It happened a decade ago, but she could still remember every little detail from that day.  She was wearing jean shorts and a tank top she’d sewn herself.  It was the middle of July and hot.  Her parents were at work and her brother Luke was at some cooking class with his girlfriend.  She’d been considering going for a swim in the pool, but Mark had shown up half an hour earlier and went straight to the pool.  Lately, she’d been feeling self-conscious around her brother’s best friend.

Up until a month ago, she hadn’t thought of him as anything more than an annoyance.  Mark Stanford may not have been her actual brother, but he’d practically grown up in their house and he’d teased and tormented her just like Luke did.

But for the last few weeks, well, she’d found herself staring at parts of Mark she’d never really noticed before, like his hands, for instance.  The other night at dinner, she couldn’t stop staring at his mouth.  Had his lower lip always looked like it would be delightful to suck on?  More disturbingly, when did his ass start to look so damn good in jeans?

Being around him made her skin feel hot and too tight and she was suddenly awkward about everything.  Did Mark notice the way her ass jiggled when she walked?  Did he sneak a quick look at her tits when she wore that red sundress that showed off more cleavage than usual?  The urge to suck in her gut when he walked into the room was almost overwhelming in its intensity.

The thought of being in a bathing suit in front of Mark and his perfect, hard body made her feel decidedly uncomfortable, so she settled for making a jug of iced tea instead.  She was just pouring herself a glass when she made the mistake of glancing out the kitchen window.  It faced the pool in the backyard and Mark was hoisting his wet body out of the pool.  She sucked in her breath, the glass of iced tea forgotten as she stared wide-eyed at him.  Water dripped down his tanned, lean body and he raked his hand through his dark hair before reaching for his towel.  As he dried his upper body, her gaze dropped to his crotch.  His wet swimming trunks outlined his sizeable dick.  Her mouth went bone dry as her a spasm of pleasure rippled through her lower belly.  Her pussy started to throb in a way she’d never felt before and when she swallowed she heard the dry click of her throat.

She tore her gaze from his crotch and stared at the glass of iced tea before she set it down on the counter and left the kitchen.  Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and she kept seeing the way the water had dripped down Mark’s chest and arms.

“Oh God,” she’d muttered to herself, “it’s like I’m in a damn porno.  I’m the horny housewife and Mark is the pool boy.”

She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of her thoughts, but they suddenly didn’t seem so absurd.  Lying naked on one of the deck chairs while Mark settled his body between her thighs seemed like a fine idea.  He would kiss her and touch her, and suck on her aching nipples.  She would gladly give him the gift of her virginity if it meant that this sudden throb of need in her pussy would be eased.

Another spasm of pleasure pulsed in her lower belly.  She was actually heading toward the patio doors that led to the backyard before she got a hold of herself.  What the hell was she doing?  She wasn’t interested in Mark that way.  He was practically her brother for God’s sake.  Thinking about having sex with him was sick and twisted and wrong and – oh God – why couldn’t she get the image of his mouth sucking on her nipples out of her head?

Snap out of it, Ames!  Her inner voice said fiercely.  Mark is not attracted to you, and besides, do you really think he wants to see your naked chubby ass?  He doesn’t.  All the girls he dates are thin and dark-haired and they have perfectly tanned skin.  He is not interested in your blonde, pale chubby self.

She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall.  She was standing in the hallway next to the door, and through the narrow side window, she could see the mailman as he walked up the front steps.  He waved at her and she waved back as he pushed the mail through the slot in the door.  The envelopes tumbled to the floor as she took a second, deep breath.  She was not attracted to Mark.  She absolutely was not.  She was just having a weird little fantasy that was perfectly normal.  It didn’t mean a damn thing.

She walked to the pile of mail and bent to scoop it up.  She rifled through the envelopes and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the one addressed to her.  The return address said Academy of Art University and her heart started a hammering beat that she could feel in her toes.  She walked slowly into the kitchen and set the other mail on the table.  Her hands shaking, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the single folded sheet of paper.  She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall for a moment.

She’d applied to three schools and she’d already received rejection letters from two.  She was disappointed but not surprised.  The Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons were both in New York and both notoriously difficult to get into it.  She would have been thrilled to be accepted to either, but it was this University, the Academy of Art in San Francisco, that she really wanted.

