My Cookie-Baking Sister

Travis turned to Kate and asked, "How's your dad's social media going?"

"Pretty well. I'm slowing down right now because of my school and because I'm saving material for when the new book is published."

Our dad is Jeremy Larson, the writer. He's written mostly mysteries and most of the mysteries were set in Nashville and had to do with the country music industry. None of them were best-sellers and his writing provided a modest income. Dad made most of his money during the summer when he did a speaking tour all over the US. I was his driver and gofer during those speaking tours. Kate ghostwrote his Facebook page and tweets. Mom handled the financial side of Dad's writing career as well as all of the scheduling. It was a family business.

Kate and Travis talked for a long time while I studied and ate cookies. The conversation often had a flirty tone. Travis seemed to be pulling out all his charm. If Kate wanted Travis to flirt pointlessly with her, she was being very successful. I made sure to stay in the room with the two of them so nothing would get out of hand.

* * * *

The next day, Kate called me. "It was a lot of fun flirting with Travis last night. Would you mind if I came over this Saturday?"

"Saturday? I don't see any problem. Why Saturday?"

Kate told me what she was thinking.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

Kate was very quiet. Finally, she said, "I do. It really hurt that he went out with someone else instead of me. I mean, I went on birth control. That's how serious I thought Travis was. Then to find out that he had never meant it, that he had been feeding me a line so he could get in my pants? That it he had been pursuing someone else at the same time, and that he picked her over me? I super want him to regret his decision. I want him to kick himself every day that he doesn't have me as his girlfriend."

I wasn't comfortable with Kate upping her flirting with Travis. I'd let it go and move on. I decided to change topics to give me time to think through Kate's suggestion. "Why did you kiss me the other night?"

"Oh, that. I...um...well...I'm sorry."

I laughed. "I didn't ask you to apologize. I asked you why you did it." Though I was glad she apologized.

"I did it to win a bet with Steph." Kate said quickly, "She didn't bet me that I'd kiss you!" Kate paused, "It just..."

Stephanie was Kate's best friend. She was bookish like Kate but not nearly as good-looking. She had let me know a couple of times she was open to dating me. I could do (and did!) much better.

"Start from the beginning," I said.

"When I was making cookies that Wednesday, Steph came over unexpectedly." Steph lived two doors down and frequently dropped by without asking. "Well, you know how she's always looking down on me because she's dated and I haven't? Well, I decided it would sound lame to say I was baking cookies for you to spite Travis. I said something that implied I was making them for Travis. I told her about how I had flirted with Travis last week. She didn't believe I had done that. I even had to put on the T-shirt I wore because she didn't believe I'd wear something so tight."

I smiled at the memory. She had looked awesome in that tight T-shirt but it definitely wasn't her style.

Kate continued. "Anyway, she bet me I couldn't get a kiss when I delivered the cookies. I didn't want to make the bet!" said Kate in a rush. "But then...I decided our usual kisses on the cheek would qualify. Steph can be so smug at times because she's had a boyfriend and I haven't. I thought it would be great to let her think I had kissed a college junior."

"Okay." Then seemed like a reasonable plan.

"Then Steph said it had to be a real kiss, not a peck on the cheek." Kate groaned in frustration. "I felt I couldn't not take the bet after I had already agreed to get the kiss, particularly after I had talked up flirting with Travis."

"You didn't have to actually kiss anyone; you could have made up a kiss with Travis"

Kate said, "Oh, no! I couldn't have done that. I'm a terrible liar. Steph would have known I was lying."

"So you decided to kiss me on the lips when I wasn't expecting it."

"No. I didn't plan on doing that. I was planning...I was going to ask you to kiss me." Jesus! "I started to ask you to kiss me several times, but I lost my nerve each time."

"I would have said no."

Kate sighed. "I thought if I explained about the bet, you might say yes."

"I still would have said no."

"And I would have lost the bet. When it was time to go, I decided to give you a quick kiss on the lips to win the bet. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's not like you hurt me." I generally liked being kissed by pretty young women. "But don't do it again."

"All right."

High school girls do stupid things and even though I considered Kate mature for her age, she was still a high school girl - for a few more weeks. "But back to Saturday - I'm surprised you're being so vindictive with Travis."

