Chapter 3

The base commander released them once he saw the full video. His son’s starring role as McRapey sealed the deal. The usually hard-as-nails leader was actually nice when he let them go. Tristan assumed he was worried their family might come after Logan.

The wall-punch video did earn Tristan and James some minor celebrity around the base. Not many people liked Logan, even if they acted like they did. But there was one notable exception: Cindy Miller, aka The Prom Queen. Everyone knew she had a big crush on Logan, but her brother Calvin, who was one of Logan’s teammates, forbade it.

As much as Tristan might have wished differently, she was out of his league, something she was only too happy to make abundantly clear. She’d waltzed into the mess hall to grab lunch with her posse of mean girls and hadn’t spotted him yet.

Cindy was wearing shorts with ripped hems and a thin hoodie printed with some anime character he didn’t recognize. Her dark hair was cut in a pixie style with light purple highlights, and she was slim enough to appear taller than she actually was.

She walked right past him, close enough for him to tell she smelled amazing. Her fragrance was a combination of vanilla and lavender. His pervy mind decided that she smelled fricking delightful, and he wanted to take a little taste of her.

In his fantasy, he would start at the luscious, tanned pillar of her throat and devour his way downward, inch by inch, until he reached nirvana. The goal was to make her scream his name. And—

Dang it—he’d given himself a hard-on. He quickly grabbed an apron he had to wear while serving to cover up.

When it was time for lunch to be served—chicken fingers, french fries, and an orange—Cindy cut in line to be first. She’d lowered herself to eating in the mess in order to make a fool of Tristan in front of everyone.

“Logan asked me to swing by. You need to take down that doctored video immediately, or he’s coming for you, Tristan,” Cindy taunted.

Tristan no longer cared what people at his old high school thought, let alone Cindy Miller, so her theatrics didn’t faze him.

“When he breaks his other hand, it’ll be good for you. You’ll get a chance to learn how to change his diapers. Good practice for when you start popping out kids whose daddies you can’t remember because Logan drugs you and passes you around.”

“Oh, snap!” James called out.

“Why, you...”

“Careful. We have little ears,” Tristan warned. “Besides, you cut in line.”

“So what?” Cindy asked.

“Hey, guys!” Tristan called out to everyone in line. “What happens if you don’t wait your turn?”

“Back of the line! Back of the line!” everyone chanted.

“You heard them,” Tristan said.

Cindy slammed her tray down and stormed out. He noticed her posse all stayed to eat, and each one flirted with him when Tristan served them.

After lunch, the three flowers went swimming at the base pool. One of the neighborhood moms drew the short straw and had to watch them. James was grounded for his part in the previous night’s events, so Tristan went home. He staggered to the settee in the family room and flopped down with a deep, wracking sigh that shook his whole body. He needed a nap.

He must have fallen asleep because he felt a tug on the back of his shirt, and Barb’s hand brushed his arm. He turned his head and gave her a smile.

“Find something on streaming video we can watch, and I’ll be right back.”

Lacking a better offer, he began to flip through the available shows. The streaming service bragged about having a gazillion options, but somehow, they only showed him the ones they thought he wanted to see. With the three flowers using the TV ninety percent of the time, he wasn’t surprised the service thought he wanted to watch animated shows about ponies.

He found a spy movie, The Royal Palm, that said one of the actors had won an award.

When Barb came in, she clapped her hands and joined him on the settee. She was wearing pink silk pajama shorts and a loose-fitting t-shirt. He was too tired to argue when she made him scoot over.

“This guy is so sexy,” she said about the actor.

Neither of them had gotten much sleep, so as the film went on, he noticed Barb start to lean against him. He didn’t think it was deliberate; she was just using her older brother—by ten minutes—as her personal pillow. Tristan looked down at her angelic face with her head resting on his shoulder. Suddenly, it was ’Houston, we have a problem.’

From his angle, he could see down her shirt all the way to her navel. Barb was sans bra, and he could see everything, something he hadn’t seen since she was ten. Not just a little, either ... all of it. And his dick quickly realized he was in SoCal, where boning your sister was encouraged, and decided to become a crowbar.