Still leaning against the wall, she unfolded the paper and opened her eyes.  She scanned it quickly and as nausea rolled in her stomach, she blinked back the hot tears.

“No,” she whispered.  “No, this can’t be right.”

“What can’t be right?”

She jerked and shoved the paper behind her back before staring up at Mark.  He was still wearing just his swimming suit, but the death of her dream blotted out any of her newly discovered desire for him.

“Ames?  What’s wrong?”  He asked.

“Nothing,” she said.

“You’re crying,” he replied.  He stepped closer and rubbed the moisture from her cheek with his thumb before showing it to her.  “What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” she said.  “I just – nothing happened.”

Oh God, why did he have to come into the house right now?  She wanted to be alone.  She wanted to go to her room and scream and cry and pound her feet like a little kid having a tantrum.

“You’re lying,” Mark said.  “What were you reading?  Let me see.” 

He reached for the paper still tucked behind her back and her fragile control broke.  She burst into tears before pushing him in the chest.  “Leave me alone, Mark!  Get out of my way!”

“Amy?”  He gave her a look of confusion as she pushed past him and ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs.  She raced into her bedroom and slammed the door, wishing for the first time that she had a lock on her door.

She collapsed on the bed, buried her face in her hands and sobbed bitterly.  The door opened to her bedroom and she screamed, “Go away, Mark!”

“Ames, tell me what’s wrong,” Mark said.

“Please leave me alone,” she sobbed.

“I can’t, sweetheart,” he said. 

He sat on the bed next to her and sat her up before pulling her into his lap like she was a child.  She tried to squirm off his lap, but he held her tightly.  She gave up immediately and wrapped her arms around his neck before burying her face in his neck and sobbing.  His swimming shorts were wet, and she could feel her jean shorts soaking up the moisture, but she didn’t care.  Mark was pulling the piece of paper from her fist and she let it go.

A few minutes later, both of his arms were around her waist and he rubbed her back with his warm hands as he murmured, “I’m so sorry, Ames.”

She cried even harder and he rocked her back and forth as he continued to rub her back.  “I’m sorry, baby.”

“They all rejected me,” she sobbed against his throat.  “All of them.”

“They’re idiots.  It’s their loss, Ames.”

“They’re the best fashion design schools in the country, and I was rejected by every one of them.”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” he said.  “You’re still an amazing designer.”

He leaned sideways and snagged the box of tissues from her nightstand.  She grabbed a handful and dried her face before blowing her nose.  She was still sitting on his lap and she rested her head on his shoulder as he kissed her forehead.  “Better?”

“I don’t know what to do now,” she said.  “I don’t have a Plan B or - ”

“Ames,” he cupped her face and made her sit up, “you don’t need a Plan B.”

“I do,” she insisted as a tear slid down her cheek.  “I’m not good enough to design my own clothing line.”

“Yes, you are,” he said.  He rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone.  “You’re smart, talented, beautiful and an incredible designer.  You’re gonna be famous, Ames.  I know it.”

“You think I’m beautiful?”  She asked in a low voice.

He studied her face.  His thumb was still stroking her cheekbone and when it dipped down to rub across her bottom lip, she parted her lips.  He made a low groan and his voice was hoarse when he said, “Yeah, I do.”

She rubbed her hand across his naked chest.  Her nails brushed across his flat nipple, and he made another groan that brought goose bumps to her skin.

“I think you’re beautiful too,” she whispered.

“Amy, I…”

His gaze dropped to her mouth.

“Mark, please,” she whispered.

When he didn’t move, she tilted her head and leaned forward.  Before she could press her mouth against his, Luke wandered into her bedroom.

“Amy, come downstairs and try the pasta I made at cooking class.  It’ll blow your – what’s going on?” He stared in shocked silence at them for a moment.  “Why are you sitting on Mark’s lap?  Are you crying?”

She squeaked in surprise when Mark abruptly pushed her off his lap and onto the bed.  Luke was already storming toward them.  She cried out when he grabbed Mark and hauled him to his feet before pushing him up against the wall. 

“What the hell, Mark?  What are you doing to my sister, you asshole?”

“Luke, I wasn’t - ”

“She’s crying!  Why the fuck is she crying?  Did you hurt her?  Did you fucking touch her?”

