform me made perfect sense. "Oh!" I blinked and sat up straighter in my chair. "Oh, right. Yeah. I completely understand." If I were Sean, no way would I be comfortable with the idea that my fiancée and the mother of my child had been looking to get knocked up by the teenager down the street only a month before. Keira had probably just pushed me out of her mind and tried to focus on building her new family.

Keira then rubbed her belly again, looking down at it with a serene smile before glancing back up at me, her green eyes sparkling. "Thanks for understanding."

I nodded.

"We had a good thing, Ben." Keira moved over and touched my shoulder. "But we both knew it would never last. I don't like to think that I'm old, but I'm definitely in a different place from you. You have your whole life ahead of you. I'm just happy I got to be a part of it."

I reached up and touched her hand on my shoulder. "A very important part; one that I'll never forget."

Keira smiled sweetly at me, and in that moment I realized she and I would never be together again. That was okay. In the end, she got what she'd wanted. And I'd already gotten more than enough from her.

Just then, the garage door started rolling up and a black BMW X5 turned up the driveway. Keira smiled. "There's Sean. I'll introduce you."

An hour later, I was still in a state of shock as I sat on my bed, staring at nothing. The past week had just been WAY too intense for my poor brain to handle. Exactly seven days ago I was on top of the world, celebrating my anniversary date with Adrienne. Now, everything was different. My world had turned upside- down.

I heard a light knock at my door, and still in my own little world, I didn't answer. No matter, a few seconds later, it began to swing open. Extra hallway illumination spilled into my bedroom.

"Hi, Ben." "Hi, Ben." The twins chirped as they came into view. For a moment, I thought there were two copies of Brooke standing before me. My baby sisters were certainly growing up.

Without another word, the girls closed my door and moved to either side of the bed. From both sides of me, they crawled on, Eden moving in front of me and Emma sliding up to cuddle next to me. In my addled mental state, I never considered why they were coming to me and simply opened my arm out to hug Emma while Eden straddled my lap.

But then Eden made her intentions quite clear as she brushed my hair back from my forehead and stared adoringly into my eyes. "Hi, big brother. We missed you." Then she held my face, tilted her head, and moved in to press her lips against mine.

I startled for just a moment, but Eden held my face firmly in her hands. And then the winter break's makeout sessions suddenly came back to me as Eden parted my lips with her tongue, taking charge of our kiss with an expert skill that belied her youthful age. My baby sister had been practicing.

For a few seconds, I thought of stopping her. After all, the twins were so very young and supposedly not ready for these sorts of things yet. But Eden's probing tongue and soft lips seemed to indicate that she was ready for these sorts of things; and after all, it wasn't like we hadn't done this before.

More to the point, Eden's kiss felt very, VERY good. And after all my heartaches over Adrienne, Paige, and Dawn, I could use some "good".

So I just let myself go.

Eden sensed my acquiescence and pressed on my shoulders while she attacked my lips with a new fervor. She was wearing a summer sundress and I shifted my hands beneath the skirt, cupping her perky, panty-clad buttcheeks. And my baby sister moaned into our liplock when I automatically began massaging her tender butt flesh.

Belatedly, I realized that Eden had moved her crotch directly over the bulge in my shorts, rubbing herself along my length. Her moans turned into breathy gasps and her kisses trailed off my lips, across my cheek, and over to my neck while she shifted her focus to the sensations coming from her loins. The sensations on my dick were so good that I didn't stop her, and indeed I helped grind her body against me by gripping her ass and guiding her rhythmic movements.

But before we got out of control, Emma whimpered, "It's MY turn."

Eden whimpered herself, but came to a stop a few seconds later. I opened my eyes and turned to look at the younger of the two twins, popping my eyelids even wider when I saw Emma pull her fingers out of her own crotch and rather obviously lick the female nectar glistening on them. And then my eyes got even bigger when Eden reached out, grabbed her sister's wrist, and re-directed the honey-coated digits into her own mouth, moaning in heat.

I make no excuses for what happened next. The girls pushed me, and I let them. I gave them an inch, and as Brooke would say, they took the whole baseball field. Well, out to third base at least.

