Chapter 2

Well, it wasn’t really much of a birthday party to speak of, at least not in any traditional sense. There was no hoopla, no balloons, nothing like that. Eric’s dad fired up the grill for a backyard bar-B-Q because Eric’s favorite food was a thick, greasy cheeseburger, and his mom baked him a sinfully rich three-layer German chocolate cake with lots of gooey coconut and pecan frosting. After dinner, they would sing “Happy Birthday” and hand over the presents. Just a quiet family celebration.

Granny Sonya was unable to attend because she was on duty as a volunteer at the hospital, but she dropped off Eric’s birthday present on her way to work.

One thing that made this particular celebration different was that his aunt Rhonda, his mom’s older (and sexier) sister, his uncle Ben and cousin Rachael had blown into town and dropped by for an unannounced visit. Of course, they were invited to stay for dinner and, of course, they accepted. Eric’s mom accommodated the intrusion by adding more lettuce to the salad, dumping another can of baked beans into the pot, and taking a few more frozen hamburger patties out of the freezer.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the fare and the company; pretty much a typical family get-together. Mostly. As the afternoon cooled into evening, the grown-ups grew louder and more animated with the imbibing of alcohol, while the two youngsters, Eric and Rachel, were ignored for the most part and just sort of sat around on the periphery feeling rather bored and wishing they were someplace else.

About seven o’clock, Eric became the center of attention with the presentation of the birthday cake, the blowing out of fifteen candles and the opening of his birthday presents. He was very much surprised and pleased to get a new iPhone from his parents, and a higher-end model at that. Granny Sonya’s present was even more spectacular: a new MacBook! Then, Uncle Ben, feeling generous (and perhaps loosened a bit by the alcohol) dug out his wallet and presented Eric with an impromptu gift of a crisp Ben Franklin. All in all, a pretty nice haul.

After that flurry of activity, the evening settled back into what Eric and Rachael considered something to be endured.

Rachel Wilcox, a year and a half older than Eric, was growing into a dark-eyed, raven-haired beauty, taking after her mother. Looking at either of them, one might suspect an infusion of Romany blood in their genetic history. Tonight, for some reason, his cousin appeared to be taking more than a passive interest in him to the point that it began to make him feel uncomfortable. It seemed like every time he looked up from tinkering with his new iPhone, she had her eyes on him and he couldn’t imagine what she found so interesting.

They saw each other rarely, maybe once or twice a year on average, although he thought it had been at least a year since their families had last gotten together. It wasn’t like the two kids had any kind of history. In fact, in the past, Eric and Rachael showed little interest in each other because they had so little in common. They never really developed any kind of a connection because there was no reason to; nothing to connect over.

So, what the heck was she looking at? What was grabbing her interest? He feigned scratching his nose while his fingertips probed to see if maybe he had a booger hanging out of his nostril or mustard on his chin or something.

Nope, nothing.

But to be fair, the checking out went both directions. Whatever hetero inclinations resided in Eric found it nearly impossible not to appreciate his cousin’s impressive bosoms since she was wearing a kind of stretchy, pale blue tank top that defined their size and shape quite nicely. Very appealing on the most primitive level. The only thing that would have made the view more interesting would be if she had been braless.

And Eric wasn’t the only one checking her out. His dad’s eyes were locked onto her chest often enough that it earned him a sharp elbow to the side from his mom. Even his uncle Ben’s eyes were drawn to his daughter’s tits, painting an expression on his face that probably wasn’t appropriate for a father. Aunt Rhonda either missed it entirely or didn’t give a shit ... probably the latter since she had a reputation for being rather self-absorbed, flaunting her own prominent feminine assets at every opportunity.

By the time Eric’s mom and aunt were on their second bottle of wine and his dad and uncle were opening their third or fourth beer, Eric was getting too bored to sit still any longer. It was starting to get dark and he knew the mosquitoes would soon be arriving in force for their evening repast of his blood. The moment he felt he had adequately fulfilled his role as birthday boy, he gathered up his loot, excused himself and retreated to his room to spend the rest of the evening reading; a pastime he found infinitely more pleasant than socializing with relatives.

Expecting to be down for the night, he brushed his teeth, stripped and changed into loose-fitting sweat pants and a T-shirt, what he considered to be his comfort togs. He was sprawled on his bed propped up on a couple of pillows reading the latest Peter Hamilton novel, content in his private little domain, when there was a soft knock on his door.

He grimaced at the interruption. “What!?” he called out, probably a shade more brusquely than was polite.

The door opened a few inches and Rachel peeked in. She flashed him a conciliatory smile and said, “Sorry if I’m disturbing you, Cuz. I was envious that you had a place to escape to and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind sharing. The folks are a total bore! But, um, if you’re busy, I’ll leave.”

Eric’s first impulse was to say that, yes, he was busy, but he knew it would be a bit unkind since she was no doubt as bored with the party as he was. While he never pretended to be any kind of a social butterfly, neither was he, by nature, a rude person, so he dog-eared the page, closed the book and waved her in, saying, “No, it’s okay. I ducked out to avoid the mosquitoes because they really love the taste of my blood.”

