Forbidden fruit Jemima glanced up from her magazine, looking out to where her sister and Freddie were swimming. Theodore was such an idiot. How could he have tried to forbid Ingrid from taking an interest in his friend? It had only made her more determined, and meant that they were all having to keep an eye on her. Her brother was undeniably book smart, but when it came to people he was so clueless. Jemima was perched on the pontoon, toes in the water, reading a bridal magazine and glancing up from time to time to make sure nothing untoward was going on. Theodore seemed to think he needed to be physically between them the whole time, but Jemima didn’t think she needed to police her sister to the extent of not allowing her to talk to a boy…
“A week ago you were the baby… Now they seem to think you can’t be trusted to talk to a boy. Not very consistent, are they?” Freddie grinned.
“Jemima’s alright. She’s just doing as she’s told,” Ingrid was definitely annoyed with her family but Jemima had always been the sibling she was closest to and she wasn’t going to let her be tarred with the same brush as some people. Jemima had never been one to put her down or treat her like she was little and incapable. If anything, they’d been the babies together.
“It’s someone else who’s the thorn in your side?” Freddie suggested.
“Why are you even friends with him? You seem way too cool.”
“Your brother has his moments,” Freddie shrugged. “When he’s not too busy thinking the universe revolves around him. So… is their concern well-placed? Are you tempted to run off with me and get up to mischief?”
He had this teasing way of asking her things like this. She could never decide how seriously he meant it. Was he really interested, was he teasing her, or was he laughing at her family’s over-protectiveness? She couldn’t decide.
“I’ve got my reputation to think of,” she answered, overly primly. If he could play games, so could she.
“And what danger is your reputation in from sneaking away for some fun with me?”
“You know what kind,” she returned, confused by the question.
“Who here is going to gossip about you? Your family certainly isn’t. They want to protect you.”
“You might.”
“True. But I could gossip about you just as easily whether you do anything with me or not. Not that I would, of course. But some boys do that kind of thing when they’re rebuffed by a girl. No one here is out to hurt your reputation. That’s something you need to guard against more at parties, surely, where there’s plenty of unfriendly eyes looking to pick up juicy gossip.”
“I… I suppose,” Ingrid admitted. The argument was certainly logical. It had always been presented to her as so black and white. Don’t. Just don’t. Because you shouldn’t. But she’d made out with Louis when she shouldn’t have… That had been far more dangerous than sneaking off with Freddie would be, in terms of the gossip she’d be exposed to if girls at school caught on. In terms of being punished… Well, that was probably a pretty even field. She wasn’t sure her Sonora professors or her mother would be very impressed if they caught her with a boy. “There’s Owen,” she added, unconvinced herself that this was really a winning argument, or that this was really an argument she wanted to win...
“Yeah, he seems real vicious,” Freddie deadpanned, “And anyway, he’s marrying your sister. He’s not going to drag your family’s reputation through the mud. Tell me you’re not tempted…” He rested his feet on the bottom of the lake, reaching out under the water, his hands taking Ingrid’s hips, one thumb running along the band of her bikini bottoms. “Tell me you don’t like my attention, and I’ll stop.”
“My sister is right there!” Ingrid hissed, but she didn’t sound angry. She sounded guilty. Naughty. Thrilled. It wasn’t just that he was tempting, but she liked the fact that she shouldn’t be doing this. So like her brother… Though with Theodore, he got off on being made to feel awful about himself. Ingrid just seemed more straight up rebellious. And, he noticed, she hadn’t said stop. She was biting her lip like she was trying to resist enjoying herself….
“With her nose in a magazine,” Freddie grinned, “And anyway,” he grinned, stepping back so that he was a good half arm’s back, his hand under the water stroking the inside of Ingrid’s thigh, creeping higher… “We’re just standing here talking, right?” He didn’t think he could get away with much under her sister’s nose. But Ingrid was young and impressionable. He didn’t think it would take very much to make her want more…