FINN

The evening in the trailer was about the last time I had Winter to myself. Her phone kept ringing. Of course it was Ivy, who needed Winter to pick up some ice cream on the way home. Ivy had a craving. I did too, one that required Winter to come home with me where I could take her in my bed.

But she was too happy for me to make a big deal out of it. I figured I'd see her the next night or the next. But between my work, her new apprenticeship, and Ivy's near constant demands on Winter's time, I was lucky to see Winter an hour a day. Sometimes we had lunch, which more often than not ended up being furtive finger banging and dick sucking in the backseat of my truck.

I couldn't convince Winter that no one would see us having sex, and we didn't have enough time to leave and go to either one of our respective apartments. To say I was sexually frustrated was an understatement, but even beyond that, we just didn't have enough time to spend with each other.

Ivy was acting like an asshole. Today she'd come in and tried to shove her tits in my face.

"I drove by your house the other day. Pretty sweet place you have there. And this." She waved her hand, gesturing toward the row of plaques on the wall. "Best General Contractor four years running, according to the Business Record. Think you'll hit that magical fifth year now that you're at the helm?"

"You're a big button pusher, aren't you?" I could tell she wanted me to start yelling, and despite the sting from biting my tongue, I managed to keep a civil tone. She didn't respond right away but sat back in her chair, looking me over and over as if trying to assess me.

Something shifted or clicked in her head, and she lost her ill-temper like a dog shaking off water. Instead, she smiled at me—a thousand watt, plush-lipped smile—that I think was supposed to cut me off at me knees. I crossed my arms and waited for act two.

She leaned forward, crossing her arms. The gesture had the effect of lifting and pushing her breasts together. The V-neck of her T-shirt, which looked identical to the one Winter had been wearing and I'd had my hand up last night, gaped so that I was treated to a view of her cleavage. She was curvier than Winter—taller, bigger breasts, blond hair. For a while that had worked for me, but I realized my tastes had completely shifted. I preferred hair as dark as the midnight sky and eyes a deep brown. I loved Winter’s small breasts, her fat nipples, and slender body. She fit me perfectly, not just physically, but in all the other ways that mattered a hundred times more.

Her tender heart and her patience with me, even when I was short-tempered and rude, were attributes I didn’t know I needed until I’d begun spending time with Winter.

"You certainty found the buttons to push that night." Her voice had become husky and inviting. On an objective level, I could appreciate that Ivy Donovan was an attractive package. Her hair was honey blond, bordering brown, and it was carelessly tousled in a way that I remember a couple of my girlfriends complaining took hours to achieve.

"Is that how you remember that night? Because I remember being passed out drunk and waking up to you being passed out drunk." My own recollection was a complete blank. No matter hard I tried, my night ended at the parking lot of the children's aquatic center that sat across from the Woodlands. The next thing I remembered was waking up next to her at about one in the morning. I'd called Adam. He'd come and picked me up, and we’d drove Ivy to some random address out north that she'd given us when we finally shook her awake. It wasn't the apartment that she shared with Winter. A small girl named Tanya had answered the door and allowed us to carry Ivy in and leave her on the sofa.

When I got home, I’d immediately inspected my dick. It looked soft and unused. And to be on the safe side, I took myself to the clinic the following day. Results mailed to me three weeks later indicated I was clean of anything.

"I remember that you felt strong when you leaned over me. I remember the thick veins in your arms when you braced them by my head." She leaned forward even more. "I remember the thick feel of your cock inside me, and you moaning in my ear how good and juicy I felt."

I was completely and utterly unmoved. "How many of the guys Winter dated have you done this to?"

Something like shame passed like a cloud, but she shook it off and came back for a second round. "Winter's a sweet girl, but she doesn't have it in her to handle a man like you."

This time I leaned forward so I was almost close enough to kiss her forehead. Triumph gleamed in her eyes. Too bad for her that it would be transitory.

"I think you overestimate my studliness and underestimate the charm of your sister. I love her. Even if you were having my baby—which you’re not—it won't change how I feel about her. Now cut your act and tell me exactly what it is you want from me."