"Well, it's not just getting revenge. It's...you know I decided to not date guys during high school. My classmates are just so immature that I think it's saved me a lot of frustration. But one drawback is that I don't have a lot of experience flirting with guys. When I get to college, I want a boyfriend who's older than me; around Travis' age. So Saturday, I'd kill two birds with one stone - get some more revenge on Travis and practice flirting with someone his age. And I feel safe flirting with him knowing that you're there just in case."

That sounded reasonable to me. "Okay. I'll stay here to make sure nothing goes wrong."

* * * *

Saturday around ten, Kate showed up at my apartment. Travis said to her, "Justin told me you were coming over. You're going to sun on our balcony?"

Kate gave Travis a big smile. "I want to get a great tan so I want to wear a bikini more revealing than Mom will let me wear. I'll go change now." Then she disappeared into my bedroom with a bag.

Travis turned to me and said, "Your mom doesn't let Kate wear small bikinis?"

"Mom would prefer Kate to always wear one-piece suits. Mom has always strongly encouraged Kate to dress conservatively." All of which was true. Mom was very happy that Kate was slow to get involved with guys.

A few minutes later, Kate called through the closed door of my bedroom, "Justin, would you come in here?"

I slipped into my room, closing the door behind me. When I turned to face Kate, I was stunned; she was wearing a bikini made up of small, bright yellow triangles connected by shoelaces. I could tell how much heft and sag each breast had. The small triangle at her crotch left most of that area exposed. Kate looked incredible. It was a struggle to keep my jaw from dropping and my tongue from hitting the floor.

Kate said, "I can't go out there looking like this." Her hands flexed and clenched, and she kept shifting her legs back and forth in front of each other.

"Then don't."

Kate seemed very frustrated. "I spent hours trimming and shaving to prepare for wearing this bikini. But now..."

"Seriously, don't do it. "If you're not comfortable having Travis see you like that, then do go out there. And I can totally understand why you wouldn't feel comfortable being seen in so risqué of a bikini." I wanted to bury my face between her tits.

"Oh my god, do I look horrible?" asked Kate on the verge of panic. I struggled to not roll my eyes. "Do I look gross? Or like a slut?"

I swallowed hard to calm myself. I said slowly, "You look great in it. Like, cover-of-Sports-Illustrated great. But it does show off a huge amount of skin."

Kate sighed, and when her shoulders sagged it did things to her cleavage that made my eyes want to pop out. "I knew when I bought it that it was a bit much. But now...I guess I don't have the nerve to wear this in front of Travis."

"And that's okay." It was hard for me to not jump her, and I was her brother. "There's plenty of time. Go buy another bikini and come back. I'm sure you'll drive Travis crazy in a far less revealing bikini. One of your one-pieces would probably work fine."

"Really? You don't think I need a skimpy suit to get his attention?"

The problem with Mom always encouraging Kate to wear very conservative swimsuits was that Kate had no clue how to balance attractiveness with modesty. "Kate, you have a lot of curves." Man, did she have great curves. "Anything that fits tightly will drive Travis crazy. It doesn't have to show off skin to show off you."

Kate gave me a small smile and then gestured downward. "I spent a lot of money on this bikini..."

I snorted. "Then you spent a lot of money for not a lot of material. That should have cost a fraction of what a one-piece costs." Kate grinned a little. "Take it back."

"I've taken the tag off. And I'd feel weird taking it back now that it's touched my shaven...uh...you know."

I tried to suppress the image that came to mind. I pulled myself together and shrugged. "Okay. Then it's an expensive lesson. Don't throw it away, and someday you may feel comfortable wearing it. But if you still want to go through with this, go get something you're comfortable wearing today."

Kate seemed relieved, but a few seconds later a look of concern came to her face. "Let me ask you a question. I want you to be totally honest." Kate turned around and looked back at me over her shoulder. "Is my butt too big?"

Kate's bikini had a small triangle which mostly disappeared between Kate's ass cheeks. She had, in my judgment, an incredible ass. Kate had hips that curved out from her stomach, so her ass wasn't small. Instead, each cheek had the perfect roundness every ass should have. The bikini revealed the smoothness of her skin and the firmness of each globe. This was an ass to be felt, squeezed, and worshiped. Suddenly, I realized that I was rock hard from checking out my sister's body.

