Two.

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Landon

This is going to be hilarious. I knew there would be a good reason to bring my kit, and this is it. It’s just gone six am, I’ve already slept far more than I ever usually do, mostly because I’m sleeping alone, and even though no-one else is awake yet, I’m going to give them all a little ten-hut alarm clock to start the day. If Rachel wants us to act like a family, I’ll show her I mean to. This is exactly what a brother would do to his sister.

Tilly is half in the bed, half out of it. One long, slender leg curls around the duvet, while the other hides inside it. I can see the thin fabric of her panties clinging tightly to a nicely shaped ass although I can’t quite make out the color of them. Light is already creeping in through gaps in the drapes to the French windows, but not enough to pull her awake.

The house is silent. It’s practically the middle of the night still in some people’s worlds, and here I am, crouched over my brand new stepsister, my helmet and shoulder pads on, and dark lines painted carefully underneath my eyes. In the weird half light, I look like some kind of sports monster.

We used to do this to rookies at training camps, just to see how they’d react. If they took the joke well, you knew they’d fit in. I want to see if Tilly’s got the same kind of bottle. That, and I want to spook her out for making such an issue out of sleeping in here in the first place. I mean, what’s wrong with sharing a room anyway? It’s not like I’m some kind of sex addict or anything that finds any nubile girl irresistible. If she can’t handle being in the same room as me because of some crush, that’s her issue not mine. She ought to know I’m out of the game, and anyway, like I said already, I’d have to be totally desperate to do my own step sister, no matter how much she pretends she doesn’t want it.

I get my face as close to hers as I can, crouched over so when she wakes she’s going to be practically trapped in beneath me. I can feel her breath cooling on my lips, and a heat rising off her body that feels like an invitation to join her.

She’s sleeping so deeply I’m going to have to be noisy to wake her. I begin to breathe through my nose. I tense my shoulders and I count down from three. She’s going to freak when she works out what’s going on.

“Omaha! Ten-hut, ten-hut, red eighty ten-hut.”

Tilly wakes up with a snap, smashes her forehead violently against my helmet and flails at me wildly with swinging punches of sleep tired arms. When she’s just about caught her breath and worked out it’s me, not some ax-murderer from the countryside, she’s pressed up against the far wall, and shaking like a leaf. I can’t stop laughing. It hurts so much I have to hold my sides.

A moment later Dad comes in and throws the room into light. Rachel is seconds behind him, her eye mask slid up on to the top of her head.

“You fucking ass-hole.”

In her haste to get away from me, it seems like Tilly has forgotten she’s almost naked. She looks good in her nearly see through, naughty little red panties, and I wonder if she’s put them on for me especially. There is absolutely no sign of her timidness now.

“What on earth is going on here?”

Dad looks at the scene with a face twisted by confusion. Tilly up by the wall, obviously pissed off, me standing in the middle of the room dressed for a game, laughing like I’ve just been told the world’s funniest joke. It’s kind of a weird thing to see first thing in the morning.

I compose myself as best I can, but tears are streaming out of my eyes and it takes me a moment to speak without stuttering.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Oh man, I was just heading out for some practise. I didn’t think you two would be here to be honest. I thought everyone would already be up eating breakfast or out looking for animals.”

I hold my hands up to apologize, but Tilly’s having none of it. I didn’t expect her to get this scared to be honest, but she looks like she’s seen a ghost. The whole thing has worked perfectly.

“Practise? Are you serious? Since when is waking people up in the middle of the night, dressed like some fucking cartoon character part of an American football game?”

“Tilly, language.”

I decide now might be a good time to take off my helmet.

“I’m sorry, I was trying to be quiet. I guess I got a bit excited. I didn’t mean to wake anyone up.”

Rachel looks more concerned by her daughter’s somewhat erratic appearance than mine. “Tilly, are you alright?”

All eyes go to Tilly.

“No, I’m not alright. He woke me up. On purpose.”

All eyes come to me.

“I must have tripped over the bed trying to find the door handle. I guess it’s kind of hard not to wake someone up if they sleep in the living room.”

Tilly narrows her eyes at me. “You asshole.”

“Right, that’s enough.”

This is like some kind of contemporary American Mexican stand off. It’s a weird scene - me in my team kit, Dad and Rachel in matching pajamas, Tilly like some rising star in a barely legal porn film. We could all be extras in a kind of odd theatre production.

