My first day of work was fun, but it was tiring. I had seen bellboys working in hotels all my life, and it always looked like a good way to make some bucks. It's pretty demanding, though, because you have to be on your toes all the time to anticipate what a guest might need. I made about eighty dollars in tips, too, and that was very good. My parents had given me a good bit of money for the summer, and I was going to try to return every dime of it to them. I almost got into trouble my first day because I stayed outside too much talking to Cody. That guy was a magnet for me, and I was a helpless metal filing around him. His smile was incredible, and he had a terrific sense of humor. Justin had to set me straight on what I was supposed to be doing, though, and I did what I was told after that. I went home after work and lay down on my bed for a little while. Cody was going to pick me up at six, so I didn't really have time for a long nap. I had seen something on TV once about power naps. They're short, like less than a half hour, and I decided to try that. I set the timer on my alarm clock to go off in twenty minutes, and I went to sleep almost instantly after I set the timer. When I woke up twenty minutes later, I felt like I had had a full night's sleep. I felt terrific. I took a shower and washed my hair. I had sweated a good bit off and on all day, and I sure didn't want to have any body odor that night. I hadn't had time to jerk off that morning, and the result had been that I was horny all day long. I didn't keep a full erection the whole time, but I kept getting them every time I was around Cody. My underwear stayed damp, and my dick was really slimy every time I took a leak. I noticed that Cody had gotten hard a few times, too, and that's what I tried to visualize in the shower. I got hard as a rock in seconds, and I tossed myself off. I didn't get soft right away, though, so I did it a second time. Maybe that'll keep things under control tonight, I thought. "Hi, Seth," Cody said when I went out to his truck. He flashed me the best smile I had ever seen, and I felt myself becoming aroused. I didn't focus on that, though. "You really look good." "Thanks. So do you," I said. Take off your clothes, I thought. Making friends isn't easy for me, and I usually don't know what to say or what to talk about when I meet somebody new. That wasn't at all the case with Cody, though. It seemed like he and I could talk about anything and everything, and I never felt nervous or awkward with him. We went to a pizza buffet place first. We each got a pretty big salad, and then we got pizza, of course. They had other Italian stuff, too, but we both just stuck to pizza. We talked about work and the people we worked with. "Did you know Kevin Foley is our big boss," I asked. "Really? No, I didn't know that." "Justin told me. And Kyle's father owns the whole thing. I mean the company that owns our hotel and about ten more," I said. "Are you sure about that," he asked. "Yeah. He's Kyle Goodson, and Goodson Enterprises owns the hotel. That's who we work for," I said. "That makes sense, I guess, but why is Kyle working? I'm sure he doesn't need the money." "I know. It's strange," I said. A couple of girls spotted Cody, and they came up to our table. After he told them hello and introduced me, one girl said, "Cody, there are all sorts of ugly rumors going around about you." "They're not rumors, Heather," he said. "Oh, you're kidding! Tell me you're kidding!" "I'm not kidding. I'm gay," he said. She was really pretty, and very cute acting. "Cody Mitchell, you get right back into that closet this minute," she said. Cody and I laughed, and she and her friend did, too. "Why," Cody said. "Because I'm going to marry you, and I can't have a fully-out gay husband." That made us all laugh even more. "Er, Heather . . .?" "I'm just teasing you, Cody," she said. "I don't give a shit if you're gay. I did want to marry you, though. Maybe we could just have babies. You could do that, couldn't you?" More laughter. "I actually probably could, Heather, but I don't want to. He's more my type," he said. Oh, my God! He said that about me, I thought. "Well, damn. He's cute, too," Heather said. "Melissa, it's true. All the cute ones are gay. Look at Kyle Goodson. That boy makes me wet just looking at him." "Heather, that's probably TMI, don't you think," Cody said. "TMI?" "Too much information," Cody said, and laughed. "I thought it was 'TMFI,'" she said. All of us laughed. "I'm working with Kyle this summer, and Seth here is living with him," Cody said. "Oh, you lucky