Like a switch, her sultriness was turned off and her sneer returned.

"Love? What the fuck do you know of that? I want you to leave us alone. Winter is always wanting to be with you, and I need her. You don't. You've got your friends, and you can get any girl you want. Just leave her alone."

"No."

She said other things, but I walked out. I texted Winter.

I stayed away from the trailer, and when construction closed down for the night, I called Adam. "I'm not up for partying at the house tonight. Want to hit some baseballs?"

We had a houseguest—a Marine friend of Noah and Bo's. He was a good guy, but Noah and Bo were convinced they had to throw a party every night. And tonight, the last thing I needed was company. I was in a shit mood and figured if I could slam the leather off some baseballs, I'd be able to sleep without going over to Winter's apartment and mauling her.

Batters Up was a batting cage and bar. Six cages and a platform to hold your beer pitcher. Genius. Adam didn't bat. He made sure the pitcher was full while he took drags on his e-cigarette. He was trying to quit smoking.

"What's the deal?"

"I think Ivy is cock blocking me."

"How so?"

I hit another eighty mile an hour fastball before turning to Adam. "Because every time I ask Winter to stay over, Ivy invents some excuse involving the baby. She's sick or the baby is moving or she's worried she's spotting. She's got a thousand different medical emergencies, and Winter runs every time she's called."

"So go over there and spend the night."

"Tried that. Ivy kept banging on the separating wall, telling us to tone it down and that she was trying to sleep. Winter's bed is cheap as fuck and makes a ton of noise. So we tried the floor, and we were still too loud."

Adam nodded. "Yeah, she's cock blocking you, but why? She still want in your jockeys?"

I thought about the heavy come-on earlier in the day. It was calculated and had no sexual intent. "No, I think it has to do with the fact she doesn't like that Winter would rather spend time with me than her."

He took a long draw and blew out the smoke. We both watched it waft in front of his face and then evaporate into the air.

"What's the best case scenario?"

"From whose point of view?" I asked.

"The fuck? Yours. I don't care about the other two."

I bristled and pointed the bat at him, "Don't talk like that about Winter."

Adam smirked. "See, choices are already being whittled down."

"Ideal scenario? Winter pregnant with my baby."

Adam's mouth dropped open, and the cigarette hung precariously on the edge of his lip. I resisted the temptation to grind it below my boot before it fell and started a fire on the Astroturf. If e-cigs could do that. I didn’t know.

"That's not the response I thought you'd give."

"What would it be?"

"No one being pregnant."

"Yeah, okay, I could live with that one too." I set down the bat and walked around the net. He handed me a drink, and I drained it but the alcohol didn't make me feel better. It never did. "Remember that night, the one right after Dad died?"

"The one where you passed out in your truck with Ivy?"

"That's the one. She's saying we had sex that night, and I'm the baby’s daddy."

He whistled. "Holy shit. I'm guessing that neither of you has said a word to Winter?"

"I don't believe it's true for a second. I was fully clothed. She was fully clothed. Did we look like we'd had sex?"

He squinted hard trying to remember that night. "No, it smelled like a brewery inside there, and you were both at the opposite sides of the truck. So if you had sex, you must have hated it because you weren't anywhere near each other."

"Right. None of it makes sense. She's lying for some reason, but what if she tells Winter?"

"You ought to tell Winter first. Tell her about that night, what Ivy's saying, and just lay it all out there."

"How happy do you think Winter is going to be that I got drunk with her sister?"

"Happier than if she found out you’re her sister's baby daddy."

We stared at each other and then, because the situation was absurd, we laughed. Mine was a sickly laugh. "Good point."

"Let's have a party. We'll invite Ivy, and while she's being occupied, you take Winter up to your room and explain what happened. That way Ivy can't cock block you, and you'll get the truth out there."

"I don't know," I said slowly trying to examine the idea from all angles.

"You got a better idea?"

"No."

Adam shrugged. "Problem solved."