I noticed the new guy the first day he was in school at Beachside. He was in my math class, and he sat two seats ahead of me to my right. He was very good looking, he had really nice hair, and his clothes were the best. I couldn't wait for lunch to tell Colleen and Jenny about him. They were my two best friends, and they were in Drama Club with me. Colleen and Jenny were both straight, but Colleen had said more than once that she was open to all possibilities. I had come out to them around the middle of my freshman year. There was this senior that I couldn't take my eyes off. I later found out he was Kyle Goodson. I learned that he was gay, which gave me such an erection that I thought I would split my jeans, but I also learned that he was very, very taken. "Kyle's pretty hot, isn't he?" Colleen said to me one day. "God, I'll say," I said, without thinking of what I was saying or of what that was saying about me. Then I got embarrassed and blushed. "I'm Colleen Boyle, and this is Jennifer Stone, and we don't care if you're gay. In fact, you're pretty cute yourself," she said. "God, I'm dying for a cigarette. Do you smoke?" "Er, um, yeah," I said. I had smoked maybe five cigarettes in my life, but I didn't want to come across as a nerd to those two girls. I was a freshman, and they were both sophomores. The fact that they even talked to me was a borderline miracle, and I didn't want to appear immature. "Let's go," Colleen said. That was the start of our friendship. We had lunch together every day in the school cafeteria after that. "Why don't y'all go out to lunch?" I asked one day. "Too expensive," Jenny said. "Besides, we both got busted by our parents last semester for drinking and fucking, and if we go out, and they find out about it, I lose my car, even before I get it," Colleen said. "It's sort of like house arrest at school." Having lunch every day was just the beginning of the many things we did together. I spent the night at Colleen's house one time when Jenny was also there, and I lost at strip poker. Both of them were already down to bras and panties. "Let's see if we can get him hard," Colleen said. They did a seductive dance together and ended up stripping all the way. I was sure any straight boy in America would have been hard as a rock during that. All that happened to me was my dick grew a little longer without getting hard at all. "Yep, you're gay, all right," Colleen said. "I told you," I said. Colleen had scored a quart bottle of peppermint Schnapps, and we were half drunk by then. As the night progressed, we got drunker and drunker, and we all ended up passed out nude together in Colleen's bed. I was in the middle. We did other crazy things, too. One night when we were having a sleep-over at Jenny's house, we snuck out and drove all the way to Tallahassee to get fried chicken at a particular restaurant Jenny knew about. The place was closed when we got there. That was all right, though, because we still had a fabulous time doing it. Colleen had just gotten her license, like three days before. She narrowly missed wrecks in Blountstown and Bristol. Gradually, other people found out I’m gay, and nobody seemed to care. I worked up the nerve to tell my mom during the summer, and she said she already knew. So much for that. My sister and brother-in-law were next on the list, and they said they had suspected it, too. Oh, well. "We've got to get you a boyfriend," Colleen said at lunch one day at the start of my sophomore year. "I know," I said. "I'm desperately horny." "Come over tonight, and I'll teach you how to masturbate," Colleen said. "Very funny," I said. "Actually, the way I teach guys to masturbate is pretty funny," she said. "Have you really done that?" I asked, somewhat shocked. Jenny busted up laughing, and once again my naive little self had been taken in by Colleen. Enter Sean Kelly, stage right. The first day he was in school, I looked all over the cafeteria for him at lunch. I knew he had second lunch. Everybody in that class did. I couldn't find him anywhere, though. "Why do you keep looking around?" Colleen asked. "There's a new guy in my math class, and I want you to see him. He is totally hot," I said. "Is he gay?" Colleen asked. "I have no idea. I thought maybe the two of you could help me figure that out," I said. "My gaydar is famous, as you know," Colleen said. "Yeah, I know. That's why I want to show him to you," I said. "Well, I usually have to talk to them, too," Colleen