The party begins

“Ugh, where are those three” Claire complained loudly as she brought her phone down from her ear. “Why is Jody not picking up?”

Forty minutes since they had arrived at the party, John and Claire were sat together in a corner of what looked to be the dining room with the tables moved out. Despite both saying they would both try and find someone that night, neither of them had made any attempt to speak to the other partygoers. John was quite conscious he was the youngest guy in the room and felt too nervous to try and break into conversations with anyone else. He sipped away at his drink while he asked Claire about her friends.

“Oh? I’m sure you’ve seen them before. You’ll like them I promise.”

Every now and then, some guy would swing around and try to hit on Claire. Some were even subtle enough not to be staring down her top while they spoke to her. She politely turned each of them down. John was getting annoyed enough from the constant interruptions and wondered how Claire put up with this all the time.

“I’m going to have a look around.” After the last guy who practically drooled down her cleavage, Claire had gotten too restless to sit still any longer. She got up and disappeared into the crowd before John could object. Moments later Nick pulled up where Claire had been.

“Hey John. I thought I saw Claire here a moment ago.”

“Yeah, you just missed her.”

“Ah right. I was just coming to check you guys were alright. She looked a little pissed.”

“We’re waiting for her friends.”

“Hm, Jody and them, right? I greeted them at the door not long after you both got here.”

“They’re already here. I should go let sis know.”

“Yeah, sure. How are you doing for drinks anyway? Don’t think lager’s going to do you justice tonight.”

“I’m on my last one actually.”

“Well that’s a quick fix. Come on.” Nick grabbed John by the shoulder and started pulling him through the crowd towards a bar along the back wall. Letting go of him Nick smoothly slid himself over it to the shelves of liquors behind it. “Alright, what’s your favourite?”

“Um, I’m not really a big drinker” John offered nervously. He’d only drank a few times with his sister or his ex. He expected Nick to laugh at him but he didn’t seem to care.

Nick pondered John for a moment. “I’ve got a gin I think you’ll love.” He stooped down and grabbed a bottle from the cabinet then offered it over the bar. “There you go. My treat.”

“R-really?”

“Really really. It’s a good brand that so make sure no one snatches it. There’re mixers scattered about. I wouldn’t recommend you drink it straight.”

“Wow, thanks.” The pair spent a few further minutes talking. He told John about various kinds of drinks and offered him tastes of a few. John found himself feeling more relaxed as they spoke. Nick didn’t seem like too bad of a guy. He could see what his sister might have seen in him years back.

“Alright, I’ve wasted enough of your time. About time you should see where your sister has run off to.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” John had really enjoyed talking to Nick but realised he did have a party to run.

“Give this to your sister when you see her.” Nick reached under the bar and brought up a bottle of wine. “That should keep you both going. We’ve got some fun stuff kicking off soon. Definitely some you’ll want to take part in so keep your ear out.”

After a few more pleasantries, John broke away to begin pushing through the crowd in search of Claire. The crowd had grown thick with partygoers now and he had some difficulty even finding his bearing but eventually he came across her engrossed in conversation.

“… way. John never told me you were together. I haven’t seen you in so long. Where’ve you been hiding?” John was surprised to see her companion was Annie. Though he did invite her, he never expected her to some after how awkward their last meeting was.

“Yeah I met him at work not long ago. He seemed really sweet so I got talking to him. I was surprised to learn he was your brother.”

“Oh? Where do you work?”

John pushed through the last of the crowd in a bid to interrupt them. It would be embarrassing for Claire to learn where they met. But by the time he got to them, it was too late to stop her. “Oh, you know the velvet locker?”

“Velvet locker?” Her tone revealing that she didn’t know what that was.

“Hey sis. Hey Annie. Wow, glad you could make it. Di-didn’t think you would come. You look great.” John fumbled to get the conversation turned around.

“Wait, is that an erotica store? You met in an erotica store? What were you doing there, John? Wait don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

“No sis. Seriously, it was part of my treatment.”

“That’s right. He came to use our glory hole so he could practice lasting a bit longer.” Claire stifled a laugh then turned to John with a sly grin.

“Oh really. How’s that been working out for you, bro?”

“It’s helped” he offered sheepishly.

“It’s true. He lasted quite a while in my throat this afternoon.” Claire nearly choked at Annie’s blunt honesty. John could feel his face burning up. “Oh, am I embarrassing you John? I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine, really.” John felt he deserved that at least after what he did to her.

