Forget about everything else... Or so Jeff thought as he knelt on the floor, clutching his gut in pain from a sharp blow—courtesy of Jess.
If there was one thing he forgot, it was that back in their childhood days, Jess always resorted to violence when cornered—either by punching or biting Jeff. What's more surprising was the brutal strength she wielded, despite her slender frame.
"Are you gonna explain yourself or what?"
In front of Jeff sat Jess, now wearing her white lingerie slip dress, seated in her gaming chair and glaring down at him with a serious, threatening look.
Despite the romantic and passionate kiss they had just shared, Jess—now recovered from her confusion and embarrassment—was demanding an explanation for Jeff's sudden proposal.
"What's there to explain? I'm proposing to you because I love you—"
—Smack!—
Jeff's heartfelt confession was abruptly cut off by a pillow to the face, launched by Jess, whose blushing cheeks and ears betrayed the embarrassment she was trying to hide.
Before Jeff could even look back up at her, Jess fired another question.
"You do know we're basically siblings, right?"
Aside from the fact that they were born almost at the same time—Jess a minute before midnight on February 28, and Jeff a minute after midnight, on leap day of February 29—they were neighbors who had grown up side by side.
Though not blood-related, their mothers considered each other sisters, which led to the ongoing joke that Jeff and Jess were twins.
They attended the same grade school and middle school.
Celebrated their birthdays together every year—until they turned sixteen.
To Jeff, Jess wasn't just a childhood friend. She was his twin sister, his best friend, his family.
"We're not blood-related, though—"
—Smack!—
Another pillow landed on Jeff's face as he stayed kneeling. Jess followed it with another outburst, this one overflowing with anger and resentment.
"You ignored me for the past four years, and you think everything's just gonna be okay now that you're back with that stupid face of yours?! Why did you even ignore me in the first place?!"
Jeff took a deep breath, trying to gather the courage to confess what he considered a pathetic excuse. But before he could answer, Jess cut in again.
"If you can't give me a real reason, then get ready to jump out that fourth-floor window."
Jeff glanced at the window Jess was pointing to—and the serious look in her eyes told him she wasn't bluffing.
"It's because I felt guilty..." Jeff began but stopped short.
"Guilty of what?" Jess pressed him, her voice growing sharper.
"Well... just like you said, we're basically siblings..."
"And what about it? Don't stammer, just say it—"
Then came the confession Jess never expected.
"It's because I felt guilty... masturbating about you every night when we were in middle school."
Jeff continued to explain that he had started looking at Jess with lust even before they were in middle school.
He had always managed to hide it whenever they were together. But when alone, he would fantasize about her—sometimes once, sometimes two or more times a day.
Still, Jess was family to him. That thought alone overwhelmed him with guilt every time he climaxed thinking about her.
Even though he told himself it should be okay—they weren't blood-related, after all—his conscience crushed him every time Jess smiled at him, treated him like more than a friend... like more than a brother.
He couldn't bear the guilt of desiring someone who, to him, was family.
That's why Jeff chose to ignore not just his feelings, but Jess herself, once they entered high school.
But this time would be different. Jeff wouldn't run away from his feelings for Jess again.
—Pfft!—
A burst of laughter echoed from outside the room, behind the door. But neither of them noticed.
Jess was frozen, stunned, red from head to toe, speechless.
Jeff, meanwhile, sat in silence, painfully aware of how awkward the moment had become.
"Can you repeat that?" Jess asked, somehow managing to speak, holding back the full extent of her outburst.
"I was touching myself... fantasizing about doing it with you..."
—BAM!—
"You pervert!"
With the last pillow in reach, Jess launched another assault—this time straddling Jeff on the floor and hitting him both with pillow and harsh words.
"Seriously, in middle school?! We were so close back then! And you were doing that every night while we hung out like siblings every day?! You absolute idiot!"
"I know!... But that's actually kind of what turned me on!"
"PERVERT!"
The pillow was soft, but Jeff's face started turning red from the repeated blows. He didn't fight back, thinking of it as his punishment. At the same time, he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of Jess on top of him, their bodies pressed together.
Eventually, Jess calmed down and stopped hitting him. She tried to get up, but Jeff suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Let go of me, you idiot," she muttered, trying to sound stern.
Instead, Jeff held her tighter. Jess buried her face into his chest, silently giving in to the moment.
But as romantic as it was—lying on the floor in each other's arms—Jess's embarrassment reached its peak again. Cornered by Jeff's embrace, her instincts kicked in.
She turned her head and bit him on the shoulder.
"Wait—Ouch! That hurts, Jess!"
That reaction was expected. But what wasn't expected was the sudden jerk of something hard and big pressing against her below the stomach.
For a while now, she had felt something pressing against her lower stomach while sitting on him.
But after the bite, it suddenly twitched—and the jolt sent a wave of shivers through her body, especially her stomach, her head, and… elsewhere.
"You..." Realizing what that meant, Jess pulled back and stared directly at Jeff's face.
Jeff gave her an awkward smile. "Well... your bites have always turned me on, for as long as I can remember."
"Just how much of a pervert are you?!"