"That's right."
"What do you do?"
"I'm in the Navy."
"Oh really? So you know all about how to handle yourself on a boat."
"That's right. You're in good hands."
"I feel so safe now."
I could practically hear Claire gagging, which only made me smile larger.
"What about you, Lydie? What do you do?"
"Brand management," she said proudly.
"That's corporate speak for getting clients wasted and making them happy," Claire added.
"Sounds like a good job to me."
"Well, I'm still in school. I'm just an intern right now."
"What about you, sis? Any big jobs lined up yet?"
She shrugged, not really interested, looking out over the water. I took a sip of the whisky and let the burning, delicious taste fill my mouth. There was a short silence while Lydie refilled her glass.
"Okay, you guys," Lydie said, "let's play a drinking game."
"No way," Claire said immediately.
"What did you have in mind?" I asked.
"Never have I ever, obviously."
I smirked. "And how do we play that?"
"Well, we each take turns saying something we haven't done. If you have done it, then you take a drink."
"Seems simple."
"I can't believe you've never played," Claire said.
"Sorry, sis. Been too busy saving lives to play many drinking games."
That shut her up.
"Okay, I'll start," Lydie said. "Never have I ever had anal sex."
I raised an eyebrow at Claire. No sip. I lifted my glass to my lips, and the two girls both stared at me.
"Seriously?" Claire said, her eyes bugging out.
"What can I say? Girl I was with before my last deployment had a wide variety of tastes. I'm not the type to disappoint a lady."
Lydie giggled nervously.
"She doesn't sound like a lady," Claire spat.
I smirked at her, loving the jealousy.
"Don't judge what you haven't tried, sis."
"Go ahead, Claire. Your turn," Lydie said, easing the situation.
"Fine. Never have I ever driven a boat."
I sipped my drink again. "Seems unfair."
"All's fair in drinking games."
"My turn then. Never have I ever worn makeup."
Both the girls drank.
"Lame," Lydie said. "My turn. Never have I ever had a threesome."
Neither Claire nor I took a sip, and Claire gave Lydie a glare.
"I'm surprised," Lydie said, slapping my arm. "You seem like a threesome kind of man. You could handle two girls, I bet."
"So far, it's been one at a time."
"Don't be gross, Lydie," Claire interrupted.
"What, I'm just saying."
"Your turn, Claire," I said.
"Fine. Let me think." She took a drink and sighed. "Okay. Never have I ever ridden on a motorcycle."
Lydie and I took a drink.
"Okay then," I said. "Never have I ever gone to college."
Both girls took a drink.
"Are you trying to get us drunk?" Lydie asked coyly.
"Not at all. Just playing the game."
"Sure." She smiled and moved closer to me. I glanced at Claire but couldn't read the look on her face.
"Never have I ever," Lydie said, "killed a man."
I looked at her for a second. I knew she was just a silly girl, probably a little dumb, but that wasn't really something men like me wanted to talk about. Everyone knew it was a part of our job, but only the most tone-deaf actually asked us about it.
"Lydie!" Claire said, shocked. "Nate, you don't have to."
I shook my head. "It's fine." I took a sip of my drink. "It's part of what I am."
Lydie grinned hugely at me, and I wanted to throw her overboard.
"Never have I ever," Claire said quickly, "made out with more than three guys in one night."
"Claire!" Lydie took a drink. "Don't try to embarrass me."
"Never have I ever had an orgasm in this town," I said before they could start bickering. I sensed a strange tension between the two of them.
Both of the girls took a sip of their drinks, Claire glaring at me the whole time. She was so fucking sexy it was driving me insane. She clearly was pissed as hell at her friend for throwing herself at me, but she clearly didn't think she could say anything. And she was probably right; we were stepsiblings, after all.
"I have a good one," Lydie announced, giving Claire an evil look. "Never have I ever been a virgin at twenty-one."
I blinked. Claire's mouth fell open in shock, and then quickly her look turned to anger.