“We might as well get up now and make the most of the day.”

At least Rachel is positive.

“I was sleeping.”

“And now you can make the most of the day. Besides which, Landon is right, sleeping in here might not be the most convenient place if you want to lie in.”

Any lower and Tilly’s jaw would be scrapping on the floor. When she realizes she’s outnumbered, unfairly so or not, she barges past me, pushing her shoulder strongly into my chest before entering the bathroom and slamming the door. A moment later, before any of us have even had a chance to say another word, she’s back out amongst us. We all watch her rifle around in her bag of clothes, pull out a suitable outfit and disappear again into the bathroom.

The walls are too thin to hide her frustrated screams.

“What an earth has got into her?” Rachel says.

I shrug. “Beats me. Maybe she’s just not a morning person like the rest of us.”

We eat breakfast in silence. Actually, that’s not strictly true. Dad, Rachel and I eat breakfast like a family would, and because Tilly refuses to sit down at the table she eats hers on her own at the very end of the garden.

I think she’s still pissed off with me. Yeah, alright, no one wants to get woken up like that, but there’s no point in dwelling on it either. It’s done, there’s nothing she can do to change it, she might as well suck it up and move on. I tell her that, but all it does is infuriate her further. I bet she’s just pissed off she didn’t think of doing it to me first.

When I’ve eaten, and Dad and Rachel have sorted out their plans for the day, I go and find Tilly to try and get her back on side.

It’s only been a couple of hours, but I don’t think I can cope with the prospect of six more days of the silent treatment, especially not here in the middle of nowhere, and even though she wasn’t exactly my number one fan before this morning, at least she was still talking to me.

Dad and Rachel want to go for a country walk, which means if Tilly’s still giving me the stink eye, I either go with them and get bored, or I stay here and get bored. If she’s going to give up so easily, just because of a little early morning fright, I might as well call it a day now and go back to the city. Whether she likes me or not I can cope with, what I can’t cope with is her ignoring me completely.  

What did she expect when she was told she was getting a new big brother anyway? If she’s got anyone to blame it’s her mom and my dad for deciding to bring the families together.

I find her at the end of the garden looking out over the endless countryside beyond it.

“Nice color, red, it suits you.”

There’s that look again, like she could melt lead just by thinking about it.

“Fuck off.”

I guess I shouldn’t have started with a joke, even if I meant it.

“Come on, Tilly, I was only messing around.”

“Whatever.”

I sit down on the grass next to her.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“You know you swear a lot for someone so cute?”

I don’t get anything but an eye roll to that comment. She doesn’t move away though, which I guess is a positive sign.

“I mean it. You know, if you weren’t my step-sister.”

“Stop fucking around, Landon.”

“And if I wasn’t already out of the game.”

“You are unbelievable, you know that? You are so arrogant that you think I’d be interested in you even if you were available? That for some reason you telling me all of this is somehow helping me to forget about this morning and helping us form a bond with each other.”

“I’m just saying.”

“This is how you apologize? You tell me you would fuck me if you could. Do you even know how fucked up that is?”

This is going less well than I thought it would, and I’m not even sure how we got onto this subject.

“I was just trying to pay you a compliment, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, don’t is my advice.”

“I didn’t say I’d fuck you either. You said that. I just said you were cute.”

Tilly shakes her head. She is cute, even if she doesn’t realize it. I get the impression that not enough people have told her it. Actually, thinking about it, I probably would fuck her if she wasn’t my step-sister and I hadn’t been banned from any kind of situation like this that could get me in trouble. She’s hot. Young and inexperienced maybe, but definitely feisty. She’s in denial too, and I can see it even if she doesn’t. That turns me on. Just me being her stepbrother isn’t going to stop her from crushing on me. It might stop her from taking it any further, and it’ll definitely make her deny it, but it won’t stop her from feeling what she does.

“What do you want?”

“Why don’t you admit it?”

“Why don’t I admit what?”

“It’s not weird you know if we’re not related. It’s pretty normal. You just don’t want to admit it because it’ll mean I’m right.”

“You are unbelievable.”

Tilly’s smiling a little now, I think because there’s nothing else she can do. Smiling, shaking her head, going red like the color of her panties.