It started with Eden getting off my lap and then re-positioning me to lie down across the bed, my head propped up on a pillow. Then Emma leaned over me, grabbing my face to take over kissing duties. I felt my heart racing as I realized I could taste the flavor of her pussy on her lips, the flavor of my 13-year-old baby sister. And my arms circled around her head to pull her closer, mashing our mouths together and letting our tongues do an erotic dance of incestuous, lustful pleasure.

Eden pushed things further by unzipping my shorts and reaching in to take hold of the throbbing piece of man meat she'd been rubbing herself against. I was aware that she held my naked cock in her bare hand and was stroking me rhythmically, but no warnings of conscience flashed into my brain to tell me to stop her. It just felt too good. And the way I was feeling, I just didn't care anymore. Eden probably could have impaled herself on me right then, shredding away her virginity, and I wouldn't have stopped her. But thankfully, she didn't.

She did, however, suck me into her mouth. I groaned into my kiss with Emma when I felt Eden's hot warmth surrounding my tender flesh. And I whimpered and let my head sag deeper into the pillow when Eden began pumping my shaft in her hands while delicately sucking on the mushroom head.

Emma noticed my distracted state and pulled her mouth off of mine. She panted for air and turned around to see what was causing my distraction, and she gasped as she realized her sister was once again giving me a blowjob. And then Emma gasped again in surprise when I suddenly grabbed her waist.

I was losing my mind. Eden still had a long ways to go in matching her older sisters in the art of fellatio; but just like Brandi and Brooke, she was proving to be quite the natural talent. Her hands instinctively knew just the right grip and just the right speed to maximize my pleasure. And her cute little whimpering moans, muffled by my dick in her mouth, were music to my ears. With all the action going on below my waist, I had to find something... anything ... to occupy myself up top. And Emma was the obvious choice.

My youngest sister squeaked as I grabbed her and tried to yank her back down onto me. I would have been happy just to keep kissing her, but she panicked in my grasp and kept trying to sit up. So rather than try to drag her face back down to mine, I settled for gripping her hips and physically hoisting her body onto my chest. I filled my hands with precocious teenage butt flesh and scooted her forward until her crotch was right in my face. And without further thought I shoved the gusset of her panties to the side and dove in.

I was pretty sure the twins were shaving themselves a la Brooke and Brandi, and it wasn't that they hadn't grown pubic hair yet. But either way, Emma's pussy was as bald as a baby's. And there was nothing in my way of thrusting my rigid tongue between her spread labia and into her pink center. My nose nudged up against her round, protruding clit. My fingers tightened against her firm asscheeks. And my little sister went absolutely NUTS.

"Ohmigod! Ben's eating me! Ben's eating me!" Emma squeaked.

There was a brief pause below my waist as Eden stopped what she was doing to look, and then the hot mouth was once again on my dick, sucking me even faster and harder than before. There was no conscious thought in the way Eden was going about her task. She wasn't trying to push any buttons or titillate my senses. She simply went for the power suck, trying to get me off as fast and as forcefully as possible. And there was no way I was going to last much longer.

Emma actually beat me to it. My baby sister squeaked and wriggled, clamping her thighs around my ears so tightly I could barely hear. My hands left her firm ass and reached straight up, slipping beneath her shirt and forcefully shoving her bra cups aside to palm her equally firm titties. And with my fingers tweaking her nipples and my tongue doing its magic on her pussy, my youngest sister stiffened and came.

"Nnnnghhh!!!" Emma bit down on her lip and groaned. Clearly, she'd orgasmed enough times in the house to know to muffle her scream. The walls were pretty soundproofed but subtlety was still the name of the game.

But there was nothing muffled about the copious amounts of honey flooding out of her pussy and onto my face. And there was nothing subtle about the way her pelvis thrashed and bucked, threatening to snap my neck.

And then I was joining her. My hands reflexively squeezed tighter onto Emma's tits as I felt the ejaculation bursting out of my cock. Eden had no warning and didn't know enough to recognize the signs before her mouth suddenly filled with more cum than she was expecting. She'd had me shoot off once in her mouth, but it was a long time ago.

"Aack!" Eden choked and pulled off my prick. Her hand continued pumping me while additional jets blasted off right in her face. And for the second time in her life, after only two blowjobs, she found herself covered in cum from cheeks to chin.

