Chapter 20

The next morning, Gina practically bounced down the hill while I was still doing my morning workout.

“She said yes, she said yes!” she gushed before I’d even stopped jumping rope.

The night before, she had planned to talk to Kara after I dropped her off at her cabin. We’d decided to do it that way, since it was nearly ten o’clock by the time we dragged ourselves up the hill from the lake. And I do mean dragged. When we left the clearing on the nature walk, we were both exhausted.

“Cool,” I said, trying to appear nonchalant.

Then she grew serious. “But she said we can’t do it today.”

“Oh?”

She shook her head. “We had a long talk about it, last night. She really wants to, but she said we should wait a day, just to make sure nobody gets cold feet or anything.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

“I’m not gonna get cold feet. I just know it.”

That’s good, I thought, because the idea of having sex with Gina and her sister was really turning me on. But I didn’t think it would be a good idea to show too much enthusiasm, so I merely smiled and coiled my jump rope.

“I wish I could come take a shower with you,” she said suddenly.

I chuckled. “I don’t think my parents are ready for that just yet.”

“Yeah, I don’t think my mom would let us shower at our cabin either.”

Just then, Mom and Dad walked onto the porch together.

“Good morning, Gina,” Mom said cheerfully.

“Good morning, Beth. Good morning, David,” Gina said.

“Mornin’, Gina,” my dad said, equally cheerfully.

Why are they in such a good mood? I wondered. I shrugged it off. There could be any number of reasons, but I was pretty sure I knew which one it was. I smiled to myself and put the rope with my weights. “Is Erin in the shower?” I asked.

Mom shook her head. “She’s brushing her hair. It’s all yours.”

I nodded.

“Breakfast in thirty minutes,” she said.

“Okay, Mom. We’ll be down.”

No sooner had my parents started down the hill than Erin burst from the cabin. She waved hello to us and then ran up the hill toward Gina’s cabin. Gina and I grinned at each other when we heard her yell out to Leah.

“It looks like your cabin’s suddenly deserted,” Gina said with a smirk. “And the shower is free.”

“It looks that way,” I said.

“Do you want some company?”

“Of course!”

I got the water adjusted while Gina pinned up her hair. She didn’t want to get it wet, because then her mother would know she’d showered with me. At this point, our parents obviously knew we were having sex, but our unspoken agreement was to be discreet about it. While I stood with my back to the showerhead—blocking the water from dousing Gina—she lathered a washcloth and lovingly washed me.

“I really like how much you’ve changed,” she said as she washed my chest. “You looked good before, but now you’re ... um ... harder.”

I flexed my pecs and she jumped in surprise.

“Wow, cool.” She looked into my eyes and grinned. “I like how I can see your muscles.” She traced the lines under my pecs with her fingers. Then she moved them down my right side.

I lifted my arms slightly, clenched my fists, and flared my lats. I’d seen body builders do it, and I’d practiced in the mirror until I could imitate them. My pecs filled out, and I could feel my traps contracting at the same time.

When my chest puffed up again, she jumped in surprise. “I didn’t even know there were muscles there,” she said, gently feeling along my side.

I relaxed and nodded. “When I started wrestling, I discovered muscles I never knew I had.”

She grinned. “But it’s not fair,” she said with an affected pout.

“What?”

“When my body changed,” she said, posing for effect, “I was all worried and insecure.”

“And?”

“And when your body changed, you became more confident or something.”

I shook my head. “Not really,” I said. “It’s taken me a while to realize how much I’ve changed. I mean, I’m not the pudgy kid I used to be.”

“You were never pudgy,” she said quickly. “You were just ... softer.”

“Softer, pudgy, whatever. The point is, I’ve changed, but it was so gradual that I didn’t really notice it.”

She nodded. “Even if I didn’t already love you, I’d be drooling over you. You’re seriously sexy. Speaking of which...”

When she reached for my flaccid penis, I easily fended her off. “Oh, no. Not this morning.”

She pouted. “Why not?”

“First,” I said, as I quickly rinsed and then started to wash her, “we don’t have time. We need to get down to breakfast before one of our parents comes looking for us.”

She reluctantly nodded.

“Second, I’m a little worn out from last night.”

“I’m not.”

“That’s beside the point. I am. It’s not a marathon, we don’t have to have as much sex as we can, all the time.” I gently washed her breasts and stomach, then moved down over her thighs.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“I know I’m right. Sometimes it’s nice to take your time and let the tension build.”

