I'm starting my second year of college, right? I'm still scared to death of it, right? Only this time, my buddy Kyle is coming with me. "What are you going to do when class is over?" I asked. "I don't know. Jerk off, I guess," he said. Everybody at the breakfast table laughed. "Is that all you know how to do?" I asked. I was using what they called the Emerald Beach Grumble, and I loved it. I had needed to have me that kind of talk all my life because that's the kind of guy I was. "No. I know how to be a bellboy, but that option has been ripped from my grasp," he said. "'Ripped from your grasp?' That sounds like you're some kind of poet or something," Justin said. "Yeah, that's what I'm going to do. Write poems and jerk off," he said. "I thought you were going to call UCP about volunteering," Rick said. "I did call them, and I have an interview for that on Thursday. The earliest I can start is next Monday. What am I going to do in the meantime?" Kyle said. "Why don't you get ahead in your classes. Read your textbooks," Tim said. "I reckon I could do that. Tim, I've got some meetings at night for Beta Rho, too," he said. "I figured you would. Go. Just come home to me, okay?" God, Tim and Kyle were a cute couple, and everybody in that house knew that Kyle wasn't going anywhere but Tim's bed. Those two were rock solid. No question about that. It was the same way with me and Brian, and with Kevin and Rick, too. Shit, I couldn't even imagine those two dating somebody else, much less fucking 'em. I had been working full time at the hotel during the summer, but I was taking twelve hours that semester and needed time to study. I wasn't a quick study like Brian was. For one thing, I didn't read very fast, and it took me much longer to read something than it took him. I read pretty good, though. I mean, I knew most of the words, and all, and I could usually figure out what the hard ones meant if I didn't already know them. I had been reading a lot since we got back from Disney World, and Brian kept a steady stream of books coming my way. One day at work right after school started, Mr. Gene came to see Mr. Rooney. He stopped at the desk to visit with me a little while. "How's it going at school, Bubba?" he asked me. "It's going good, so far. I had a quiz already in math, and I got a hundred on it. I'm thinking I might be better at math than I thought I was," I said. "That's good, but I think math is way overrated," he said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Well, I don't know. I had to take all that algebra shit, and trig, and even calculus in college. You know how much I use any of that to run my business?" he asked. "No, sir, I don't," I said. "Not a goddamn bit, Justin," he said. "Now, don't get me wrong. I think people like Tim and Brian are going to need it when they become doctors, but guys like us don't need to use that shit. Justin, I ain't never, ever had to find x. You know why?" "No, sir. Why?" "I ain't never lost x, that's why," he said. I thought that was pretty funny, and he loved it that I laughed at his joke. He was the master of the grumble, and he was using it big that morning. "Mr. Gene, I haven't said this to you yet, but I want to thank you for taking such good care of me in giving me a job, and all," I said. "Forget about it, son. I need good people, and Kyle's going to need a good right-hand man someday. I consider all four of you boys my sons, and I plan to use your ass in the management of my businesses, just as soon as y'all move back here," he said. "Yes, sir," I said, "as long as that's the only way you want to use it." I saw on his face that he was thinking for a split second. "Oh, damn, Justin! You got me last hard that time, boy," he said. He and I both laughed. "Let me ask you something. Have you ever done any hunting?" he said. "Just that one time when we went," I said. "Did you like it?" he asked. "Yes, sir. I loved it," I said. "Well, let's do us some hunting this fall, okay? Mack Mixon tells me we've got us a first class bird dog in ole Trixie, and he says Krewe is coming along pretty good, too. It would be cruel not to use those two dogs to hunt. That's what they were born to do, and your boy's trained 'em up real good," he said. "I'm ready any time you are," I said. "You know, last year Kyle always had all that shit he had to do at school, and it was hard to find a weekend when we could get away. Don't misunderstand me. I was