“Makes sense,” she said, scratching the back of her arm, “I’ve already gotten a couple of nibbles. By the way, happy birthday again, and congrats on all the nice booty.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. Yeah, it was a lot more than I expected. The folks and Granny Sonya spoil me something awful and I love them for it. It was really nice of Uncle Ben to fork over the C-note.”

She nodded at the book and asked, “What are you reading?”

“Oh, just some sci-fi stuff. Peter Hamilton. He’s really a good writer. Ever read any of his novels?”

“No, I’m more into romance novels than sci-fi.”

Then, anxious to turn the conversation toward her ultimate intent, she segued into, “I guess it’s been a while since our families got together. I can see you’ve grown a lot.”

Eric couldn’t be positive, but he thought her eyes fixed on his crotch for a moment when she said that. He glanced down and saw that his weenie was pretty clearly defined under the sweats stretched across his leg. He’d been absent-mindedly toying with it as he was reading, causing it to swell to a semi-erect state. Of course, at his age, a slight breeze could easily give rise to an erection. He drew his knee up to hide it.

“Yeah,” he answered, pointedly locking his eyes on her chest, “So have you.” He figured if she was going to be so blunt in her observations, why shouldn’t he return the compliment?

Rather than being embarrassed or irked by his ogling, Rachael smiled coyly and actually thrust her boobs out a little further, showing off her shapely shape. And to keep the conversation going in a direction she thought could get even more interesting, she asked, “So, uh, are you dating yet? Do you have a girl friend?”

Eric shrugged, “Mm, not really. I’m too busy with other stuff. Anyhow, I’m kind of a nerdy guy, so I don’t think girls would be much interested in going out with me. I’ve never been one of the cool guys and I’m definitely not a jock.”

“You could be wrong about what girls are interested in. Personally, I think you look kind of cute ... for a nerd, that is.”

“Um, thanks, I guess. You’ve sure gotten prettier. I mean, you were always kinda cute as a girl, but now you’ve gotten pretty like a woman.”

Again, his eyes fixed on her prominent bust.

Rachael couldn’t contain her amusement at his clumsy effort to be complimentary. “Thanks,” she chuckled, “I guess you must like my tits in particular.”

He blushed and pulled his eyes away. But again, he could be every bit as frank as his cousin. “Yeah, well it’s hard not to look when you put them on display like that. Sorry if staring makes me come off like a slack-jawed moron.”

“It doesn’t. You’re right that I wouldn’t wear stretchy tops like this if I didn’t want people to look. In fact, the only reason I’m wearing a bra is because Mom insisted. She can’t stand competition.” Pointedly, she moved her gaze back to his crotch and asked, “So, do you advertise your dick like that because you’re trolling for some action, or is that purely accidental?”

Eric looked down and saw that, not only had he unconsciously straightened his leg presenting a clear outline of his penis again, the bulge had begun to expand even further as their banter took on an increasingly sexual drift. Maybe he wasn’t quite as homo-oriented at he thought.

“Oh, jeez!” he groaned, as he again drew his leg back.

Rachael laughed. “Don’t be so shy, Cuz! I’m actually impressed. That looks like quite an asset for guy that just turned fifteen.”

Eric snarked, “What? Like you’re some kind of an expert on boy’s weenies?”

She shrugged and said, “Maybe not an expert, but I’ve seen a few, and from what I can see of yours, it’s way above average. I’d hardly call it a boy’s weenie.”

“Really? I didn’t ... I mean, I never ... how would I even ... shit! This is embarrassing! But you’re not that much older than me. How did you get to be so, um, experienced?”

Rachael heaved a theatrical sigh and said, “Oh, I don’t know. I suppose I must be one of those - what do you call them - oh, yeah, sluts. The truth is, Cuz, I’ve been having sex since I sprouted pubic hair at the age of eleven.”

A stunned Eric, absolutely NOT ready for this turn in the conversation, was trying to mentally process her comment. Rachael had just crossed a big social convention line, and as he struggled to regained his composure, she strolled casually across the room and sat on the side of his bed next to him. She laid her hand on his knee giving it a little squeeze, and said, “You shouldn’t be embarrassed about your cock, you should be proud of it. Have you ever measured it?”

Her close proximity, her touch and her pleasant female aroma, not to mention the flood of pheromones she was probably exuding into his personal space, was causing Eric’s heart rate and breathing to ramp up, and the combined primordial affects were causing his dick to grow even longer, thicker and stiffer. How had they even gotten onto this topic? And was she being serious, or was she just busting his balls; cock-teasing her younger cousin?

“Jeez, Rachael, you shouldn’t ask a guy a question like that!”

“Why not? I know guys have a thing about penis size just like girls have a thing about bra size. So, have you? Do you know how big your cock is?”

In a reflex protective move, Eric drew his leg up even tighter against his belly. “No!” he lied, “And even if I did, I’d never tell a girl!”