“Anyway, my dad and your mom are going on a nature trail together and they want to know if we are going to go with them.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I told them I’d ask you and see what you were going to do.”

“I’m pissed off with you, Landon, you know that right? This morning was completely out of order.”

“Come on, Tilly, it wasn’t that bad. Are you going to stay pissed off with me all vacation for something so stupid?”

“Probably.”

I know she isn’t. I know she’s already softening. I know she’s probably at her happiest when I’m giving her attention, and I know she probably loves the fact that I’ve come all the way down here to talk to her even though she’s doing her best to pretend that she doesn’t. Who wouldn’t?

“At least you’re talking to me again.”

“Are you really that shallow that you can’t cope with someone not giving you attention for an hour?”

“Yes, I’m really that shallow. Come on, I don’t want us to spend the whole week fighting, I was only messing around.”

“And I’m not talking to you anyway. Not really. I haven’t forgiven you yet.”

“Yes you have.”

“I’ll kill you if you wake me up like that again.”

“How would you like me to wake you up then? Ah, wait, I think I know how.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“I haven’t said anything. You’re the one with the dirty mind.”

Tilly pulls at a handful of grass and throws it towards me.

“How long have you been banned off it? Is this what I’ve got to cope with? Landon Maddox, the sex addict.”

“Too long, and I’ve got to last all summer. All next season probably too, unless I can find someone that doesn’t want to sell their story. It’s insane, and completely unfair.”

“Poor Landon.”

I tear at the grass myself, throwing a handful in her direction.

“It means you and I are out, so don’t even think about trying to seduce me. If the press got hold of a story about me fucking my stepsister, my career would be finished.”

“Maybe we should do it then, it might make you realize how much of a complete and utter dick you are.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I already know how much of a dick I am.”

Tilly holds my gaze for a while before looking away.

“That’s not what I meant.”

I jab my fingers into her ribs to get her attention.

“Hey!” She pushes me hands away and regains her distance.

“Why do you hate me so much anyway?”

“If you don’t know already, I’ll give you a week to find out.”

“Not planning to see me after the vacation then?”

Tilly shakes her head.

“No, not if I can avoid it.”

“Perhaps you won’t be able to.”

“You think I won’t be able to resist you? Landon Maddox, the biggest head in the NFL.”

“Your words, not mine.”

“Your world, not mine.”

“It is now.”

“Not if I can help it.”

I see her eyes dip, caught by something.

“I can see you’re already doing that well.”

“Landon?”

“What?”

“Landon!”

I follow her eyes down to where they are indicating for me to look and realize I’m erect. I’m not just semi hard either, I’m practically poking out of the pocket of my jeans. Tilly puts her hand over her mouth in what is either shock or a damn good impression of it.

“Fuck.”

I knew I was stirring, but I hadn’t realized just by how much. When you’ve got a big dick, it’s kind of hard to hide it sometimes. I can’t help but laugh. I try to reposition myself to hide it, but it isn’t working. I’ve been rumbled. I’ve also been taken by surprise. That’s never happened on any of the modelling shoots I’ve done, so I’ve no idea why it’s happening now. Maybe the body lusts what it knows it can’t have. That would make things a little complicated.

It takes me a moment to realize that Tilly still has her hand over her mouth, not because she’s shocked by what she’s seen, but because she’s trying not to laugh too. It’s her mother’s voice rolling across the garden towards us that finally kills it and brings us both back to reality.

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Tilly

What a prick. If he thinks I’m going to fall for yet another cheap shot, he’s got another thing coming. After that bullshit wake up call this morning, I’m not going to let him play me like he thinks he is. I know what he wants. He wants me to throw myself at him like every other dumb bimbo that comes under his spell, and embarrass myself in the process.

Well that isn’t going to happen. Even if I wanted it to, it wouldn’t, and just for the record, I don’t want it to. It’s the last thing I want. His hands all over me? That thing between his legs between mine? Not a chance in hell. Not even if hell freezes over and we are the last two people on this planet. Not Landon Maddox. Not now, not ever. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure.

We’re going for a walk, as a family, although it turns out in order to get to the beginning of the trail Marvin has chosen, we have to drive there first, for an hour and thirty minutes, along windy paths that look like farmer’s tracks.