She nodded, then turned for me to wash her arms, back, and butt.

“And third,” I said, pulling her under the water to rinse, “we don’t have to have sex for me to know you love me. You can just say it, or look at me and touch my hand, and I’ll know.”

She nodded, suitably chastised.

I shut off the water and she reached for the towels. We had about ten minutes before breakfast would be on the table. She simply wrapped the towel around her torso and tucked the loose end between her breasts.

I wanted to show off a little, so I decided to shave. I felt so grown-up as she leaned against the door and silently watched me lather my face and then scrape off the half-dozen hairs that had sprouted since the last time I shaved. There were more than six hairs, of course, but not many more.

Afterward, we hung up our towels and walked down to the clubhouse hand in hand. My father had decided to fix banana pancakes, so our families ate together. Gina sat on one side of me and Kara sat on the other. Kara grinned as soon as she saw me, and there was a weird, almost electric feeling between the three of us.

I didn’t think there’d be any cold feet amongst the three of us. No sir, no cold feet here!

“Where do you think we can ... um ... get together?” Gina asked after breakfast.

Kara was with her, but the rest of our families were already heading down the hill.

“I dunno,” I said with a shrug. In my mind, I went through the list of sites I’d considered for The Big Day. (I’d started mentally referring to the previous Friday’s picnic with Gina as The Big Day.)

The girls could see I was actively thinking about it, so they remained quiet.

“I think I’ve got an idea,” I said, “but I wanna ask Susan about it.”

Kara grinned wryly.

“What?” I asked.

“You never call her ‘Aunt’ Susan anymore,” she said.

I blushed. “No, I guess I don’t. I don’t really remember when I stopped, either.”

“I bet I know when you did,” Kara said.

“I bet you don’t,” I countered, thinking there was no way Susan had shared details that intimate with Elizabeth, no matter how close they were.

“Last summer, silly,” Gina said.

“Oh,” I said, blushing. “Yeah, probably.” I cleared my throat and tried to regain my composure. “But I’ll ask Susan about someplace for us to ... um...”

“Someplace for the Coulter sisters to suck you dry?” Kara asked.

I groaned inwardly and stared at her. “You’re as bad as she is,” I said accusingly, pointing a finger at Gina.

Kara shook her head. “Not really.” Then she grinned mischievously. “I’m worse. And I’m far, far hornier than she is. Especially since it’s been a month since I’ve had sex with a guy.”

When she playfully reached for my penis, I leapt back, frantically looking around to see if anyone had seen us. “You said we’d do it tomorrow.” I looked to Gina for a reprieve, but she grinned mischievously and seemed to be having as much fun as Kara.

“I’m rethinking my suggestion,” Kara said.

“Whoa, stop,” I said. “I’m going to go talk to Susan. I’ll meet you two at the lake.”

I turned on my heels and almost bolted from the clubhouse. Behind me, the two of them giggled like schoolgirls.

“I’ll do you one better,” Susan said when I asked her about using Mr. Kestrel’s house. She hadn’t seemed surprised when I told her what we wanted to use the house for.

“Oh?”

She smiled ironically. “I’ll pay you.”

“Huh?” She’d pay me?! She’d pay me to have sex with Gina and Kara?!

“I need someone to clean Uncle Bernie’s house. I don’t yet know what I’m going to do with it, but it needs a good cleaning.”

I explosively let out my held breath.

She grinned unapologetically.

Judging by her smirk, I could tell she knew what I’d been thinking. She was teasing me, I thought.

She nodded, as if reading my mind. “I’ll pay you each ten dollars to clean the house, and after you’re done, you can use the place for whatever you want, for the rest of the afternoon.”

“You don’t have to pay us,” I said. “We’ll clean it for free. I mean, it’s the least we can do, since you’re letting us use it.”

“Are you sure?” she asked skeptically.

I nodded. “Yeah. It wouldn’t feel right to actually take money for something I’d normally do for free.”

“But what about the girls?”

I considered that for a moment. “I think they’d say the same thing. I don’t know as much about Kara as I do about Gina, but knowing what I do about their mom, I think they’d say the same thing.”

“I think you’re right,” she said. Then she leaned toward me. “I didn’t think you’d take the money, but I thought I’d offer.”

