My Brother's Forbidden Touch::Ch-4

They suggested I give Raven some choices, and let the decision be hers. She could stay in Columbus and live in the house they were keeping for when they had to get out of the Arizona summer heat, she could move to Phoenix with them, or she could live with me in Cincinnati.

Apparently the choice that she could live anywhere she pleased, with or without anyone else, didn't occur to them. I had no doubt that she could take care of herself, and I hoped she only pretended to be needy so that everyone would think that's why she still needed me.

Maybe she wasn't pretending to be needy at all, and we all just assumed she was.

I would give her the choices, but I couldn't think of anything on the pro side for the options that didn't include her moving to Cincinnati with me.

I fell asleep trying to decide if I would even take the job in Cincinnati if Raven wouldn't come with me.

####

I was used to the way my sister came down a flight of stairs. She was very methodical about it; each foot carefully placed, fully on the step, before the other foot came off where it was planted. I think most people would have been thrown off a little with her deliberate movements yet her face remained steadfastly forward.

This morning, that wasn't why I couldn't stop myself from watching her intently in the reflection on the mirror in front of me, in spite of my steady pace on my treadmill.

Raven's usual style would probably be described best as modestly casual. She wore skirts sometimes, but they were never more than an inch, maybe two, above her knees if not past them. Shorts, on those few occasions when she chose them instead of jeans or casual slacks, usually followed the same standard of length. Any tops she wore showed no cleavage and were never, ever tight, not even her tee shirts.

It didn't matter that she never wore anything tight, her obviously wispy figure was always easy to see in anything she wore.

When I noticed her this morning, her bare feet and calves were already in view, and with each step, more of her gazelle-like legs appeared. Her knees, then thighs, appeared, but when the hem of her shorts, barely below the bottom of her narrow hips, came into view, I stumbled a little in my stride.

"You okay, Dan?" Raven asked as she continued her slow, deliberate descent.

"Um, yeah, just...didn't sleep well," I threw together a feeble excuse.

At the bottom of the stairs, she sat on the bottom step and deftly pulled on a pair of socks and her running shoes that she had carried with her in the hand she didn't use to clutch the railing.

The shorts and tank top she had on weren't tight. They didn't need to be. I was used to her running with me most mornings, but in yoga pants and a long tee shirt that hid most of her figure. Her outfit this morning was a very fine, black mesh, matching short shorts and tank top. I could clearly see her black bra and panties through them.

"Where's Boston?" I choked out.

She never wore revealing clothing, but it had never occurred to me before that moment to wonder how she knew whether her clothes were revealing or not.

"Still outside. He would have wanted to come down with me, and, well..."

I regretted asking that immediately. That was her first acknowledgement that he had trouble with stairs, or anything.

I couldn't take my eyes off my sister, and should have felt guilty about it. I rationalized that if I remained silent, then she would never know and I wouldn't embarrass her. It wasn't like she had a wardrobe malfunction that she would notice later.

Raven put her wireless headset on and whispered something into the mic, then stepped onto her treadmill, next to mine, as it spun up to a brisk walking pace.

We ran together in silence, but I should have reprimanded my eyes. They wouldn't leave Raven's reflection next to mine in the mirror.

"There's coffee ready," Raven announced as her machine slowly ground down to a stop and she turned to step off.

I had less than thirty seconds left of my five-mile program.

I would have responded, but Raven was bending forward from her waist, legs straight, back side to the mirror, and her palms flat on the floor in a stretch. Her jet-black hair pooled around her hands and feet to hide them.

I could see her face between her legs in the mirror, and she looked relaxed, and beautiful. Her deep blue eyes looked like they were almost focussed on mine.

"I'll make eggs and toast while you're in the shower," she told me as she stretched her arms above her head and arched her back, still facing away from the mirror and my wayward eyes.

"Scrambled for me, please, Rae."

"You like over easy."

It was true, but she didn't understand the point of that was to have a runny yolk. I think she tried, but couldn't turn an egg over without breaking the yolk, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that. It would have been pointing out her blindness, and I wouldn't do that.

"Sometimes, but today I'm feeling scrambled, um, like scrambled."

"Okay. When are we going to California?"

I was momentarily dumbstruck. One of the things that had kept me awake most of the night was anticipation of the conversation we needed to have today about Boston returning to his trainers in California. It wasn't an option, and that wasn't going to be an easy conversation. That's what I thought last night anyway.

"Oh, um, Tuesday afternoon."

"Is it going to be another three-week stay like last time? You remember last time? I know you didn't have to go to babysit me..."

"Raven! I wanted to go, and it wasn't to babysit you!"

Raven turned around to face me, and I could tell she was struggling to look serious.

"I know. I guess you do remember. I missed you too. That was a long three weeks, but this time you get to come."

"This time we fly out Tuesday afternoon, check in Wednesday morning first thing, then fly back Thursday afternoon. You'll spend the day Wednesday and overnight in the dorm with Twister. If you have any issues, Thursday morning they can help you, and we fly back that afternoon."

"Twister?"

"That's his name. He's a black lab, almost two, and they said we'd understand his name when we meet him."