This is a work of erotic fantasy, so there’s quite a lot of sex. However, there isn’t sex happening in every chapter. There are many passages that include setup, character development, and all that boring stuff which makes the sex that much more meaningful when it finally happens. I know not everyone cares about backstory or getting to know the characters, so each chapter which does have sex in it also has a heart following its title: ♥

The sex is not intended to be pornographic or paraphilic. It’s just the kind of stuff that happens between people, though sometimes in somewhat unusual situations. This includes threesomes and groups, intimacy taking place among people under the age of eighteen (with no one over eighteen present), same-sex partners, and scenes involving brother-sister incest. If you live in the kind of world where you believe those sorts of things never happen, or should never happen, you’re both (1) welcome to stop reading now; and (2) not even remotely in touch with reality in any way at all.

Finally, Nifty has been providing some primo material for years now, and can always use a helping hand. Websites aren’t free to operate or maintain, and no one’s getting paid to do any of this. Donate what you can, as you’re able!

Enjoy!

— Harmony Brücke, fricfic at gmail.

Kaeleigh Goes All the Way

Book 1: 2019 • Part I: Friday Afternoon, September: Tagging Along

1. Going to the Game

Kaeleigh shivered, her hand barely moving between her spread legs, her eyes half-closed and riveted to the computer screen. The video was in its hottest part, the group sex, and she loved watching all those girls getting fucked senseless and eaten out by everyone around them, even when it was other girls. The video was one of several on a hookup site for couples who were into threesomes and orgies. She loved the interviews, where the couples talked about how they felt for one another, and how they said sex was something they liked to share with others; and she loved the later parts, too, when they proved it. She’d decided a while ago that if she had a boyfriend, she’d let him fuck other girls, if she could be there to see it. She’d join in, too; there was something about watching a girl’s pussy being eaten that made her wish she was there, both to receive and to give.

She paused at her favorite moment, when one of the men cummed inside a woman, and ran the video back and forth a few times, watching the root of his cock pulse and twitch, watching a little pearly ooze of fluid gather at the rim of her vulva, watching the girl being inseminated, sperm coming from the man, out of his bare dick, inside her pussy. Their eyes were locked on each other as the orgasm passed between them. The man wasn’t her boyfriend; he was fucking her while her boyfriend watched, coming inside her while he watched. It was too much for Kaeleigh. Her hips bucked and twitched and she gasped, threw her head back, and let herself fall into it, humping the air and her glistening fingers. One of the big advantages of being a girl was multiple orgasms, and Kaeleigh used that ability now.

Slowly the rigid plank of her slender body relaxed, and she sank back onto the chair, clicked, and closed the browser. It was only too bad, she thought for the billionth time as she licked her fingers off, that she wasn’t eighteen yet, because as soon as she was, she planned to sign up to a ton of these kinds of sites, date around, and get as much action as she possibly could.

But not today. Today, she had about fifteen minutes before her brother Luke was home, and she wanted to make sure there wasn’t any evidence. He always claimed he could smell it in her room when she’d been playing with herself. Her solution was easy and obvious: He needed to stay the hell out of her room. Somehow, no matter how often she pointed this out, it never quite sank in. For the time being, she opened her window halfway to let things vent a little.

Maybe next year, when she started ninth grade — Luke would be a senior then — and they were going to the same school, he’d finally stop seeing her as a little girl. Kaeleigh knew that thirteen-year-olds weren’t usually taken seriously by anyone older, and it sucked, because they had some good ideas sometimes just like anyone else; and especially with puberty, they had sex drives like practically everyone else. She knew it would be a little much to expect actual adults to treat her as an equal (until she’d had her first job and bought her first car, she wouldn’t even be close to understanding a lot of the adult world, a fact she grudgingly accepted), but Luke was sixteen. He was practically still a kid himself, but the way he treated her sometimes, you’d think he was Daddy Superparent or something.

She pulled up her panties and jeans, went down the hall to their bathroom, and rinsed. Her and Luke’s rooms were on the west end of the house; Mom’s was on the east, virtually in a different time zone. There were times when she thought Mom was glad about that, because she didn’t have to hear the way her kids shouted at each other. Kaeleigh and her brother shared a bedroom wall and a bathroom, and Luke sometimes carped at her about leaving shampoo and conditioner out, but until he started picking up his soggy towels, she didn’t think she needed to care how he felt about a couple of bottles; and that was only one of their regular fights.