“So it was a test?”

“Not really. I was being polite. But if it were a test, you’d’ve passed with flying colors.”

“Thanks.”

“One thing I want you to understand, though,” she said seriously.

I nodded soberly.

“I don’t want you to think you can use Uncle Bernie’s house anytime you want to get together with a girl.”

I quickly shook my head.

“This is obviously a special occasion. Otherwise, you’re a resourceful young man, and there are literally thousands of acres for you to explore and, ahem, take advantage of.”

I felt like saying “yes, ma’am.”

“I need his house cleaned, and you’re three willing cleaners.” She smiled at me and her eyes twinkled smugly. “You’re willing cleaners with an agenda, but I know you’ll do a good job.”

“We will.”

She nodded. “I know you will.” Then she turned businesslike. “You should go up there today and turn down the thermostat, so the air conditioner cools the house.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

She smiled indulgently. “You should also clean and fill the ice trays, and make sure you turn up the temperature on the water heater.”

“The water heater? What do we need that for?”

“Well, you’ll need hot water to clean, and...” Her eyes twinkled. “And the house does have a rather large shower in the master bath.”

“Oh,” I said suddenly. “Oh!”

“Mmm hmm.”

“What should I set it to?” I asked eagerly.

“Oh, 140 degrees should be fine. Bernie’s house has well water, and it tends to be colder.”

I nodded. “Thanks for the advice.”

“You’re welcome.” When I started to get up, she put a hand on my arm. “Paul?”

“Yeah?”

She paused for a moment and looked at me seriously.

I thought I detected a shadow of longing pass over her expression.

“When you and Gina have a better understanding of your relationship,” she asked, “could you... ?”

“Could I stop by and see you sometime?” I asked, finishing her thought.

She nodded. “I ... I miss you. I didn’t think I’d miss you this much,” she said frankly, “but I do.”

“Do you want it to be just me? Or me and Gina?”

“Whichever you’re both comfortable with,” she said.

I raised my arm and gestured for her to come closer. When she looked into my eyes and saw that I was serious, she moved toward me. I put my arm around her and she gratefully hugged me. It felt good to have her body next to mine, even though my promise to Gina meant that nothing else would happen.

Hugs certainly don’t need approval, I thought.

“Sometimes,” she said softly, “I just miss the human contact.”

I nodded silently.

“With the boys gone, I don’t get many hugs.”

“What about with mom and dad? Or the Coulters?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It’s different.” She idly rubbed her hand across my chest and then rested it on my thigh. “I don’t know why, but I think I miss this more than I miss the sex.”

“I’m free for hugs anytime,” I said, trying to keep the mood from turning maudlin.

She squeezed me. “Thanks.”

“And I’ll talk to Gina. I think she’d be comfortable with us, the three of us, but I’ll ask her.” I thought about what I’d just said and then snorted softly. “This is weird.”

“What?”

“I just never thought I’d be having a semi-casual conversation about having sex with two women.”

“Well,” she said playfully, “you are a man in demand.”

I laughed. “Something like that.” I squeezed her shoulder and she sighed contentedly. It felt good to hold her, and I know she enjoyed it.

We sat like that for ten or fifteen minutes, neither of us feeling the particular need to speak. With a soft laugh, I thought about how much my life had changed in little more than a year.

Before lunch, I told Gina and Kara about the plans for Mr. Kestrel’s house. Gina was a little disappointed that we had to clean the place first, but Kara pointed out that with the three of us, it shouldn’t take long.

I also told Mom about our plans. (Well, I told her about our plans to help Susan by cleaning Mr. Kestrel’s house. I didn’t mention anything else, and she didn’t ask.) Dad had to leave for a trip the next day, so he and Mom would have to drive to Columbia. She said she’d get Elizabeth to keep an eye on Erin.

Jenny seemed to have retracted her claws somewhat, so she and Manfred joined Gina, Kendall, Kara, and me as we lounged in the hot sun. The day was once again sweltering—and oppressively humid—so we periodically jumped into the lake to cool off. Jenny treated Kendall diffidently, but wasn’t outright rude. Kendall bore it in stride, but she and Gina shared several meaningful looks.

After lunch, we more or less returned to our lounge chairs. When all the girls got up to take a swim, Manfred got up to go with them. As they turned away, I motioned for him to stay. He looked at me curiously, but hung back when the girls dived into the water.

