Sandy rubbed her eyes as she came into the kitchen. She had slept late and was expecting to find Aunt Anita and her cousin Bob already eating breakfast, but the room was empty.

Aunt Anita had been Sandy's legal guardian since a plane crash had orphaned Sandy several years earlier. She had been out late the previous night and Sandy had not heard her come in. She supposed that Anita might still be asleep, or might not have even gotten home yet. In any event, she saw no reason for concern.

Her cousin on the other hand, had just moved in a couple of days earlier. Sandy was genuinely puzzled as to his whereabouts. She went out the back door onto the pool deck. "Ah, found you," she said to the two seated at the umbrella table.

Bob looked up. "So ... you decided to join the land of the living," he said, giving his sexy sixteen year-old cousin a thorough once-over.

Sandy could see that she was getting 'checked out', not just by her cousin Bob, but also his friend Charlie. Looking at Bob she said, "If somebody had told me we had a visitor, I might have gotten up sooner." She pulled out a chair and sat down.

Sandy had on a white button-front man's dress shirt, but Charlie thought probably not much else. He began talking while performing a visual examination. "Bob said I should waken you..." He paused. He couldn't tell about the panties, but with the movement of her breasts when she talked, and the faint dark outline of her nipples, he was sure she wasn't wearing a bra. He continued, "But I was concerned about how you might be dressed."

"What ... afraid I might be wearing something?" Sandy asked with a grin. When she first sat down, she had kept her bare legs together. Now she parted them slightly.

Bob didn't have Sandy's legs staring him in the face, like Charlie did, but through the glass table-top he was able to see what Sandy had just done. He still didn't realize however that Charlie and Sandy were playing a game.

"Hey ... give him a chance," Bob said, thinking his friend needed to be defended, "He was just trying to show some respect."

"Right," Sandy rebutted playfully, "Like he is now, trying to see between my legs, trying to see if I'm wearing panties." She crossed her legs.

"Well are you?" Charlie asked.

"Am I wearing panties?" Sandy snapped, letting her voice rise. "Of course!" She jerked her legs apart, exposing the front of her white cotton panties. "Satisfied?" she asked with a smirk, crossing her legs once again.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Bob interjected, not having seen her expression and not understanding that Sandy had wanted an excuse to flash her panties. "You don't have to get mad just because he asked a question."

Sandy was pretty much 'head over heels' for Charlie and she was guessing that he felt the same about her. She lightened up, "Yeah, well ... I just didn't want him thinking I would sit down with two horny seventeen year-olds and not be wearing panties."

Sandy had been looking down at the table but lifted her eyes and made eye-contact with Charlie. "Even if you did," Charlie said while returning her look, "We wouldn't think any less of you. In fact, Bob just told me you weren't wearing any last night and -"

Sandy looked up and very nearly shouted. "He said what?" She did not want it to appear that she had actually hoped Bob might tell Charlie.

Bob still did not understand and quickly waded in, trying to smooth the waters, "Calm down Sandy. This is my fault, I shouldn't have said anything. Can we drop it, please?"

Sandy let her mock anger drain away. Bob and Charlie painted smiles on their faces. Sandy uncrossed her legs and arranged the shirt so it modestly covered her panties. "Ya know," she said matter-of-factly, that gown did go all the way to my ankles, and I had no way of knowing when I put it on, that it was so transparent."

"I'm sure you didn't," Charlie said, contributing to the lie he had just heard, "But Bob told me how great you looked. I was hoping you might wear it again today." He ducked, afraid he was about to be hit.

Sandy knew she had looked good last night but it had taken a lot of guts to expose so much. "Yeah, well..." Sandy blushed. "Maybe, some day." She instantly realized that by suggesting she might wear it again, she was admitting to the lie. "With panties," she quickly added.

"I told you last night," Bob said, "That it didn't matter what you were wearing, you didn't have to worry about the two of us."

"Well I wasn't worried, but it's nice to know anyway," Sandy answered. She recalled though, that what had actually been said, was that she could be even naked and still trust them. "Maybe someday," she thought.

"Yeah," Charlie said, "You need to wear that gown without panties." He ducked again.

"So you think that'd be okay, huh," Sandy teased with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, sure..." Then he mischievously added, "It'd even be okay ... if you took off the ones you're wearing now." He ducked, expecting a slap, but it didn't come.