We’re not more than twenty minutes from the house before we get lost, find out we’ve gone full circle twice and have to flag a passing tractor down to get directions. I would have stayed at home if I was left with that option, but apparently if I had done, I would have let the team down. Not even family anymore, team. Even more so because Landon seemed so enthusiastic that I came along. Either we all go or none of us go. He’s like a puppy with too much energy that’s decided it won’t leave me alone.

I’m not exactly dressed for it, but neither is Landon. I might not have the country look, but at least I’ve had the presence of mind to wear boots. I’ll give the all star athlete ten minutes before he starts complaining his feet are sore. That should serve him right.

To be fair, the scenery here is spectacular, and although it’s hot, it’s nice to be out of that tiny house and in the middle of nowhere. I thought I’d never say it, but being in the middle of nowhere is actually a lot more relaxing that I thought it would be. I’ve brought my cell anyway, just, you know, on the off chance there’s a signal out here, but I’d be just as happy not being able to use it.

Marvin has selected what he has referred to as a gentle hike, which is supposed to take us past a lake and nature reserve stocked full of a wide variety of different birds and other wildlife with important but impossible to remember names, and back to the car in a kind of oval loop. I had no idea he was such a geek about stuff like this, which makes me wonder briefly whether Landon might not be his biological son after all, until a close analysis of their mannerisms tells me otherwise.

They don’t look all that similar, but they carry themselves almost exactly the same way. It’s curious. Landon’s undoubtedly got swag, but on his dad it comes across as something different. It’s the same movement with a completely different drive. On Landon it comes across as arrogance, whereas on Marvin it’s something more akin to deference. If he paid attention, Landon could learn a lot from his father.

Over the first fifteen minutes of the walk, I find myself watching Mom and wondering how similar the two of us are. I never knew how much of a geek she was either, but with Marvin by her side, the two of them look like a matching pair of nerds. Both of them have their binoculars ready to spy the birds, their trekking boots to weather all conditions, waterproof shorts and jacket, and no doubt a box of rations in case of emergency. She’s nothing like me, thank God. I would die if I ended up like that.

Out here, Landon is like a little child. He’s either running from the end of one field to the next, chasing away birds, picking flowers he shouldn’t or just generally causing mayhem. Actually, he’s more like a little dog than a little boy, because children are generally much more intelligent. Maybe he’s never seen the countryside at all. He’s certainly giving that impression.

Thirty minutes in, when Landon has worn himself out enough, and although he’s not saying it but I know his feet are sore from wearing the stupid team issue flip flops he’s brought along, we all kind of fall into a line and trudge along the sun beated track, Marvin at the front, Landon at the back and Mom and I pegged in the middle.

“I’m hungry.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“Did we bring any food?

“Did I bring any food, or did you bring any food?”

“Dad?”

Like I say, he can’t go two minutes without needing some kind of attention. I guess it’s that ego he has to feed.

“We’ll have lunch when we get back home.”

“We have to wait until we get back home? Didn’t you bring any chocolate or anything?”

“No.”

“That’s not very survivalist, is it?”

“You’ll have to catch and kill a duck.”

“I can’t believe we didn’t bring any chocolate.”

We stop for a moment while Marvin points out some exotic species of bird in the air, which Landon and I can’t see because we don’t have binoculars. We all have to wait patiently until Marvin confirms it’s flown over, and all I see are wisps of cloud and hazy lines choked by too much sun. When Marvin has jotted it down in the notebook he carries around his neck, we get going again.

“Mom, since when have you been into birding?”

“Oh, you know, I’ve always dabbled.”

Mom has never dabbled. I doubt she even knows the difference between a goose and a swan, she’s here because Marvin is. I let it go. The last thing I want to do is break her illusion. If she’s happy because he is, that’s fine by me. It’s not my thing, but he’s not my husband either.

“So, Tilly, got a boyfriend?”

Now? He chooses this moment to ask me whether I’ve got a boyfriend.

“Had.”

What the fuck? “Mom!”

“You did have.”

“That question wasn’t for you though, was it?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-. It’s the same answer though isn’t it?”

“Warbler”, Marvin says quickly and stops so abruptly that I crash into Mom and Landon stumbles into the back of me.

“Jesus Christ.”

Again we wait patiently for the bird to fly over and Marvin to jot it down in his notebook.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean what happened? Nothing happened. We split up, that’s it.”

“What did he dump you for?”

This time I’m the one who stops sharply. Landon is smiling when I turn around to him.