She paused to look at herself in the mirror. Her tits were still coming in; right now she didn’t even have an A-cup, but that was handled easily enough with sport support tops. The ones made for the skinniest female athletes fit her just fine, and kept everything from jiggling around too much. Her jeans were skinny too, but they did show some flaring at her hips, and she thought they did a nice job on her butt. It was a pretty good butt, she thought, high and round and starting to ripen. She liked how the jeans showed it off.

She’d been turned on by looking at girls often enough that she harbored a suspicion she was bisexual, or maybe bi-curious, but she didn’t have either the tits or the ass she fantasized about most, and knew she was probably still a couple years away from being that curvy. Which sucked, because she couldn’t currently get the eye of any girls she liked, any more than boys. Another problem was the boys. Specifically, the ones she knew were all near her age, which put them several orders of magnitude beneath her in terms of maturity, physical or otherwise. She’d been thinking, more and more, about getting laid, but she didn’t know anyone her own age she wanted to do it with, and the people she would’ve liked to do it with were all several grades above her. It was a little frustrating, in the same way the planet Jupiter was partly cloudy.

She thought she was probably pretty, at least. She knew some boys liked staring at her. She had strawberry blonde, wiry hair that was either trained back into a ponytail or left as a wild bushy puff around her head. Her eyes were pale grey, and she had a face she’d heard described as elfin, with wide cheekbones, a narrow vee chin, and full lips. Sometimes it was hard to tell Luke was her brother; he had a fairly square jaw, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. He was quite athletic, lifting weights and running with the track team; and since he was forever talking to or texting with girls, she figured he was considered cute, maybe even handsome, possibly even (gahh) sexy. When they’d been younger, they looked more alike, but puberty in them both had diverged them. Some days, it seemed like all they had in common was a last name, and most days even that was too much for Kaeleigh.

Her phone bleeped — it was a Mom-tone, a simple little chirrup — and she pulled it out of her back pocket. (This was another fight. Luke was forever nagging her about putting her phone in her back pocket, warning her that if she sat wrong, the screen would crack. That may be true, she pointed out, but until girls’ pants started being made with useful front pockets, she didn’t have a hell of a lot of choice in the matter.)

Working late tonight. Won’t be home before 9. Tell Luke to take you to Snr Taco. I’ll repay him. I’m letting him know too.

Kaeleigh sighed. Tonight was Friday, which meant Luke’s game night. He and a bunch of friends got together every Friday and played some kind of game he described as a mix of trivia questions and role-playing, though he was always sketchy on the details and tended to change the subject. Kaeleigh was harboring an increasing suspicion that it was more like a make-out night for him, with whatever girl he was talking to the most right then, but he always denied it. Sometimes the games turned into an overnight stay, and he always had a good story about how a campaign had run long, and Kaeleigh wondered if Mom was actually blind, or just deciding not to notice. But the Friday game nights — which had been going on for a couple years now — meant it was usually just her and Mom alone in the house for a few hours, watching a chick flick and hanging out. It was good, but it wasn’t going to be happening tonight. She tapped her screen.

K. I’ll be all right. Don’t work too hard. Love you.

Mom had sent a similar message to Luke, of course, to make sure he didn’t try to pull any fast ones, like claiming he didn’t know anything at all about dinner at Señor Taco. Or anyway, that was the official story. It was probably more about protecting Luke from getting any fast ones pulled by his sister. Kaeleigh was more devious than he was, and all three of them knew it. (She’d gone through a phase, a couple years ago, when she said bless your heart to him whenever he did anything, whether it was dishes, vacuuming, laundry, or especially his homework. It had taken him nearly a month to realize it was an insult, and the fallout from that had been Indian burns for her on both arms. It was a small price to pay for an entire month of looking him in the eye, all but saying he was differently-abled, and seeing him smile vapidly as proof of it. Looking back, she knew how cruel it had been, but not to Luke.)

So what Mom’s text really meant was that she’d have a night home alone and bored out of her head, while Luke gallivanted off to play with his friends or, more probably, make out with some poor damnfool deluded girl.

Her deviousness perked up its ears.