boy," Heather said. We laughed at the lustful way she said that. "Not that way," I said. "Kyle's my brother, sort of. Sort of like a foster brother." "I know not that way," she said. "He's got a boyfriend. Tim Murphy, another hunk-and-a-half. I know I could seduce that boy, if I really tried. Do you know him?" "Of course, I do. I wouldn't try seducing him, though." I really liked that girl. "Oh, I know. It was nice to meet you Seth," she said. "Mel and I are meeting the Troglodyte Twins, and we've got to run. And Cody? Don't choke on your pizza or anything else tonight, hear?" That broke everybody up, and Cody blushed pretty deeply. "Oh, instant sunburn, I see," Heather said. That made us all laugh even more. "Get out of here, girl," Cody said, still laughing. "I'm gone. Call me, Cody, and I mean it. I want every detail, and, who knows, I might be able to give you a few pointers," she said. That brought on another gale of laughter, and Cody blushed even more. "She's a good friend, I take it," I said, after the girls had gone. "She and I have known each other since kindergarten," he said. "And, yeah, she is a very good friend. I've actually gone to a couple of dances and things with her, and I'm pretty sure she's known for a while that I'm gay ." "Are the kids at your school pretty tolerant," I asked. "Yeah, for the most part. There are some assholes, of course, like everywhere, but it's pretty much a 'live and let live' atmosphere there. That guy Gage, and his boyfriend, Chad, from yesterday get picked on, or teased at least, some, but not all that much. Tim got the worst harassment I've ever seen when that guy painted his Jeep last week, but that wasn't school related. We have a pretty big GSA on campus, and the principal doesn't tolerate any gay bashing at all," he said. "GSA?" "Gay-Straight Alliance. Isn't there one at your school," he asked. "Are you kidding? I go to an all-boys private Catholic high school. There, the gay kids, or the ones they think are gay, get picked on a lot. I don't because I don't come across as gay and I stay to myself, but it's pretty bad for some of them," I said. "That really sucks," he said. "I know." We finished eating and paid up. He insisted on paying for both of us because he had invited me. "Yeah, but next time I'm paying, okay," I said. "Okay," he said, "but the times after that, why don't we each just pay our own?" The times after that, I thought. Yes! We went to a place called the Emerald Beach Go-Track. There were go-cart rides, bumper cars, and a whole arcade of electronic games, skeeball, pinball, and that kind of thing. We mostly rode the go-carts and had a great time, but we played a few video games, too, and even shot a little skeeball. We ate ice cream cones, drank a couple of cokes, and had fun with each other. He bought a bag of boiled peanuts, which I had never even heard of before, and he wanted me to taste them. "This tastes like bat shit," I said, after I had eaten one. He laughed his ass off. "How much of that have you eaten," he asked, still laughing. "Fair question, but I don't think I have to, now that I've eaten that. What a waste of a perfectly good peanut," I said. "I think it might be an acquired taste," he said. "Yeah, maybe so, but it's not one I'm going to acquire," I said. "They're best when they're hot. All nuts are best when they're hot," he said. I didn't react right away because I couldn't tell if that was supposed to be a pun, or not. I decided it was, and I laughed. "I guess you'd know," I said. "No, not yet, but I hope I'm fixing to find out pretty soon," he said. Oh, my God, I thought. Down Boy, I mentally said to my penis, but Boy didn't mind any better that time than he ever did. Cody checked his watch. "We probably need to get going, don't you think? We've got to work tomorrow." Nooooo!!!!!! I thought. It's only 9:30. I'm having one of the best times of my life. I don't want it to be over so early. "Okay," I said. We left the Go-Track place. "It's a full moon tonight. Have you ever seen a full moon over the Gulf?" "No," I said. We pulled into a condo parking lot, and we walked down to the beach from there. The beach was totally deserted, and the light of the moon on the waves was awesome. "Can I hold your hand," he asked. "Yeah," I said. We walked down the beach a way, and then we stopped. "Seth, I wanted to do this last night, but I was afraid," he said. "Can I kiss you?" I didn't bother answering. I moved in front of him from along side him, and our lips met. Ohhhh, I thought. Ohhhh. We kissed for a long time. In a minute, we tried using our tongues, and