Emma recovered fast. She turned around, absentmindedly groping for my hands when they slipped off her perky breasts. And when she saw her twin sister with multiple cum splatters decorating her face, she quickly dismounted my chest. "Ooh!" Emma giggled. "We talked about this! I'm gonna lick it off you!"

Eden giggled almost identically, scraping some of the creamy goo from her own cheek and then popping it into her mouth. And with her finger still in her mouth, she nodded happily. "Uh-huh!"

Emma slid forward, first pausing to kiss her sister on the lips, tongue swabbing the insides of Eden's cheeks for traces of brotherly semen. And then just before moving to start licking up the outsides, Emma paused to look her twin in the eyes. "You HAVE to try Ben eating your pussy. He's SO good!"

Eden just nodded rapidly, giggling. "Looks like you got to go first at something."

Emma giggled in response and then turned back to face me. "Don't go anywhere." The young pixie grinned. "I get to give you a blowjob next!"

The girls made good on their plan to swap places. Eden got two good orgasms riding my face before I fired away into Emma's mouth. Emma did a much better job than Eden of swallowing, managing to take the first three shots of my reduced load before choking and having the rest splatter across her nose.

I then found the girls weren't that experienced at doing two things at the same time. We got into a triangle of oral sex, me eating Emma, Emma eating Eden, and Eden trying to give me another blowjob. The problem was that Emma couldn't concentrate on eating Eden while I was going down on her. And Eden couldn't concentrate on blowing me when Emma was able to properly focus. They were aware of their own limitations and didn't even sixty-nine very often, spending more of their playtime eating each other out separately. But they agreed it was something they'd have to practice more often.

The three of us were still naked when the door cracked open. We were all immediately in a panic but Brooke quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind her. She turned to survey the scene and let out a forlorn moan. "Aww ... you actually used him up. I thought it would be like winter when you two got him all hot and bothered and I got to finish him off."

The twins just giggled and grinned their shit-eating grins.

But I felt a fresh stirring of life at the sight of Brooke. Here was a 17-year-old young woman, in the flower of her youth and yet fully grown, with the 5'7" height, C-cup tits, and full hips to prove it. She'd come a long way since being a coltish, bratty little sister. And I had absolutely no mental hang-ups about bending her over and fucking the living shit out of her.

"Actually," I began. "The girls didn't quite finish me off." I pointed down to my growing erection. I'd only popped off twice and I was always good for at least three.

Brooke grinned and moved toward the bed, already working to strip off her clothes. "Get lost, girls."

"Aww..." Eden whined. "Can't we stay and watch?"

"NO!" Brooke and I both barked at the same time.

"Stupid older meanies," Eden grumbled as she picked herself off the bed and searched around for her clothes. Emma griped around as well, but the twins took their sweet time getting dressed.

By the time they finished, Brooke was already naked and panting while I leaned over her, feasting on her nice breasts while she moaned and tangled her fingers in my hair. And the twins didn't look like they had any intention of leaving. "Out, girls!" Brooke hissed. "Hurry! Hurry! I can't wait any longer!"

The twins had seemed ready to give in and leave at Brooke's urgings to hurry. But when she cried about not being able to wait any longer, patented Brooke-like evil grins spread across both their faces and they stopped at the foot of the bed, folding their arms across their chests. "Okaaayyy," Eden snarked. "If you can't wait..."

"OUT!" Brooke yelled, a little too loudly. Only then did the twins finally slip out the door and close it behind them. I wasn't worried about them hovering in the crack to peek. It was too likely someone would catch them in the hallway.

"FINALLY!" my not-so-little sister sighed, grabbing my hips and pulling me over her crotch while she spread her legs to the sides. "I missed you, big brother," Brooke moaned as my mushroom head notched at her center. And then she moaned again as I began my descent.

"Ohhh, Brooke..." I groaned as I finally felt a warm, loving pussy surrounding my hard column of flesh. No matter how many girls I slept with, there would always be something special about Brooke. "I missed you, too."

She giggled, just a slight pitch different from the twins. "But we have to hurry. Mom sent me up here to tell you dinner's just about ready."