* * *

Luke was less than happy when he got home; and as events played out, what Kaeleigh was doing in the shower was only the beginning of his problems that night.

He’d received a message from his mother that she was working late, and he was to take his pain-in-the-ass sister to Señor Taco before he went to his Friday game, because God forbid she should order a pizza and veg out in front of Crunchyroll all by herself. Most nights, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but the game started at five, and it was nearly four by the time he got home — and when he came through the door, he heard the shower running. What Kaeleigh was doing in the shower was … showering, and that was the problem.

“Fuck,” he growled, and pounded on the bathroom door. “C’mon, I gotta take a turn too!” He always showered before the game, and he knew Kaeleigh knew it, which meant she was doing this on purpose.

“I’ll be out when I’m done!” she called over the spray, too cheerfully to not be up to something.

“Goddamn it,” he said, and slumped down the hall. He tossed his pack onto his bed and flumped down beside it. He toyed with the idea of turning on all the hot water taps in the house, but decided maybe not; he’d tried that with her before, and the trouble was that when he was in the shower, she was able to do exactly the same thing right back to him.

“Ahh, fuck this,” he said, collected a change of clothes, and went down the hall, across the living room, and up the other hall to Mom’s room. Her shower had an inline water heater, and he didn’t have time for Kaeleigh’s bullshit tonight. He cleaned himself off quickly but thoroughly, dried and dressed, and found Kaeleigh in the living room, sitting fully-clothed on the couch, her hair damp and pulled back into her regular foxtail-like ponytail. The look on her face was a small victory for him; she saw that he’d worked around her. It happened rarely enough that it surprised her each time. (It surprised him, too.) “C’mon,” he said. “Mom says I gotta take you to dinner, and tonight’s my game night, and it’s halfway across town this time.”

Kaeleigh rolled her eyes at teen-boy (or teen-hormone, same diff) drama, but stood to leave with him. “What’s her name this week?” she said. “Jenna? Sammie? Elizabeth?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but the tips of his ears were red. She’d seen all those names on his phone screen at various times in the past, before he snatched it out of view. They got into his car — a fourthhand Mini Cooper — and he rolled fast enough out of the drive that a cop would’ve nailed him for sure, if he could believe any car could do 120 in reverse.

* * *

Kaeleigh liked Señor Taco, especially the softshell beef tacos. Luke’s favorite was something called a nacharito platter, which was actually crushed Dorito’s chips, nacho cheese sauce, shredded pork, peppers, olives, and onions mixed together and rolled into a burrito. The only thing platter about it was the big plastic oval plate it sat on. He ate fast, eyeing the time on his phone. Kaeleigh knew he was trying to rush her, and resolutely refused to let it work. Resolute refusals were a particular specialty of hers. She nibbled daintily, and was only partway through her second taco (of three) by the time he was cramming in the last of his burrito. “Come on,” he said around his bulging cheeks. “It’f almoft four-fortfty-fifve.”

“I guess I’m just a slow eater tonight.”

“God,” he growled. “Pain in the aff.”

“Way to inspire me to help,” she said, taking another minuscule bite. “Also, I’m not sure that burrito was a good idea. It smelled kinda funny. Well,” she said, chewing thoughtfully. “Funnier than usual.”

Luke swallowed the last of his hasty meal. “It’s just the cheese.”

“If you say so,” she said, studying her taco.

Luke sighed. “Okay, what do you want?”

“I don’t have the slightest idea what you could mean.”

“Kay, you know it’s my game night. It’s starting in—” he checked his phone. “Thirteen minutes. I don’t want to be late.”

“So call them and tell them you’ll be there soon.”

“I—” He closed his eyes. “It’s not … it doesn’t work that way.”

“Why? Can’t they wait a few minutes?” He shrugged. “Or…” She thought for a moment. “Luke, you do know the number of someone you can call there, right?”

“Not … maybe,” he said, and scrubbed his face with his hands. “It’s not always at the same place each week, and, and I’m not sure if … my friend will be there or not tonight.”

“You and whoever the girl of the week is?” She was fishing, she knew, but even when she didn’t get a bite, it annoyed him.

“Jesus,” he sighed. “It’s not — that’s not how it is, okay? It’s a game. A game. That’s what it really is. A bunch of us playing a game. Okay?”