"I might like to," Sandy thought, "but..." She responded demurely, "No, I don't think I could do that. I wouldn't want you guys thinking I was a slut."

It seemed to Bob that Sandy wasn't really opposed to Charlie's suggestion, she was just worried about what they might think. He offered encouragement, "No way would we think of it as slutty ... I mean, nothing would be showing, the shirt's not even see-though."

Sandy was thinking about it, but she didn't have the nerve. "No, unh uh, not today," she said apologetically, "Now let's drop it, please."

Charlie knew she was close to doing it, but needed an opportunity to do so on her own, not with them brow-beating her. "Are you going to get yourself some coffee," he asked. "We made a fresh pot before we came out here."

"Uh huh," Sandy answered, "That would be good. Do either of you need a refill," she asked, as she got up from the table.

Charlie shook his head, 'no'. Bob held out his mug and Sandy took it with her into the house. In the kitchen she found a fresh mug for herself and filled it. She also refilled Bob's. As she turned for the door, she paused.

Sandy imagined again what it'd be like not to be wearing panties. Bob was right, the guys likely wouldn't even know ... but she would, and that would be sexy. "Maybe..." she thought. Sandy set the mugs on the counter and headed for a nearby bathroom.

There was a half-bath between the kitchen and the den. With the door closed behind her - she was taking no chance that the guys might see her do this - she reached under her shirt and slipped the panties off, letting them drop to the floor.

Sandy looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the door. The shirt was a 'small', didn't even reach to mid-thigh, so she would have to be careful walking and sitting, and no way would she be able to bend over.

"But..." she thought, she could do it. The sensation of being bare would be adequate reminder that she needed to be careful. Sandy left her panties on the bathroom floor and went back to the kitchen where she picked up the two mugs and headed for the backyard.

Sandy had forgotten though that with a mug in each hand, she wouldn't have a free hand to hold the shirt in place. She walked extra carefully, hoping the breeze didn't catch a corner of her shirt.

Charlie knew instantly that the panties were gone. Bob also had a pretty good idea. The way Sandy was walking made it obvious she was protecting something. She set the mugs on the table, careful not to bend over, then sat down slowly while holding the shirt-tail between her legs.

The guys pretended not to notice the extra care she was taking. Sandy quickly realized though that half the fun would be having the guys know, or at least think, she wasn't wearing panties. She couldn't very well show them - that would be slutty, so..."

Charlie, for some unknown reason, guessed about her dilemma, and in order to hopefully get her talking about it, asked, "Is something wrong? You seem worried about something."

"Uh, no ... what makes you ask that," Sandy said as she slid her legs under the table. She cautiously turned loose of the shirt-tail after making sure she was adequately covered.

Through the glass table-top, Bob could see the extra care Sandy was taking. He dove in, "You took your panties off, didn't you?"

Sandy turned beet red and again clutched the shirt-tail between her legs. "Uh ... what makes you think that?" she asked.

"Hey ... it's okay," Charlie assured her, "We think it's neat, don't we Bob?"

Sandy looked at Bob as he nodded his agreement. Turning back to Charlie, she sheepishly asked, "And you don't think I'm acting like a slut?"

"No way! In fact, if you wanted to go to the mall dressed like that, I'd love to be with you."

"Yeah, me too," added Bob.

"Really guys ... now come on ... no way am I going to do that." And she wouldn't, of course, but it did sound exciting.

Charlie wasn't at all surprised by Sandy's response. After all, she'd had trouble deciding to even take the panties off. No way was she going to suddenly be ready for the mall.

Bob wasn't as quick to grasp the situation though. "We could go to the Burger King then," he said, "The one down by the beach."

"Hey, c'mon Bob," Sandy pleaded, "Isn't it enough that I took them off?"

"But it'd just look like a beach cover-up," Bob argued. "Who'd even know?"

"We would," Sandy replied, "And that's enough. No ... not today."

"I think I understand," said Charlie. Actually he was sure he did. "It's exciting sitting here with just us, not wearing any panties, and knowing that we know it. You're just not ready for it to go any further ... at least not today."

"Right," Sandy said. "I'm having fun. Let's keep it that way." She pushed her chair back a little and adjusted the hem of the shirt so she wasn't sitting on it. She looked down at her bare thighs and the little bit of shirt covering the spot between her legs. She looked up, first at Bob, then at Charlie. "Okay?" she asked.