that was the best. When we finally stopped kissing, both of us were panting hard. My dick was ready to fire at any minute, and his was as hard as mine. I felt his rub against mine through our shorts, and I knew he felt mine, too. "We need to go home," he said. "I know. I don't want to, though," I said. "Me, either, but we have to." "Cody, tonight was a first for me," I said. "Me, too," he said. "First date with a guy?" "First date. Period. Ever. With anybody, and it was so much fun." "I had fun, too," he said. "Let's do something tomorrow night, too." "Okay," I said. We drove home, and we kissed again in our driveway. "I'm going to dream about you tonight," I said. "Nightmare?" "No way, dude," I said. I kissed him quick and went inside. All of them except Jeff were in the den watching the end of a movie. I went into the kitchen and got a coke, and then I went out into the den. The movie was over by then. "Did you have a good time," Kyle asked. "I had a fabulous time," I said. Every one of them was grinning at me, but they were grinning because they were happy for me. "I'm not telling anything," I said. "We don't want you to," Kyle said, "but we're happy you had a good time. Who wants a piece of watermelon? I bought one today." Everybody said they did, and he brought out huge slices of watermelon. Judging from my piece, the thing must have weighed twenty pounds. "The next time we have a watermelon, we're going to have a melon fight in the pool," Kyle said. "I'm all on top of that," Justin said. "I'll wash your face in it, Goodson." "Yeah? We'll see," Kyle said. Trixie was hovering around us like she wanted some watermelon. Jus bit off a piece and dropped it on a newspaper on the floor for her. She smelled it, but she didn't eat it. "This ain't a Southern dog," Jus said. "Everybody in the South likes watermelon. Dogs and cats, included." "Jeff probably don't like it," Kyle said. "Why'd you say that," Rick asked. "Any boy who grew up in Florida and wants to go to Key West in August, instead of to Montana, can't be a real Southerner," Kyle said. "That's still in your craw, isn't it," Rick asked. I didn't know what they were talking about. "Yeah, it's still in my craw," Kyle said, "but I'll get over it. How can he not want to see Chris?" "Because he wants to spend time with Tyler, that's why, Kyle," Kevin said. "Why can't Tyler go with us?" "Kyle, give it some thought, man. You're going to take a two-week vacation with your boyfriend and his six brothers? How romantic can that be," Kevin said. "Not very, I guess," Kyle said. "Give Jeff a break, Kyle. He wants to spend time away from us with Ty. Do you think that's strange?" "No, Kevin, I think it's fine. But why go someplace that's so fucking hot? Why not go to Maine or somewhere," Kyle asked. "Orlando's hotter," Brian said. "I know it, Bri. That's the hottest place on earth," Kyle said. "I went there two years ago in August, and I'm never going back there in the summer. Ever. I don't care if they parade Walt Disney's dick up and down the Magic Kingdom on Gay Day. I'm never going." We were all laughing because he was so serious and so funny, at the same time. "That's this month, not in August," Kevin said. "In fact, it might even be this weekend." "I'll bet it was 110 in Orlando today. We at least get the sea breeze. They don't get any relief there. This is making me hot just thinking about it. I'm going to bed so I can get naked and get cool." Kyle was grinning and laughing. We told Kevin and Rick good night, and we all went to bed. Once in bed, I thought about what had happened that night. I had kissed another person, another boy, and I had gotten aroused. And he had gotten aroused. I gave another boy a hard-on! In fact, he had gotten hard several times that day, and he knew I knew. I had hated my body for so long that it was difficult for me to imagine anyone ever finding me tolerable, much less desirable. But I was desirable to Cody. I sexually aroused another boy! It was almost more than I could comprehend, but I knew it was true. I had felt it through his shorts, and his rough breathing left no room for doubt. Someone wanted me. Me. Worthless me. I did it very slowly that night, slowly and gently. I wanted the feeling to last forever. A shudder in my loins shot out years of doubt and self-loathing, and it felt wonderful. * * * I had forgotten to set my clock the night before, but Kyle came in and woke me up the next morning. I was sure he had knocked, but I was truly dead to the world. Kyle gently nudged me and whispered my name so he wouldn't startle me, I guess. He sat on