“Come on, anyone who says ‘we split up’ really means they got dumped.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Come on, I was just making conversation.”

“Well make it about something else.”

“If it still hurts, maybe you’re not over it properly, and if you’re not over it properly, maybe that’s why you haven’t moved on.”

The Donkey giving me relationship advice? This is rich. If he wasn’t so annoying he might be quite amusing.

“I haven’t moved on because I-. Look, like I say, it’s none of your business.”

“Just trying to be helpful, Sis.”

That’s the last thing he’s trying to be and he knows it.

“Don’t call me Sis.”

“Ok, Tilly, I’m just trying to be helpful. I’m just trying to be helpful, Rachel. Tilly’s a good looking girl, I’m surprised she isn’t attached.”

Landon has a huge shit eating grin on his face when I turn to look at him.

“You’re not the only one. If Tilly found herself a man I’d be over the moon for her.”

“I am right here, you know?”

“What kind of guys do you like, Tilly?”

Alpha-male underwear models? All star athletes? Step brothers? Hmmm, let me think.

“What do you care what type of man I like?”

“Well, you know, I figure we’ve got a week here, we might as well sort out each other’s problems.”

“Problems? I’m not exactly number one in that list, Landon. Maybe we should start with you first.”

“Please do”, Marvin says.

“I hate to break it to you all, but I’m absolutely, one hundred percent problem free. The only problem I’ve got is how to keep myself entertained without going mad for the next six days.”

“You do realize that statement is contradictory.”

“Keeping someone like me caged up is contradictory. That’s like putting a tiger in a zoo.”

Landon Maddox things he’s a tiger. He’s even more delusional than I thought.

“One, you are arrogant.”

“No I’m not.”

“Two, you think the world shines out of your ass.”

“Ok, I do, but not without good reason.”

“Three, you’re attention seeking.”

I can see Marvin nodding even though Landon might not be able to.

“Wait, are these supposed to be negative things?”

I hang my head at the end of a long sigh. It’s like he just doesn’t see it. Either that, or he doesn’t want to admit it.

“Mom, what do you think?”

“I think you two are getting along much better than I could have hoped.”

Ok, Mom is just as delusional. It must be some kind of condition brought on by being in love.

“Marvin?”

Please tell me you agree with me, Marvin. Your son needs an attitude adjustment.

“I’ve been telling him the same for years, but it goes in one ear and out the other. He’s not going to change, Tilly, no matter how much we want him to. Landon is Landon. Far too talented for his own good.”

Talented is not the way I would have described it.

“Alright, my turn.”

“This ought to be good.”

“You let people walk all over you, which is probably why you were dumped.”

I bite my tongue.

“You don’t think highly enough of yourself, which is probably why you look so pissed off all the time.”

This time I can see Mom nodding. I want to believe she’s nodding at another conversation, or just nodding at random, but I know she’s not.

“You’re in denial.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Tilly, language.”

“I think you know what it means. Your problem, Tilly, is that you’re afraid of what people think of you, so you change the way you behave so you can’t get hurt. You think I’m looking for approval all the time, it’s the other way round.”

“That’s your impression after, what, twenty four hours of knowing me?”

Landon shrugs his shoulders. “I’m good at first impressions.”

“You’re wrong at first impressions.”

“Whatever. You’re the one who’s come here with some kind of ax to grind. I came here to meet my new sister, not tell her how much of a bad person she is.”

“Step sister.”

“There, that. Why does that bother you so much?”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

“Tell me what I don’t get.”

“You. Landon Maddox. You’re everywhere. I can’t go a minute without seeing you. Landon Maddox did this, Landon Maddox broke that record, The Donkey fucked another girl, or flashed his dick in another magazine. And all the time I see you with that same cocky smile like you own the world. You have never once given me the impression that you care about anyone else but yourself. You are here because your coach ordered you to come, not because you wanted to get to know us as a family. Because you couldn’t keep your dick in your own pants. You didn’t even go to your own Dad’s wedding. His only son didn’t come to his wedding. You realize how selfish that is?”

“I had a pretty decent excuse.”

