Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 11:06:41 -0800 (PST) From: Brew Maxwell Subject: My Adventures with Nick, Part Five-A Disclaimer: This story is fiction, and any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental. It contains graphic descriptions of sex between and among young adult men, and anyone who finds this subject matter objectionable, or who is not of legal age in his or her political jurisdiction to read such material, must leave immediately. This story is being posted to the Nifty Archive for the amusement and entertainment or readers. It may not be posted or reprinted in any other medium without the written consent of its author. Comments are always welcome. My Adventures with Nick, Part Five-A The weather changed over night. When Nick and I had gone to bed at 1:00 that morning, the temperature was in the seventies and the sky was clear. When we woke up at 10:00 later that morning, it was raining and the temperature was in the forties. This happens often in the spring in the Gulf states, I was told, and we just had to endure it. Spring wasn't over; it was just postponed a day. I say it was 10:00 when we woke up. It was 10:00 when I woke up. Nick was already up and had been up for over an hour. He had made coffee, of course, and had drunk two or three cups. He had also built a fire in the fireplace in his bedroom, so I woke to a toast-warm place. Nick was beside me in bed, with a cigarette, a coffee cup resting on his stomach, and a book. I hadn't thought of him as a reader before, but that was my mistake. It was _A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_, by James Joyce. Our English teacher had mentioned it when we read a story called "Araby" in our textbook, and he had encouraged us to read it. Nick had apparently taken the suggestion. "Hi, buddy," I said, when I came to. "Hi, yourself," Nick said, and he planted a wet kiss on my lips. Nick, still nude, got out of bed and got me a cup of coffee. "This ain't no day for man nor beast," he said, referring to the weather. "We're going to have to stay in bed all day. Ain't that a pity." Nick grinned. Nick set his book aside. We drank coffee and smoked for a few minutes in silence. Then Nick said, "So what did you think of last night?" I played it coy. "What did you think?" "I had a pretty good time. Both of those guys are beneath us, I think, but they were all right." Beneath us, I thought. What the hell did he mean. So I asked him. "You know, both of those guys are average lovers. They know how to fuck and suck, sort of. They were all right, but they aren't, you know, er, worldly." "Are you 'worldly,' Nick," I asked. "Yeah, I think I am. But I'm also sensitive. I could tell you didn't enjoy yourself all that much." This guy didn't cease to amaze me with his insight. I couldn't have put it the way he did, but he was exactly right. They weren't "worldly." They were naive, and they fucked and sucked like they were. How did I know? Nick, I guess. Or intuition. I decided to be playful. "So what would you say if I were Sam?" "I'd say, 'Sam, last night was great, but I've got a dentist appointment in the city in an hour, and you've got to be on your way. I know it's raining, but it'll wash the cum off you from last night. Give me a call.' I wouldn't give him my number, you understand, but I'd make him think I wanted him to call me. He'd believe I went to the dentist on Saturday, and he would also not notice I didn't give him my number. Sam, like Tony, is fuckin' dumb." I agreed with Nick's assessment. Both of those guys were nowhere compared to Nick in the sex department, and neither of them interested me in any other way. They were people I'd just as soon not hook up with again for anything more than a casual exchange of greetings. "So, what's it going to be today," I asked. "What do you want it to be?" "I don't know," I said. "You're the experienced one, and this is your house." Nick grinned. "I thought we would spend the whole day in bed. We'll get up to pee, of course, and one or other of us will get food. But, this could be a perfect day. I've got--correction, Matt's got--a shit load of porno vidoes in the next room. I've got a million CD's. I've got a book, and I think you brought one, too. I've got a cock. You've got one, too. We can make do." Nick got up for more coffee and some of yesterday's doughnuts. He brought me another cup, too, although one is usually my limit. He put cream and sugar in it--"New Orleans style," he said--and I drank it with relish. He also brought over his pack of cigarettes and his Zippo, so we were set. In a few minutes I had to take a leak, and Nick did, too. We went into the bathroom together. He said, "Let's hold each other while we pee." I wasn't sure what he meant; then he took my cock in his hand. I took his. His limp cock had--what?