the side of my bed. I was naked and hard, and the covers were all askew. He could see everything, but I didn't care. "It's time to get up," he said gently. "Okay," I mumbled. Kyle started picking the gobs of dried cum out of my pubic hair, grinning fiercely. "You need to use a towel," he said. "I know," I mumbled. "Why are you doing that?" "I'm sorry," he said. "You don't have to be sorry," I said. "I don't mind." "It was a stupid thing for me to do," he said. "Cody ought to be doing that." I'm sure I blushed. "Don't blush, Bubba," he said gently. "Was I right about him? Is he a good one?" "He's the best, Kyle. Thank you," I said. "That's what I'm here for. Now get up, shower, and come on downstairs. I woke you up fifteen minutes earlier today than you got up yesterday. I'm not going to do this every morning, but I thought you might need me this morning." "Kyle, I never knew how badly I needed you. Not this morning, although I'm glad you thought to wake me up. I needed you for my life," I said. "I know. Now it's yours, Bubba. Are you ready for it?" "Yeah. I am so ready for life," I said. "Well, get your ass out of bed and live it," he said. He grinned, stood up, and walked out of my room. I heard him say something to Tim in the hall, and the two of them laughed. Before that day, I would have been sure they were laughing at me, and I would have been worried and upset for hours. But I knew they weren't making fun of me. They didn't make fun; they had fun, and what a huge difference that was. * * * Thursday night of that week was the moment of truth. Cody had a cousin who was a year out of college, and she lived in a little concrete-block house on the beach with another girl. She had just finished her first year of teaching at an elementary school, and she was working as a waitress for the summer to tide herself over. In fact, both she and her roommate were waitresses. She and Cody were very close. She was an only child of a single mother, and Margaret and Cody and his two brothers were as close as siblings. Cody and I had caught Margaret at home on Wednesday night, her only night off, before her date picked her up, and we had had a good time with her until around nine, when she went out and we left. The house Margaret lived in had two bedrooms, but, like so many 1950's-vintage beach cottages in Emerald Beach, it also had a "sleeping porch." That was a big room across the back of the house that had once literally been a porch but that had since been enclosed to provide extra sleeping space. After we got something to eat Thursday night, Cody and I stopped and rented a movie. We took it over to Margaret's house. He and both of his brothers had keys to it, and Margaret expected her cousins to use it for dates anytime she and her roommate weren't home. We each got a beer out of the refrigerator, popped the movie in the VCR, and snuggled into one another on the couch to watch it. Cody put his arms around me as I leaned into him, and I was hard in an instant. I had on very light-weight khaki shorts, and my tent was visible immediately. I didn't do anything to hide it, though. In fact, I wanted him to know what he did to me. He got in the same condition just as fast, and we lounged there "watching" the movie with rampant erections. Ten minutes into it, we started making out. Thirty minutes into it, we both had visible wet spots on our shorts. Forty minutes into it, we were on the sleeping porch in one of the double beds, naked. Fifty minutes into it, we were grinding against one another, breathlessly. Sixty minutes into it, we were cleaning each other up. "Did you think the first time was going to be like that," Cody asked after we had kissed and snuggled for a while. "No. Not at all. I thought I was going to be scared to death and embarrassed beyond belief because my dick is so small," I said. "But it was wonderful." "I know. Me, too. Your dick really isn't that small, though, Seth," he said. "Yours isn't, either. Have you measured it?" "Many times. It's right at five inches hard. What about you?" "Five-and-a-half," I said. "I've always wanted it to be bigger until tonight. Now I don't care." "Neither do I. Our friends aren't going to make fun of us. They've proved that. I guess we can probably both relax now about it, can't we?" "Yeah." We were quiet for a few moments. "Cody, do you consider me your boyfriend? 