Chapter 3

“Hey, what time is it? I’m kinda hungry.”

“Normally I’d point out that lunch wasn’t all that long ago, K, but I’m a bit hungry too.”

Holly squinted up at the sky. The sun was still high overhead.

“It’s still pretty early. Ages until dinner.”

“Damn.”

Adam raised his head from where he was laying on the towel next to his sister. The four of them were still down at the beach, having calmed down some after their fun in the sea. They’d been sun baking for ... it was hard for Adam to know. He’d been so relaxed that he thought he might have fallen asleep for a bit.

Next to him, Emily raised her head, blinking owlishly. She’d been laying on her stomach, and she’d definitely been asleep.

Emily yawned.

“What’s going on?”

Holly sat up, stretching. She’d put her clothes back on as she wasn’t as prone to tanning as the other two women. Adam, of course, didn’t have to worry about things like sunburn anymore.

“Kendra’s hungry.”

Emily got up as well, carefully re-tying her bikini top as she did. She knelt on the towel, absently scratching at some of the lines the towel had left on stomach. She stretched as well, smiling faintly.

“Damn, the sun feels so nice. And food? I could eat.”

“Me too, actually.”

Adam sat up next to his sister, looking expectantly over at Holly and Kendra. Holly rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

“Just to round it off, I’m hungry as well. But as I told Kendra — it’s too early for dinner.”

“Says who?”

“The restaurant, Emily. They don’t open until 5:30, and that’s hours away.”

Kendra sat up last. Unlike Emily, she didn’t bother re-tying her bikini top. When she stretched — arching her back and extending her arms into the air — both Holly and Adam eyed her chest appreciatively. Emily looked as well, but more surreptitiously. Kendra brushed some sand off her chest, making her breasts jiggle.

“I suppose we could go to the bar?”

Holly made a face.

“What, bar food?”

“I know. But I’m hungry!”

Emily, keeping her gaze purposely at face-height, hesitated.

“Well, there’s another option.”

“There is?”

“Yeah. I’ve been looking through the pantry — at the apartment, I mean. There’s actually a lot there. Meal kits, spices, sauce ... we could make something?”

Holly looked at Emily with interest.

“Oh yeah?”

Adam’s sister nodded.

“Yep. And the fridge is stocked as well. Freezer too. I think it must have been filled at some point when I was out. I’m sure there wasn’t that much there when we first moved in.”

Adam hadn’t known that. He figured that Delilah must have arranged for more food to delivered — before his mother had basically moved into her house that is.

Holly smiled. She stood up, brushing some sand off her legs.

“We could do that. It’s been ages since I’ve actually cooked anything — Kendra, stop showing off your tits, and get dressed — did anything catch your eye, Emily?”

Adam saw his sister’s gaze dart down to Kendra’s chest for a second, before the blonde good-naturedly covered herself up.

“Well ... there’s some ground beef in the fridge. There’s more meat in the freezer, but we’d have to thaw it. But I saw some taco kits in the pantry...”

Kendra’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, hey! That sounds pretty good, actually. I could go for some tacos.”

Adam stood up as well. As if to emphasise the point, his stomach growled, prompting laughter from the three women.

“Yeah, yeah — very funny. But tacos sound good to me as well. Especially since it beats waiting around for dinner.”

Holly grinned, slapping Adam’s stomach gently.

“Sounds like we better get on it, girls. Adam might fade away if we don’t get some food into him.”

Kendra grinned as well. Her blue eyes sparkling.

“Aw, poor, Adam. How nostalgic is this, Holly? Here we are, looking after him again. But I like where this is going — we can make a night of it!”

Emily was bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. Adam noted that she was looking noticeably happier at the prospect.

“If we do, I saw some margarita mix in the pantry as well. In case we want to stay on theme.”

Kendra put an arm around Emily’s shoulders, hugging her affectionately.

“And she’s not just a pretty face! This is really coming together. I’ll make a run for some tequila. Do we need anything else?”

Emily stood, for once seemingly at ease with Kendra hugging her. She shook her head.

“No, I’m pretty sure everything else is there.”

“Great! I’ll run ahead, and meet you guys at the apartment!”

Holly belatedly lifted a hand.