said. "And say what?" I asked. "She says, 'Oh, by the way, are you gay?'" Jenny said. "That's her gaydar." We laughed. It was a good week later before I had a chance to show, and even introduce, Sean to my girls. He and I walked to the cafeteria after class, and he sat down at the table with me. The girls came over with their food, and we chatted. Sean was also a smoker, as I was, too, by then, and we showed him where he could smoke. I ended up going to Sean's house after school that day to shoot pool. Only we never got any farther than his bedroom, which was really nice, in a hotel-ish sort of way. I found out he was in foster care in an all-gay household and that Kyle Goodson was one of his honorary brothers. "Oh, my God!" I said, as soon as Colleen answered her phone that night. "What's the matter?" she asked. "I'm so in love, Sugar Britches. L-O-V-E," I said. "With me?" she asked. "Yeah, right. With Sean, dawlin'. With Sean," I said. "Tell me every detail. Leave nothing out, under pain of death," she said. I told her all about the afternoon. She had many questions, some of which I couldn't answer because I didn't know. "We definitely have to work on your interrogation skills. You need to ask the boy questions," she said. "He invited me over tomorrow afternoon, too," I said. "Do you think I should skip school tomorrow and get my hair styled? He has fabulous hair." She chortled. "Your hair is fine. How's the condom supply? I can spare a few, if you need them," she said. "We're nowhere near the condom-needing stage yet, but don't give them to anybody else. I might need them," I said. * * * As much as I loved my girls--my fag-hags, as they called themselves--our relationship was pure fun, silliness, and outrageousness. They both wanted to major in drama in college, and I thought they were off to a very good start in their chosen field. They were all camp, and they were absolutely fabulous. My relationship with Sean was different. He had asked about joining Drama Club, but his motives for doing that were suspect. Most of the "out" people at school that I knew were in Drama Club, although I knew others who were out and who weren't in that club. If I were a gay boy new to a school, the first place I'd go was the Drama Club. I'd meet other gay people there, and the rest of them who weren't gay wouldn't care if I was gay or not. Rednecks do not do Drama Club. Remember where you heard that. Anyway, my second "date" with Sean was at his house the next afternoon. Tim Murphy drove us to their house that day, too. "There's nothing at home to eat," Tim said. "Let's stop and get something." Fine with me, I thought. Then, seconds later, I thought, How am I going to pay for it? We pulled into a Sonic. Sean was in the shotgun seat of Tim's Jeep, and I was sort of crouched in the back. He had the top down. "I'm getting a double Sonicburger," Tim said. "I want an extra-long chili-cheese Coney," Sean said. "Scott?" Tim asked. "I don't have any money," I said, embarrassed. "That's okay. I'm buying," Tim said. "In that case, I'll have an extra-long chili-cheese Coney, too," I said. Tim placed the order, and in a few minutes the girl was there with our tray of food. We had ordered large cokes, too. Sean and I had trouble eating our foot-long hotdogs, with chili and cheese, and we both spilled chili out of them. We laughed. "Those things are great, but they should cut them in half or something," Tim said. "They're such a mess to eat whole like that." We continued eating, and that food was delicious to me. "What are you guys going to do this afternoon?" Tim asked. "I don't know. Hang out," Sean said. "Do you mind if I hang out with you?" he asked. "Everybody else is busy this afternoon, and for once I don't have any homework." "Not at all," I said. "Cool. There isn't much swimming time left this year. Would you guys like to swim?" he asked. "I'd like to, but I don't have a suit," I said. "You don't need a suit. We swim bare-ass," Tim said. When he said that, I instantly produced my own extra-long chili-cheese Coney in my lap, minus the chili and minus the cheese. I couldn't believe I would actually see Sean naked on our second date. And Tim, too. Oh my God! My erection had calmed down by the time we got to their house, but my briefs were very moist from the pre-cum I had been putting out. I made it a point of wiping the head of my dick on my briefs before I took them off so it wouldn't appear wet and slimy. Once we were in the