It was 10pm, bedtime for the twins, when I returned to their room. They were not yet out of Junior High and Sunday nights were school nights. But that didn't mean they were asleep.

"Ooh! Can we play some more?" Eden perked up when I entered in, her perky nipples quite obvious through her thin T-shirt without a bra.

I held both hands up in a 'calm down' gesture and shook my head. I then moved to sit down on Eden's bed. Emma similarly sat up and looked over at me. I gave the girls my best "big brother" stern look, and thoughts of sex vanished from their heads. "I just need to know what you two have been up to since I left. You both have grown up quite a bit, and I know I'm not the only boy to notice."

The girls blushed, giggled, and looked at each other. As usual, Eden took the lead. "Boys have noticed." But she frowned and sighed. "But not that much, really. All the boys are paying attention to Gina Hooker. She's got really big boobs."

There was something in Eden's voice, and I ventured carefully, "All the boys? Or one boy in particular?"

Eden blushed and looked down, not answering. Emma ratted her out. "Justin Curtis. Eden's got a crush on Justin Curtis, but he's giving all his attention to Gina."

"Emma!" Eden whined.

"What?"

I held my hands up. "Hey, I'm not going to get upset if you've got crushes. Crush on any boys you want. I just want to make sure you're careful with them. Adrienne, Brooke, and I have all warned you about boys and their roaming hands."

"Ffpt," Eden groaned. "No boy would want to roam on us. Our boobies are so small." She cupped her own chest and pouted, and not in an enticing way.

"I like them just fine," I assured her.

"That's because you're our brother. You love everything about us."

I mused on that. "True. But really, guys like all boobs, in any size."

"But I still wish mine were bigger," Eden whined.

"Ours," Emma added.

"Relax and give it time. Look at Brooke; she eventually got big ones, bigger than Brandi." I waved vaguely in the direction of Brooke's bedroom. "Anyways, you're only thirteen."

"Thirteen and a HALF," Eden corrected.

"You'll grow into them." I looked at her encouragingly while feeling amused inside. Only thirteen (and a half), growing faster than their older sisters, and absolutely beautiful: and yet the twins were STILL insecure about their appearance. Teenagers...

Then I smirked to myself. Hell, I was still a teenager. So I revised my internal comment: Teenage girls...

"Anyways, stop distracting me," I huffed. "The reason I came in here was because you both have gotten a lot ... better ... at what we did." Indeed, both had semi-developed blowjob techniques and showed vast improvement at kissing since I last saw them. "So I have to know: Have you been practicing on anyone?"

The girls blushed and looked down.

"Girls..." I warned.

"No, we haven't." Emma looked almost embarrassed. "I started to, once, with Bruce Kang. We started kissing a bit. He's not very good. Not like you. But I was helping him get better and he got kinda excited, then I got kinda excited ... But I ... well ... I felt all weird. I was too nervous to be naked in front of a boy or to let him inside my shirt. Maybe even a little scared. Not like with you. It doesn't feel ... scary ... when we're with you."

"Me, too," Eden added. "Some kissing and some groping, but only outside our clothes."

I smiled warmly and nodded. But I arched my eyebrow and looked at the girls. "Then where did you two get so good?"

"We did good?" Emma asked excitedly.

I nodded.

The girls beamed and looked at each other again. "Actually, we've only been practicing on each other," Eden chirped. "Oh, and with Brooke. She's finally playing with us and teaching us. She said our kissing got a lot better, too. She even has this dildo — she says it reminds her of you — and we practiced our blowjobs on that. So we really did good?"

"You did 'very well'," I replied, emphasizing the proper grammar. Eden just rolled her eyes at me.

Emma perked up. "So does that mean we can keep doing it? I mean, I know the rules last time were only for kissing. And we, uh, did a LOT more than that. So can we keep going? I really loved sucking on your dick and the way you licked me down there was sooo different and so exciting and I just can't wait to-"

"Whoa, whoa," I held my hands up to slow her down. Like it or not, her enthusiasm was starting to get me hard again, but I couldn't let myself lose control. After all, Mom had laid down the rules that began and ended at first base, rules I'd already ignored once. So if the twins and I were going to continue exploring our way around second and third base, we were going to have to be careful about it. Playing around before dinner and before our parents came home would be the safest. And I didn't want to get caught with my dick in one of the girls' mouths at night.