proud as I could be of what he did, but all of that was time consuming. I started my boys hunting when they were five years old, and it's been a way of life for us since then. We need to get back to that," he said. "Kyle told me one time he has this deep need to put food on the table that he caught himself. That's why he wanted to catch them crabs so bad. Now it's the lobsters. Those things are delicious, but you can buy 'em, can't you?" I said. "Yeah, you can, but I know where Kyle's coming from, Jus. I'm sort of the same way. I guess he got that from me. There's just something about sitting down to a meal that you're responsible for getting from the wild that's really satisfying," he said. "Maybe you'll get that same feeling one day. I hope so, anyway. Well, look, Jus. I came to see Jack Rooney. I need a favor from him, so let me go talk to him." "Okay. I'm ready to hunt whenever you are," I said. "I hear you," he said. He went off into Mr. Rooney's office. Stephen was loitering around us behind the desk. "Okay. So who was that hunk? Are you seeing him?" he asked. "Am I seeing him? What the hell do you mean?" I asked. "Oh, please, Justin. You know exactly what I mean. Are you fucking him?" he said. "No, I ain't fucking him. That's Gene Goodson. That's Kyle's daddy," I said. "Oh, my God! I was in the presence of greatness, and I didn't even know it," he said. I laughed, and he laughed, too. "I guess the two of you must be pretty good friends, in that case," he said. "Who? Me and Kyle?" "No, not you two. I know you guys are best friends. I meant you and Mr. Goodson," he said. "Well, he just told me he thinks of me as his son. Does that count?" I said. "Sweet Jesus! I can't believe your luck," he said. "If you knew the whole story, which you won't ever know, you'd know what an understatement of the year that was," I said. "Are they as rich as everybody says they are?" he asked. "I have no idea. We don't ever talk about that," I said. "You don't? Really?" he asked. "No, we really don't. I know they're rich, and I know Kyle's rich in his own right, too, but he never says a word about that. He's my best friend, and I love him almost as much as I love Brian. And I know he loves me almost as much as he loves Tim, too. But I'll never go there with him, and he'll never let me, either. And I know what you're thinking, and, no, there is no sex between me and Kyle," I said. "Amazing. I get hard just thinking about him," he said. "I know. I've noticed," I said. He was grinning, and I was, too. "You like me, don't you?" he said. "I do. I like you very much. I'm not attracted sexually to femme guys, okay, but I consider you one of my best friends," I said. He got a kind of sad look for a second, and then he broke into a big grin. "The same here. On both counts, goddamn it!" We cracked up. I don't know when Gene left because I didn't see him go out. I might have been busy in the back or something. In about an hour Mr. Rooney called me into his office. He had only done that two or three times since I worked there, and every time my bowels turned to pure water. It was all I could do to keep from gagging and throwing up, I was so scared. "Sit down, Justin," he said. I took a seat, all the while hoping my ass wasn't leaking a mess on his chair. "Yes, sir," I said. "Mr. Goodson wanted to talk to me about you," he said. God, please no, I thought. At that instant I wanted me a cigarette so bad I was about to scream. I hadn't had one yet that day, but that was all I could think about. That, and being fired. I'm sure I showed it in my face, too. "Justin, calm down, son. Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm fine," I said. "You don't look fine," he said. "You look terrified." Come on. Just tell me what the fuck you got to tell me and get it over with, I thought. "No, sir. I'm okay," I said, lying through my teeth. I took a couple of deep breaths, and that seemed to help. "Justin, Mr. Goodson and I talked about the fact that you're in college full time now. We agreed you need time to go to classes and study. You can't work here full time anymore. You're going to continue to work here part time, but at full-time pay," he said. He said that mighty fast, and I had a hard time processing it. I didn't know what he meant, exactly. "Would you mind saying that again?" I asked. He grinned a little bit. "You're going to work here part time and get full-time pay for it," he said. That time