This is the brother/sister version of a set of four separate, three-part stories. All are basically the same with slightly different character relationships. "It Doesn't Count" involves a brother and sister, "A Mother's Lust" involves a mother and son, "It Doesn't Matter" involves an older woman and her daughter's young ex-boyfriend, while "It Shouldn't Matter" involves a young woman and her younger sister's ex-boyfriend. You can read any or all of them, according to your tastes, but the vast majority of all parts of all stories are the same.
This is the first of three parts in the "It Doesn't Count" short series. All are equally good, and all have sex in them, so you might as well start at the beginning, so situations and references to past events make more sense.
-- The Author
*
Dan glanced down at Amy's slim, manicured hand. It rested just millimeters from his, with her long, delicate fingers beside his own, on the table between plates littered with the remnants of a moderately expensive lunch. She was so close he could feel the warmth of her, but her hand wasn't touching his. He looked up into her eyes, seeing a mischievous twinkle there. She'd placed her hand there, just that way, on purpose, as a subtle reminder.
Dan had to look away. He felt a blush rising in his cheeks. A quick glance told him Amy was grinning, enjoying his discomfort. He didn't know why this was all so much easier for her. He'd thought that he was the bold one.
In their family, Amy was the careful, considering, planning one. She was the one that didn't take unnecessary risks. She was the one that played by the rules. She never cut in line. She never spoke out of turn. She never pocketed a bill that someone else had carelessly dropped. And Amy was the one that tried to make sure she had a royal flush before she made even a small bet.
She was two years older than him, yes, but he was still more daring. He considered himself to be more mature, too, especially in affairs of the heart. Or, rather, especially when it came to sex. She thought he was a hound. He thought he was well traveled.
Amy took her hand away to reach into her purse to pay the bill. Dan felt a sudden sadness as she did so.
"Let me, today, Sis," Dan offered, knowing he couldn't really afford to pay for even his own meal, let alone hers, too.
Amy looked up at him with her sea green eyes, her hand at rest in the maw of the purse. She hesitated a moment before continuing to look in it for cash.
"No, honey, I've got it."
She had never called him honey before. It sounded strange, and a little unsettling. She'd been saying things like that throughout lunch.
"No, let me, come on," Dan argued.
"It's the twenty first century, sweetie," she said, looking up at him with a smile. "Men don't have to pay for their dates anymore. Anyway, I have a job."
Dan glared at her, letting his face harden into ice.
"It's not a date, Sis."
"Whatever you say, lover," she said, smiling, as she dropped some crumpled bills onto the check on the table. "I've gotta get back to work. I'm running late."
She rose from her seat, then walked around the table to pass him on the way to the exit. As she reached him she suddenly bent down to put her broad, full mouth to his, or almost to his. She stopped with her lips just a hair's breadth away. He felt one long, warm breath caress his lips.
She made a slow, soft kissing sound, then was up and off, never having touched him. Dan watched her walk away with a motion that made him sit up straight. He felt something stirring in him. He tried his best to ignore it.
* * *
It had happened, or rather started, rather innocently. He'd stopped by to visit her at her apartment on Friday after work. She was getting ready to go out for the evening with friends. He just wanted to borrow some CDs. As a poor, struggling senior in college, it was a lot cheaper than buying his own.
As long as he was there, she'd said she wanted his opinion.
"Be honest. Brutally honest, if you can."
"About what?" Dan asked, not really listening, as he sorted through her collection. She had far too many slow, romantic pop albums. That stuff made his skin crawl. He'd thought she had better taste than that. At least, she did with everything other than music.
"As a guy, not as my brother, just as a guy."
The way she'd phrased that made him pause. He swiveled his head to look her in the eye.
"Yes?"
"As a guy, on a scale from, say, eight to ten... am I hot?"
"Eight? Eight to ten?"
"I'm feeling fragile today. You can't go lower than eight."
Dan grunted as he turned back to selecting music. Amy always felt fragile. Or rather, she always felt insecure. He didn't know why. She was smart. She was fun. And she was a total knockout, and she knew it. Dan had spent an embarrassingly large part of his life telling his friends that no, they couldn't date her, so let it go.
"Come on, Dan. Okay, have it your way, on a scale from five to ten, how hot am I?"
"Are we talking hot as in simply attractive, or hot as in getting a guy to try to get into your lonely pants?"
Dan had said it without looking up. His bored, tired tone of voice said he wasn't looking up, in case she didn't notice.
"Into your pants hot," she answered, ignoring the "lonely" comment.