She knew he was leaving. In fact, they'd discussed it in some detail off and on over the last year. The when came as a surprise to her. Dolly, his younger sister, had expressed her desire to finish out her senior year of high school at home before making a break for it.
At 18, she wanted to finish out with the friends she'd grown up with. Gordon had said it was entirely up to her, and that he'd support any decision that she made. So when he was finally leaving and she ran down the driveway and jumped in the passenger side of his pickup truck, with nothing but the clothes on her back, he was surprised as fuck.
"Take me with you Gordo!" She'd begged.
"But I thought..." he began.
"I know. I changed my mind. Just...let's go." She pleaded.
Things had been weird with their parents for a long time. Growing up they'd had to endure Bible Study Camp every summer. Hours long prayer meetings. Endless church services. Nightly bible readings at home. And it had only gotten more feverous as they'd gotten older. It was whack. Every other thing out of mom's mouth was a citing from the scriptures. Religious belief was one thing, but mom and dad were off the charts.
Gordon had started to realize at around the age of fifteen, that his home life wasn't 'normal'. It had dawned on Dolly too. They wanted to hang with friends, date and stuff like everyone else they knew outside of the church did. Even things like little league. But the answer was always "no, you're not ready".
Gordon had finished his Associates degree in programming. Worked part time and bought a beat up F150. Saved up a little nest egg of cash, and when the opportunity came from one of the companies, he'd interned with to get a job programming for a game studio all the way on the other side of that country he jumped at the chance.
Gordon had been kind of lanky in high school. During college, there was nothing much to do at times between classes, so he'd started to hit the gym and had filled out considerably in the ensuing years.
Dolly had been a cute baby from the start, growing ever more beautiful as she grew up. Dark wavy hair like Gordon's, beautiful brown eyes flecked with gold, and a figure that drew more than its share of double-takes. Hell, Gordon had to confess to himself that there were times he'd thought about how sexy she was with her high firm breasts and breeder hips. Wow.
"What happened?" Gordon said after a minute or two driving the backroads toward the highway.
"Another one of those Bible Retreats that she told me she signed me up for." Dolly answered.
"It's not like you haven't been to, like, a hundred of them before." Gordon pointed out.
"Yeah, but not alone. You've always been there with me. I just got this anxiety attack and Mom told me to go to my room, and I did, but then I slipped out the window and bolted for your truck." Dolly explained.
"Well, if you change your mind and want me to bring you back..." Gordon began.
"No. Look. I don't want to go back. I can't explain it, but I feel like this is the right thing for me to do." She said.
They decided to take turns driving in shifts. It was the first night and Dolly was curled up on the bench seat of the truck, with her head half on Gordon's leg like a pillow. She looked amazing, sleeping soundly like that. Gordon could feel the warmth of her cheek against his leg. It took an act of will to keep his eyes on the road.
They swapped places around 2 AM and Gordon leaned back against the passenger door, stretched out as much as he could and drifted off to sleep. When he woke up his back was knotted like a pine tree.
The sun was rising over the Albuquerque skyline as Dolly pulled off the highway. There were signs for various service stations, hotels, and food. After filling the truck, they found a nice old-style diner and went in for breakfast. The coffee was nice and strong and the food, simple but good.
"I was planning on running away, you know." Dolly said in between mouthfuls of pancake.
"No, I didn't know, but I'm not surprised. The more time I spent away at school, the more I became aware of all the things that I was missing out on just to make mom and dad happy." Gordon admitted.
"I know. I felt like I was sitting on this powder keg, knowing it was going to blow up, but not knowing when." Dolly admitted, taking a swig of orange juice. "Anyway, I was saving my money too. I had a little ditch bag that I grabbed before I headed to your truck, so... I've got breakfast." She smiled.
They drove pretty much through the day, hitting Tulsa Oklahoma that evening.
"I'm beat." Gordon said.
"Yeah. Me too." Dolly agreed.
"There's a chain motel just ahead. Let's treat ourselves." He suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. I smell like a truck driver." She yawned, grimacing.
They got the cheapest room they could. It stank slightly of cigarette smoke, but the sheets were clean. Once they were checked in they found a place to eat nearby.
Arriving back at the room, Dolly announced that she was going to wash her clothes. Gordon had gone out to the truck to grab his suitcase. The concussion of the exterior door closing, jarred the room enough so that the bathroom door swung slowly open. Gordon could see his sister's back and in the bathroom mirror her front as well, as Dolly scrubbed her one set of clothes in the sink.
Gordon almost choked seeing her naked like that. Almost every inch of her. His hands shook as he placed the suitcase on the rack at the foot of the bed. Opening it and grabbing a T-shirt, he threw it through the doorway to land on the counter next to her.
Squealing in shock she grabbed the shirt and slammed the bathroom door shut. But it was way too late. The image of her naked perfection was emblazoned on Gordon's retinas.
When she did emerge, T-shirt clad, Gordon was in bed. It was a double, and she slid sheepishly in next to him, balancing delicately on the far edge. For the first hour or so they shifted nervously and self-consciously. Eventually relaxing and falling asleep.
Gordon woke first to find that during the night, they had both moved toward the center of the bed, Dolly's limbs entangled with his. Her clothes, still drying over the shower curtain pole in the bathroom. Her t-shirt had hiked up and her bush was pressing against his thigh. He tried not to move and just enjoyed the sensation of her body against his. Sure, it was wrong, but it felt so good.
Gradually he became aware that she was awake too, and probably had been for a while. They stayed there for a good half hour longer, cuddling before the game was up. It was nearly 10 AM before they'd eaten and gassed up and were on the road again.
"About last night?" Gordon began.
"What about it?" Dolly replied anxiously.
