Back to work

The sound of the back door opening interrupts our moment. Kelly pulls away from me with a tiny smile on her lips, as Esmere and Colette walk into the kitchen. My aunt wears a sheer black bathing suit cover, while my cousin saunters in as I had last seen her. Esmere removes her sunglasses and tosses them onto the granite countertops alongside her pool bag.

"You guys ditched us?" Colette asks in her high-pitched voice while taking a seat on a nearby barstool. She brushes an auburn strand behind her ear, a motion that sends a quiver through her cleaves that I try my best to ignore.

"Just came inside to talk for a moment while you two slept. Didn't want to disturb you. I need to head home and get back to work."

Kelly nods. "Go ahead. I'm going to stay here a while longer and hang out."

I give her another hug, savoring the feeling of her wrapping her arms around me, and then do the same for my aunt and cousin. As I head towards the front door, Esmere calls out, "Dom, don't forget our workout class. My next class is Thursday at noon. Can you make it?"

"I'll be here," I agree. "Do I need to bring anything?"

"Just yourself. Wear some comfortable workout clothes. I'll show you the workout before the class, so you'll be prepared."

I nod at my aunt, and she smiles back at me. "Okay, see you soon Esmere." I wave at the girls and head back home.

A few minutes later, I am back in my room and on my computer. Before I can open my project and start writing code, I hear a knock on my door. "Hey, Dom. Mind if I work in here?" Ashley's voice rings out behind me. I turn to see my sister standing in my doorway with her laptop, dressed in a white tank top that barely conceals the grey bra beneath and a pair of grey cotton shorts. Her dark, curly hair is tied in a ponytail. I nod and motion to the bed.

"Sure, come on in. How's it going?"

Ashley jumps onto my bed and leans against the wall. Her laptop sinks onto the mattress beside her. "Well, while you were off enjoying the weather, I had a call with a potential enterprise client. They weren't particularly interested, so I think it was a dud. But," she pauses, "our user count is up on the other apps and we're gaining subscribers. We're building momentum. At this point, I think we're pulling about one thousand dollars a month. Not a ton, but it's much more than I expected at this point. I have some other ideas to bolster that, based on initial user feedback, plus I think you can continue to pick up those odd jobs to keep the bills paid." Ashley takes a breath and smiles at me. "In other words, we don't have to worry so much about getting kicked out onto the street."

I grin back at my older sister. "That's awesome, Ashley! I knew you would make it happen. Thanks to your ideas and work on marketing, we're getting somewhere." Of course, I haven't had such worries for a while now. I know the nootropic will allow me to keep the bills paid, at a minimum.

Her thin lips broaden into a grin, and she runs a finger behind her ear. "It was a team effort, and you know it. I was thinking, maybe, since we finally hit some sort of milestone, we could put work aside tonight and hang out after dinner?" Her voice grows suddenly timid as she asks to hang out, although your sober mind doesn't parse the shift in her tone quickly enough to understand it.

"I'd love to. What do you want to do?"

"I've been wanting to watch that new horror movie about the little girl who turns out to be the reincarnation of Satan."

I arch an eyebrow. "Aren't you terrified of horror movies?"

Ashley rolls her eyes. I wonder where she and Kelly get that from. "Yes, a little. But I still like them." She looks across the room as if ignoring me, staring into my closet for a moment before returning her gaze to mine. Her finger taps against her thigh in a steady rhythm.

"Okay, fine. I'll watch it. I'm blaming you if I have nightmares all night. But for now, let's get some work done."

She nods and grabs her laptop. "Aye aye, Captain!"

We spend a few hours working on our respective tasks until I hear the door open downstairs. A minute later, Kelly saunters past my room with a wave and disappears into the bathroom. The shower turns on.

"Looks like you two had fun," Ashley comments. I turn back to see her bent towards me, intently focused on her laptop screen. I walk over to her and sit down beside her on the bed, and she stops working to look at me.

"Maybe you can join us next time?" I ask. My eyes flicker to Ashley's chest and I realize the tank top she is wearing does little to hide her small cleavage. Her petite breasts fill out the grey bra and create a small crevice between them, giving me a tantalizing view that I **** myself to ignore.

Ashley thumps me on the shoulder and laughs. "Yeah, sure, then who will sit on these calls? Maybe one day."

I start to respond, but I am interrupted by Mom's voice from downstairs. "Dinner in five! Tell Kelly to hurry up!"

Ashley closes her laptop and jumps out of bed, still grinning. "I'll try, though. It would be fun to relax for once. You got Kelly?"

"Sure," I say, and Ashley disappears downstairs to help Mom finish dinner.

I go to the shower door and knock on it, but I don't get an answer. I knock again, louder, but still nothing. I gently turn the knob and feel it is unlocked, so I slightly open the door and shout inside. "Kelly, dinner in five! Mom said to hurry up."

"Okay," her muffled voice shouts back from the shower, and I go to close the door. "Hey, Dom, can you grab me a towel? I forgot to get one before I got in."

"Sure," I say, and leave the bathroom to grab her a towel from the hallway linen closet. As I open the door again to set it inside, I hear the shower turn off. "Got your towel," I say, and place it on the counter. Again, Kelly interrupts me leaving.

"Can you hand it to me? I get nervous about walking on the tile. I always place it over the shower rod. I don't want to slip and fall."

"Sure," I agree, and enter the bathroom. Her wet hand reaches through the shower curtain and grasps onto the towel. Our fingers brush, and my mind lurches to thoughts of the naked beauty separated from me by only a thin sheet of plastic.

"Thanks, Dom!" she says through the curtain, and I finally turn to go. As I open the door and turn to close it behind me, I hear the curtain rod slide open and see Kelly step out into the bathroom, towel wrapped around her body.

She shoots me a decidedly seductive smirk and blows me a kiss. I shake my head, close the door, and head downstairs to see Mom and Ashley.