'Cause that's how I think of you," I said. He grinned and kissed me. "I was trying to figure out a way to bring that up," he said. "Yes, I consider you my boyfriend." I was so happy. "Do you think you could spend the night at my house tomorrow night," I asked. "I haven't asked Kevin and Rick, but I know it will be okay." "Yes!" "You don't have to ask," I said. "Not anymore. When I turned eighteen about a month ago, my dad and I had a talk. One of the things he told me was that I don't have to ask to spend the night out anymore. I have to let them know where I am, but I can make up my own mind about that," he said. "I just have to call them, and I can leave a message on the machine, if it's late and they're already in bed." "Cool," I said. "Have you done it yet?" "Not yet. Tomorrow night's the first one," he said. "You are so incredible. You know that?" "You're pretty incredible yourself, dude," he said. "I am so glad I met you." "Me, too," I said. We were still in bed, holding one another. We were both hard again, so we took advantage of that a second time. When I went to sleep that night, I was happier and more relaxed than I had ever been in my life. I had someone. I had a boyfriend!
I woke up early Saturday morning, like I always did. I didn't know why I didn't need more sleep, but I didn't. We had been up pretty late the night before talking to Seth and Cody about sex, and of course Tim and I were too sexed up to go right to sleep. I was hyper when I was little, and I used to always wake up before anybody else. I would get up and go next door to Clay's room. I would get in bed with him and want to play. He finally broke me of that, though, by beating the shit out of me one time when I woke him up too early. After that, I would still get in bed with him, but I would just lie there for a little while. Being in bed with my big brother made me feel so safe and so good. I loved that. I never stayed more than about fifteen minutes, though, because I couldn't keep still and just lie there with nothing to do and nobody to talk to. Those were good minutes, though. That Saturday morning, I laid in bed next to Tim. I had a water woody like I always did, and eventually I got up to pee. I decided to take a shower because I was pretty dirty with dried cum from the night before, and I went ahead and shaved my whole face, too. I had been growing that little fringe beard, and I liked the way it looked. It was too much trouble, though, so I shaved it off. I shaved my balls, my dick, and my asshole, too, while I was at it. My chest was showing signs of needing it, so I went ahead and did that, too. Damn, I thought. Pretty soon, if I keep shaving so much, I won't have to bathe. I can just scrape the dirt off with a razor. I put on some clean briefs and went downstairs. Trixie wasn't in the house, so I figured she and Rick were out running. I made a big pot of coffee, poured me a cup, and sat down at the breakfast room table. I turned on the TV, and I watched some news stuff on MSNBC. Rick got home from running around six o'clock, and he was a mess. "This is it for me," he said. I got him a couple of big glasses of water, and I poured him a cup of coffee, for when he was ready for it. "What do you mean," I asked. "It's too fucking hot, Kyle. Even this early. I'm on the treadmill from now until October." Trixie looked happy, but she looked run out, too. I gave her some water in her water bowl, and she lapped it up before I could sit down. I filled it up a second time. "I guess we had a full house last night," Rick said. "Huh?" "Tyler and Cody both spent the night, didn't they?" "Tyler and Jeff didn't, but Cody did. We stayed up late talking to Cody and Seth," I said. "Do you like those guys? Cody and Ty?" "Yeah, I like 'em. I like 'em a lot. Don't you?" "Yes. Kevin and I both like them," he said. "Oh, I just noticed. You shaved this morning." "Yeah. It was too much trouble shaving around that beard every day," I said. "It doesn't bother you, having that on your face," he asked. "Not really. I don't notice it," I said. "It drives me crazy." "Short trip, right?" "Very funny, asshole," he said, laughing. "We don't really talk that much anymore, do we," I said. "Just the two of us, I mean." "No. I try to avoid you," he said. I made myself get this really hurt look on my face. "Kyle, don't do that, man. You know I'm teasing you, don't you? You know I love you." "Do you, Rick? Do you really?" I knew Rick loved me almost as much as he loved Kevin, but I couldn't resist teasing him. "Of course, I do, Kyle. Don't be this way, man. You're tearing me up here." "But will you say it?" "Yes! Of course, I'll say it. I love you. I'll always love you. How could you not know that?" "No. I meant the other thing," I said. He thought for a second. "Ohhhh. Kyle. You fuck. Ohhhh. I gonna get