Author's note: To avoid family tree confusion, Grandma and Grandpa are the parents of Kate, Sam, Ben, and Maria. Their spouses are Don, Abby, Lily, and Gary, respectively. Jill is Kate's daughter. Jack is Sam's son. Byron is Lily's nephew. Jenny is Gary's niece.
Chapter II
Jack went first. Access to the root cellar was close to, but not in, the kitchen area. He came back almost immediately and told me the path to the staircase was clear. I gave him a conspiratorial grin and walked swiftly up the stairs to find the furthest bathroom from the stairwell.
I stripped, rinsed all of Jack's cum out of my shirt, draped my shirt over the radiant heater and showered. I scooped up and ate goops of Jack's cum before washing the sticky goo down the drain, feeling the same naughty tingle I had in the cellar. My shirt wasn't completely dry, but I put it back on and rejoined the party through the kitchen door on the side of the house, left of the deck. It was easy to slip into the crowd by finding and chasing my little brother and sister, who were running in and out of the water. I saw Jack wearing swim trunks and realized I could've done the same, thinking how my community college aspirations showed.
We kept our distance from one another until we could be next to one another, free of accusation. Once we felt safe, we joined the older cousins. Our interest in college life that didn't exist a year ago.
Byron was at State for engineering, and Jack would likely follow him. Jenny was doing the same thing with a kicker -- she was a Chemistry-Mathematics double major, a super nerd, attending a private STEM university on a scholarship. Saying I was committed to my community college's music program was silly compared to their lofty degrees. She laughed and told me I'd date guys with better hygiene than she would ever see on campus. After distracting the boys by pointing out Aunt Maria's bikini, Jenny put her hand on my ass and whispering, 'Girls, too.'
I reassessed her nerdy hair. She parted it down the middle and bundled it into a single, thick braid that reached below her shoulder blades. She was half a head taller than I and radiated a weird, flirty vibe. I shocked myself when I didn't back down. I pressed my fingers lightly on Jenny's lower back, letting them graze the skin between her shorts and shirt. The fabric under her shorts was more bikini than cotton briefs I guessed she wore a matching bikini top under the button-down top,
Jenny smirked when my finger touched the crack of her ass. She tucked herself close to me and kept her hand half-on, half off my ass with our backs towards the house. If anyone saw us, it looked harmless.
"If we have a moment alone, you'll tell me everything?"
Jenny purred, "What is it you want to know?"
"I feel you know more than I do and can educate me."
"Maybe. Maybe you can too."
As Grandma called lunch, the chaos resumed; younger kids, including my brother and sister, were herded to the real tables, adults claimed their seats around deck chairs and coffee tables. Jenny and I, still crackling with our conspiracies, arranged to sit with Jack and Byron--Jenny and I seized the larger table for the four of us.
Jack and Byron joined us after Mom announced Aunt Maria would be topless on the boat later if they wanted a better view. We huddled in our mini-circle. Jack and Byron focused on their meal until the adults stopped teasing them. We were between the adults and the kids. Grandpa and Grandma were sitting with them, with two other adults.
Actually...that wasn't right.
Grandma and Grandpa sat with their grandchildren on two traditional picnic tables. The adults sat at smaller picnic tables built for two that encircled the larger one in the middle.. Aunt Maria and my dad were adjacent to us, my mom and Gary, Uncle Ben and Abby, and Uncle Sam and Lily.
The older cousins, including me, sat at the 12 o'clock position at a round table large enough for four. There was one table like ours at six that remained empty, and the parents sat in the 2, 5, 7, and 10 positions. Occasionally, one of the little ones would try to slink off, but they couldn't escape. Having two different parents in each spoke made it harder for them to pull the aunt or uncle sympathy card.
"You let it slip you're going on the boat this afternoon?" I asked.
"Yeah," Byron said, "Then Maria made it a production in front of your mom."
"I thought it sounded weird when she said it."
Jenny had to finish the bite in her mouth because she was cracking up.
"She sounded like you two were gonna hook up."
"It's best not to give my mom ammunition."
I gave Jack a knowing look. It must've been obvious because Jenny nudged my leg with hers.
"Aunt Maria set you up this time, so don't worry about it," I said.
"Are you still going?" Jack asked.
"Duh-doy," Byron said, "I wanted to go before I knew I was gonna see her tits."
Jenny and I laughed. Not only had he said 'tits' too loud, Aunt Maria was sitting adjacent to us with my dad.
"That boat is long enough to be considered a yacht." Jenny said, "But the walls are paper thin. Keep that in mind if you're feeling frisky."
I squeezed Jenny's knee while biting my lip. I had no idea what was going through Byron's mind, but whatever it was made him redder than Mom's earlier comment.
Jack hunched closer and whispered, barely moving his lips. "Isn't it weird they didn't invite either of you girls onto the boat?"
"Because Aunt Maria might show her boobs?" I asked, "I'd join her in a hot minute."
"Please," Jenny snorted, "Maria would go topless to mow the lawn, especially if she had an audience."
Byron dug his fork into the potato salad, mulling it over.
"So why go through the trouble of making it a show? They keep hinting it'll be wild out there, but--" He dropped his voice: "It feels like a trick. Like Jack and I are the fish, and Maria is the lure."
"Maybe, but it's normal for them to be naked on the boat. That's how Uncle Ben tells it after his third beer." Jack smirked, "If they're making such a fuss, it's to cover something bigger than being nudists.
"Naked after the third beer?" Byron asked.
Byron looked at Aunt Maria as if the concept of seeing her completely naked had finally landed.
Jenny giggled. Byron was not ashamed to admit, at least silently, that he wanted to see Aunt Maria in the buff. I caught it, and Jenny and I shared the same electric tingle when a scheme reveals itself and becomes a shared secret. Jack ate his burger, oblivious to the conspiracies fomenting right under his nose.
"Think about it," Byron said, "Maria's there to keep Jack and me distracted. If she's waving her... everything around, you're not supposed to notice what the uncles or Grandpa are up to."
"Or maybe it's nothing," Jack countered, pretending to stir his drink. "Maybe they want to sneak-smoke cigars without making a production."
I nodded, but my mind was racing. "Unless," I said, "They're running coke to Canada, and the boat trip's a front for a grandparent drug empire."
"That'd explain why there's a full attic that no one talks about." Jenny said, "And drugs can pay for a nice house with a dock and a boat."
Jack's eyes were skeptical.
"When's the last time you checked the attic?"
"Never, it's just too much trouble to go into the attic, or so I'm told," Jenny said.
I nudged Jenny under the table, then focused on the boys.
"I guess we're getting attic duty while you two focus on things that aren't Aunt Maria's boobs."
"Is there any chance we'll be sleeping with the fishes if we find the dark, dark secret?" Byron asked.
"I can think of much worse things than getting murdered," I said.