“Kendra, there’s no rush — and ... she’s gone. Well, I guess we may as well get going too.”

Emily picked up her towel, and Adam did the same. They hadn’t brought all that much stuff with them this time around. Emily lifted a hand to shade her eyes, peering at Kendra off in the distance. The blonde woman had already reached the entrance to the beach.

“Is she always so — oh, wait. She’s coming back?”

Holly gave Emily a crooked smile.

“Yeah, she would be. I suppose I should be impressed she realised before she actually got to the bar. I’ve got the money, you see.”

After Kendra returned and sheepishly asked Holly for the money, they all walked back together. Emily tugged surreptitiously on Adam’s sleeve, pulling him back a few steps from Holly and Kendra. She leant in closer to him, lowering her voice.

“Um, Adam — do you think we should see if Mom wants to come have dinner with us? And Delilah, I suppose?”

Adam thought about it carefully. Somehow he didn’t get the impression that Emily was all that keen to have extra people join them. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with their mother — it was more than his sister seemed to be really taken with the idea of having a private dinner with him, Kendra, and Holly.

Adam felt a smattering of guilt. Maybe Emily had been lonelier than he’d realised. Even if she hadn’t enjoyed the company of their father, aunt, and cousin, it still meant that she had regular sit-down meals with people every day. The past week...

Damn. Could it be that apart from their lunch dates, Emily had been by herself the entire time? That was ... quite an indictment upon him. Even if it wasn’t entirely his fault, Adam did feel responsible for his sister’s isolation.

Adam cleared his throat, speaking back just as quietly — but he couldn’t help but notice from the tensing of Holly’s shoulders, that at least one of the women in front of them had overheard already.

“ ... No. I’m sure Mom is fine where she is. She and Delilah can just have another night to themselves. I’ll let them know what we are up to, but let’s keep it just the four of us, okay?”

Emily flashed him a genuine smile, and even hugged his arm briefly. Her fingers lingered on his skin for a moment, and then she let go. She clasped her hands behind her back, and skipped forward a few steps to walk beside Kendra.

Holly dropped back next to Adam. She slid her hand into his, squeezing gently.

“Seems like your sister is happy.”

“Yeah. I feel a bit bad actually.”

“Oh, don’t start that again —”

Adam squeezed her hand back, shaking his head.

“Not like that. It’s just ... I’ve been in a routine over the last week. I’ve seen her every day, but...”

“Ah. We haven’t really kept track of what she’s doing in the evenings have we? Okay, now I feel bad as well.”

“We’ll do it differently now. It’s not right to leave her out.”

Holly nodded agreeably, but then gave Adam a smirk.

“Sounds good. And I’m betting it will last just as long as it takes for Kendra to try and mount you while your sister is sitting next to ua on the sofa.”

“Oh really? And it’s definitely Kendra in this scenario, and not yourself?”

Holly’s smile widened at Adam’s teasing.

“Definitely Kendra. Only because I’m confident of having a bit more self control than her.”

“You do?”

“ ... by a tiny margin.”

After a quick stop at the girl’s bungalow for a change of clothes, they all arrived back at the apartment, Kendra laden with three bottles of tequila. Holly had hovered next to her the entire walk back from the bar, ready to leap and catch any and all if she dropped them.

“I’m not sure we needed three bottles, K.”

“And I’m sure we do, Hols. I mean, have you ever seen Adam the least bit tipsy? The guy’s a machine! And we’ve been drinking with him multiple times. I thought I could handle my alcohol —”

“You can’t.”

“— but he’s drunk me under the table every time!”

Adam cleared his throat as Emily unlocked the door to the apartment.

“Um, Kendra. I wasn’t trying to outdrink you or anything.”

“That’s even worse. But tonight ... tonight you are going to meet your match. I am a beast on tequila.”

Emily paused, looking over her shoulder with a touch of concern.

“ ... you are?”

Kendra nodded happily.

“Yep, an insatiable one. Isn’t that right, baby?”

Holly’s lips twitched as she tried to keep a straight face.

“She isn’t lying. I’d run, you two — while you still have a chance.”

“Don’t tell them that, Hols! Geez, whose side are you on?”