Twin Entanglement [C]

Chapter 22 - Water Nymph

[Hello~ back with another update, hope you all enjoy it. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and feel free to comment what you think about it, don't be shy to tell me what you feel is missing ^-^ or even what's right O.o!]

I stared at the old photograph. The twins seemed more angelic back in their kindergarten days. I smiled as I scanned the moment that captured Mia pinning her brother to the ground as she held up two ice cream cones, each with a small bite taken out from the cream.

“The real master caught in action, huh?”  Trish mumbled as she sidled up to my left side, glancing at the photo on the mantel.

I was surprised by the dark gaze Trish held as she examined the photo before huffing in irritation and moved gracefully towards the sofa.

“You know them back then?” I asked curiously.

Trish threw herself on the soft pillows as she sighed in exhaustion.

“Thankfully, no…” Trish mumbled almost too low for me to hear.

Before I could ask her anything more Michael walked into the lounge. His eyes searched the room expectantly. I had no doubt who he was looking for.

“Amy’s gone to the bathroom,” I explained.

His expression fell as he nodded his head and moved to the coffee table to dump the tray of snacks.

“I guess we can wait…” he said.

Taking a step towards the stair case, I pointed up to the second floor.

“I’m gonna hit the one upstairs quick… you good?” I asked slowly, glancing meaningfully towards Trish, who had busied herself with the remote control.

Michael rolled his eyes as he looked to me, “It’s not like this day could get any worse you know.”

I caught Trish’s sharp gaze towards him before running up the stairs.

As I made my way to the second floor bathroom I found myself stopping in front of the door. The sound of the toilet being flushed caught me by surprise. For a moment I thought my mind had played some trick on me as I recalled seeing Amy, who had already gotten lost twice, on her way to the first floor bathroom. Shaking my head slightly I moved closer to the door and was nearly hit in the face as it swung open in a fog of hot air.

I stared speechless as I watched Mia, wearing nothing but a towel, shuffle out from the steam and into the hallway. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of me. Her eyes were round in surprise as she scanned my face.

“What the… Randy?” she asked.

I couldn’t help that my eyes scanned Mia’s wet exposed skin. Small drops of water still clung to her tanned skin and seemed to shine like diamonds as the dim light from the ceiling caught it at just the right angle. A part of me wondered if the skin was as soft as it looked beneath the towel wrapped tightly around her.

Mia brushed some wet locks out of her face as she peered behind me. I could hear the faint sound of voices echoing up the stairs as Michael and Trish seemed to be in some kind of debate.

“When did you guys get here?” she asked curiously.

I grabbed for a few brain cells that seemed to have taken a short vacation at the sight before me and tried to remember how speech worked.

“Huh-now, just now…. a few minutes ago…. Where’d you- you’re here?” I stuttered trying to focus on the bathroom entrance instead of the water nymph that stood too carefree before me, shrouded in a halo of steam.

Mia moved past me to the top of the stair case. Her steps were soft on the carpet and if I hadn’t known any better, I would have said she glided along the surface

“Is it just you and…”she trailed off.

Something at the bottom of the stairs had caught her attention. Moving next to her, I looked to see what it was that had caught her by surprised. Once I was able to move my eyes off from the smooth glistening skin of her shoulder, I looked down to find Amy at the bottom of the stairs. She stared up at us with as much shock and surprise as I still felt singing in my blood, along with other much more alert reactions. As she turned her gaze to me I was suddenly aware of a chill running up my spine as I was confronted with a cold accusing look that passed briefly across her face before turning to stone as she waved to Mia and hurried into the other room.

Mia turned from the stairs, her hand moving quickly to clutch her towel as she hurried back down the hallway to her room.

“I’ll get dressed and join you guys in a minute.”

Before I could say anything the door slammed shut. I stood in awe before making my way into the bathroom. I tried to slow my heartbeat as I consider all the events that had occurred in the past few minutes. Aside from seeing Mia, the sweet shimmering water nymph, in nothing but a towel, an image I stored for deeper examination later, I somehow felt more guilt at being caught by Amy. Her cold accusing eyes still hovered before me as I tried to calm down.

Five minutes later I walked into the kitchen where Michael rummaged irritably in the pantry. Not noticing my entry, I moved to wrap my knuckles on the kitchen counter to get his attention.

“Why didn’t you tell me Mia was here?” I asked distantly, the image of Mia in that towel still fighting for attention in the fore front of my mind.

Michael looked up at me, his face a clear indication that he was still distracted, “What?”

“Mia… she’s upstairs.” I said as calmly as I could.

Michael shook his head as he returned to whatever was keeping him distracted. He went deeper into the walk-in space as he scanned the shelves.

“Didn’t know she was here... Hey, help me find some alcohol,” he continued, “I swear if I have to spend another minute in Trish’s company sober, I’ll lose it.”

I took a step forward, my mind trying to understand why he still didn’t get the importance of what I had just revealed. It didn’t take long for me to realize that anger began to seep into my fists as I tried to get out of the words that would make him understand. I watched Michael irritably as I realized those words weren’t coming to me. Looking to the back door I tried to reason why I shouldn’t leave. The sting of disappointment at Mia not being there at the carnival still echoed in my head, but the very vivid image of her in that towel was making it hard to think straight.

Just as the image began making my lower half more excited than it should have been, Mia walked into the kitchen. Fresh faced and smiling, she looked from me to her brother. I felt my face flush as I tried to calm down, worried that she could read my thoughts and catch me in my fantasy of water nymphs.

“You guys don’t mind if I join in on the games, do you?” she asked.

“Games, what games?” Michael questioned suspiciously as he looked up from his search. I noted the very unsurprised nature of his face as he looked to his sister. It dawned on me that he had known she was here the whole time.

Mia gestured backwards as she spoke, “Trish found the board games… you don’t mind me joining in, right?”

I turned to Mia and grinned awkwardly, my blood rushing to all the wrong places. I grit my teeth as I looked from her to Michael, who only now saw the clenched fist I held on top of the counter

“Sounds fun…”