“What’s up, Little Man?” he asked.

“Sit down for a sec, Manfred,” I said, beginning with a line my father used on me all the time.

“Sure.”

“Listen,” I said. “Kendall’s a nice girl.”

“I’ll say!”

“I’m serious, Manfred.”

He looked into my eyes and saw exactly how serious I was. “Sorry, man,” he said.

“Yeah, no problem. She’s a nice girl, though. She’s a regular girl, just like Gina and Jenny.”

“Only she’s built like a goddess,” he said.

“Only she’s built like a goddess,” I agreed. “But Gina and Jenny are really pretty too.”

He nodded.

“Anyway, Kendall’s a regular girl, with regular feelings. She may be built like a goddess, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t notice when you act like an idiot arou—”

“I do not act like an idiot around her!” he squawked.

I leveled my eyes at him and didn’t say anything, another trick I’d picked up from Dad.

“Okay,” he said guiltily, “maybe I was a little dorky.”

“Yeah, you were. But I understand.”

“Cool,” he said.

I wanted to appeal to him to change his behavior for Kendall’s sake, but a better idea occurred to me. I stared at him, my expression grave. “Jenny, however,” I said heavily, “isn’t so understanding.”

“What d’you mean?”

“Don’t you pay attention to your girlfriend?” I asked, trying to keep my exasperation in check.

“Huh?”

“You think Jenny doesn’t notice it when you get all googly-eyed whenever Kendall’s around?”

“No,” he said stubbornly.

“Think again, Stick,” I said, using his nickname to take some of the edge off what I was saying. “She notices, and it pisses her off.”

“So?”

“Manfred,” I said, pausing for effect. “D’you really think it doesn’t matter that she notices you staring at Kendall?” I asked reasonably. “D’you really think it doesn’t matter that she gets pissed off?”

“So? Dude, it’s not like I’m putting the moves on Kendall.”

“Manfred, you know how you worry about why Jenny likes you?” I asked sharply.

He looked at me like I’d smacked him in the forehead.

“You know how you constantly panic when you think she might not really like you? Or when you think about what would happen if she started liking someone else?”

His jaw dropped.

From his expression, I could tell he’d had just those thoughts. And I could tell it shocked him that I knew it, because we’d certainly never talked about it.

He simply stared at me, too stunned to speak.

“Jenny thinks the same thing, man,” I said gently. “She worries about losing you, and it probably scares her when she sees you looking at Kendall the way you do.” Not to mention how it makes Kendall feel when Jenny glowers at her, I thought. “Scared girlfriends tend to become angry girlfriends.” I waited to let that sink in. “And angry girlfriends don’t want to have sex with their boyfriends.” That got his attention.

“How do you know all this?” he asked, finally finding his voice.

“I just do. Trust me.”

He nodded mutely, still dumbfounded.

“So when you’re around Kendall and you turn into mega-dork,” I said, borrowing a phrase from Gina, “Jenny notices. She may not look like she’s scared, but she probably is. And when she looks like she’s angry, she’s definitely angry. An angry girlfriend seriously impairs your love life, man. You know?”

He closed his mouth and nodded.

“Besides,” I said with a wry grin, “Kendall’s not interested in you, so give it up, Stick.”

He looked up sharply and then realized I was joking. “How do you know, dude?” he asked defensively, trying to salvage some of his dignity with a humorous challenge.

“Because,” I said impishly, “she’s got the hots for me.” With an insouciant grin, I stood. “Now,” I said, “let’s join the girls. It’ll give us a chance to show our girlfriends how important they are.”

He seemed a little confused, but followed my lead when I headed for the lake.

I don’t know why, but I felt a minor sense of accomplishment when Manfred was very attentive to Jenny for the rest of the afternoon, even when Kendall was around. For her part, Jenny noticed and appreciated the attention. Since she was still on her period, I knew she and Manfred weren’t going to have much of an opportunity to do anything, but I caught them looking longingly at each other several times. When they finally decided to “go for a walk” about mid-afternoon, Manfred smiled gratefully at me. I surreptitiously made a shooing motion with my hand and smiled at him.

“What was that about?” Gina asked when they’d gone.

“Oh,” I said evasively, “I gave Manfred some advice, and he seemed to take it to heart.”

“Thanks,” Kendall said gratefully.

