Chapter 596

Since her arms had been full of the box of trophies, Sabrina had ordered food instead of bringing it back and she told you it was on its way. Once you’d set the trophy box down and out of the way, the three of you sat back at the kitchen table.

“Well?” Sabrina asked her sister. “Did you catch him in any sneaky plots to brainwash me?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “No,” she said.

“You realise it’s just a little insulting you think I would be, right?” Sabrina pushed. “Like, you don’t know what people are thinking or feeling even if you grow up with them. Katherine and I are twins and we’re not the same.”

“Well, you were pretty fucking insulting about my choices,” Emma said a little snidely.

Sabrina grimaced. “You know it’s not the what, it’s the how.” She turned to look at you. “Did you guys talk about her at all, or just me and you and Gemma?”

“Almost completely us,” you said, then looked to Emma. “If you’re comfortable talking about it now, I’d like to get a grip on at least the ... basics, so I know what’s going on.”

Emma drew in a long breath through her nose and then let it out through her mouth. She glared at Sabrina for a moment, but then her look softened and she swallowed a little nervously before she glanced back at you and then away. “I’ve been posting nudes online,” she said.

“He knows that,” Sabrina said.

“Baby,” you interrupted, putting a hand on your girlfriend’s arm. “You’re being a bit much. If she’s old enough to make a decision like that, she’s mature enough to talk about it the way she wants to.”

Sabrina shot you an annoyed look, though it was clearly less about being annoyed with you and more at herself knowing you were right. “Yeah, OK,” she sighed. “Sorry, Emma.”

“Thanks,” Emma muttered. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek.

“You don’t have to tell me,” you said.

“Well, you really haven’t seen any of it?” she asked, glancing up. Her arms were crossed and she was slouching in her chair, making her look even more like a sulking, awkward teenager.

“Nothing,” you said.

“It’s full nudity,” she said. “Which, apparently, is bad marketing or whatever if I want to actually do something to make money with it. But that wasn’t what I was trying to do. I just ... liked getting the attention I was getting. Online. From boys at school. By the time I graduated at the start of summer I was pretty sure a couple of the teachers knew too, and they were treating me differently. Nicer.”

“Is it about the attention, or is it a sexual thrill, too?” you asked.

“I ... both, I guess,” she mumbled. “Does it have to be one or the other?”

“No,” Sabrina said, leaning towards her sister. “I told you why I started and it wasn’t just any one reason.”

“Everyone’s got their own things that turn them on,” you said. “Exhibitionism isn’t that weird - especially compared to some of the weirdest requests Sabrina gets.”

“That we get,” Sabrina corrected you.