“But you don’t know who to call when you’re running late.” She finished her second taco and considered the final one.

“Late-er,” he said. “Eleven minutes.”

She studied him, and took a small, careful bite.

“What do you want?” he said.

“I think you know.”

He sat back and folded his arms. “No.”

“Okay,” she said, chewing very slowly.

“No, Kay.”

“I understand.” She sipped her Coke. A little. And a little more.

“Kay … I … can’t.”

“No, I get it.” She took another tiny bite. “You’re sixteen, and you have a part-time job, and you have your own car, and you live in a free country, but it’s literally impossible for you to do this one thing.” She swallowed. “Nine minutes.”

Luke growled again. “That’s not how it is. It’s against the … the rules.”

“It’s against the rules of the game,” she said, and sipped, “for someone to watch the game?”

“Yeah. No. I—” He looked at his phone again. 4:52. Damn it. Damn it! He leaned forward. “Okay, here’s the deal. Some of the stuff we talk about while we’re playing is a little … kinda … mature. So if, and I mean if, I bring you, and if I say you gotta go in another room for a while or something, you have to do it. Okay?”

“Oh, I didn’t realize I wasn’t mature.”

“Kay…”

“I mean, I’m only thirteen, so obviously you can’t trust me to go into another room when you say I have to, right?”

“That’s not what—”

“I’m just a bratty little girl, and you can’t take your eyes off me for two seconds or I’ll pee on the rug.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant mature like … like NC-17.”

“You do know I look at porn, right?”

Luke turned bright red. “What’s that got to do with it?”

Kaeleigh studied his face. Something was weird about his reaction just now. Her crack about porn had hit close to a nerve, she guessed, but she didn’t know how or why. Maybe they put on a triple-X, sat around, and fapped? She’d heard of boys doing things like that together, but if that was what they did, it would’ve been vaguely disappointing. All that sneaking around, just to hide a circle jerk? It was the year 2019, not 1919. “I just meant, how bad can it be, compared to … Blowjob Chronicles II, The Return of The Swallower?”

“Oh. No, it’s just…” He eyed her. “Wait. There isn’t really a movie called … is there?”

“No, I made that up. Suppose I agree, more or less.”

“More or less?”

“I agree that I’ll see what’s going on, and if it’s boring or gross, I’ll go to another room and read, or something.” In Kaeleigh-speak, gross meant Luke involved with a girl, in any way at all, even doing as little as holding hands with her.

“You planned this,” he said. “I know Mom sent you a text too. You planned all of this just so you could make me bring you along.”

She just looked at him; he knew the answer.

“This is the best I’m gonna get, isn’t it?”

“Six minutes.”

Luke decided, as he often did, that it was best to let Kaeleigh win the argument. He took a deep breath and let it out. “Man, I hope they don’t kill me for this. Okay. You win. Okay.”

She smiled and finished the last half of her taco in a single bite. “Okay.”

* * *

It was a nice house in a quiet neighborhood. It lay at the end of a cul-de-sac in a sprawl of hedges, lawn, and solid-board fencing sectioning off the back yard, and was at least twice the size of the house Kaeleigh lived in (with, of course, Mom, and, alas, Luke). It was a few minutes past five when Luke parked, and there were already other vehicles there, all of them shouting teenager: Used, serviceable, fairly reliable, and cheap. Kaeleigh followed Luke to the front door and stood waiting with him after he rang the bell. He eyed her. “If they’ve already started…”

The door was opened by a teen boy, a little taller than Luke, maybe as broad across the shoulders, and very cute. He had glossy black medium-cut hair that shone silkily in the late-afternoon light, very dark eyes, and an olive complexion. “Oh, good, Luke, we were gonna give you another ten…” He caught sight of Kaeleigh and blinked at her.

“Hey, Tuck,” Luke said. “I, I’ve mentioned my sister before, well, this, this is Kaeleigh, and there was kind of a mix-up tonight with messages, our mom’s still at work, and she, uh, she, um.” He swallowed. “Look, I know we don’t usually … uh, you know, out of the blue, but…”

“Hi,” the boy said, and smiled at her. Kaeleigh didn’t mind that; he had a nice smile. “My name’s Tucker, but most people call me Tuck. Luke’s talked about you a few times before, but I make it a habit never to listen to sibling propaganda. I take it you’ll be … you haven’t played before, right?”