“John never told me you were a thing.”

“Oh, we’re not a thing.” He paused for a moment. “Are we?” Annie just smiled back at him. Claire noticed how awkward her brother was feeling and pushed the conversation forward.

“So are you going to drink with us Annie?”

“Oh, I’m not going to be staying out. I just came to apologise to John. I wanted him to know I was the one in the wrong before. I had no right to be upset at you. It was all my fault. I’ll… make it up to you next time okay?” Annie was a bit more cautious with her words, not wanting to further embarrass John. It looked like she wanted to say more. John felt a twinge of guilt for making her feel responsible, but he didn’t say anything.

“It’s okay Annie. I’ll see you at the store later. We’ll talk then.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then.” She pulled John in for a hug then turned to Claire.

“Wait Annie. It was nice seeing you again. We should really see each other some-time, ‘specially if you’re going to be seeing John a lot. You have to come around some time and we can really catch up.”

“Really? I’d love that. Um, let me think when I’m free. Oh could we do Sunday night?”

“Hm, yeah… yeah, that will be great. John can send you the address later alright?”

“Sure thing. It was really nice to see you again Claire.” The two girls shared a kiss on the cheek and just like that the siblings were alone again.

As soon as Annie was out earshot, Claire rounded on John. “You didn’t tell me you were with someone!”

“It’s complicated.”

“She’s gorgeous. I’m so proud of you bro. She seems way nicer that that bitch you were with before.” John’s ex wasn’t really a bitch. Claire just hated her for breaking John’s heart. He didn’t really want to talk about Annie with her right now, so he tried to move on.

“Oh, Nick told me your friends are already here. This is from him by the way.” He handed her the bottle of wine he’d been carrying.

“Yeah, they just texted me. They’re at one of the bathrooms upstairs. They said someone spilled a drink on Jody.” Claire led John into a hallway and up a staircase. The second floor was a lot quieter than the first, with just a few people sat around having quiet conversations away from the music. As they searched down the corridors, someone called out to them.

“Hey Claire. Over here.”

“Beth! We’ve been looking all over for you.” Claire led John over to a girl who was standing guard outside what he assumed was a bathroom. She gave him a smile before turning to Claire.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. Jody was going to text you but some dude dropped his drink on her soon as we got here. Rylie had a spare one for her at least. They’re just getting ready.”

“Don’t worry about it. This is Beth by the way. She moved here from Europe back in middle school. Beth, this is my brother, John. I thought I’d bring him out to have some fun with us tonight. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Hi John. I’m sure we’ll have a great night tonight. I know Jody’s been excited for tonight.”

As they were talking John heard movement from behind the door.

“Is that Claire I hear?” John heard a voice call from the other. A moment later it swung open to reveal a girl he could only assume was Jody. Like most girls John seemed to meet these days she wasn’t fully dressed.

“Ooh, is this the brother?” She had a soft, playful voice that sounded practiced for teasing boys. He didn’t realise his gaze resting on her exposed cleavage until her hands came up to cup them. “Looks like he likes these” she said jiggling them with her arms. “I love him already.”

“Don’t tease my brother” Claire interjected with a laugh before John could defend himself.

“Who’s teasing? I think I found myself my new man. You’ve grown right up since last time I saw you.”

“Um, last time?” John wasn’t quite sure when that might have been. He didn’t really remember Jody at all.

“Aw, you don’t remember me? Well I guess these peaches hadn’t ripened back then. You only had eyes for your sister’s melons.”

“Jody!” Claire’s face was burning red from the mention of John perving on her, eliciting giggles from Beth. Jody pulled Claire in for a side hug, but John noticed her hand came to rest on Claire’s rear.

“You be a good boy tonight and we’ll see about getting you a fruit salad.” Jody shot him a wink.

“Alright that’s enough flirting with my brother, you slut. You’re not as much of a catch as you think you a-agh.” Claire jumped as her friend squeezed her ass.

“Caught you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, when I was drunk.”

“You weren’t drunk last night.”

“Hold on. You two…?” he trailed off, looking between the two. Claire suddenly looked panic-stricken at John’s revelation. She speechlessly turned to her friend for help but Jody just looked amused at her discomfort, wordlessly prompting her to explain herself.

“If you don’t want to tell him, I can give him all the juicy details instead” Jody offered. Clearly she was a little more shameless than Claire, or maybe she was more proud of whatever they had going.