I understood what he meant. "I can't take full-time pay for that," I said. "Jus, you know Jeff Martin, don't you?" he asked. "Oh course I know Jeff. He's one of my brothers," I said. "Jeff doesn't work here at all when he's in school, and he gets full pay. That's the way Mr. Goodson wants it. Jeff also gets a company car. You'll get full pay when you're in college away from here and can't work. You guys are very special to Gene Goodson," he said. "I wouldn't ask any questions, if I were you. I'd just take the money and run." "Yes, sir," I said. "Is that all?" "That's all, Jus. And, by the way, you do a hell of a job for us," he said. "Keep this to yourself around here, okay?" "Yes, sir," I said. "I will." When I left his office, I was so excited I was about to bust. I was aching to tell somebody, but the only one of us working there right then was Chuck. "Knock, knock," I said, at Chuck's cubicle entrance. "Hey, Jus. What's up, Bubba?" he said. He was all smiles and happy and shit, like he was glad to see me. "I just got a promotion, I think," I said. "All right!" he said. He took me out to lunch to celebrate, and we didn't eat in the employees' cafeteria, either. We went to Applebee's, and we had us a nice lunch. I didn't tell him the details because I had promised not to, but he guessed it. He and Tony were Jeff and Tyler's roommates, and they knew the score with them. I guess that was the way Mr. Gene did it with Kyle's brothers.
Like much of Florida, Emerald Beach was a growing community. Every year hundreds of people moved to our town. The growth was putting a strain on our infrastructure, and they were building new roads, new schools, new housing developments as fast as they could to keep up with the influx of new residents. We lived in a relatively upscale neighborhood. The houses on our side of the street were on waterfront property, and the cost of that automatically dictated both the kind of houses that would be built there and the relative affluence of the people who bought those houses. In the house immediately to the west of us was the Crawford family, and their sons, Morgan and Blake, were regular fixtures in our home. We were all pretty sure the boys were straight, but nobody had a definitive read on that. Morgan and Blake, and Blake's best friend, Riley, were always there with us. The boys assured us they knew we were all gay, and if that didn't matter to them, it certainly didn't matter to us that they were straight. In February of that year, they had started building a house on the lot immediately to our east. There were huge oak trees on that lot, and the developer had made it a point of preserving as many of them as he could. When they started building the house, we would sometimes go over there and scope it out. It was going to be a two story, and it appeared that there were four bedrooms and two baths upstairs and a master suite downstairs. It was going to be a very nice house. "They started moving in today," Kyle said one night. "How do you know? Did you see 'em?" Justin asked. "Yeah. I was out back reading, and I heard a big truck pull up. I got on some shorts, and I went to check 'em out," Kyle said. "So, what did you see?" Tim asked. "I saw a moving van and some movers," Kyle said. "Did you see the people?" Tim asked. "Yeah. I saw two boys and two men. They looked like the ones who were moving in," he said. That was a Wednesday of the last week of August. Our boys were already back in school, and I wondered if those boys moving in next door were school kids. "How old were the boys, Kyle?" I asked. "I don't know. They could have been any age. They were teenagers, I think. I don't know," he said. "Were they cute?" Justin asked. Kyle grinned. "Yeah, they were, actually. No erections in sight, though," he said. "What'd you do? Get out binoculars?" Justin asked. "Yeah, I did. So what?" Kyle said. We all laughed. "I knew it. You scoped those boys out, didn't you?" "Yeah, I did, Justin. So fucking what, man?" Kyle asked. "So fucking nothing, Kyle. I'd have done the same thing, and you know it," Justin said. "I know. So why are you getting on to me?" Kyle asked. "Kyle, shut up. You always want to argue with me, even when we hold the same point," Justin said. Kyle just grinned. Sparring with Justin was one of Kyle's many hobbies, and we all knew it. On Friday night, Kyle said, "I'm making coffeecake for the new neighbors for tomorrow morning. I skipped