“I…” she said.

“No,” said Luke.

“Okay,” Tucker nodded. “So you’re here to … what, to observe?”

“Y…eah,” Kaeleigh said. “I … kinda attached myself to Luke. I mean it’s not his fault, I made him bring me, so if there’s a problem, well, I guess I can go sit in the car or something…”

Her gamble paid off. “No, I can’t ask you to do that. Listen, Kaeleigh, I don’t know how much Luke’s told you about the game, but there are times when it can get…”

“Mature? Adult? NC-17?”

“Yeah, a bit. There’s nothing outright … while the game’s being played, there’s no actual … NC-17 behavior, nothing like…”

“Nothing like Blowjob Chronicles II, The Return of The Swallower?” Kaeleigh said sweetly.

“You made that one up. But … how old are you, by the way?”

“Thirteen. I’ll be a freshman next year.” She didn’t know if that mattered, but she figured it couldn’t hurt.

Tucker nodded, considering her. They were still standing on the front porch; Kaeleigh had the feeling that if he said no, everything was off, and there would be no appeal. After all, it was his house. “Okay, are you … I’m not trying to be nosy, but I have to be, a little bit. Have you seen porn?”

“Pretty much every day, why?”

Tucker looked a little impressed. “Okay, so naked people don’t bother you?”

“Guess not.”

“The reason I’m asking is because … certain parts of the game can get pretty … ribald. Clothes coming off, mostly. There’s no actual sex taking place during the game, but there generally is nudity, for both the boys and the girls. Since you’re an observer, you wouldn’t have to be part of that, but you’d probably see it.”

“There’s girls here too?” Kaeleigh said, thinking: I knew it! Girl of the week!

“Oh, of course. So what I’m saying is that … as the game goes on, you might hear talk, or see people … undressed … and it might … start bothering you, or making you feel uncomfortable.” He glanced at Luke, and Kaeleigh took his meaning: Her brother might be among the Great Unclothéd tonight. “If that happens, I have a computer and flatscreen and you can … kind of escape and surf or watch movies until … the game’s over.”

She eyed Tucker. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No,” Tucker said over Luke’s groan. “Just letting you know it’s okay if you want to watch a while, but you’re not … committed to it. You have options.”

“Oh.” Kaeleigh nodded. “Uh, okay.”

“But … there is one condition,” Tucker said. “We keep the game quiet. We don’t talk about who we’ve seen playing. Actually, it’s kind of like Fight Club. We don’t talk about any of it to people who don’t play it, because … some of the players would probably get in a world of trouble if anyone found out they were here.”

“What do you do, call on Satan or something?”

Tucker laughed. “Not on purpose. But some of the things we talk about can be … private, not meant for just anybody to know. We talk about things like our, oh, our first time having sex, or what we like about it, or the different ways we like to masturbate, that kind of thing.”

Kaeleigh shot a glance at her brother, who was looking distinctly green now. “So … like … how me and my friends talk sometimes in the locker room?”

“You got it,” Tucker grinned. “Have you … I mean, do you have a boyfriend or a, a girlfriend?”

“Um,” Kaeleigh said. “Well, not right now, but…” She had a flash of insight into what he was really asking. “Uh, you know, I’m still a virgin. But I do, you know, look at porn and stuff, so…” She studied Tucker’s face. “I wouldn’t freak out or anything over anything I hear or see, if that’s what you’re saying.”

“Good. So … we really can’t let you observe unless we know you’re going to keep quiet.”

“I think I get it. The stuff you talk about, it’s about sex, and it’s kinda … just between everyone playing?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“And you take off your … is it strip poker?”

“No,” Tucker chuckled. “Actually, I hate poker. It’s more interesting than that.”

“Huh.” She chewed her lip. What the hell kind of game was this? Her curiosity got into a shouting match with her stubbornness, and carried the day; the only way she’d know would be to agree to Tucker’s condition, which was just for her to keep her mouth shut. Which really wasn’t much to ask, and made sense. If a bunch of kids were playing strip not-poker, even if they didn’t mention sex at all, that would be enough to bring down the parental banhammer; and that idea was enough to tweak her sense of solidarity. Kids against adults always got her aligning with the only side she could take. “Well … look, okay, I guess I get what you’re saying, and okay, sure, if I start feeling … weird or whatever, I can watch movies or something, I guess. And … I won’t, you know, talk about anything I hear or see or whatever. Okay? I, um. I promise.”

