My cell rang Wednesday night. It was my cousin Jan, whose college was about an hour's drive north of mine. We hadn't really spoken much over the past month, both of us still a little weirded out about that night she had to share my room. Well, my bed actually. Which wasn't what it sounds like. Mostly.
Oh, just go back and read Chapter 1.
"Kenny," she asked, "what are you doing this weekend?"
"Nothing that I knew of, but I have a feeling I'm about to learn different."
"I need to ask you a favor."
"Shoot."
"This weekend is Homecoming here, there's parties all weekend and a big dance, and... did I tell you about Pete?"
"No." Which made me a little sad: normally, this is the sort of thing she would have told me about.
"My boyfriend. Or he was, anyway. And he bounced back real quickly, with a cute little freshman. Actually, I think he started bouncing even before we broke up."
"Sucks."
"Yeah," she said. Before last month, I'm sure she would have said "Yeah, I'm sure she does." She seemed almost nervous talking to me lately, not at all her usual potty-mouthed self.
"So what, you want me to come over there and punch him? Because I'm not really the punching type."
"That would have been my second choice; but what I really need is for you to be my date."
"Your what now?"
"Pretend date, obviously. Nobody here knows you're my cousin. I don't want him to see me alone, and I didn't know who else to ask."
"Pretend to be your boyfriend for the weekend," I repeated.
"You don't have to do anything, just show up and dance with me a bit."
"Okay."
"I don't want you to think--"
"I said okay."
"My roommate will be gone, she's going to her boyfriend's homecoming in another state, so there'll be an extra bed for you."
"
I get it
," I snapped. "You're not luring me over there to fuck you!"
Long silence, then she said "Maybe this was just a bad idea. Forget I said anything."
"I didn't mean to yell."
"I just wanted to explain, I didn't want things to get awkward."
"And how did
that
work out for you?" I asked, hoping she could tell I was smiling.
"Not too fucking well," she said. There's the Jan I knew.
"Jan, you know I'd do anything for you. And if that means going to a bunch of parties... well, I'll make that sacrifice."
#
I got to Jan's school about 6 Friday evening, and we went straight out to a local burgers-and-beer joint ("Fake ID: Don't leave home without it"). Jan introduced me to her friends, letting them assume I was her boyfriend from a school about an hour away (nobody asked how she'd found herself an out-of-town boyfriend so soon after splitting with Pete).
We sat with her friend El and El's boyfriend Dean, and with Kimya, a stunningly beautiful Cajun girl. I know Kimya caught me glancing at her chest, which filled out her light sweater and was very clearly bra-less.
In my head, I was shouting "Jan's really just my cousin! Let's run out of here and fuck our brains out!"
I behaved, though.
About halfway through the meal, Jan rested a hand briefly on my upper thigh. No place improper, but my cousin's hand there was enough to get me a bit aroused.
A while later, I put a hand on her upper thigh. I don't remember her ever wearing a skirt when we were all together as family, other than at weddings and such, but she had one on now that didn't come down even close to her knee, and I had my hand right where the skirt ended, on bare skin.
One dinner and a couple beers later, we all went over to a party at a sorority house. It was officially booze-free, but bottles somehow managed to get passed around.
I danced with Jan, I danced with Kimya, and I danced with another cute girl whose name I didn't catch, but who invited me back to her room with her. I had to beg off, telling her I was here with my "girlfriend."
Pete was there as well. Jan didn't introduce us or anything, but I figured it out when she suddenly drew me close for a very un-cousinly kiss. With tongue. I played along, resting my hand firmly on her ass.
She apologized afterward for the sudden attack, but I assured her it was quite okay.
Now if only there was some excuse for me to put my hand firmly on
Kimya's
ass...
Jan and I were a little more overtly affectionate after that, though nothing more than necessary to keep up appearances. It's not as if we were dry-humping on the dance floor, after all.
We eventually made it to a second party, and by the end of the evening we'd both had enough to drink that it didn't feel strange to have one more deep kiss (this time not completely for show, because Pete wasn't even there); but neither one of us was even close to drunk, and the walk back to Jan's dorm in the chilly autumn nighttime air sobered us up real good.
When we got to her room, the other bed was already made up for me: Jan had taken off her roommate's sheets and replaced them with a set of her own, which I guess made sense. I kicked off my shoes, stripped down to my briefs, and slipped under the blanket.
Jan took a nightgown out her bureau, laid it down on her bed, and pulled her shirt over her head. "Umm," I said, "don't you want me to turn around while you're doing this?"
She unsnapped her bra and let it fall free. Her breasts were larger than I'd thought, perfectly firm, each one tipped with a big red nipple. "I don't see the point," she said, reaching for the nightgown. "You already saw them last month."
"No I didn't."
"What do you mean, no you didn't?"
"I mean I didn't. I saw you'd taken off your t-shirt, but you were under the blanket. That's why I left the room before you woke up, so you could have your privacy in case the blanket slipped off."
"You saw nothing?"
"Nope."
"Until now."
"Umm... yup."
She laughed, and slipped on her nightgown. I was sorry to see her breasts disappear from view, and wondered whether I'd ever get to see them again. "I guess that's some irony, huh?"