Kate said, "I can't wear skinny jeans. No diet will ever make my butt smaller because the hip bones are just...What do you think?" she asked insecurely.

That finally knocked me out of my stunned silence. "Kate, your butt isn't too big." How should I describe my sister's ass? Being graphic would be inappropriate. "I really like the shape of your butt. You're a curvy girl, and your curves look great. Any bikini that emphasizes your curves will look great on you. And will drive Travis wild."

Kate turned around, walked close to me, and said, "Thanks."

I pulled Kate to me and hugged her. "Always do what feels right to you, Kate. You don't appreciate how amazing you are. You being you is more than enough to drive a guy like Travis nuts."

Kate held tight to me. I knew she could feel my hard prick pressing against her, but I couldn't do anything about it.

I left the bedroom. Kate changed back into her oversized sweatshirt and shorts and left the apartment. She came back an hour later, went into my bedroom, and came out in a different bikini. It was a bright blue and pink animal print whose top plunged deeply in the center to show lots of boob flesh. The bottoms were probably an inch at their narrowest and did a great job of showing a lot of ass but not too much. Kate acted much more comfortable in this suit.

Kate walked over to Travis while carrying some sunscreen and said, "Would you please spray this on me?"

Travis took the can, shook it, and started spraying Kate's exposed skin. I pretended to be busy while watching Travis and Kate out of the corner of my eye. When Travis moved behind Kate, he looked over her whole backside with an "Oh my God" look. I suppressed a grin.

Kate walked to our balcony with the chaise lounge she brought. Travis' eyes watched longingly as she walked.

Kate laid out on our balcony and read for two hours. Travis regularly went over to the balcony to talk to Kate (and check out her body some more). Then Kate went back into my bedroom and changed to go home. As she left, she hugged me and whispered in my ear, "That was so much fun."

* * * *

The next Wednesday, Kate came over with more cookies. "Where's Travis?"

"I don't know. He's usually home by now. Maybe he ran into a girl he decided to try to sweet talk."

Kate smirked. "I'd like to come over again on Saturday. Would that be okay?"

"Sure."

We talked for a little while and then Kate left.

* * * *

Travis never came home that night. The next morning, he came in wearing the same clothes he had been wearing yesterday. I gave him a roguish smile and asked, "Where have you been?"

"At Brooklynne's."

"What?" I knew only one girl named Brooklynne.

"After you said you had no interest in her, I decided to talk to her." Travis was acting nonchalant, but he knew he was talking about a girl I had spent two years of my life loving. "Last night, I visited her, and well..." He shrugged.

I felt a tremendous desire to punch Travis' lights out. "I'd think you'd stay away from Brooklynne."

"If a girl expresses interest, I'm not going to turn her down."

Travis went into his room and closed the door. My fists slowly unclenched. A few minutes later, I heard the shower start. I had told Travis I was never going to date Brooklynne again, but I felt he still should have stayed away from her. Was this Travis' revenge for my ruining his relationship with Angela? His way of getting back at me? If so, it worked brilliantly - his spending the night with Brooklynne hurt like hell.

At least they weren't dating. Travis had scored and had made his point. As always, he'd quickly move on to the next girl. Our friendship would never be the same, but we'd still get along well.

* * * *

But things didn't work as I expected. Travis came home late that evening. I hated to ask where he was but I had to know. He replied, "At Brooklynne's. She's really good in bed, so I decided to stop by for another round."

From that point, every night Travis either came home late or not at all. He never said he was dating Brooklynne. He never said much about Brooklynne and didn't seem particularly excited about being involved with her. As both he and Brooklynne always had short relationships, I kept expecting Travis to say he had a fight with Brooklynne and was never going to see her again. But he never did.

With Travis fucking Brooklynne, it was pointless for Kate to try to taunt him. She never came over again to sun at our apartment. To my surprise, she continued the Wednesday cookie deliveries. Travis and I seemed to strike an unspoken bargain - I'd share the cookies with Travis, and he'd never have Brooklynne over.

I thought about telling Travis that I wanted a different roommate for next year, but decided against it. He'd soon break up with Brooklynne and Kate was on to his game, so I didn't see any problems happening when we roomed again in the fall. Outside of Brooklynne, he continued to be easy to live with.

