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Wyatt was gone when I woke up. Damn, what's his problem with spending the night? I told myself to talk with him about it.

It was another clear and warm day. When spring finally comes to this part of the country it comes like the flick of a light switch.

I ate breakfast out on the porch, checked my email, and wondered if Wyatt would be over for dinner. I needed to talk with him about spending the night with me. Whoa there. Was I rushing things? Maybe he wasn't that committed to me. Then again, was I really committed to him? We hadn't discussed that either . . . add that to the list of topics to talk about. Wait a minute, maybe I shouldn't push things. If I pushed too hard and too early, he might shy away, and I didn't think I wanted that. In fact, I was pretty darn sure that I wanted more of him, not less.

My reflections were interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. It was Junior Kuusisto asking if he and his son could come out to the cottage that afternoon. I said yes. Not that I was looking forward to being the gay counselor to a teenager in the midst of coming out, but I'd promised Junior I'd help if possible.

The next phone call came in around lunch time. It was Uncle Nathaniel asking if he could come up to the cottage for a few weeks. Of course that would mean Jeremy would have to drive my uncle up, so Jeremy would be there, too. Naturally, I said to come on up. After all, it was his cottage, but it might prove to be one more complication in trying to figure out my relationship with Wyatt.

The third call was from Wyatt. He apologized for not waking me when he left, and asked if I wanted to come over to his place that evening for dinner. It took me about three nanoseconds to accept the invitation.

Junior and his son arrived about three thirty that afternoon. Junior had picked up Jack from school and headed right over.

Jack Kuusisto looked an awful lot like his father had some twenty-one years earlier. He was tall, blond with blue eyes, big-boned, and showed a nicely muscled torso underneath a Northern Michigan University tee shirt.

Junior introduced us and left.

"Would you like a soft drink, Jack? I've got some Diet Coke."

"Yes, sir, I'd like that . . . and diet's fine with me. That's all Mom has in the house."

"It's a nice day. Go sit on the porch, and I'll bring the drinks out."

"Thank you, sir."

"Jack, I appreciate your politeness, but drop the 'sir'. My name's Mitch, okay?"

He smiled, "Yes, sir." Then turned and headed out to the porch.

I poured a couple of glasses of Diet Coke and joined him.

"What did your dad tell you?"

"That you might be able to help me with my problem."

"Do you think being gay is a problem?"

He looked down at the glass of cola in his hand. "Well, it's sure inconvenient."

I chuckled. "Yup, it sure can be. When did you first realize that you're gay?"

"I guess I've known for a long time. I just didn't admit it to myself until a couple of years ago." He looked up at me. "I'm really scared, Dr. . . . I mean Mitch."

I'm sure you are. I think all of us are scared, at least a little bit, when we first accept being gay. But you didn't let your fear keep you from telling your folks."

"No, but it took me a long time to work up the courage to tell them. I think my dad had some suspicions. For the last several months, he's been reminding me that he and Mom will love me no matter what."

"I'm sure they will. It might take a little time for them to get used to the idea, though."

"Dad told me that you and he worked together one summer. Did you guys ever mess around?"

"Jack, I'm not going to answer that. Lots of young guys 'mess around' with other guys. Have you ever 'messed around' with some of your friends?"

He reddened slightly. "Okay, point taken. I've jerked off . . . ah, masturbated with a couple of my buddies, but they're really into their girlfriends now. I've had girlfriends, but the thought of 'doing it' with some girl almost makes me sick to my stomach."

We talked for another hour or so until we heard his dad's truck coming down the driveway. He was a nice kid, and I really warmed up to him. Now that he'd come out to his parents, he was considering telling a couple of his best friends. We didn't spend all the time talking about being gay. I also learned that, despite his grandfather's wishes, he wasn't sure he wanted to become a part of Jake's Property Management. He would be going to college at Northern Michigan the next fall and was looking forward to getting away from Nowhere.

I walked Jack out to his dad's truck, and told him he was welcome to come back anytime he wanted.

He thanked me and gave me a quick shoulder hug before getting in the truck. His dad mouthed 'thank you' as he put the truck in gear and turned it around in the driveway. I watched the truck disappear down the drive.

At the appointed time, I drove over to Wyatt's place. He gave me a cock-hardening, long kiss at the door. I told him I didn't care about dinner, and that maybe we should just get right down to the nitty gritty. He laughed, popped me playfully on the butt, and poured me a big glass of red wine.