“Whatever. I’m not the only one who thinks it. I know Mom’s all rose tinted glasses, but I know how she really feels. She’s being polite to bite her tongue. The world does not stop when Landon Maddox says so, no matter what you think. No one person is as important as you think you are, especially not yourself. If you don’t figure that out soon, you are suddenly going to find yourself with no-one left. Why do you think all the girls you fuck sell their stories? Yeah Landon Maddox has a big dick, but it’s not as big as his ego. I’ll tell you a secret, and every girl will give you the same answer, if it was a choice between both of those things being huge, or both of those things being normal sized, I know which I would choose.”

When I’m done, I’m almost out of breath. Mom and Marvin are far off into the distance and Landon is looking at me like I’m a crazy woman possessed.

“Is that it?”

“You want me to go on? I’ll go on all week if you want me to.”

“Yeah, somehow I don’t doubt that. You know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think you seriously need to get laid.”

I stay there rooted to the spot, while Landon barges past me, strides heavily away and eventually catches up with Mom and Marvin. From across the field, I watch the wave to me, beckoning me over to join them.

Laid? When was the last time I even thought about getting laid, let alone when it last happened. Is that how The Donkey’s going to solve my problems, with his magic fucking wand?

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Landon

Oh, man, she is so uptight. Listening to her is like reading one of the hundreds of newspaper columns that just don’t get it. She’s jealous, that’s all it is. It’s that toxic sensation that creeps into people when they see others enjoying themselves, having a good time and doing something that makes them happy. She’s just upset because she’s not doing art, or whatever it is she wants to do that will make her happy, and because of it, she’s going to be alone, every night. I understand why now, especially if she’s that vicious with every man she meets. She’s got to loosen up. Yeah I think highly of myself, but I’m not doing anyone any harm. Besides which, I am as good as I think I am. I’m a damn good athlete, I’m getting to the top of my game, even though I know there is room for improvement, and despite what she says, everyone loves me, even more than I do in some cases.

I think it’s just the denial thing I already told her about. She can’t cope with the fact that she agrees with me. Not only does she agree with me, she actually likes me. It’s just she isn’t meant to be that person, and she doesn’t want to lump herself with the masses. She’s the arrogant one, because she is desperate to prove that she can resist me, when both of us know she can’t. It’s academic anyway, which makes me laugh, because there is no way we can ever be together.

If she keeps fighting it, she’ll eventually wear herself down. She can’t keep hiding from the truth forever. I can’t wait to see her face when that day comes, when she finally admits to me that even though I talk a good game, I give one too. You ask those hundreds of girls how they feel, even though they may have gone on to sell their stories, and I bet they’ll all tell you they’ve never had better. You ask all the top coaches in the league and all the players too who the best player in the AFC or the NFC is today, and has been for the last three years, objectively, they’ll all say me, unequivocally. My talent isn’t in doubt, and I don’t see the reason to be all coy about hiding it. I’m not saying anyone else is bad, I’m just saying they aren’t as good as me.

Tilly falls back for a while chewing over what I said to her, which gives me a chance to talk to Rachel and find out a little bit about her teenage daughter.

If I’m stuck here for a week, I might as well give myself a project. That’ll show Tilly I can demonstrate my interest, even if it’s not entirely noble.

That ex-boyfriend turns out to be the only boyfriend she’s ever had, and the whole relationship lasted a month and a half. Shock horror. That’s almost as short as some of mine. Aside from that, and despite being pretty damn sexy when she puts her mind to it - the image of her in her red panties is now imprinted on my brain and I can’t tell whether it’s just because I’m chomping at the bit to get laid - Tilly has had little other romantic involvement, at least nothing she’s told her mother about.

They don’t have a close relationship, of course, which sort of reflects the kind of relationship I have with my dad.

H’s supportive, and he’s always been there for me, but we never talk about feelings and bullshit like that. I always thought it would be different between two woman, but I guess not, and the kind of shit she’s liberally telling me now, I get the impression is the kind of stuff she wouldn’t sit down and talk to Tilly about.

Maybe that’s why she’s behaving like such a dick around me. If she hasn’t had time to build up strong relationships with men, maybe she just doesn’t know how to behave around them.

Rachel confides that she thinks Tilly was responsible for pushing him away, that she wasn’t flexible enough and eventually he got tired of trying to change her.

“She’s always been set in her ways, you know with the art and stuff, determined, which is great, but stubborn too. I think it’s held her back. It’s the reason she won’t do any old job to pay the bills. She won’t listen either. She has to do it her way.”

