Lock Step - Love Under Lockdown

“You sneaking out?” said the text.

“Who is this?” I asked.

“Ryan.”

Ryan?

I didn’t know any Ryan.

“You have the wrong number.”

“This is the right number. C’mon, Lynn.”

“I’m not Lynn, you idiot. I’m Tracianne.”

“Prove it.”

I snapped a selfie of myself flipping off this asshole who kept insisting on texting me, and sent it.

“Oh, sorry. My bad. Jeez, I guess she gave me a fake number.”

“How are you out hooking up during the virus?” I asked, realizing the irony. “Shouldn’t you just be in?”

“I guess. Listen, I’m genuinely sorry about this, Tracianne. How are you doing with this lockdown?”

Hmmm.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to vent my frustrations to a stranger. I felt isolated and cooped up, with no one to talk to, and with Phil being a giant douchebag.

“Not well. I’m trying to work it all out in my head, but it’s just not going smoothly!” I confessed.

“Work what out?”

“It’s really complicated. I don’t know if I should say,” I confessed.

“I am a total stranger. It’s not like you can get into trouble. I don’t even know where you live and who you are.”

“This is going to sound totally insane.”

“There’s nothing more insane than this lockdown. Go ahead.”

“Well, my dad remarried, and his new wife has a son my age,” I explained. “Recently, we hooked up.”

“Wait, you had sex with your stepbrother?!”

“Yes.”

“Whoa. I thought that only happened in bad porno movies.”

“I know! And I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s not like you two are related,” said Ryan. “It’s probably nothing. I mean, it really is no different than a casual hookup. Except you’ll probably see him a lot more.”

“No, he’s being weird. He, like, won’t even talk to me,” I explained.

“Well, it’s probably weird for him too,” Ryan texted. “I don’t know how I’d feel about it. Although, you are pretty hot, so I guess I can’t blame him.”

“That’s an interesting way to compliment me!”

“Well, it’s true. I mean, the guy’s only human.”

“But we’re related! What have I done?” I lamented.

“You’re not really related. Only by marriage. It’s not illegal. It’s probably not usual, but it’s probably not all that unusual, either, when you think about it,” countered Ryan. “People just tend not to talk about it because it’s taboo. And so what? Are you planning to have sex with him again?”

“That’s the thing. I wanted to talk to him about it, but he’s putting on this act like he doesn’t want to talk to me. He keeps pushing me away,” I explained.

“If it’s any consolation, I would have sex with you,” Ryan joked. “Any chance you live in Alaska too?”

“No.”

Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to get Phil off my mind for long enough to hook up with anyone else. But I didn’t want to tell him this, because that would just sound like such a weird confession about my stepbrother.

“Then that’s probably not going to happen.”

“Probably not. How’s the infection there?”

“The virus? Not very widespread except in the major cities. People keep to themselves out here,” said Ryan.

“I wish I had followed that advice. This whole thing was a mistake. I never should’ve had sex with Phil!” I said.

“Well, was it good?”

“It was incredible, actually.”

“Then what’s the big deal? You have the memories!”

“Oh, hahaha.”

“Seriously, you miss the shots you don’t take, as they say.”

“That doesn’t matter. My dad would go absolutely nuts if he found out.”

“Yeah but how would he find out?”

“I don’t know. What if Phil tells him?”

“Phil is not going to tell him,” Ryan’s message said. “He might tell all of his friends, but he’s definitely not going to tell his dad. Dads don’t like guys who have sex with their daughters already. Add the whole step sibling into the mix? No, he’ll never tell him.”

“What about his mother? They’re close.”

“No one’s that close to their mother,” texted Ryan. “My mother still thinks I’m a virgin and I’m 22!”

“Are you?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Did you have sex with your stepsister?” I joked.

“How did you know?” he joked. “Just kidding. No. Only weirdos do that.”

“Oh, God, you do think I’m a weirdo. I’m never gonna live this down.”

“No one could possibly find out.”

“How do you know that?”

“Look, Phil can’t tell your dad, he won’t tell his mom. He’ll tell his friends about this hot sex you say you both had together, but he’ll lie and say it was sex with some girl who moved to Canada or something. He’s never going to advertise he slept with his own stepsister. No one would!”

“So, you do think it’s weird?”

“I’m saying, there is a lot of daylight that lies in between telling your friends you got laid and telling them who you banged. Because this is a taboo subject, he won’t tell anyone it was with you.”

“I guess that’s true. I just wish we could get past it somehow, though,” I replied. “Why does sex have to complicate everything?”