Or wait ... was that stepsister? He wished someone would hurry up and supply him with a pamphlet on the new rules because he wanted to do the right thing. It was confusing enough with the hormones running through his body to then have to learn if or when he had to ask for permission to kiss a girl. Meanwhile, his dick was telling him to just get in there and do his best.

Thankfully, the movie kicked into high gear and pulled his attention back. He wanted to cheer when the ‘sexy guy’ got gunned down in the end. When the movie finished, Tristan gently disengaged from his sister so he could run to his room to take care of business before the rest of his family got home.

After everyone went to bed, Tristan knocked on Barb’s door so he could see where they were now that the Logan thing had failed. She invited him in, and he took his usual seat on the bench at the end of her bed. Barb was sitting at her desk, surfing the net. He noted she seemed amused with him.

“What?”

“Did you forget your shirt?”

“You’ve seen me without a shirt a bunch of times. I think you’ll be okay,” Tristan said.

“Considering what we’re about to talk about, aren’t you worried I might jump you?”

“I think I can risk it.”

“Well, I talked to Nancy, and she agreed to the original plan of the four of us getting together, and she’ll teach us stuff. She just has to talk to Jimmy and ensure he won’t flake out.”

Tristan could feel his stomach turn somersaults the moment he understood this might really happen.

“Are you sure you want to do this after ... you know,” Tristan said and trailed off.

“I’ve known Jimmy as long as you have, and he has never given me a moment’s worry. I also know that if you’re in the room, you’ll protect not only me but Nancy, too. You’re the one person in the world I absolutely trust,” Barb said.

Tristan felt the importance of what his sister had just said. He almost felt sick with worry that he might let her down in some way. Barb stood up and came to him with her arms out, and Tristan wrapped his around her and pulled her to his chest. She, in turn, squeezed his neck tight.

He felt himself relax. They held each other for a long moment, and, to his surprise, it felt like he’d just put on his favorite hoodie. It didn’t feel weird that he was hugging his sister like this. Finally, she stepped back, and their eyes locked. They took a minute to do a twin mind-meld and silently reassure each other that it would be okay.

For the first time, Tristan was eager to have this happen.

Around two in the morning, Tristan sat bolt upright in his bed. Something was wrong. He jumped out of bed and grabbed a baseball bat, thinking someone might be breaking in and he had to protect his family. He trotted downstairs and confirmed no one was inside the house before looking out back.

James waved at him to come outside.

“Jesus. I thought someone was robbing us,” Tristan said as he went out the sliding glass door.

“Sorry. I have to talk to you, and it was too late to call.”

“What’s up?”

“I talked to Nancy, and she told me what you all planned. I just want to make sure you’re okay if I do stuff with Barb.”

“You okay with me doing stuff with Nancy?”

James shuddered but nodded ‘yes.’

“Puzzle me this, Batman,” Tristan said. “If either girl was uncomfortable with anything, do you think they would just go along to get along?”

James shook his head ‘no’ as he chuckled at the thought. Neither of their sisters was afraid to tell their brothers precisely what they thought if they didn’t like something.

“I see your point. But you and I will be okay no matter what after tomorrow, right?” James asked.

“I might kick your butt, but I promise.”

“In your dreams.”

“Speaking of which, go home. I’m going upstairs and back to dreamland,” Tristan said.

“See you,” James said as he jogged home.

Tristan went back upstairs and fell into bed. He was unhappy to discover getting back to sleep had become a problem. Apparently, his dick had a mind of its own and figured out he’d be kissing Nancy tomorrow. It was a good thing that appendage was all but indestructible because he’d abused it a few too many times in the past couple of days.

Tristan made a mental note to do his own laundry this week.

After a fitful night, Tristan and Barb found themselves in the Eddleston family room. Barb was on the couch while Tristan took their dad’s recliner. Nancy and James were in the kitchen, making snacks and getting everyone drinks.