Besides, Mom wouldn't have any problem catching me in Brooke's room this late at night. So I had another outlet.

"Tomorrow, after school but before Mom comes home, okay?" I gave the girls a sly grin. "And keep a lid on things. We don't want to get caught."

Life for the next week was pretty smooth, all things considered. I might have thought it a radical culture shock moving back home after a year at school, living under my parents' roof again and not having my normal group of friends around.

But really, it wasn't shocking so much as a welcome dose of home. The sedate life of a summer break was a welcome respite after all the craziness of Finals Week at Berkeley. I didn't have to go to class. All my meals were provided. And instead of friends, I had family, always a trade up in my book.

Especially when my family was so ... affectionate.

The twins, of course, were thrilled by my return. They'd seemingly stockpiled all their sexual energy from the past semester and seemed determined to take it out on me. Now that we'd crossed the line from just kissing to groping and oral sex, it seemed I couldn't go more than a few hours in the afternoon without one of them (or both) shoving my dick into her mouth or my tongue into her pussy.

And Brooke seemed even happier by my return than the twins. It turned out, she'd been pretty down the last few weeks because of social dramas. She told me Monday afternoon that she was no longer on speaking terms with Jennifer Vo, her best friend since the girls were eight.

"What happened?" I asked.

Brooke just shrugged and looked off into the distance. "It's simple: She wanted Kenta. But he's mine. She can't have him."

I winced and looked at her. "But she's your best friend. You're the one that invited Jennifer into your relationship."

Brooke shrugged listlessly and frowned. "Fucking him was one thing. And she was really good with her tongue, too. But I won't let the bitch take him from me." She sighed. "I dunno. I saw how Megan and Cassidy shared you and made it work. I thought we could do the same."

I sighed. "They were equals. And obviously, it didn't work out in the end." I pointed to myself, all alone.

"Whatever. We're not friends anymore. Shit happens. I'm hanging out with Erin and Kady more now, anyways. I'm over it." The bitter tone in Brooke's voice belied her claim of being "over it", but I didn't push the issue.

Instead, I let my hand drift across her shoulder. "You want me to relieve you of some tension?"

Brooke chuckled. "Did you get all horny with me and the twins at school all day?"

I moved my hand to her neck, rubbing gently. "Hey, I was just talking about giving you a back massage."

"Sure you were," Brooke said sarcastically. Then she sighed. "I would, but I need to get over to Kenta's place. My boyfriend needs that kind of attention from me so I make sure HIS attention is on me and not that bitch of a former best friend. Between me and Mizu, I'm sure Kenta will see the right way."

I shrugged and stopped rubbing. Then Brooke's hand went to cover mine, trapping it against her neck. "But I'll fit you into my schedule: come home, eat dinner, finish homework, fuck Ben's lights out," she said with a smile. "Don't you worry."

I didn't worry. Brooke spent her afternoons working on her relationship with her boyfriend. She spent her evenings playing with me. With Adrienne out of the sex picture, Brandi in Berkeley, and the twins too young, she had exclusive access to big brother sex. And she made the most of it that week.

Not that Adrienne was completely out of the picture. The specter of Adam's presence still hovered in the background, and she wasn't even thinking of moving out until after that whole issue was resolved. She moved into Brandi's/her old bedroom and neither of us mentioned to our parents that she'd considered leaving.

And even if we weren't having sex, I was being very good at being supportive. And some of Adrienne's and my old spark started coming back.

While the younger kids were at school, Adrienne and I spent our days talking, walking, and generally hanging out. I was making good on my promise to be supportive without sex, concentrating on being just a brother to her, which was ironic since she was now the ONLY sister I WASN'T doing something sexual with.

Things could have been awkward between us, but with Adam at the forefront of Adrienne's mind — and my desire to simply keep Adam OFF her mind at the forefront of MY mind — we were too distracted to be awkward. It helped that we were able to visit with friends, hanging out with Candy, Mizu, Heather, and Lynne a couple of times and meeting up with Megan, Cassidy, and Kaito another time.