"What the fuck, Lydie? Didn't we just talk about this?"
"What? It's true! You have to drink." Lydie filled her glass again.
"I'm done playing," Claire announced, standing.
"Oh come on, Claire, don't ruin the fun," Lydie said.
"Whatever. You two can have fun without me." She stormed off, disappearing downstairs.
I stared after her, completely in shock.
Did she just admit to being a virgin?
No way that was true. There was just no way. Sure, she was uptight, a little prissy, but she was a rich girl. All rich chicks were like that until you got underneath the surface. There was no way a virgin would act like Claire did the night we first met. No way a virgin would come so hard and make me so fucking wild with lust. She was like a lightning bolt directly to my nervous system. How could she be a virgin?
But Lydie said she was.
My mind was spinning, shock warring inside me.
I looked at Lydie. "Is she really a virgin?"
"Oh yeah," Lydie said, taking it as an opportunity to shit on her competition. "She says she wants to swipe that card, but she's so picky."
"I see."
So it was true. Claire was a virgin. My fucking sexy as hell stepsister, the one that moaned and came like a fireball behind the club, was a virgin. I couldn't believe it at all.
"Let's keep playing," Lydie said.
"Sure," I replied absently.
She started back up, but I was hardly listening. I played along, drinking when I had to and taking my turn, but I was barely paying any attention. My mind was firmly locked on the memory of Claire's wet pussy under my fingers and the way she was grinding against me.
Her virgin wet pussy. I couldn't believe a virgin could come like that, with such intensity.
Did I really want to get involved with a virgin, though? That shit could lead to serious consequences. Who knew how clingy she'd get afterward. I couldn't handle getting too attached or involved with someone, especially a virgin. My life was full of uncertainty and danger, and any mission could be my last. I couldn't let people get too close to me.
It just didn't seem like it was worth the risk. Lydie looked fine enough, and she was practically throwing her tits at me. All I had to do was open my mouth and she'd pop a nipple between my teeth.
If things weren't complicated enough, they just got that much worse.
CLAIRE
Lydie could be such a bitch sometimes.
I was reeling as I climbed up to the top deck. I sat down in a chair toward the back of the boat, as far away from the other two as possible. Lydie's words and Nate's face kept running through my head, over and over.
She had no right to tell him anything. That was obvious. Except to Lydie, she was just joking around, and so that made it okay. She didn't have any boundaries and thought that nobody else did, either. If she was joking, everything was okay, and it would probably be my own fault for getting annoyed at her amazing sense of humor.
I was starting to wonder why I was even friends with her at all. True, she'd been really good to me in the past, but these last two days had been nothing but misery from her. She seemed more interested in chasing boys than in being my friend, let alone a decent person. It was frustrating, because I could remember a time when Lydie was good to me.
We'd been inseparable for years. We met freshman year and had lived together as soon as we got out of the dorms. It was like love at first sight or something, and we just clicked. But the past year had changed Lydie, and for the worse. Although she'd been there when I really needed a friend, she'd suddenly become this new person that just wanted to party all the time.
I liked a good party, but not every single day of my life. Lydie couldn't seem to see past her own stupid face anymore.
And then there was Nate. As soon as he had realized that I was a virgin, his jaw had dropped and he had looked at me like I had two heads. It wasn't like I planned on keeping that from him, but then again, why was it his business? It wasn't like I was going to fuck him anytime soon. He was my stepbrother. I couldn't imagine losing my virginity to my stepbrother of all people. That'd be so wrong.
Still, I hated being looked at like that, especially by him. I wanted him to want me, I realized, even if it was totally messed up. I wanted my stepbrother to whisper dirty things in my ear. But suddenly, thanks to Lydie being a huge whorebag, I was this alien monster that'd never been touched.
He probably thought I was some weird cat lady or like an overly emotional clinger or something. But the truth was, having sex had just never felt right. While all my peers were busy humping anything they saw, I kept holding out hope for someone decent to go through that experience with.