While he was preparing the salad, I sat at the table and told him about my visit with Jack Kuusisto. Then I dropped the news that Uncle Nathaniel and Jeremy would be coming up to the cottage for a few weeks.

"Looks like we're both going to have company. We'll have to figure out a way to keep up our love life. I don't think I could stand two weeks without you."

"What do you mean? Are you having company, too?"

"Yup. My nephews. They should be here sometime next week also. They're on the road headed this way right now. And they may be staying for a little longer than two weeks."

"Oh, how long?"

"Well, maybe the rest of the summer. Actually, Morgan, the younger one . . . he's seventeen . . . just graduated from a dual enrollment program back home, will probably stay with me until he decides whether or not to go to college. Nash, the older one . . . he's twenty-one . . . will head back to Montana when the university starts again."

I saw our summer of fun and sex going out the window. "Where will you put them? You've only got one bedroom."

"They're driving out in a pickup with a camper bed on the back. They can bunk in that this summer. Later, I'll put a wall up in the studio and create another bedroom out there."

"Why the long visit? Sorry, that was none of my business."

"No problem. Well, it's a kind of complicated family matter. Nothing's really wrong. It's just something that my family does. Morgan's stepping out on his own. Nash will go back, complete college, then go back to the ranch. Just like when my older brother stayed at the ranch and I moved away. Maybe you'll understand it better when you get to know us more."

"Will I get to know you more?" It was out of my mouth before my brain could stop it.

"What do you mean?"

"What's this relationship mean to you, Wyatt? Why won't you spend an entire night with me? Why do you always leave?"

He carefully rinsed the salad fixings off his hands and dried them with a towel. I waited through the silence with dread. I'd pushed too much. I should have let it be.

He sat across from me at the table, took my hands in his and said, "The reason I haven't spent a full night with you, except for that first night when you showed up on my doorstep, is I have some really strange sleep habits. I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm usually up for a couple hours before I can get back to sleep. I walk around. I paint or work on my photos here in the studio. I may wander around outside. I don't want to disturb you. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes." I tried to look him in the eye, but I couldn't. I knew a bomb was going to drop next.

"And as for our 'relationship', I hope it's a lot more than that. I know we've only known each other for three . . . almost four weeks, but I'm pretty smitten with you, Dr. Wolf. I think this might turn out to be much more than a 'relationship'. There's a lot we still have to learn about each other. We'll need to have a few more really serious talks. But if you're willing, I'd like to think of us as more than mere boyfriends."

"Oh, Wyatt . . ." I was out of my chair and in his lap in a heartbeat.

We did the deed right there on the kitchen floor. Dinner was a little delayed. In fact, it was well after dark when Wyatt finally grilled the steaks.

After the kitchen was cleaned up, we lay on a blanket down by the lake, held hands, and watched the stars. We made love once more. It was less hurried than before, but just as passionate. I hoisted his hairy legs over my shoulders and moved slowly in and out of his beautiful ass. His climax stimulated my own. When we were both done, I cleaned his love juices off his stomach with my tongue savoring the still warm fluid.

Now, understanding why he preferred not to spend the night together, I went home to my own bed and slept like a baby.

The next day, I puttered around the cottage, made a quick trip into Escanaba to pick up stuff for dinner, read a little, and enjoyed a jog in the warm late-spring afternoon. I had just gotten back to the cottage and doing some stretches to cool down when my phone rang.

"Dr. Wolf, I'm so glad you answered the phone."

I recognized the voice of my cleaning lady in Atlanta.

"Hello, LaVerne. Is there something wrong? You sound upset."

"Oh, Dr. Wolf, I just came by to water your plants and found that someone's been inside your condo. I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean someone's been inside? How do you know?"

"Some things have been moved. I was here last week to water the plants, and when I came in today I noticed thatthings just weren't in the same place. There are some drawers open in your bedroom, and some papers in the living room have been moved. Did you have someone else checking on your place while you're out of town?"

"No. You're the only person beside the condo association agents who has a key. I can't imagine they've had any reason to go into the place. You're certain things have been moved?"

"Yes. What should I do?"

"Are you still in the condo?"

"No, I got kind of upset with the idea that someone had been there, so I left."