your ass for that, you shithead." He was laughing, and I was, too. "Say it," I demanded. "Okay. You got me last. You are so wrong, Kyle. You are so evil. I ought to kick your ass into the pool." We were both laughing hard, and Trixie wanted in on the fun. She started barking at us and wagging her tail and jumping up on us. "Look what you did. You upset the puppy," I said. "I'll upset your puppy," he said, and he grabbed me in a big hug. I hugged him back. "As a family, we're pretty weird, aren't we," I said. "We're not weird. We're just different. We actually love one another," Rick said. * * * One of the bad things about getting up so early was there was nobody else around to do anything with. I decided to check the crab traps. Then I remembered I didn't have any more bait to re-bait them. I took Tim's car, and Trixie and I went to the grocery store. I got the chicken necks and backs I wanted for the traps, but I also bought stuff for breakfast. Then I decided to go ahead and shop for the weekend. I figured we'd have a crowd around all weekend, and they would all be hungry as hell. We almost always ate out on Saturday night after church, so I didn't worry about that meal. I got some roll-up sandwiches on pita bread, three dozen pieces of fried chicken that were just coming out of the fryer, a half gallon of potato salad, a half gallon of coleslaw, a half gallon of macaroni salad, a quart of mac and cheese, three pounds of smoked sausage already cooked, some Cuban rolls for sandwiches, two pounds of sliced baked ham, and two of Swiss cheese and salami, too. I got the usual pickles, pickled peppers, olives, and pickled okra for Jus, and I got two heads of iceberg lettuce and a half dozen tomatoes for the sandwiches. In the bakery I picked up four dozen doughnuts, two pound cakes, two coffee cakes, and three dozen cookies. We had plenty of stuff to drink on hand, but I figured we needed some ice cream, in case we wanted coke floats. I went back to the deli and got three pounds of thick bacon, and then I picked up four dozen eggs. I knew we had grits at the house already. I got a watermelon and four cantaloupes, two pounds each of red grapes and cherries, and a dozen peaches from Alabama. I thought Alabama peaches were better than the ones from Georgia or South Carolina. I also got two cartons of huge figs. I loved those things. I had a lot of stuff, but you never know who's going to show up or how hungry they're going to be. I mentally went through the contents of my two carts and realized I didn't have any snacks. I got three large bags each of potato chips and corn chips, some salsa and Mexican cheese dip stuff to have with them, and a couple of cartons of prepared dip. I checked out fast because I was the only one in that store, and it came to $230. I put it on the household credit card Kevin and Rick had given me. Some people might think I was too young to have their credit card, but they knew they could trust me. Trixie was all happy to see me when I got back out to the car. That was one thing about her. She was always glad to see you, no matter what. Rick, Kevin, and Tim were up when I got home. They helped me unload the car, and we put the stuff away. "I'm glad you thought of this, Kyle," Rick said. "Now I can scratch 'grocery store' off my list of things to do this morning." "No problem. There are doughnuts and fried chicken for breakfast, if anybody is hungry. I know I am," I said. "I'll make some grits to go with that," Rick said, and he did. The four of us ate breakfast, and then I went up to put on my swim suit. Tim came with me. "I wonder what Seth and Cody did last night after we talked with them," Tim said while we were changing. "I don't know, but I bet it wasn't saying their prayers," I said. Tim laughed. He gave me a big hug and a little kiss. If the kiss had been bigger, I would have known he wanted to make love. That would have to wait, though. I guess he got all he needed for a while last night. The traps were just about full. I went ahead and re-baited them and moved them off to the side of the lagoon so we could ski. Trixie was with us in the boat, and she got all excited every time I pulled up a trap. The crabs were lively and were sometimes hard to get into the holding trap because they caught onto the catching traps with their claws. I kept the holding trap in the water and just pulled it up to dump crabs into it. It was fun to watch her try to scare those crabs. Those big teeth of hers were ready to bite the head off those crabs. Trouble is, they didn't have heads. "I think I'm going to go ahead and