She held up her socks that I had used earlier. “So, you want to tell me why there’s spit on my sock and a bottle of lotion on the floor?” She had a disgusted look in her eyes. I felt my face redden with embarrassment as I tried stammering out an explanation. I was fucked.

“It’s not spit.” I barely managed to stutter it out. “I moved them over on the counter and they got wet.” I rolled my eyes and pushed past her out of my room.

Shiann laughed. “I know, I was.. making a joke? Because of the boss with the foot fetish?” At this point, I was red with embarrassment. I wasn’t sure I believed her after the tone she had when she showed me her socks. I walked into the bathroom and saw the lotion had been put away. I looked back at Shiann. She winked at me, “You know, you should really clean up after yourself better. With that, she went back into her room, shutting the door and turning on her music. That was a close one. Or was it?

———————

Emili, Shiann and I enjoyed a nice homecooked meal sitting on the sectional couch, watching TV. Emili had gotten off work right at dinner time and she was famished. Pork chops with rice was Emili’s favorite, so I had them ready when she’d gotten home. As always, we watched TV while we ate.

Shiann hadn’t said anything about the lotion, so I was grateful. She could royally fuck me over by bringing that up to her older sister. And the spit on her socks? Maybe she really had just figured the socks got wet on the counter, like I’d said.

Dinner was finished and I took my plate and Emili’s and headed for the kitchen. As I rounded past Shiann, she held her plate towards me to take. I hesitated for a second and looked to Emili, who was engrossed in the TV show. When my eyes drifted back to Shiann, she nudged her plate forward and flashed a smile. Was it a devious smile? Or a polite smile? Either way, I muttered out, “Let me grab that, too.” I may have been overanalyzing the situation, but I figured just grabbing her plate like it was an unspoken understanding, like I owed it to her for covering for me, would probably raise some questions with my fiancée.

“Thank you, Samuel.” Of course, Shiann was the only one in the world, besides my parents, who called me Samuel.