"Okay, that's good. I'm going to call the condo association management to see if they went in for some reason. If they didn't, then I'll report it to the police. I'll let you know either way."

When LaVerne finally got off the phone ‑ after several minutes of inquiring about my health and telling me how serious my injuries had been (as if I didn't know), I called the condo management office. They denied that anyone from their office had entered the condo, so my next call was to the Atlanta PD.

After being transferred three times to different people, I finally got a Detective Rollins, who took down the information, then informed me that since apparently nothing was stolen, the investigation would have a pretty low priority with the police. Basically, I got the impression that the polar ice caps would be completely melted from Global Climate Change before the Atlanta PD did any investigating. I thanked the good detective for his time and hung up.

I called LaVerne back. She was still a little spooked about someone having been in the place, but she promised to continue to check on it and water the plants on a weekly basis.

I set the table for dinner, tidied up the cottage, changed the sheets, and got in the shower.

Usually, my showers are pretty much business. Get in, wash, get out. This time I did a body inspection; my penis had been itching a little most of the day. It wasn't anything really distracting or painful, just a presence that just didn't feel normal. I didn't see anything wrong with it. The head of my dick didn't appear any different. If anything, it was a little more drawn up than usual. The loose skin at my circumcision scar overlapped the head a bit. I figured the itch was due to my anticipation of the evening's love-making session with Wyatt.

Indeed, the love-making was well worth the anticipation. The man has the most skilled tongue I'd ever run across. It felt like he could wrap his tongue completely around my erect dick, or stick it halfway up to my prostate. Wowza! That night, when he had me so wound up I thought I would cum at any moment, he quickly turned around and sat down on my throbbing member. It didn't take me too long to shoot my load up his ass. He pulled off and brought his dick up to my lips. I eagerly took him in my mouth and swallowed his seed. Wowza again.

I didn't wake up all night long. As usual, Wyatt was gone when I woke. I found a note on the table thanking me for dinner and 'dessert,' and reminding me that he would be over later in the morning for our weekly grocery run into Escanaba.

The weather was absolutely fantastic. Warm temps. Cloudless sky. Absolutely perfect.

I told Wyatt about the probable break-in at my condo on the ride over to Escanaba. I'd meant to tell him about it the night before, but we'd started kissing and petting almost as soon as he arrived. After that, it was a miracle I'd managed to get dinner on the table. After dinner, we went back to the kissing, the petting, and the Wowza.

Wyatt asked if I thought the break-in was in any way connected with the arrest of a suspect in the El Paso attack. I considered it, but dismissed it as unlikely. Still, I made a mental note to call Agent Portillo and mention it to him.

We had lunch and got our weekly supply of groceries. Wyatt bought a lot of food in anticipation of his nephews' arrival. Wyatt had a pretty good appetite, but I could only marvel at the thought of the amount of food that two teenagers with appetites like his were likely to consume. Needless to say, his Suburban was loaded.

We stopped at my place first. We put away my things, then drove over to his place to unpack what seemed like a ton of food. When that was all put away, we each grabbed a beer and went out to sit in the chairs at the lake shore.

About halfway through the beers, he suggested we take a dip in the lake. The weather was warm. The sun was shining. Wyatt was already up pulling off his clothes to get naked. It seemed like a good idea, so I joined him in getting naked, and plunged into the water. Man, that was a mistake! The air was really warm, but the water in the lake was still ice cold. We were in and out in a matter of a couple of minutes. Back on the shore, I glance down at my dick. Jeez, it was so cold that the head was almost completely pulled back into the shaft and covered with loose skin. Even Wyatt's, whose dick was always fairly substantial, seemed to be a little shrunken.

I commented about my shrunken condition, and Wyatt volunteered to make it bigger. He knelt in front of me and drew me into his mouth. It didn't take long before my dick was as big as ever.

Wyatt cooked one of his fantastically-delicious-but-emphasis-on-the-meat-and-potatoes dinners. In his bed later, we worked off some of the calories from dinner.

The weather the next day was forecast to be even more pleasant. Wyatt told me he planned to get up early and take his cameras down to get some sunrise and morning light pics at Big Bay De Noc. I volunteered to meet him down there with a picnic lunch. Then he drove me home.

At my place, we shared a couple of long kisses in his Suburban before I got out to go inside.

He turned his big Suburban around in the driveway, then leaned out his open window and called out, "I love you, Mitch."

He drove away before I could reply.