boil these this morning," I said about the crabs in the holding trap. "We can put some of them out for people to pick on." "Who's coming over," Tim asked. "I don't know. I told Philip for him and Ryan to come over." "Morgan told me this week that he and Blake and Riley had seen us last Sunday and had wanted to come over. I told him to come on over anytime there was a crowd," Tim said. "There you go," I said. "You just never can tell who'll show up. We're soon going to need another boat so everybody can ski." "Mont said last Sunday he wants us to go out to the island on his boat tomorrow," Tim said. "I don't know how many, though." "Don't you just love summer," I asked. "Yeah," he said. "So far it's been wonderful, but I need to talk to you about something." "What's that, Babe," I asked. "I have to go away for two weeks. My dad told me that yesterday. I have to go to Boston right after the Fourth of July to see my grandparents." That hit me like a ton of bricks. There was no way I could go for two weeks without him. Nuh-uh. No way. He started rubbing my chest. He sometimes did that when he thought I was upset. It felt good, but it didn't take away the sting of what he had said. "Does that make you sad," he asked. "Of course it makes me sad, Babe. What do you think, Tim? I know you have to see your grandparents, but why can't you just go for one week?" "We're going to spend the first week in Maine at a place where a lot of my relatives will be. The second week is in Boston with my grandparents," he said. "Maybe I can talk my parents into letting me fly to Boston for that week. Would that be okay?" "Oh, Babe, that would be the best," he said. "I know Boston pretty well, and we could have a hell of a good time there. Do you think Gene would let you go?" "I don't know. He's pretty serious about me working, but my mom believes I should travel as much as possible, too. I've never been to Boston, that I know of. Let me work on it," I said. Shit, I thought. Of all the fucking kinks that could come up! This was a complication in the summer I hadn't counted on. I could survive without him for two weeks if I absolutely had to, but I didn't want to. I could easily go two weeks without sex, but going two weeks without seeing him and talking to him and touching him was way too much. "Will you be staying at your grandparents' house," I asked. "No. We have to stay in a hotel. My great-grandmother is living with them, and she's pretty sick. My grandfather is in a wheelchair because of his arthritis, too. They have three bedrooms in their apartment, but they have a nurse or somebody that stays there to help out," he said. "That's going to be my angle with my dad," I said. "It'll be a chance for me to study another hotel up close. That's it! This is going to fucking work, Babe. I'm going to pitch it slow and easy at first, but it can turn into a nut ball in a heartbeat, if it has to. And he ain't wearing a cup." Tim started laughing at what I had said, and seeing him laugh made me laugh, too. "Kyle, how do you come up with stuff like that," he asked. "I don't know, but this is gospel. Count on it." "You're incredible." "You're pretty incredible yourself, Monkey," I said. "What is this? A banana for the monkey?" He was talking about my hard-on, which I didn't even realize I was getting till just then. "It's a natural cue stick. I'm fixin' to sink me some balls." He laughed his ass off over that. "I'm not touching it out here on the lagoon, if that's what you want," he said. "I know. Let's get in. Maybe it'll go down by the time we dock. Dock the boat, I mean." He screamed with laughter. * * * We had us a great time that day. That place turned into a black hole, sucking in boys from everywhere, and I was damn glad I had bought that much food. A lot of good people were there, like Monte and Terry, Sam and Fred, Pat and Mr. Mike Lawley, Philip and Ryan, Morgan, Blake and Riley (who were beginning to make me wonder about their relationship, by the way), Chad and Gage, Stephen from work, Jason from work and his boyfriend, and Javier, who was a friend of Tim and Brian's from work. Add to that the ten of us who were already there, and it was quite a crowd. We pretty much spent the day on or in the water. I drove the ski boat a while, and then Rick took over. He had been making sure there was plenty of stuff out to eat all day long, and I took over that duty. Around four o'clock, Kevin made an announcement. "Guys, Rick and I want you all to stay, but we and our sons are going to church for Mass at five. You can go with us, stay here, go home for the night, or