The Sister, Part Two

Part Two

I was speechless.

Natalie did not just say that. It was so direct, so unexpected, and so wrong. I half expected her to break character and play it off as a joke, or perhaps this was a test and Jessica wanted to see how faithful I’d be in a situation like this. Either way, I’d only look bad if I waited for either of those outcomes to resolve. If she was kidding, and took my stunned expression the wrong way, I’d look pretty bad. If Jessica was watching and interpreted my lack of escape as something else entirely . . . Well, that would be way worse. 

“Umm, Natalie?” I finally said. At the same time, I carefully took her wrist and guided her hand off my chest. Normally, I’d back up, but I was pinned enough as it was between her and the door. Short of squirming off to the side, or trying to gently push her back without making any inappropriate contact, I was stuck. “Not funny.”

She just cocked her head to the side. “I wasn’t trying to be funny. You and I are going to sleep together this weekend.”

What was with this girl? 

I had no idea how to handle her attitude. She wasn’t being overconfident, or smug, or anything like that. It was more like the decision had already been made; that it was fact, not fantasy. No girl had ever been this straightforward with me, which made it all the more surreal. 

“Umm, no we’re not,” I replied, forcing a light chuckle. Admittedly, Natalie was cute, but I’m not like that. Cheating fantasies may sound fun in theory, but there’s no way in hell that I’d actually do that to a girlfriend. Least of all, with her own sister.

“Let’s go inside, okay?” While I had no intention of betraying Jessica, the situation was already making me nervous. Why did the two of us take so long? What did we talk about? I was already trapped in a position where I’d have to lie to my girlfriend about a thing or two, or at least omit. Based on how she talked about Natalie, I doubt she would believe a word I said about the girl’s advances.

“Why not?” she asked, with a pout, “It’s not like Jess has to know. You’re saying I’m not attractive?”

Speaking of traps . . .

It was a totally unfair question. Not just for the normal reason, where there really isn’t a good answer when you’re dating someone else and/or not interested in them. The bonus difficulty lay in that Natalie was basically a mini Jessica. Not in personality, as I already learned, but they shared a number of physical qualities that I was attracted to. The cliché answer would be that she’s attractive, but I’m not attracted to her, except even that wasn’t objectively true. In another life, this would all be pretty hot. IF I wasn’t already dating Jessica.

“I’m not saying anything,” I said. Better to avoid playing along. Not wanting to give her another opening, I turned and opened the door, ignoring what I’m pretty sure was her chest nudging my arm from our proximity. Heading right inside, I called out to Jessica as yet another way to separate myself from Natalie before she tried to further tempt me. “Natalie’s here!” I exclaimed, as if she didn’t already know that, “Where should I put her things?”

To my relief, Jessica was right around the corner. No more opportunities for Natalie to mess with me. I still genuinely didn’t know if she was teasing or actually being serious. “Across from us,” Jessica said, “That’s her room.”

Right. I had already been given the tour. Both sisters got the corner rooms upstairs with a good view of the lake, while their parents used the master bedroom on the main floor. Then guests could take any other room in the sizable house.

“You got it,” I said. Hopefully she didn’t notice that I was the slightest bit flustered from everything outside.

“Natalie!” she exclaimed. Jessica pushed past me and flung her arms around her sister. 

Rather than stick around for the greetings, I used the distraction of my girlfriend to slip away and take Natalie’s things upstairs. Better to get it done when she didn’t have a chance to follow me up and start flirting again. I knew this weekend was going to be less relaxing with a third wheel around, but never considered that Jessica’s sister was going to be such a handful. Just a few minutes with the girl, and I was already trying to figure out how I’d manage to avoid any one on one time with her. 

Once I was alone upstairs, I started thinking a little more clearly. In retrospect, maybe Natalie didn’t mean any of it. She could just be a total flirt, or that could be her style of humor. Seriously, what kind of girl just walks up to a guy and says she wants to bang? Especially to her sister’s boyfriend? Concluding that she didn’t mean any of it, I set her bags outside her door and made my way down towards the voices in the kitchen. 

The moment I turned the corner, Natalie bounded over and hooked her arm into mine. “Seriously, sis. He’s hot. How’d you manage to land a guy like this three seconds after starting college?”

Jessica just scoffed. “It wasn’t three seconds, Nat. And right place, right time, I guess.”

I could tell right away that Jessica didn’t suspect anything, nor was she bothered in any way about the physical contact as Natalie and I faced her arm in arm. It only confirmed my theory; that Natalie was friendly, flirty, touchy, whatever. 

“Lucky you,” Natalie sighed. She slipped her arm out of mine as effortlessly as she linked us a few seconds ago. Placing that hand on her hip, she glanced from me to Jessica. “So? What’s the plan? Please tell me we’re hitting the lake. My legs can’t take much more sitting today!”

“Oh, poor you,” Jessica teased, “And what do you think, babe? I’ve been dying to try out my new bikini.”

It was her way of trying to make up for Natalie’s arrival and the interruption of what could have been a good time. While Jessica and I still couldn’t do anything like that with her sister around, she could at least show off her body by the lake. The proposal was innocent enough with Natalie standing right there, but I knew what she meant.

“Yeah, sounds fun,” I said, “Should I grab anything for us?” 

“Sunscreen, towels, drinks,” Jessica said, pausing to think, “Snacks, maybe?”

Without missing a beat, Natalie piped up with a warm smile. “I can help!”

It didn’t take long for her to point out that I wouldn’t know where to find everything. This was my first time at their lake house, after all. Jessica was appreciative of the gesture, and happy to get changed while her sister and I grabbed a few things to bring down to the dock. I, on the other hand, was a little more wary.

For good reason, too.

The moment it was just Natalie and I in the kitchen, she stepped back over and took my hand. Her fingers intertwined with mine and she glanced up at me with an innocent smile. “Come on, babe,” she said, “I’ll show you around.”