pool, it wasn't much different than being in a bathtub. Sean and Tim both had really good builds, but I didn't think theirs were that much better than mine. Neither one of them had hair on their chests, which would have rocketed me out of there if they had, and their dicks were about like mine. Tim was uncircumcised, though, but I had seen that before. He also had a tattoo on his belly. Oh, my God! Then Kyle came home. He came out to the pool area with what looked like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He ate it standing there watching us, and then he stripped down to come in. OH! MY! GOD! He had a hair pattern on his chest that was to die for, and he had a little tattoo right above his pubic hair, too. I was surprised that the force of my erection when I took a look at him didn't blow me right out of that pool. He was a god. Kyle jumped into the pool, and he swam over to Tim. He kissed him on the lips, right there in front of Sean and me. I had never seen two guys kiss before. "Yum. You taste like peanut butter," Tim said. "Want some?" Kyle asked. He stuck out his tongue, and he had a wad of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich still in his mouth. "That's gross, Kyle," Tim said, but he was laughing. "I'll feed it to you, mouth to mouth," Kyle said. "No!" Tim said, and he and Kyle doubled over laughing. "They're in love," Sean said to me quietly. I smiled, but I would have let Kyle feed me that peanut butter and jelly sandwich any way he wanted to. We swam around and played in the pool. We talked a good bit, and I discovered that Kyle was much nicer and much sweeter than I had thought he was from seeing him playing Danny Zuko in Grease the year before. When I was a freshman, I was drawn to him like a moth to a light bulb, but I was sort of scared of him, too. That afternoon I realized he was just an ordinary guy and the way he sometimes talked was just that awful Emerald Beach grumble that I had grown up with. And then this big blond showed up. And then this unbelievably gorgeous guy that I had seen at school came outside, too. He had dark hair, a nice build, and the two dogs were at his heels. The blond turned out to be Justin, and the guy with dark hair (and an extremely sexy hairy chest) was Brian. I had met them the night before with their clothes on, but that day, naked, I was almost overwhelmed. They had tattoos, too. Whoa! "I guess this ain't a workout day," Justin said. "Naw. I declared a holiday in honor of Scott," Kyle said. "Are we going to just stand around here treading water, or we going to play volleyball?" Justin said. "Volleyball," Kyle said, and that's what we did. * * * "Colleen, I wish you had been a fly on the wall this afternoon," I said, right after she said hello. "What?" "Oh, my God," I said. "We swam naked in their pool. Not just Sean and I, although he was quite a sight, but Tim Murphy, Kyle Goodson, Brian Mathews, and a guy named Justin. I thought I was on Mt. Olympus." "I want pictures. Photographic evidence," she said. I laughed. "Ironically, Kyle has a picture book out. Sean showed it to me after we got out of the pool. Every one of them is in it," I said. "Sean isn't because he's new." "How can I get this book?" she asked. "It's in all the local bookstores," I said. "It's called Boys!, and it's fabulous. It's $85, though." "Shit! I can't afford that," she said. "I know. Me, either. I'll see if I can borrow a copy," I said. "You'd better, mister," she said. * * * That second "date" with Sean turned out to be pretty typical of the time we spent together. Those other guys were always around every time I went over there, but they lived there, after all. That was to be expected. Sometimes we hung out in his room, talking or fooling around on line. Other times we did stuff with the other guys. I didn't go over there every day or anything, but I did pretty often. Those first couple of weeks dating Sean were fabulous and fun and all, but I was aching to touch him, to kiss him. I got my chance on a Friday afternoon. We were going to the football game together with Kyle and the others. Neither Sean nor I could drive, although I actually knew how. We were still fifteen, though, so no licenses yet. We were in Sean's room, sprawled next to each other on the bed. I was on my back, and he was on his front. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked me in the face. "What?" I asked. He looked like he wanted to say something. "It's just that . . . " "It's just that what?" I asked. "It's just that I want to kiss you," he said. Before I could respond, he moved toward me and kissed me on the lips. I was in paradise. I kissed him back. Then he opened his mouth a little, and I could feel his tongue touching my lips. I opened my mouth slightly, and his tongue went inside. My heart was pounding, and I was a little short of breath. I felt incredibly good. We continued kissing for a few more moments, and I got an erection. He got sort of on top of me, and I could feel that he had an erection, too. It felt so good with him like that. He kissed me again and again, and I got as much of my tongue into his mouth as he got of his into mine. It was fabulous. He pulled back and rolled away. "What's the matter?" I asked. "Nothing. I thought I was about to come," he said. He blushed hard when he said that, and I probably did, too. "Sean, that was my first kiss," I said. "Ever? Wow! I'm really honored," he said. "Do you think your mom would let you spend the night?" "I can find out," I said. I called my mom at work, which was a no-no, unless there was an emergency. She wasn't pissed off that I had called her, like I thought she'd be, and she said "yes" without me having to beg. I guess she realized I was growing up. The football game was fun, but all I could think about was spending the night with Sean. We went out for food after the game, and there was quite a large group at the table. Kevin and Rick didn't go, but everybody else in the house was there. Some of their neighbors, who also went to Beachside, were there, too. Kyle left the table for about fifteen minutes to go around to a few other tables to talk to some of his friends, and Justin entertained us. He was real macho, but he had an incredibly dry sense of humor. He talked real country, but you could tell he was smart. We hung out downstairs a little while when we got back to their house. They were getting ready to watch a movie on HBO when Sean said, "Let's go upstairs." We told the others goodnight. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Justin said, to tease us. "We won't," Sean said. Once we were in his room, Sean grabbed me in a big hug, and we kissed. Oh, did we kiss! In a matter of moments we were both rock hard. "Do you want to take your clothes off and get in bed?" he asked. "Yeah," I said eagerly. We undressed. I desperately wanted to see what he looked like with an erection, but I didn't really get to. Once we were in bed, though, we were on each other in an instant. We kissed and hugged and rubbed and caressed. Sean licked my nipples, and that felt incredible. I licked his, too, and he moaned when I did it. It didn't take us long to get where we both wanted to go. My orgasm was the strongest of my life, and I felt totally relaxed and at ease when we were finished. "Did you come?" Sean asked facetiously. I giggled. "That was fabulous, Sean," I said. "Thank you." "Thank you, too," he said. That was just the beginning for the evening. We got each other off three more times, and the last time neither of us made any cum. Ironically, though, that was the strongest one of the night for me. "I guess we're boyfriends now," I said, right before we went to sleep. "I've considered you my boyfriend for a couple of weeks now," he said. "Me, too, but now it's official," I said. "Yeah," he said. He spooned up against my back, and we drifted off to sleep with the bedside light still on. * * * "Oh, my God! Colleen," I said when she answered. "Now what?" "We did the deed, and we're officially boyfriends," I said. "Did what deed? Sex?" "Yes, sex. It was incredible," I said. "It didn't hurt?" she asked. "Hurt? Why would it . . . oh, not that kind of sex. Not screwing. Just guy sex," I said. "Those are all the details you're getting." "Good. I don't really want any more. I'm happy for you, Scottie, I really am. Now if only I could get laid," she said. "You've never been laid?" I asked. I had assumed she hadn't been a virgin for a long time. "Of course, I've been laid. It's just been a while. Since the summer, actually," she said. "But, to get laid, you have to know some non-fag boys, and to know some non-fag boys, I'd have to give up my title as Fag-Hag-in-Chief." I giggled. We talked for about an hour, mostly gossip and stuff about Drama Club. She was in the current production and wasn't at all happy about her part. Neither of us had been in the first play of the year, and I wasn't in the current production, either. It was Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare. The drama teacher, Mrs. Storm, hadn't fully cast the bit parts yet, so I still had a chance at something. That club was dominated by juniors and seniors, and a sophomore guy like me rarely got good roles. Such was life. As the days and weeks rolled on, Sean and I got to know and like each other more and more. I actually thought I was in love with him, but I didn't say anything for fear he'd laugh at me. We learned more and more about sex, too, and that part was lots of fun.