go home and come back. We're cooking hotdogs, hamburgers, and ribs on the grill when we come back, and you're welcome to eat with us. I took the hamburgers and ribs out this morning, Kyle. They're already thawed, and the ribs are in the oven." Damn, that's sure a load off, I thought. I'm glad he knew to cook those ribs slow in the oven before we slapped them on the grill. You can't cook a whole slab of ribs on the grill and expect them to get done and not burned. "The Foley-Mashburn boys better get ready for church," Kevin said. Those showers in the clubhouse came in damn handy that day. The shower for the guys had four heads, and there were a good twelve kids in there when Tim and I were in there. Trixie came in with us, and she was barking and jumping and having a great time playing in the water. "Don't let the dog get your bone," Justin said. That really broke everybody up. I looked around, and there were a couple of bones pretty well along, too. "Here, Trixie, Trixie," Gage said. "I've got a bone for you." That made us all laugh, too. "What would you do if she chomped down on that thing, Gage? That's a female dog, you know," Justin said. "Oh, my God! How disgusting. Never mind, Trixie. Fetch." He actually threw a bar of soap against the wall, and she went after it. She slid and crashed into the wall. She whelped a tiny bit, but she got the soap and took it back to Gage. She wasn't hurt. "Don't do that anymore, Gage," I said. "We don't want to hurt her." "I won't. I'm sorry I did it," he said. "I didn't think she'd go after it." "She's okay. Aren't you, girl?" She came up to me when I said that and put her snout in my crotch, nudging my balls. "Ain't you sorry you ever trained her not to lick," Justin asked. That broke all of us up big. "You still lick, don't you," I said. "Yeah, but I don't lick you," he said. "This ain't exactly like other gang showers I've been in," Cody said. "This is way more fun." "We're having a gay ole time, ain't we," Justin said. "Jus, that was terrible," Jeff said. "Get out of here." "Only if you come with me," Jus said. "Okay. Let's go," Jeff said. That pretty much ended our shower time, but it damn sure didn't end our fun that night. I think everybody went to church with us, and we took up three pews. Jerry's eyes just about bugged out of his head when he saw all of us, and he was grinning up a storm. He called Pat and Tim out to be his altar servers because he didn't have any. They were both in shorts and flip-flops. Pat had on an untucked tee shirt, and Tim had on an untucked tank top. Nobody thought that was strange because that was the way it was in Emerald Beach. I thought about those guys on that altar at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York during our trip and about all the robes they were wearing. Jerry was in robes, but I wondered if he had on shorts and a tee shirt under them. Knowing him, I'll bet he did. Doc and Sonya, and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Jerry and Pat's parents, were there, and they came over from where they were sitting to join us. The music was just a guitar, and the young Asian guy who was playing it could sing really good. That guy was cute, too. I loved to sing, and I had heard all of the songs we sang that night before. I followed along in the song book, and I sang out pretty loud. Everybody in our group did, and that was kind of festive. It was sort of like a celebration, or something. They sang one song when everybody went to communion called "Be Not Afraid." That one always gave me goose bumps, and I sang my heart out that night. One verse said, "Blessed are your poor, for the kingdom shall be theirs. "Blest are you that weep and mourn, for one day you shall laugh. "And if wicked men insult and hate you all because of me, blessed, blessed are you. "Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give you rest." "Blessed, blessed are you." Tears came to my eyes when we sang that line because I knew it was about me. It was about us. I looked at Seth, and his tears were streaming down his damn face. Cody was doing the same thing, and so was Tyler. If wicked men insult and hate you all because of me and the way I made you, queer to the core, blessed, blessed are you. I was overwhelmed. My interpretation probably wasn't Cardinal Bernard Law's interpretation up in Boston that night, with all those gay priests, but I didn't care. They were my God and my Jesus, too, just as much as they were his, and they told me to be not afraid. They would go before me always. Come follow them, they said, and they will give me rest. |