Then finals were over, and I returned home. Dad's book When Rainbows Fall was published the day before I moved back home. I spent the days at home until Kate's graduation helping Mom fulfill orders to Kickstarter pledgers. Kickstarter has significantly increased Dad's revenue as a writer, and he made more gross (but not net) on a book from Kickstarter than from his publisher. We shipped out various combinations of paperbacks, autographed hardcover books, and T-shirts to several hundred people. As we filled orders, we'd put the boxes into our minivan, and, when it was stuffed to the top, I'd make a run to the post office.

Things were different between Kate and me. Last summer, she had been my little sister who spent most of her time with her nose in a book. Now she was a part of the family business, using her social media skills to help generate revenue. To be honest, she was more involved than I was. I'm not too proud to admit I was jealous as I listened to her discuss likes, shares, and re-tweets with Mom and Dad. Dad published one mystery novel a year under his name, but he also published young adult novels under a pen name and paranormal romance novels under another. Dad said of those two latter categories, "They ain't Shakespeare, but they help pay the bills." Kate did the social media for all three names, the last two being a challenge as she couldn't talk about the author's life.

The other big change was I now looked at Kate as a woman instead of a girl. She was more mature than she had been a year ago, and I couldn't think of her as anything but a woman after having seen her in that yellow bikini. I took her life much more seriously, and I was happy to talk books, music, and movies with her.

Two days before Kate's graduation, I stopped by her bedroom to talk. She was on the phone but waved me into her room. "Travis, I'll keep in mind your offer to sun on your balcony again. Mom would never let me sun in a bikini here." Kate smiled at me and resumed talking. "What happened with you and Brooklynne? Justin said you were seeing her every day." Kate nodded and made a sympathetic noise occasionally as she listened to Travis talk. I sat down in her desk chair and watched her as she sat on the bed. "That does sound awful, Travis. I can't believe she was acting that way either."

I did a quick calculation and determined that today was when Brooklynne's period started. Hell hath no fury like Brooklynne on the day before her period.

"So you broke up with her?" continued Kate. She looked at me and smiled. "I'm sorry to hear it." No wonder Travis was trying to hook up with Kate again. "You're alone in the apartment and would like someone to come visit? Have you called Justin?" I stifled a laugh. I hadn't heard a thing from Travis since I came home. "You'd like me to visit? Thanks, but no thanks." Kate listened for a while. "Travis, that's all nice, but I'm involved with a guy." Kate looked at me. "We have great conversations." She smiled at me. "No, we haven't gone on a date but we have kissed." She blushed. "I hang out with him instead. He's real sweet and very complimentary." She listened to Travis for a bit more. "Keep your spirits up, Travis. Maybe Brooklynne will want to make up. I gotta go, Travis. Good talking with you." Finally, "Bye."

I said, "Travis wanted you to visit him?"

"Yeah. He's soooooooo sorry for how he treated me. He so regrets not being more honest with me." Kate struck an angelic pose and said, "He had thought of me as just your little sister and hadn't taken me seriously." Kate smirked. "I think he wants to take me seriously now that he knows I have big tits." Kate giggled. "Apparently, Brooklynne was in a terrible mood yesterday and everything Travis did was wrong. They had a big fight and broke up."

I shrugged. "It happens. It happens every twenty-eight days." Brooklynne making Travis' life hell for a day was some sweet revenge. "Travis wouldn't take no for an answer, so you made up a boyfriend?"

"Yeah." Kate looked embarrassed.

"Who is he?"

"You."

I flinched.

"We do have great conversations, and I enjoy hanging with you," continued Kate. "And we have kissed."

"We didn't kiss. You kissed me once on the lips when I wasn't expecting it."

Kate shrugged. "Close enough. I'm a terrible liar, remember? I can stretch the truth, but I can't make things up."

* * * *

All the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins came into town for Kate's graduation. The ceremony was on a Friday night, and Saturday was one long family party. Sunday, Dad and I packed for our road trip. We'd be gone for almost three months, coming back to pick up Mom and Kate to go to Disney World for a six-day vacation before coming home for the start of college. Every summer for as long as I could remember, we had spent the summer doing book tours. When I turned thirteen, Mom decided I could be Dad's navigator and that she and Kate didn't need to go on the book tours anymore. When I got my learner's permit, I took over driving.