The College Board came through for me, and I was named a National Merit Semi-finalist. I was so happy. It was an affirmation for me, and it also meant that Kyle and I were on an equal footing intellectually. It really pissed him off that I had that attitude, but Kyle and I had very different academic career plans. They weren't incompatible by any means, but my “good ole boy” just wasn't interested in that kind of thing. Brian was ecstatic when he found out my news when it was announced at school. He found me between classes, and we hugged and carried on in the hall. He had tears of joy in his eyes for me. I immediately called my dad. "I'm so proud of you, Tim," he said on the phone. "We have to celebrate tonight. You, Kyle, Justin, and Brian. Let's go out to dinner." "Okay, Dad," I said. "I'm really happy right now." "Did you tell Kyle yet?" he asked. "Not yet. I wanted to tell you first," I said. "Thank you, but call your boy right away, Tim," he said. "Yes, sir, I will," I said. I called Kyle and told him. To my surprise, he was genuinely happy and excited. "They want us to go out to dinner with them tonight to celebrate," I said. "Can you make it?" "Can I make it? Of course. I'd drop everything for you, Babe," he said. We had a celebration of sorts at home when everybody was finally home that afternoon. "We've got one more to go, and that's Brian," I said. "He took the PSAT again, and it'll be official this time." "I hope," Brian said. "You know it will be," Kevin said. "Hell, you already have the SAT score you need, don't you?" "Yes, sir," Brian said. "I'm just so happy for Tim, I'm not thinking about me right now. Besides, I don't know if you can be a semi-finalist if you're already in college." The four of us showed up at my parents' house at six, as instructed. Kyle's parents were already there, and that was a surprise to me. Rita had a card for me that said "Congratulations!" and inside there were ten crisp hundred dollar bills. I was weak. We went to the best restaurant on the beach, and it also happened to be one of the fifty best in North America. They didn't take reservations, but they got us right in. The owners, two brothers, came to our table to say hello. They knew Gene and Rita well, it seemed, and they knew who Kyle was, too. "Kyle, it's time you got the secret password," one of them said. "What?" Kyle asked. "The secret password. Don't give it out, or you'll be blackballed. It's what you say to the maitre d' to get a table without waiting." He leaned down and whispered something in Kyle's ear. "Just say that to the person at the desk out front, and you'll have a table in ten minutes. Even if there's a line a mile long," he said. His name was Mr. Johnny. "Do you know it, Daddy?" Kyle asked. "I've known it since I was eighteen years old," Gene said. "I couldn't tell it to you, though. It's a secret." "I wish I had a dollar for every minute I've waited in line to get in here, Mr. Johnny. I'd be a rich man today," Kyle said. There was a little bit of an awkward silence when Kyle said that. He hadn't meant anything by that, of course, but I was sure those two men knew that Kyle had money. "I regret that your precious brother didn't live long enough for us to give it to him," the other brother, Mr. Jimmy, said. "I know, but I'll use it good in his name," Kyle said. He used the Emerald Beach grumble, and those two men smiled. They knew their own, and Kyle was definitely one of their own. "So, let's talk about college," Dad said, after the brothers left our table. "It's Tulane for Brian and me, and UNO for Kyle and Justin," I said. "Are you going to go Early Decision?" Dad asked. "Yes, sir, I think so," I said. "Have you started on the application yet?" Dad asked. "Well, we printed it off the Web site, but I haven't started writing it yet. Have you?" I asked Brian. "Not yet," Brian said. "Dad, we're going to go for the full Presidential Scholarship. We