“For what?” I asked. I guess I was still trying to downplay things.

“For telling him to pay attention to Jenny instead of me,” she said.

Gina looked at me sharply. When I didn’t deny it, she smiled warmly.

“Well,” I said. “I told him you weren’t interested in him. Instead, I told him...”

Kendall arched an eyebrow.

I grinned. “I told him you were after me.” I almost laughed at the expression of horror which crossed her face.

She frantically looked at Gina, studying her for any sign of shock or outrage.

I silently prayed that Gina would use the opportunity to reassure Kendall. When I looked at Gina, she was still smiling, and she even winked at Kendall before she turned her gaze to me. When she shook her head in amazement at my brazen statement, I smiled gratefully.

Then I folded my arms in front of me, lay my head on them, and closed my eyes. When I opened them a little later, I looked at Kendall. She had her eyes closed, but her lips quirked up in a smile.

I’m such a lucky guy, I thought to myself.

After lunch, Gina and I walked to Mr. Kestrel’s house to prepare it for the following day. Susan had given me the keys to the house, and I tossed them as we walked. I guess that’s one of the few downsides of being a nudist—no pockets to carry things in.

When we opened the kitchen door, a blast of hot air washed over us. I knew where the thermostat in Susan’s house was—in the hallway leading to her bedroom—so I immediately headed toward where it should be in Mr. Kestrel’s mirror-image house. By now, Susan’s house had become so familiar that I was struck by how eerie it was to walk through a house where everything felt backward.

Nonetheless, I turned the thermostat down to a cool seventy-two degrees and then went to find the water heater. We heard the air conditioner start as we walked into the hall bathroom. The laundry closet held the large water tank off to one side, and I studied it, looking for the thermostat. When I located the dial, I turned it to the temperature Susan recommended and then shut the bi-fold doors.

“How do you know to do all this stuff?” Gina asked.

“Susan told me.”

“Oh.”

I thought about bringing up the subject of Gina and me joining Susan, but decided to let it wait until a better time. If Gina wasn’t able to handle seeing me with another girl, she certainly wouldn’t want me to have sex with Susan. And I didn’t want Gina to feel bad about “denying” me something I wanted. If she couldn’t handle it, I’d deal with it at the time. I figured there was no sense making trouble for myself, so I let the question remain unasked.

In the kitchen, Gina and I filled the ice cube trays with water and put them in the freezer. It was pretty warm, so I turned its thermostat down as well. Then we took a quick tour of the mostly empty house. After we’d moved out all the furniture and boxes, there was still some left over stuff. It was mostly empty boxes, loose papers, and broken bits of Mr. Kestrel’s life. In a way, it was kind of sad to see all the stuff just lying there.

Aside from picking up the detritus left over from the move, the house really just needed a good scrubbing, dusting, and vacuuming. Gina didn’t think it would take us more than two hours to get everything done. I didn’t know a thing about housecleaning, so I trusted her judgment.

Even though the air conditioner was running, it was still hotter inside than it was outside, so we made sure all the windows were shut and then locked the kitchen door as we left. Before we passed the waist-high courtyard wall, Gina turned and grinned coquettishly. Her eyes flicked to the courtyard shower and she arched an eyebrow.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Oh,” she mused. “I was just thinking...”

“Mmm hmm?”

“Since we didn’t get a chance to fool around in the shower this morning... , “ she said, leaving the rest hanging.

“You were thinking we could fool around in the shower here?”

“I’m so glad you asked,” she said, gushing effusively.

It was all an act, but I grinned anyway. I set the house keys on top of the low wall and pulled her toward me. In the heat of the house, we’d both gotten a little sweaty, but she still felt wonderful against me. In the heat and humidity of the sultry afternoon, a cold shower would feel really nice. A cold shower with Gina would feel even better.

As I turned on the water, she sank to her knees and took me into her mouth. The cold of the water was shocking, but I paid it little attention. After she sucked me to hardness, I stood her up and had her bend over in front of me. Her breasts swayed as I pounded into her, and with a loud groan, I filled her with come. My erection didn’t shrink, so I fucked her slowly while I played with her clit. She tensed up soon after, and I felt her pussy grip me as her orgasm peaked. By the time we turned off the water, our skin was shriveled but we were both sated.

When we got back to camp, Gina talked to her parents about cleaning Mr. Kestrel’s house. They thought it was very nice of us to offer to do the work. Of course, we didn’t tell them about our other plans for the coming afternoon.