the jamboree tonight to do it." Tim, Brian, Denny, and Murray hadn't skipped the jamboree, and Justin and Kyle were the only boys home that night. "Come give me a hand, Davis," Kyle called from the kitchen. "I guess I'm fixing to get a lesson in how to make a coffeecake," Jus said, as he left the room. "You can buy those, you know," he said. Rick and I laughed at him. Justin was the pragmatist of the crowd. If you could buy it, why make it or catch it yourself? Kyle was the opposite. If you can buy it, you can also make it or catch it yourself. Kyle wasn't above buying prepared food, by any means, but he seemed to have a code of rules about what you could buy and what you had to make yourself. I basically agreed with Justin, but I wasn't a cook. Rick basically agreed with Kyle, and Rick had been a cook in a restaurant. "Kyle doesn't really need any help," Rick said. "But he wants company, don't you think?" I said. "Yeah, and they're probably slurping beers back there, too," Rick said. "Is that so bad?" I asked. "No. Of course not. Would you like a beer or a drink?" he asked. "A beer might be nice," I said. He got up and got me one. "Yep, they were drinking beer," Rick said. "But they're baking, too. I think we're going to have several coffeecakes tomorrow morning. And they're playing, too. Justin had flour all over his face. They're having a great time." "Have you ever known those two not to have a great time, no matter what they did?" I asked. "No, not really," Rick said. * * * The next morning we were all in the den, as usual for a weekend morning. "I've got some nice coffeecakes in there for the new neighbors. Let's take 'em over to 'em," Kyle said. It was about ten o'clock, and that was late enough to go calling, I thought. Denny had plans to hang out with some of his debate friends, and Murray was going with him. They were supposed to go to the main branch of the public library in town to do some research, and there was an Internet cafe/coffee shop they wanted to check out, too. There were a bunch of very interesting shops and galleries in the so-called "arts district" downtown, and Denny and Murray and their friends wanted to investigate those, too. One of the older boys was picking them up, so they couldn't go meet the new neighbors. "Look at you, Bubba," Kyle said to Murray. "You're looking mighty good in those new clothes." Murray blushed a little, but he beamed at the compliment. "Let me get some pictures of you," Kyle said. Kyle kept his camera bag as close to him as he kept his scrotum, and he was always ready to pull a camera out in an instant. He had upgraded to a really fine digital camera, and the quality of his pictures had increased in proportion. He had discovered a company that specialized in printing digital photographs, and he was getting some unbelievably good pictures back in the mail. He emailed the company the file, after he had worked on it using his digital picture editing software, and a few days later poster-size photographs would arrive in tubes in the mail. "I want you to look pissed off in this one," Kyle said. "But I'm not pissed off," Murray said. "GODDAMNIT! I SAID LOOK PISSED OFF, YOU LITTLE FAG," he screamed. Murray's face went through a hundred different expression in a matter of seconds, and Kyle was snapping pictures as fast as he could. Murray finally realized what he had just done, and he calmed down. "You're not really mad at me, are you?" Murray asked him. "Of course I'm not really mad at you, but it worked, didn't it?" Kyle said. "Kyle, that sucks, man. I was fixing to call you out over that," Justin said. "Why'd you hurt his feelings like that? That ain't like you, man." "Did I hurt your feelings, Murray?" Kyle asked. "No, but you pissed me off," Murray said. "And what did I ask you to do?" Kyle asked. "Look pissed off," Murray said. "Did it work?" "It worked big time, Bubba, and it pissed him off, too, didn't it, Justin?" "Yeah. Did you get some of me?" Justin asked. "Yes, I did," Kyle said. "Watermelon Seed." "Are you talking about that picture of me with that seed on my dick?" Justin asked. "What the hell else you think I'm talking about. That one sold, by the way," Kyle said. "Really? Who bought it?" Justin asked. "How would I know? I just know there are guys jerking off to that picture every night, all over the world," Kyle said. "Goodson, you are so full of shit, I can smell it from here," Justin said. "Did you