probably won't get one, but we both fit the profile for it," I said. "You know the cost isn't an issue," Dad said. "Or for you, either, Brian," Gene said. "Yeah, I know that. I think we want the prestige, though," I said. "Not a bad idea, Son," Dad said. "What about back-up schools?" "Loyola and UNO," I said. "But we'll have time to apply to them, if Tulane says 'no' to us." "Tulane ain't going to say 'no' to y'all, Babe," Kyle said. "Seth's uncle is on their Board of Trustees or whatever. Seth told me we're all in there, if we want to go there. Justin and I just don't want to go there because they don't offer Hospitality. And that's what we want to take." "Who is Seth?" my dad asked. "Dad, he's the son of Cherie's law partner in New Orleans. You've met him. He spent the summer with us last summer," I said. "He's the one we met at Mardi Gras a couple of years ago. He was real scrawny and all, but he's not that way, anymore. He's our brother, Dad." "Of course. Seth. He's gay, and his partner is Curt, right?" Dad said. "Yes, sir. That's the one," I said. "His parents are Matt and Cathy, right? Charming people. Of course I remember Seth," Dad said. "I can't believe the web of important connections I married into," Sonya said. "Well, it's there," Rita said. "And all I ever want to do is shop." "Yeah, Rita, and raise five million dollars every year for children's charities," Dad said. "Well, that's kind of like shopping, don't you think?" Rita said. "No. It's kind of like major philanthropy, Rita, and you know it," Dad said. "Well, I consider it a form of shopping," Rita said. We all sort of chuckled. "Back to the issue at hand," Gene said. "I think these boys have got it all figured out. These two are going to Tulane University, and these two are going to the University of New Orleans. I'm shedding big ole Gator tears over that, but you've got to let your children do what they want to do." They delivered our appetizers just then. We had ordered their grilled shrimp, which were shrimp in the rough with a spectacular sauce. "How do you eat these things?" Sonya asked. Kyle demonstrated. "Sop up that sauce with the bread," Gene said. I did it, and it was delicious. They brought finger bowls to the table to rinse your hands after you ate the shrimp, and I had never seen that before. * * * "Tim, have you thought about any Ivy League schools?" my dad asked me in private. "Yes, Dad. I have," I said. "But I don't think those schools are for us." "You could probably get into Harvard, you know?" "Yes, Dad, I know, but I don't really want to go there," I said. "You don't think Kyle would fit in at Harvard? Is that it?" "Dad, Kyle would fit in anywhere, and you know that. Harvard might even accept him. He's got the scores for it, for sure. But that's not what we want, Dad." "I know. But every Boston boy wants his son to go to Harvard," he said. "I know, but it's not going to work out this time. You've got a different kind of son, Dad," I said. "I know. And I thank God for him every day," he said. "And for Kyle, too."
"Babe, I've been thinking about the third floor," Rick said one day, out of the blue. "Thinking about the third floor? What do you want to do, move up there? Are you tired of sleeping with me already?" I felt real playful, and I wanted to tease him. "Shut up, Kevin. I'm trying to be serious," he said. Evidently he wasn't in a playful mood. "Okay. What were you thinking?" I asked. "I was thinking we might do some remodeling up there. We've got that great big room that isn't used for anything. I was thinking we could turn it into two extra bedrooms and put in another bathroom," he said. "That might not be a bad idea. We could set it up like a mirror image of the other side of the house. Or, we could put in two bathrooms on that side, like the second floor," I said. "I like that idea. How many bathrooms would that give us?" "Who knows. Enough, though," I said. "Is it okay with you if I get some estimates?" he asked. "Of course. We've never done any building, have we?" I said. "No. Sean can move into one of the new rooms so he can have his own bathroom. I think he'll probably be willing to sacrifice the space in the bedroom to have a private bath, don't you?" Rick said. "Probably. We can let him decide, though," I said. Rick got busy on his project. We mentioned to the boys what we were talking about doing, and they thought it was a good idea, too. "And it really won't inconvenience anybody, will it?" Tim asked. "It