Tucker looked at Luke, who shrugged. “She’s serious,” he said. “She actually doesn’t do promises much at all. She says she hates binding contracts. She means it.”

“Binding contr…” Tucker looked at Kaeleigh again.

“I think they kind of cut off my options. But … yeah, I mean it. I said I won’t blab, and I won’t.” She felt Tucker’s eyes on her, and met them.

“Okay,” he said. “Sure, why not.” He opened the door wide and Luke stepped through, followed by Kaeleigh. They went through an entry vestibule to a living room, pretty large and plush, with a big ell-sofa, chairs, a coffee table, and all the usual paraphernalia. There were a few other kids in the living room, and Kaeleigh looked them over. All of them seemed to be about her brother’s age, which made sense, but she was pretty sure she knew the people he usually hung around with, and she didn’t recognize anyone here. Tucker’s name was familiar, but only because she thought she’d heard Luke mentioning it on the phone.

Luke nudged her as they went inside. “Gimme your phone.”

“What for?”

“We don’t text or call or anything when we’re playing.”

“But I’m not playing.”

“It’s a house rule,” Luke said, holding out his hand. Kaeleigh stiffened, but decided to let it go. She’d pushed it pretty far already, and she wasn’t sure if she was at the edge, or well past it. She sighed, pulled her phone from her back pocket, and passed it over. It went, along with his, into a drawer in a coffee table. There were half a dozen others in there already, so it was pretty clear he wasn’t making it up. That, or Tucker was fencing stolen cell phones as a side business.

“Luke’s here,” Tucker said. “And he brought an observer with him tonight. This is Kaeleigh, his sister.”

“Hello,” said a girl with short, boy-cut blonde hair and bright blue eyes, coming over to Kaeleigh while Luke went to talk to the others. “I’m Annette, but everyone calls me Nette. Are you thinking of playing yourself sometime?”

“Maybe,” Kaeleigh hedged.

“Not in—” Luke reddened; he’d overheard. “It would be a, a different game.”

“I figured as much,” Nette nodded, still smiling at Kaeleigh. She was really quite pretty, Kaeleigh thought, curvy in just the way she liked best, not much taller than Kaeleigh herself, with a friendly smile set in rounded, well-proportioned features. “I’m guessing you won’t be watching all the festivities.”

“Um,” Kaeleigh shrugged. “Probably not?”

Nette laughed, a full and unrestrained sound. “Don’t blame you. I wouldn’t either, if I was you.”

“Hey, Nette,” said a boy as he came up to them. “Who’d you discover?”

“This is Kaeleigh,” Nette said. “She’s Luke’s sister, and she’ll be observing. Kaeleigh, meet Travis.”

“Oh.” The boy — Travis — looked at Kaeleigh too. He was slim, but not gangly, and not quite as blonde as Nette, more golden than ash-pale. His eyes were faded blue, like the horizon on a calm day, and he had a clean jawline that framed his lips in a neat Y shape. Kaeleigh swallowed under his gaze; Tucker was cute, but Travis was as yummy as Nette. “Well, it’s good to meet you, Kaeleigh, and I hope you have a good time tonight.”

“Thanks,” she said, feeling herself redden under the welcoming friendliness of two rather attractive people. She wondered if Nette was Luke’s Girl of the Week, and felt a stab of completely groundless jealousy. Even if she were, Nette had to be fifteen or sixteen, at least; Kaeleigh didn’t stand a chance of getting her attention as anything more than his kid sister. Still, part of her wanted to try; and Travis might be worth getting to know better, too, hopeless as the case was likely to be.

“Okay,” Tucker said from a doorway leading farther into the house. “We’re all here, so how about we head into the dining room and get started?” This was met with sounds of approval, and the gathered kids filtered through. Kaeleigh followed them. Tucker smiled at her again — she really did like that smile — and said, “We roll first for play order, so whenever Luke knows where to park it, we’ll set up a chair next to his. Okay?”

“Next to?” Luke said faintly.