just figure that out?" Kyle asked. He and Jus were grinning and laughing. "No. I've known it a long time," Jus said. He grabbed Kyle in a headlock. "Get off me. You're going to fuck up my camera," Kyle said. Justin turned him loose. "Let's get the baked goods next door before somebody gets into a fist fight here." "I know the kind of fist fighting you're interested in," Justin said, laughing. "Yeah? Like you ain't?" Kyle replied. They both laughed some more. * * * There were six of us in the pastry delivery squad, and each of us had a coffeecake. The one I had was still warm, so I assumed Kyle had baked it that morning. The aroma in the house that morning was unbelievably good, and he had put out two warm ones for us to eat. One that we ate was cinnamon flavored with a really thick glaze on top, and the other one had dried fruit in it, also with a thick glaze. They were delicious. We pressed the doorbell and heard it ring inside. We had the dogs with us, but we were prepared to send them home if our new neighbors appeared not to want canine visitors in their new home. The one who answered the door was one of the boys, and he was stunning to look at. He had deep blond hair, blue eyes, and a face I knew Kyle would want to photograph. He was about our height--5'10" or so--and he was very well defined in the muscle department. He had on shorts, and that was all. "Hi. We're your neighbors from next door, and we brought you some goodies to say welcome to the neighborhood," I said. "Hi," he said. "Come on in." He opened the door wide for us to go in. The dogs were hanging back, not wanting to go in. "Will the dogs come in?" he asked. "Yeah. Come on, girls," Brian said, and the dogs followed us in very calmly. "I'm Wade Spencer," the boy said. We all introduced ourselves. Wade's eyes were as big for us as ours were for him. He was a real specimen of boy, but we were packing our share, as well. "Dad, Jimmy, Reid!" he called out. "We've got company! It's the neighbors," he called out. I heard somebody thundering down the stairs, and it was another boy. He was shirtless in just shorts, too, and he was just as good looking as Wade was. He had dark hair, though, and it was pretty obvious he hadn't shaved in a day or two. He had some hair on his chest, and I could see the top of a very nice treasure trail down into his shorts. Neither boy fit the "muscular" description, really, like Justin did, but both of them were toned and very well defined. "This is Reid Kenner," Wade said. Again, we shook hands and introduced ourselves. "Where do you live?" Reid asked. "Right next door," Kyle said. "That way." He pointed in the direction of our house. I noticed there wasn't a trace of the Emerald Beach accent in Kyle's voice. I wondered how he did that. "That's a nice place," Wade said. "We noticed it already." "Thanks," Rick said. Two men came into the foyer just then. They appeared to be in their mid- to late-thirties. Maybe early forties. They both wore smiles. "Dad. Jimmy. These are our neighbors," Wade said. We shook hands and introduced ourselves. "Dad's" name was David Spencer, and Jimmy introduced himself as Jimmy Spencer, too. I figured they were brothers, although they didn't really look alike. I wondered if Reid's last name was Kenner, or if that was his middle name and he used both. "We brought you some coffeecakes," Kyle said. The accent was back. "Oh, wow. These look wonderful," David said. "Please come in, have some coffee, and help us eat some of these." Their house was really nice. They had an enormous room that was a combination family room, dining room, breakfast room, and kitchen. It was all open and light. I judged it had twelve-foot ceilings, and there was glass all across the back of the house to take advantage of their view of the lagoon. We took seats, and the dogs flopped down near Brian. "These dogs are very well behaved," Jimmy said. Krewe barked a bit when he said that, and Brian told her to hush. She did. "They're well trained, too," Jimmy said. "Did you do that?" "This is the dog man, right here," Justin said, indicating Brian. "Are you and David brothers?" Rick asked. I was curious about that, too. They had the same last name, but the boys, their sons, apparently didn't. Jimmy and David each wore wedding bands that were identical to the plain gold bands that Rick and I wore. I wondered if they were in the same kind of relationship that Rick and I were in. "Er, no," Jimmy