shouldn't, except there will be workmen in the house for a few weeks. The back side of the third floor won't be touched. It's only the front side," Rick said. "Cool," Tim said. When the work actually started, it turned out Kyle knew two of the three guys on the project. It went faster than I thought it would, and within a month we had two brand new bedrooms and two brand new bathrooms. It didn't end up being terribly expensive, although the plumbing for the bathrooms cost more than I thought it would. We decided to put extra-large showers in them, with no tubs. While the plumbers were there working, we went ahead and had them install urinals in all the bathrooms except the one off the study. The boys thought that was a wonderful idea. Why more people who had boys in the house didn't do that was beyond me. Rick ordered furniture, towels, sheets, and all the rest of the stuff. We had the curtain lady back to do the curtains, though, so they would look like the ones in the rest of the house. Our clan could grow by three more boys, but that was about the limit. * * * Every year the school system shut down for two and a half days near the end of October. The year before we had taken the guys to New Orleans to see the newly-pregnant Cherie, and the year before that we had gone to my parents' place in North Carolina for a long weekend. That weekend was approaching, and we didn't have any plans. "Guys, I've been thinking about the long weekend at the end of the month. Do y'all want to plan a trip?" I asked. All nine residents of the house were present. Ken had already moved into his new apartment, and he and Dan were getting along famously as a couple who appeared to be very much in love. Since he was gone, it meant that the household consisted of Rick, me, Tim, Kyle, Justin, Brian, Denny, Murray, and Sean. "Of course," Kyle said. "Where to?" "I don't know," I said. "Murray and Sean have never been to North Carolina with us. That's a possibility." "You know where I've always wanted to go? St. Augustine," Kyle said. "You hear about that place all the time, but I've never been there." "That's doable in four days," Rick said. "It's a pretty neat place. I used to go surfing there when I was in college." "Do you think all of us could squeeze into one car?" Brian asked. "We don't really have a nine-seater." "No, but I think we could manage in Kyle's Land Cruiser, especially if we rented a luggage container to put on the roof," Rick said. "I'd like for all of us to be together in one vehicle. That's some of the best family time we ever have." "Oh, yeah. It's got to be all in one. We can take turns sitting on people's laps, if we have to." Kyle said. "Plus, it ain't that far." "True," Rick said. "We can make it there in about seven hours, probably, especially if we go around Jacksonville." "Does St. Augustine suit everybody?" I asked. "It does me," Kyle said. "Hell, I'll go anywhere. You know that," Jus said. The rest of them agreed that St. Augustine sounded good. "Kyle, will you take charge of doing some research to find out what there is to do in St. Augustine?" I asked. "Sure, I'll be happy to," he said. "I'll try to get something by tomorrow night. We really don't have that much time. Are you going to see about hotel reservations, Kevin?" "Yeah, I'd better do that. How many rooms are we going to need?" "One for you and me," Rick said. "Do you Big Four want to be in the same room?" "Sure," Brian said. "That's okay, isn't it, Buddy?" "Yep," Justin said. "Is that okay with you guys?" I asked Kyle and Tim. "Of course," they said in unison. "And then a third room for Denny, Murray, and Sean? Is that okay, guys?" They said it was. "Okay. It looks like we've got a trip to go on," I said. "I'll see about renting a luggage rack for the car," Kyle said. "Where would you go for something like that? U-Haul?" "I'd start there, for sure," Rick said. "If they don't have them, maybe they can tell you who might." "You might also try the Toyota dealership," Brian said. "They might have one that's made for a Land Cruiser." "Good idea. In fact, I'll call them first," Kyle said. "This is going to be fun. You new boys have already been on one trip with us, so you know we like to have a good time." "Yeah," Sean said. "Well, let me get busy," Kyle said. "Babe, are you going to need the computer in our room tonight?" Tim thought for a minute. "No. Use it all you want, Babe." "Okay," Kyle said, and he gave Tim's leg a little affectionate squeeze. |