“Luke!  Stop it!”  Amy jumped off the bed and grabbed Luke’s arm just as he cocked it back to punch Mark in the face.  She held it grimly as Luke tried to shake her loose.  

“Stop it, you stupid ass!”  She shouted.  “He’s your best friend!”

“You’re my sister!”  Luke snapped.  “If he hurt you or touched you, I’ll - ”

“He didn’t!  I was upset, and he was comforting me!” She smacked Luke hard on the arm.  “Let him go!”

He let go of Mark’s shoulder and Mark rubbed it gingerly as Luke gave her a confused look.  “Tell me what’s wrong.”

She sighed and pointed to the letter lying on her bed.  “I got my rejection letter from the San Francisco school today.”

“I’m sorry,” Luke said.  “Shit, I’m really sorry.”

The sincerity in his voice made her start to cry again.  “No, I’m sorry.  You – you gave up your dream of culinary school and went into business for me and now – and now…”

She wiped at the tears on her face as Luke hugged her hard.  “It’s okay, Ames.”

“It isn’t,” she insisted.  “Both you and Mark are doing careers that you wouldn’t have chosen because of me and my stupid dream.  Now I can’t even get into goddamn fashion school!  I’ve failed before I even started.”

“Not true,” Luke said.  He glanced at Mark.  “Mark was always going to go into accounting, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” Mark replied.  “I was, Amy, you know I was.”

“Yeah, well, you weren’t going into business, Lukie,” she said dully.

“The plan hasn’t changed,” Luke said.  

Her mouth dropped open and she gave him a look of shock.  “Of course it’s changed.  I can’t even get into school for fashion design.  I’ll never start my own clothing line.”

“Yes, you will,” Luke said.  He led her to the bed and sat her down on it before sitting next to her.  After a moment, Mark joined them.  He sat next to her but left a good foot of space between their bodies.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but no one is going to take a chance on a woman who can’t even get accepted into a fashion design school,” Amy said.  “No company will hire me without an education.”

“So, we cut out the part of the plan where you work for another company to gain experience,” Luke said with a shrug, “and go directly to starting your own company.”

She gaped at him.  “Lukie, I love you, but you’re delusional.”

“No, I just know you’re meant to do this, Amy.  Listen, both Mark and I graduate next year.  We’ll work and gain some experience while you work on your designs.  Evenings and weekends, we’ll work on our business plan together.  Okay?  You can apply again next year to the schools, but if you don’t get in, it doesn’t matter.  We’ll start our own damn company in five years just like we planned, whether you go to school or not.”

“And if I fail?”  Amy whispered.  “Then what?”

“You won’t,” Luke said.  “Will she, Mark?”

Mark gave her a crooked smile.  “It’s like I said, Ames – you’re gonna be famous.”

Luke put his arm around her and gave her a rough hug.  “Don’t worry.  It’s all going to work out.”

She leaned against her brother, feeling a warm flush of love for both of them as Luke said to Mark.  “Dude, sorry about earlier.  It’s just – she’s my baby sister, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Mark said.  “But I would never hurt her.  I think of Amy as my sister too – you know that.”

Amy stiffened, and Luke squeezed her before standing.  “Yeah, I know, man.  C’mon, let’s go downstairs and you guys can try the pasta I made.”

“Be right there,” Amy said. She wiped her face and as Luke left her bedroom, she called Mark’s name. 

He stopped in the doorway and gave her a solemn look.  “I’m sorry for earlier.  I shouldn’t have… I think of you as a sister and nothing more.  I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression just now.”

“You didn’t,” she said as hurt and a healthy dose of embarrassment flooded though her.  “I think of you like a brother and I know what happened wasn’t, uh, real.  It was just, um, because I was upset.” 

He wouldn’t look at her and when he turned to leave she called his name a little hysterically. His hand gripped the doorframe as he stared out into the hallway.  His back was ramrod straight.  Despite what she had just told him, she wanted to run across the room and throw her arms around him.  She wanted just one kiss to know if what she was feeling was real.  Instead, she wrapped her arms around her own torso as he said, “What is it?”

“Are we – are we good?”  She whispered.

For a moment, she thought he was just going to leave without replying but then he turned and gave her his sweet smile.  Her heart thudded in her chest and she blinked back fresh tears as he said, “Yeah, Ames, we’re good.  I’ll see you downstairs.”