“Well, yeah… Jody and I have slept together-” She cut herself off, deep in thought about how to proceed. Jody’s hand started to idly stroke Claire’s ass though she didn’t seem to either notice or care to shrug it off.

“We were drunk, and lonely, and her arm felt so nice on my arm, and it just sort of happened.” Claire grew flush as she exposed herself to John, clearly uncomfortable discussing her sex life openly with her brother. He was a little surprised she was willing to be this open with him. She was clearly more than a little loosened up at this point.

“I thought you were straight.”

“Your sister doesn’t like cock.”

“I love cock!” she defended herself a little too loudly.

“Yeah you do, you slut.” Jody couldn’t contain her laughter and Beth giggled along as Claire’s face reddened over her announcement. John had never seen his sister so flustered before, but she powered on to try and justify herself.

“I am! I don’t know why I’m like this. It’s just… everything changed for us that first night. I don’t like girls, but Jody’s different. I’m just so comfortable with her, you know. Even after that first night, I just couldn’t bring myself to regret it. It felt so right in my head. Then I spoke to Jody about it, and she felt the same way. She wanted to try it again, and I couldn’t say no to her. Her touch just put me in heat. So we kept doing it. But we’re not a thing. I mean I love her and… I love the sex, but I’m not in love with her. I like guys and I want to be with a guy.”

“They’re like, you know, friends with benefits” Beth offered. Clearly she was aware of this whole thing.

John wasn’t sure what to make of all this. To think his sister was even a little bi and had a sort of best friends-with-benefits relationship going on. Claire was usually so outspoken, so to let Jody be so dominant in their relationship meant it really mattered to her, even if it left her so confused. John didn’t have a problem with it if she enjoyed it, but he was just surprised there was so much he didn’t know about his sister.

“So how much have you two…?”

“Maybe a dozen times” Jody said before Claire could interject. “Claire comes down to see me to blow off steam between relationships sometimes.” John found himself having to fight off images of the two girls making out.

“John…”

“Sorry sis. I was just surprised. It’s okay. I think it’s nice you have a friend you feel so comfortable with. As long as you’re happy I’m not bothered at all.”

“John I…” Claire smiled a little at her brother’s response. “Thank you.” She pulled him in tightly for a hug. It clearly meant a lot to her what John thought about the situation. He was glad he could placate the worries she was having. It was clearly something she thought about a lot. Jody was beaming behind Claire’s back, and mouthed John a ‘thank you’. This revelation had come so soon after meeting her. John realised she must have brought it up on purpose to **** Clair to confront her reservations over their relationship.

As Claire pulled back from the hug, John noticed another girl standing awkwardly in the bathroom behind her as the siblings had their intimate discussion. She looked unsure if she should interject in the conversation. Jody noticed where he was looking.

“Oh this was so rude of me. This is Riley.” She beckoned the girl to come forward and John got a better look at her. She was fashionably dressed and had a cute face, but John’s eyes immediately fell to the nipples poking prominently from her top, indicating there was no bra to support the shapely masses beneath. She was clearly the bustiest of his sister’s friends but still didn’t hold a candle to Claire herself. John wrenched his eyes away, hoping she hadn’t caught him staring.

“Hi John. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice meeting you too Riley.”

“Anyway,” Jody said, “I’m gonna finish glamming up. Back in a few.” Jody slid past Riley into the bathroom. John thought he saw a brief look of disappointment from Claire when Jody took her hand form her ass. She didn’t bother closing the door behind her, immediately tending to herself in the mirror.

“It’s nice having us all together again” Claire said.

“Yeah, we don’t really get many chances to hang out with us all being in different places.”

“just means we gotta make this one special” Jody called from the bathroom. “We’re all getting wasted tonight. You too Riley.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“She’s a real wild one when she’s drunk John. She’ll be waving that top around after a couple bottles.”

“I wouldn’t do that” Riley denied, but looked down sheepishly at the floor as though remembering something embarrassing.

“Alright.” Jody emerged from the bathroom, now wearing a top. “Let’s get this party started. All in.” The girls moved in for a group hug. Claire and Jody each pulled John in to include him. The affection made him feel warm inside. He knew he was going to have a good night.

Now all prepared, the group made their way back down the stairs. Not a moment after they reached the bottom Nick appeared.

“Ah there you all are. The first events starting soon. It’s going to be a fun one.”