“Nearby,” Tucker shrugged. “In the same room, ish. We can’t exactly seat her outside, man.” Luke sighed and nodded.

Kaeleigh came into the dining room to see everyone standing, boy-girl-boy-girl, around a large table with eight chairs. The carpeting was thick and lush, and she saw a pile of shoes near the doorway. Everyone was in socks or barefoot. She took her own flats off and added them to the collection; the carpet felt wonderful under her bare toes. Tucker went to stand at the head of the table and put out his hands; in a moment, all the kids had linked up, and for one surreal moment Kaeleigh thought they were about to pray.

“I’m Tucker,” Tucker said. “Welcome to the game. I’m glad to see everyone made it, and even though I know we’re all experienced players, the tradition is to remind everyone of the biggest rule we play by: Respect others’ boundaries. You know how important it is, and what happens if you don’t, and I know I won’t have to worry about booting or banning any of you.” He looked around at everyone. “Sorry about this. But rules are rules and apply to everyone, including hosts, and as the host I’m required to bring it up.” There was a murmur from everyone along the lines of don’t worry about it, we understand. “Thanks. I’ve been playing for almost four years now, and I started hosting … uh … a little more than a year ago. I’m glad everyone could make it out tonight, and I want to extend a special welcome to Luke’s sister, Kaeleigh. She’s here to observe, but maybe not all the way. I mean,” he said over chuckles, “maybe not everything.”

Everyone looked over at her, and she was intensely aware of the scrutiny, but it didn’t feel judging so much as … something between curious and interested. “Hi,” she said. “I, uh, I’ll try not to get in anyone’s way or anything.”

“Welcome,” said the girl standing beside Tucker. “I’m Sal, and I’ve been playing for more than three years.” She was slim and well-proportioned, with long brown hair done up in a braid, and had features that hinted vaguely at India. She eyed Tucker, seemed like she was about to say something else, but didn’t.

“Uh, hey,” said the boy beside Sal. He was brown-haired too, a little on the short side, but it looked like he had a wide frame under his loose tee, and none of it looked like fat. “I’m Casper. I’ve been playing about two years. I, uh, I played a few times before with … observers.” He looked at Kaeleigh. “Try not to barf too hard tonight. This is a nice carpet.”

“I’m Nette,” said Nette. “Player for two-point-something years, and it’s one of those from my cold dead hands situations, for me.” Everyone chuckled and nodded.

“I’m Luke. I’ve been playing for around two years too. Um, sorry about my sister.”

“She’s sorry about her brother,” Kaeleigh said, and that got a wave of laughs. She blinked, surprised.

“My name’s Seana,” said a girl with auburn hair, falling in a beautiful cascade down her shoulders. “I’ve been in the game for almost three years now, and I’m glad to be here tonight, like I always am.”

“If you don’t know me, I’m that Travis kid everyone keeps warning you about. Been playing for five years, in the game for two. I’m looking forward to everything tonight.” Something about the way he said everything caught Kaeleigh’s ear, but she didn’t know what it was.

“Hi, I’m Becka,” said a tall and creamy-smooth redheaded girl. “I’ve been in play for a couple years now, and am very much looking forward to extending that by another week tonight.” She smiled at Tucker, who was on her left.

“Okay,” Tucker said, and everyone let go of each other’s hands. “All of you know the drill pretty well, I’m guessing. Sal and I have been in play the longest, I think, so we’ll ref where it’s needed, the bathroom is down the hall, there’s beverages ahoy in the kitchen, snacks and such too, and feel free to attack it all at any time. That goes for you, too, Kaeleigh.”

“Um.” She felt her face redden again. “Thanks.” She watched the kids roll to determine play order while Tucker took out a large and flexible laminated sheet covered with images. When he laid it out on the table, Kaeleigh had to suppress a gasp. Even from where she was standing she could see it was a game board of some kind, with a start and finish, and squares connecting them like stepping-stones.

That wasn’t what stood out to her; what stood out was that the background of the board was covered in porn. It depicted men and women making out with each other, taking off each other’s clothes … and going down on each other … and fucking each other … and even having group sex together. In the middle of this visual feast was a title: ALL THE WAY.

She looked at Luke, who was bright red again as he tried to avoid her gaze, and wondered what, exactly, NC-17 really meant.