“Sounds familiar.”

“Yeah, I was right though, Dad”, I point out.

“And so is Tilly, and everyone else who believes strongly enough that they are.”

“I think she’s lonely.”

We’ve stopped now, waiting for Tilly to catch up with us at a place where the trail divides into two parts. From here, trudging along the track, her dress billowing in the wind and her arms folded across her chest - her ample chest I have to admit - she does look lonely.

Finally she catches up to us. Whether sister or stranger, and despite what she said earlier, I’m beginning to warm to her. I can feel it inside me, like that sensation you get after a big meal. It’s good to have her back with us, even if it’s just to throw insults at me.

“Are we nearly done? I’m starving and my feet hurt.”

Fuck, mine too. Mine hurt like hell.

“Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes back to the car.”

“And then an hour and a half from there.”

Tilly falls alongside me for a moment, before the track narrows and she has to go in front. I can’t resist it.

“Have you ever been a cheerleader, Tilly?”

An extended middle finger, pointed aggressively in my direction, couldn’t have been a more perfect answer.

***

At home, I spend the afternoon getting the jacuzzi working, while Tilly sunbathes out on the deck. For a girl that can’t stand being around me half the time, she seems to be spending a decent amount of time in my shadow.

I try and strike up a conversation but she’s clearly still pissed off from earlier. She grunts a couple of responses to my suggestion that she really ought to be sunbathing in her bikini if she wants to get a tan, and then loses herself for much of the rest of the afternoon in her book.

Rachel and Dad occupy themselves by planning the outings for the rest of the week, cooking, transferring notes from one ledger to another, and then sleeping. When I go into the house to try and find the mains valve for the water, I catch them crashed out on the sofa, huddled together and snoring away.

With the jacuzzi filling up, I try again with Tilly.

“The time would pass much faster if we got along, you know.”

“The time is passing just fine, thanks.”

“You going to join me?”

“I told you, I don’t have my bikini.”

“I don’t have my bikini either, but it’s not going to stop me. It’s exactly what your body needs after a long walk. A bath and a massage.”

“No, thank you.”

“Not even the massage part?”

Tilly looks over towards me, out over the top of her sunglasses like Rachel has a tendency to do.

“You’re going to give me a massage? You?”

“I might if I knew you’d appreciate it.”

“I think that’s one step too far, don’t you? The great Landon Maddox doing something for someone else for a change. What would the papers say? It might ruin your reputation.”

“Suit yourself.”

She’s back to her book now, but I know she’s thinking about it. My hands all over her skin, caressing the parts of her body the sun isn’t reaching. The parts no-one has touched for a while.

I catch myself wondering if she regularly masturbates. I catch myself thinking that I might have to soon.

“The water is the perfect temperature.”

“So make sure you enjoy it before it goes cold.”

I don’t have my swimming trunks, but fuck it, I’m not going to let that hold me back. My feet are so sore from that walk they need soaking. I’m not going to come to a property that has a jacuzzi and not use it.

“You’re not going to offer to give me one?”

“There is no part of you that needs any more massaging, Landon.”

I beg to differ. There’s one very specific part of me that would respond extremely well to that. I watch Tilly turn the page, but I know already she’s stopped reading the book. She stopped when I took my T-shirt off and pretended not to look.

Maybe it’s best she doesn’t get in with me based on what happened at the end of the garden this morning. I thought it would be easier to hold myself back, but I guess not. I must be even more virile than I thought I was. It doesn’t help that she’s hot either. Annoying maybe, but definitely hot. I mean I know she’s my step sister and everything but a man can be objective.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get in it?”

I’ve got to stop thinking like this. There is no way that this can end well if I carry on along this road. I imagine the headlines as I slowly peel away the rest of my layers, making sure I’m doing so in plain view of Tilly. I’m playing with fire but I can’t help it. It’s only day two as well. What the hell is going to happen on day seven?

Landon Maddox in shock affair with his stepsister. Landon Maddox couldn’t keep it in his pants. The family member that ended Maddox’s career. The Donkey falls in love.

Fuck. Where the hell did that come from?

Tilly slams her book shut, and without even taking a single look at me, stood there in my boxer shorts like a Roman God, slides open the French windows and heads on inside.

A moment later, water spills insultingly out of the top of the jacuzzi, seeping quickly through the decking towards the dry earth below.