We also found out about movie night. Bill (the older guy with the movie projector) had brought several movies with him, and would be showing two of them on Friday night. He had a kids’ movie and an adult movie.

Since my dad was leaving the next day, my parents and Gina’s parents were having a little party at Susan’s house, with Dwight and Karen Delozier, and Stan and Terri Dunbar. Kara had promised to keep an eye on Leah and Erin, so Gina and I would basically have the night to ourselves—with Kendall, of course.

After we said goodbye to her parents, we walked down the hill to my cabin. To our surprise, we found our younger sisters. They were sitting on the couch, sullenly fuming.

“What’s the matter with you two?” I asked, looking over the morose faces of the two girls.

“Boys,” Erin said curtly.

Gina and I shared a concerned look and sat down in the easy chairs across from the couch.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, suddenly fearing the worst about Drew.

Through a little cajoling, Gina and I dragged the story out of them. Trish and Jill, being fourteen, had basically monopolized Drew’s attentions, to the exclusion of the younger girls. Of course, Erin and Leah didn’t think it was fair that he paid so much attention to the older girls. Especially when Jill got a little high and mighty about how he liked her and Trish, and not the younger girls.

“It’s not fair,” Leah said. “Just because Trish has boobs and she lets him play with them.” For a moment, she seemed to forget I was sitting there. “I mean, so they’re bigger than ours?” She looked at Erin. “So what?”

“And did you see the way Jill spread her legs any time he was looking at her?” Erin asked Leah, equally surly.

“Yeah.” Then she looked at me challengingly. “What is it about boys and boobs?” she asked. “Why can’t they like small ones too?”

I looked at Gina uncertainly.

She put her hand on mine, grinned cautiously, and nodded.

“Well,” I said slowly, “some guys do like small boobs.”

“Not any boys I know,” Leah said.

“You’ll get yours,” Gina said soothingly.

“Yeah, right,” Leah said.

Erin nodded dejectedly.

“Do you remember when I got mine?” Gina asked.

“No.”

Gina looked at me and grinned shyly. Then she turned to her sister. “I was fourteen before they started growing.”

“But how do I know I’ll get ‘em too?” Leah asked. “I mean, just because you and Kara got yours.”

“Yeah,” Erin chimed in. “I don’t even have a sister to compare mine to.”

“Well,” Gina said to Erin, “yours will look like your mom’s.”

Erin’s eyes lit up at that.

Gina turned to Leah. “And yours will look like Mom’s, Kara’s, and mine.”

“How do you know?” Leah whined.

“Think about it, Leah. We all look the same, more or less. Do you really think you’re not gonna develop?”

Leah huffed.

“You’ll get yours,” Erin said reassuringly.

“Besides,” I added, “you don’t want any guy who likes you only for your boobs.”

Gina nodded.

I thought back to something Erin had told me, and decided to stroke Leah’s ego a little. “I think you’re cute just the way you are,” I said.

“You do?” Leah asked suddenly.

“Yep. Even when Gina was your age, I thought she was beautiful. She’s even more beautiful now.”

“Because she’s got boobs,” Leah said.

I shook my head. “Yours are...” I swallowed hard. “Yours are fine. They’re really cute.” It felt completely weird talking about my girlfriend’s younger sister’s breasts, but Leah seemed to need the reassurance. Besides, her breasts were cute, in a thirteen-year-old sort of way.

“What about mine?” Erin asked.

I cleared my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gina grinning at the predicament I’d gotten myself into. “Um ... yours are nice too.” I couldn’t believe I’d just complimented my little sister on her breasts!

“You really like ‘em?” Leah asked suddenly, sticking her chest out slightly.

Gina was trying not to laugh at my discomfort.

Erin saw what Leah was doing and stuck her chest out as well.

I cleared my throat again, wishing my mouth hadn’t gone suddenly dry. “Yeah, I think they’re very cute. Yours too, Er.”

The younger girls beamed.

“Are they as nice as Gina’s?” Leah asked slyly.

“Oh, no,” Gina said to Leah. “Not so fast. You know the rules. They’re the same for you as they are for me and Kara.”

Leah’s face sank. “Yeah,” she said contritely. “Sorry.”

Gina squeezed my hand. “It’s okay,” she said to her sister.