said. David came back in with a platter of coffeecake cut into individual servings, and one of the boys was with him with a tray of coffee cups and cream and sugar. David set the food down and went to get a pot of coffee. "We're not brothers," David said. "We're partners." He and Jimmy had rather apprehensive looks on their faces, waiting for our reactions. The boys were looking at our boys for their reactions, too. "So are we," Rick said. "You mean . . . " David started to say. "He means we're gay, and Rick and I are partners for life," I said. The four new neighbors lit up in big grins. "Us, too," Kyle said, indicating him and Tim. "Same with us," Brian said of him and Justin. "My God, this is uncanny," Jimmy said. "I mean, what are the odds that we'd move in next door to a gay couple in a place like Emerald Beach? And with gay kids, too." "Gay family," I said. "We have three foster sons who are gay, and these three guys," indicating Kyle, Tim, and Justin, "are honorary foster sons." "Reid and I are a couple, too," Wade said. "No shit?" Justin asked. "No shit," Wade said. "I want to hear this story," Justin said. Jimmy and David chuckled. "It's not too complicated," Jimmy began. "Dave and I both got married very young and our sons were born within a month of each other. I knew I had a strong attraction to men from the time I was a young teenager, but I thought I could beat it. You've heard that story a million times, probably. Well, I couldn't. After about three months of marriage, sex with my wife got to be more and more of a chore, one that I finally stopped doing altogether after a year. She confronted me about our relationship, and I came clean. It was a very amicable parting of the ways. Fortunately, I was able to stay in college, and then law school, and my parents paid child support on my behalf." "My story is about the same," Dave said. "Only, I didn't get to finish college. Not then, anyway. I did eventually, though." "How old is everybody?" Kyle asked. Ordinarily, I thought that question would have been rather impertinent, but, under the circumstances, it seemed natural. "Dave and I are thirty-six," Jimmy said, "and the boys are seventeen." We all told our ages, too. "We've been together for sixteen years," Dave said. "And we've been together since June," Wade said. We all told how long we had been together, too. "Wade and I have known each other a long time, but we just recently came out to each other," Reid said. "We were both living with our moms, but now we're going to live here with our dads." "Cool," Kyle said. "Are you guys seniors?" Tim asked. They said they were. They had actually already started school at Beachside, but they had taken Thursday and Friday off to help with the move. "I think you're in one of our classes," Wade said. "Do you take AP English?" "Yeah, I do," Tim said. "Cool." We spent a couple of hours getting acquainted with our new neighbors. We told them the saga of the Foley-Mashburn Clan and about our jobs. Jimmy was a lawyer and Dave was a CPA. Our four kids and their two kids seemed to hit it off immediately and very well. Wade and Reid both had an athletic inclination, but neither of them played sports for school. They had been there all summer, visiting their dads. They had worked at a fast food place in town, and they had finally acted on the strong attraction they had had for each other since puberty. "Are you each other's first boyfriend?" Kyle asked. "Yeah," they said, grinning at each other. They were really cute kids, and I knew they'd be at our house a lot. * * * "Those were nice guys, weren't they?" Rick said, once we were all back at home. Kyle was in the kitchen making lunch for us, although I had eaten so much coffeecake I wasn't sure how much lunch I really wanted. He called us into the breakfast room. He had set out cold cuts, lettuce, tomato, pickles, chips, condiments, and sliced bread for us to make sandwiches. We all got busy fixing our plates. "I think it's going to be fun having those guys next door," Kyle said. "Yeah, I guess it will. They're both real cute, aren't they?" Justin observed. We all agreed they were. "Cut or uncut?" Kyle asked. "I definitely think uncut." "I don't know, Bubba. They sort of acted cut to me," Justin said. "Acted cut? Do you think circumcision has an effect on personality?" I asked. "Yeah," Justin and Kyle said in unison. They sometimes startled me with some of their