al

g dis

re anorexic?” I

her door. She wouldn’t even look a

o see what would ever have given her

t drop the subject now,

first place, but Hank Collins had all the sensitivity o

e off. Especially when he stuck Jocelyn into u

en she was fifteen and pouring out her heart to me, I’d be

air, not to mention a body that could have been a World War II pinup, made my dick twitch.

ct with Mom’s direction, but the damage wa

asn’t four years younger than me, I would have taken this opportunity to show her just how be

ay sudoku

n relaxed, peeling herself off the door and taking my p

Christmas and Thanksgiving, when I’d had no excuse not to come back home, it only became more uncomfortable. J

for my medical degree if I didn’t “start getting along” with my “sister,” I knew I could have made a stink. I could have gone

vertheless, did little to hide some of her better assets. I knew from the moment Hank had taken my waterproof pa

l in me knew in two days, Jo

. If Jocelyn wasn’t eighteen, then there was no way I would touch her. Then there

and..

one, to try to get myself to stop having X-rated

ving, breathing Jocelyn sitting right next to

wanted to be h

r a way to zone out of the family conversations before my

reaking the soft squabble he’d been having with m

I replied. It was more than I usually gave him, as I liked to keep that part of my life private, e

going to Johns Hopkins this year for your Mas

bout this. Caleb is going NEXT yea

would have started tw

n nodded. “Oh, that’s righ

mine for a year,” I replied. Hank was an old-school believer in work. I

ime? It’s not like you’re d

eak, Hank. He works ve

doesn’t work hard

, dousing the coals of anger that

ript orange plastic ties sticking out

and. There was a truck parked to one side, a small camper to the other, and t

mere twelve feet from us, sparkling,

d the lake. Not that all of the lake could be seen from this one spot. According to Hank, you could portage through s

load, then the menfolk need to get

adian air. It smelled earthy, yet cl

lyn pointed out, r

e head. “I know, cupcake, but it’

ped, and she went to hel

n. “Hey,” I said in a low tone, “

t now. And every other year we’ve been up here, she’s been the one

went was dependent on the gender of the person driving it. “But I th

set up camp by tonight, there’

uing any further. “Fine. Let’s

ishing boat beneath. We carried it down to the water, where Jocelyn quickly tied a rope to a metal ring at the fro

on her wading boots. She’d

k chuckled, clapping me on the

ar, fishing gear, and what I assumed had to be a partridge in a pear tree were laid off to the side of the lan

Mom was giggling and practically falling off a b

lly placed the small motor, for the canoe, and the big

ng the gas cans and threw them back into the Su

he prefers it that

his hands on his hips. “You wa

ghteen, and I had a feeling Hank hadn’t even asked her what she wanted. B

ind the wheel and back the boat up a bit more

I didn’t want to waste more time arguing with Hank. At least once we got

oulder in the middle of the sandy slope to the landing,

oat, however. He was over giggling

elyn was already undoing the ropes

fe?” I asked, go

wn a second head. “How else do yo

n’t it fall of

t the front of the boat trailer

rother the ropes,” Hank said, th

, also findi

away with a smile. I didn’t blame her. Now her stepmother and stepbr

o impress this on Hank before he tr

?” I said, going to the other side of the

it up there? Can’t get the boat trailer in any deeper, I’m afraid. R

and I dug my tennis shoes into the dirt

, but Mom was basically useless,

k of the boat and grabbed the other handle. He looked at my fe

?” I

get wet.” Hank ga

ed up in