I finished the first draft of this story in February 2022. For a variety of reasons, I was concerned about the reception it'd get, so I let it sit and sit on my hard drive. When I started publishing stories almost every Monday, I decided to add it to the queue.
As I came down the stairs to our living room, I heard giggling. I knew instantly who it was - my sister Holly and her best friend Kendra. I had been intending to go out the front door and drive over to a friend’s house, but when I heard the giggling, I made a beeline to its source.
Holly and Kendra were in the kitchen, getting water bottles out of the refrigerator. They were both wearing string bikinis. “Hey, Kendra. Hey, Holly.”
Kendra turned around and said, “Hey, Hugh,” in a very friendly manner.
Kendra was a relatively new friend of Holly’s. The first time I saw her was a few days after I got home from college for the summer. She had spent a lot of time at our house in the two weeks I had been home. With her mom and three younger siblings at home, coming here was an escape from her family. Like my sister, she was in that in-between summer of having graduated from high school but not yet starting college. She was going to be Holly’s roommate in the dorms this fall.
With her eyes locked on mine, Kendra took a couple of steps forward and leaned forward to put her elbows on the kitchen island. Her leaning forward brought my attention to her bikini top. The top triangles were about four inches on a side. The material was black and white zebra stripes. Black strings connected them. Kendra had nice-sized breasts which she knew how to flaunt.
“Whatcha doing, Hugh?” Kendra gave me a big smile.
I really couldn’t place Kendra’s attitude towards me. Was she coming on to me? Was she being a tease? She was always very friendly when she talked to me, but I never felt her flirting with me was serious. She, like my sister, was three years younger than me. A little young for me to date, but not unreasonable.
“No plans. When I heard your voices, I thought I’d see what you two were going to do. Are you going to catch some rays?”
“No, that wasn’t our plan.” Kendra looked over at my sister and laughed. My sister gave a nervous laugh back. I didn’t see what was funny.
Kendra returned to leaning on the island with her head in her hands. She wiggled her butt a couple of times, which I could barely see over the island, and then asked sultrily, “What do you think of my suit?” She then stood up, came out from behind the island, and slowly turned around. The bottoms covered more than the top, but not much more. The material was again black and white zebra stripes, which created a nice optical effect that made her ass look really nice. Kendra had a body that was perfect for a bikini.
“I like it. I like it a lot. I like how the black goes with your red hair.” Kendra had shoulder-length red hair. She smiled at me and batted her eyelashes briefly.
Holly said, “I told you he’d like it.” She set the water bottles on the counter and stood next to her friend. “But I think Hugh would like almost any bikini you were wearing.”
Holly smiled at me. I always felt like she encouraged me to pursue Kendra, though not too hard. Had Kendra told her that she was interested in me?
Kendra asked me, “Which bikini do you think would look best on me; the one I’m wearing or the one your sister is wearing?”
I looked at my sister. She was wearing a similar style bikini as Kendra’s. The strings were white. The material of her top was white; kind of an indistinct pattern that looked partially translucent. You couldn’t see her nipple or anything, but the hint of translucent gave it a disturbingly sexy look - disturbing because that’s my sister but sexy because, you know, boobs. I took a brief look at my sister and looked back at Kendra.
Before I could say anything, Kendra said to Holly, “Model it for him.”
“I’m not going to model a bikini for my brother!”
“How is he going to give me a good opinion on which one I’d look better in?” Kendra turned to me. “We bought bikinis we both liked so we could swap them for different looks.” Kendra turned back to Holly. “Come on, model it!”
This was the type of thing Kendra always did. She’d do something to get my full attention, and then she’d do something to divert it. Again, this made it hard to place if she was actually interested she in me.
Holly rolled her eyes. “Oh, okay.” She raised her hands above her head and made a slow circle in front of me. When Kendra had modeled her suit, she had really showed it off. I couldn’t place what my sister was doing differently, but I felt like she was doing the bare minimum of modeling to appease her friend.
As I watched Holly slowly turn, I realized how similar her body was to Kendra’s. Kendra was maybe an inch shorter. I stole a glance at Kendra and compared her body to Holly’s. Holly’s legs were longer, and she had more of a curve at the waist but seemed similar in size to Kendra at the bust and hips. Holly also had longer hair, coming down halfway down her back.
When my sister stopped turning, Kendra asked, “What do you think?”
“I think you’re both wearing the right suit for you. Like I said, I think the black goes well with your red hair. I think the white goes well with Holly’s blond hair.”
Kendra said, “Good.”
I waited. I had asked once about what they were going to do, and Kendra had answered vaguely. If she didn’t want to tell me, I’d leave and go to my friend’s. I wasn’t going to push myself on her.
Holly said, “We’re going to try out the sauna. Kendra’s never been in one before.”
My dad’s Covid project had been building a barrel sauna that he ordered from Costco. I had enjoyed it during last Christmas break but hadn’t been in it this summer.
I said, “Sweating in a hot, humid sauna is a lot like exercising. It stresses your body, your lungs, your blood flow, and your heart. In the wintertime, it’s a great way to warm your body up, especially if you've been outside in the snow.”
Kendra looked at Holly. “Sounds like we should have a lot of fun out there.” There was almost a sexual overtone to her statement.
Holly asked, “Do you want Hugh to join us?”
Kendra thought it over for a bit. “For a little while.” She turned to me. “You don’t mind if you’re with us for only a little while. Then Holly and I will have a girls-only talk.”
Again, that come-on-then-stop feeling from Kendra. Yes, I wanted to talk with her as her body glistened with sweat.
Holly said to me, “I turned on the sauna almost an hour ago.” To Kendra, “That means it’s ready to use.”
I said, “I’ll change into swim trunks and join you out there.”
* * * *
My dad had completely redone our backyard when things were shut down for Covid. Paving stones made a large patio area with a fire pit at the center. Off to the side was the sauna, not visible from the house. I had changed into board shorts and flip-flops and was carrying a beach towel. I was working in a pharmacy this summer three to nine, five days a week. It was early enough that I’d have plenty of time to shower and be ready for work after we were done in the sauna.
When I got close to the sauna, Holly smiled and waved at me through the glass door. From how happy she looked, I had the feeling she felt getting me in the sauna with Kendra was a step towards getting Kendra and me together. I kicked off my flip-flops next to the girls’ sandals and went into the sauna. Once I closed the door, Holly poured water on the “coals” to create steam. The sauna had a wooden bench on each side with an aisle in the center that led to the heater. Kendra was stretched out on one bench.
Holly sat down on the other bench and patted the space next to her. “Join me.”