ideas, and that was definitely one of those times. "I'd like to hear more about this," I said. Tim, the only other uncircumcised one there, said, "Yeah. Me, too." "It's nothing bad. It's just a feeling I get, that's all," Kyle said. "Sort of like gaydar, although I don't have much of that. I didn't know they were all gay until they said it." "I didn't either," Justin said. "I'll bet these two knew, though," meaning Tim and Brian. "I suspected it right away," Brian said. "And it's nothing I can put my finger on. Did you know, Tim?" "I suspected it, too. More about the two boys than the two dads, though," Tim said. "Me, too, Tim," I said. "I noticed the way Wade looked at the four of you when he opened the door. That's what tipped me off. That, and the eye contact he used." "Do people think that about us?" Justin asked. "Do you care if they do?" Kyle countered. "Not especially. I'm just curious, is all," Jus said. "I don't think they do, Jus. At least, I've never noticed anybody getting that 'ah, hah!' look on their faces when they see you for the first time," Rick said. "And I've watched for it, too." "That gaydar is a curious thing to me," Kyle said. "I can see how it would be real useful if you were out looking to pick up somebody. It might save you a broken jaw or something." "I've done some reading about gaydar," I said. "One theory is it grows out of the basic human need for association." "What does that mean?" Kyle asked. "Well, everybody wants to be associated with other people. You know, to have friends and all. It's no different for us. And most people prefer to hang out with people who are like them in some significant way. Like your fraternity, Kyle. All the beach guys want to associate with one another, so they started Beta Rho," I said. "I love our straight friends to death, but I feel a lot more relaxed and comfortable when we're with our gay friends." "So it's like guys develop gaydar unconsciously as a way of knowing who potential friends are?" Brian said. "Yeah, something like that. I naturally assume that a stranger is straight, unless he says or does something to make me think otherwise," Rick said. "I don't necessarily mean act effeminate, because none of those guys next door act that way. But, did you notice Jimmy and Dave both wore wedding rings but there weren't any women around? That tipped me off right away, and the same last name." "Yeah, what is that about?" Kyle asked. "Some gay couples do that," I said. "Some use hyphenated last names, too. That's probably more common, though." "My daddy would have a fit if I changed my name," Kyle said. "Yeah, I really don't recommend it, Bubba," I said. "There are too many buildings around here with the name Goodson on them. Think of all the new signs that would have to be made." Kyle chuckled, and the others smiled. "I read about electronic gaydar, too," I said, getting us back to the subject. "What's that?" Justin asked. "It's a little thing you put on your key chain, kind of like a remote car-door opener," I said. "It sends out a radio signal, and somebody else in the room who has one, too, can pick it up. I think it's sort of a novelty item, really. Those things could be potentially dangerous, I think." "Why dangerous? I would think they would come in handy for somebody who wants to score a date," Brian said. "Well, think about it, guys. Let's say you're a gay basher and you want to practice your hobby. That would be a great way to identify gay men in an otherwise straight location, don't you think?" I said. "Good point," Brian said. "I guess I won't get me one after all." "What do you mean, get you one?" Justin demanded. There was a slight edge to his voice. "Don't get mad. I was just teasing," Brian said. "I know you were, but I don't like for you to tease me about stuff like that, Little Buddy," he said. "I'm sorry," Brian said. "I won't do it anymore. I love you, Justin." "And I love you, too, Brian," Justin said. "Oh, my God! My gaydar's going off big time right now," Kyle said. "Shut up, Kyle," Justin said, but he laughed along with the rest of us. "Does anybody want to water ski?" Kyle asked. "Let's ask Wade and Reid if they want to ski, too," Tim suggested. "Good idea," Kyle said. "They might be busy unpacking, though, but we can try." It turned out Wade and Reid were unpacking, but their dads let them ski with their new friends. I was really looking forward to getting to know our new neighbors. |