Bikini shopping

Ding

Ding

Ding

Ding

“Erik! GET YOUR DAMN PHONE!!!” Vi calls out from the bedroom.

A moment passes.

“IT’S YOUR SISTERS!”

Erik groans as he pushes himself out from his desk, heading into the bedroom, he grabs his phone from Vi who lounges on the bed. “Step.” He adds.

“You know, every time you say that, it makes me think you only say it because you want to fuck them.”

Erik flashes her a dirty look as she laughs. “What do they want?”

“Beach day or something.”

“Beach? It’s winter.”

“I don’t know man, I didn’t read the whole exchange, I just scanned it. You’re literate, do it yourself.”

“Ok, snappy, damn.” Erik teases, throwing his hands up in mock apology.

She rolls her eyes and stares at him. “Away with you now. It’s my alone time.”

Erik leans forward and kisses her on the forehead, which she accepts with grateful closed eyes, a regal shiver passing through her as she cranes her neck up for him.

“My bed by the way.” Erik reminds her cheekily.

Erik stares at the screen. How did his phone ding so many times for so few messages?

Erik’s eyes go wide at the picture that she sends through. He was not expecting to receive that from her, especially in the same group chat that Anya is in. Erik wonders how she reacted to that, she was always the prudish one of the three.

From the manager's office at Club Nysa…

Maki puts her phone down, staring at the monitors.

“Fuck!”

She exclaims.

“That would’ve been such an easy way to have fun with Erik!”

She lifts a shoulder. “Well… Maybe it’s for the best actually… I went way too crazy last time…”

She reads Anya’s message again. “She’s been… Weird around him too…”

—-

Anya wraps her arms arounds Erik’s neck in a hug. “Hiiiiiii!” She squeals happily, stepping back as she lets go.

“Hey, Anya. Long time no see.” He jokes.

She grins and nods down the mall. “Shall we? You know where we’re going?”

Erik walks alongside her and shakes his head. “Sounds weird, but no. I’ve only been in this mall a handful of times.”

“What? As if!” She says, looking at him with confusion. “Do you shop at all?”

Erik shakes his head. “Not really. If I do, I just go to the thrift market with Vi.”

Her jaw twitches as she nods. “Ah, I see.” She suddenly switches topics. “How’s college? The studying part of it.”

Erik chuckles. “It’s fine. I’m getting through it. Some good marks here and there. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. What about you? You’re taking a gap year?”

She shakes her head. “No… I completely dropped out. I just… Hated it.”

“Following in Maki ’s footsteps?” Erik asks with a smirk.

“You sound like mom.” Anya giggles. “No. No. I’ll probably go back to college at some point… I want to think about what I want to do a bit more.”

“Fair enough.” He replies, taking a moment to look at the lineup of stores on offer. “How’s everything else? You have a boyfriend waiting back at home?”

She laughs and shakes her head, lightly grabbing Erik’s arm. “No just the single life for me still.”

“Aww, lil Anya still lil, is it?” He teases.

“Hmmph! Not that innocent anymore, I'll have you know.” She pauses and points at a storefront. “This is where Maki said the sale was, let’s go!”

“What does that mean?” He murmurs, following her into the store.

Erik stands blankly, holding his arms out as Anya picks and chooses swimwear to try on, tossing them over his hands and removing them when finding one she likes just a little bit more.

“Are you going to pick something?” Anya asks, settling on the final three.

“Uhm…” Erik looks to the single rack of male swimwear. Hr runs his fingers through the garments, he picks out a black pair of boardshorts and holds them in front of him like a video game character after opening a chest. “Got it.”

Anya’s eyes blank out as she stares at him. “Borin’!” Erik can’t help but chuckle at the influence Maki is having on her speech patterns.

Erik sits on the small stool, typically reserved for waiting boyfriends. Anya has taken the three finalists into the changing stall with her, locking the door shut

Erik leans back on his elbows, accompanied only by the shuffling sounds of clothing being removed behind the door and the generic pop playlist over the shop's speakers. The staff on duty scrolls on their phone by the register near the front of the store.

“Hmm, I’m not sure about this one!” Anya calls through the door.

“Why?”

“Hmm.” The door unlocks and she steps out, giving Erik a blushing pouting expression. “It’s boring, right? Compared to Maki’s?”

Erik feels heat rush through him. It’s nothing wild, but his eyes are glued to her body, even more so when she turns to show him her back.

“Can you take a picture? I want to see them from your perspective.”

“Yeah, okay.” He responds, pulling his phone out with shivering hands as she snaps the photo. She nods a thanks and closes the door again.

‘Is this…. Happening again? Just like Maki?’

Erik wonders to himself. Concerned with the fact that he’s not… Opposed to it.

She steps out again, this time with a high-cut bikini, a keyhole cutout on the top, Erik’s breath comes in sharp, and in the quiet intimate store, Anya notices.

She turns her head and smiles, feeling her face go warm.

“What about this one? You like it?”

Erik nods, trying to stay somewhat normal. “Yeah! Super cute! The flowers are very you.”

She smiles and gets him to take another photo. She’s very aware that these photos are now saved on his phone.

Erik can’t resist letting out a shaky breath when she steps out in her final outfit, his lips go dry, wetting them purely on instinct, his eyes go wide as he looks over her body. Anya licks her lips as her stepbrother ogles her, overjoyed with that reaction.

“Photo?” She asks, grinning.

As they exit the store, Erik turns to Anya. “Which one did you pick in the end?”

She smiles. “You’ll see. Maybe I picked your favourite.” She teases.

Erik shivers, realising that maybe Maki is having more of an influence than originally thought.

Little does he know… This was ALL Anya.