It was Thursday, after meeting up at the beach with her old cheerleader friends, that I got the first hints that Adrienne and I might actually resume our previous relationship. As usual, it had just been me and five unbelievably hot women wearing bikinis for a few hours. As usual, I wound up flirting with all five of them, making suggestive comments with a comfortable familiarity only possible because I'd previously slept with them all.

And as usual, Adrienne and I gravitated together.

It was impossible not to. It had become habit. Even at the times when we were 'nottogether' and she had me hooking up with her friends, Adrienne had still spent a good chunk of her time sitting with me, talking with me, or otherwise being my most constant companion.

This Thursday was no different. When Adrienne needed a backrest, she nonchalantly grabbed my legs and propped them up for her leaning convenience. When she needed a reapplication of sunblock after we'd played around in the surf, she simply handed me the bottle and let me go to work. And when my hands started wandering, she merely flashed me a teasing grin and let me grope her a bit.

It was enough for Heather Wilkinson to comment, "Are you sure you two broke up? Cuz you look pretty cozy to me."

I just blinked in surprise and stopped my hands. At the time, Adrienne was sitting in the sand between my legs while I gave her one of my patented turn-her-body- into-jello backrubs. Adrienne herself had her head hanging down, moaning lightly in pleasure as my fingers worked their magic. And when I stopped, Adrienne simply stayed put, whimpering for me to keep going.

I stammered for a second, trying to think of something intelligent to say. But Adrienne finally picked her head up and replied, "Yes, we're broken up." Then she patted my hands to get me to resume massaging.

"I see," Heather mused. "So you wouldn't mind if I, say, asked him to make me feel as good as you look right now." The dark-haired, aqua-eyed beauty with big tits smiled seductively at me while leaning forward, making those big tits threaten to spill over the top of her bikini.

Candy, Mizuho, and Lynne visibly perked up and paid more attention to us, turning their heads while continuing to sun themselves.

Adrienne chuckled, her eyes closed and her head hanging as I continued rubbing her neck muscles. "Of course not. It's not like he hasn't done that — and more — to you before."

"Uh-huh..." A sly smirk crossed Heather's face. "And what if I just asked him to go out with me for dinner tonight? Alone. At someplace nice. In a nice cocktail dress. Hm, maybe we could go dancing."

My hands slowed down as I arched an eyebrow at Heather. She merely flashed me a cute smile, a twinkle in her aqua eyes.

"You HAVE a boyfriend now, Heather," Adrienne said darkly.

"So? It's not like we're serious. And I'd certainly drop his ass in a heartbeat if Ben's available now, almost as fast as I'd drop my panties. Come on, Adrienne. Ben's the greatest boyfriend any of us has ever met. You don't seriously think we're just going to hang back forever now that he's back on the market, do you?"

Now Adrienne's eyes flashed open, and she gave Heather an intense look. Loaning me out to fuck had never been a problem for Adrienne, especially with her friends. But then, none of them had ever seriously asked about dating me. And while I wasn't certain, I imagined that girls had similar rules about dating someone's ex.

"Back off, bitch," Adrienne said shortly. "Ben's not going anywhere but with me tonight." And then she closed her eyes and patted my hands to get me to resume again.

My hands went to work, but my eyes drifted over to Heather. The gorgeous, raven-haired beauty lowered her oversized Chanel sunglasses back over her eyes and smirked knowingly. Perhaps she had never been serious in her request to go out on a date with me. After all, despite our sexual chemistry, Heather and I never had romantic feelings for one another.

But Heather's little stunt DID make me realize one thing: Adrienne could be jealous; not about sex, but about me as someone else's boyfriend. And if she was jealous, then she still had feelings of ownership over me. And if she still had feelings of ownership over me, then maybe we weren't history just yet.

I still had hope.

True, Adrienne didn't sleep with me that night. After leaving the beach, we hung out and talked like always until the younger ones got home from school. Then the twins dragged me away for playtime while she chatted with Brooke. And at night we went to our individual bedrooms with nothing more than chaste hugs and pecks on the cheek. But that was fine. I knew she still loved me. And there was a lot of summer to go. I was just happy that after the stressful Finals week, the painful breakup, and the trauma of Adam's sudden reappearance, Adrienne and I were having a solid week of peace and contentment.

Still, after a week of smooth sailing, it was inevitable that the storms would come.