--body to it. It curved out from his body instead of hanging straight down. It felt altogether different from his hard cock, and it was strange holding him as he produced his urine. He gave more than I did, but not by much. I shook him off rather more vigorously than I do myself, and he grinned at me. He grabbed a towel on the way out of the bathroom. We got back in bed. Nick didn't want the covers pulled up. Instead, he wanted us to keep each other warm. We got very close to one another, and we started exploring each other with our hands. Nick stopped me after a second or two and said he wanted to learn about the places on my body that really turned me on, and he wanted me to really concentrate on what I was feeling. He continued stroking me all over. He gently rubbed my lips. "Moan when something feels good," he said, so I moaned. He spent a good fifteen minutes on my face, and then he went to work on my ears. I hadn't known until Nick taught me last Wednesday that my ears were sensitive, and now my cock started responding when he rubbed them. He worked them over pretty well and moved to my neck. I moaned there, too, but not as much as I had for my ears. Then he moved down to my upper chest. Moan. Then to my nipples. "I know your nips are sensitive, but which one is more sensitive than the other?" He worked the left one first, and my cock started getting bigger. The whole area was sensitive, but there was a spot right in the center of the nipple that really did it for me. It was like a pinpoint, and I responded nicely when he rubbed his hand in a circular motion over it. Then he moved to the right one and did the same thing. "Can you tell which one had more feeling," he asked. "Here, let me do them one after the other so you can compare." He went back and forth several times. "The right one," I said. He smiled and went down on it with his mouth. This was a different sensation than his hand had produced, and it kind of tickled. I couldn't tell where the pleasure was coming from, but it seemed to start somewhere inside me. Nick moved from my nipples to my arm pits. That was another unexpected treat. I had had no idea my armpits were erotically sensitive. He played with the hair and tickled me. I didn't laugh, though, but my cock, which was now fully hard, responded. A drop of pre-cum came out and wet the spot on my stomach where the head of my cock rested. If Nick noticed, he ignored it. Nick worked down both of my sides. That tickled, but it wasn't a turn-on. Next he moved to my navel. He dug into it vigorously, and once again I felt pleasure somewhere inside. While he was playing with my navel, the back of his hand kept nudging my cock, and that added to the fun. My thighs were castles of feeling, especially on the inside, and Nick rubbed and caresses them almost to the point of torture. Then he got down between my legs and pushed them gently back toward my shoulders. He gently fingered my sack, and it got tighter with each touch. He outlined each ball several times, and then he went to the spot between my sack and my ass. MOAN! First he caressed it gently. Then he applied some pressure. "Which feels better," he asked, and then he did both things several more times. "They both feel great. But different," I said. Then my ass. He wet his fingers for this part. He caressed my hole all around, then he rubbed it vigorously with his moistened fingers. The sensation was terrific. He stuck one, then two fingers in slightly, and moved them around. All this while my cock was spewing pre-cum on my stomach, and the head was rubbing around in it. When Nick opened my ass, the urge was too great, and I came. Spurt after spurt after spurt. I know Nick saw that and felt me quivver, but he didn't stop. He kept working my ass, now with his tongue. He had done that before, but I was always on the verge of coming. Since I had just come, I relaxed and enjoyed the sensation of the heat and wetness of what he was doing. After several minutes, he continued moving down my body, rubbing the spot behind my knees and the back sides of my calves. He got to my feet and tickled the soles. Then he started working on my toes with his mouth, and the feeling was incredible. After doing my toes, he said, "I almost forgot something." He moved up to my cock, which was more than half hard, and took it into his mouth. Once again the feeling was wonderful. He took all of it in and drew it out slowly. He continued the in and out until I was about to explode, and he moved away to let me settle down a little. In a few seconds he was back at it, licking and sucking simultaneously. After three more pauses, he let me come in a great spasm. He swallowed all that I produced, and then licked up the cum that was still on my belly. "Breakfast," he said, and we both laughed. Nick dried me off with the towel and moved back to his regular position in bed. We smoked cigarettes and talked. I told him I wanted to explore his body, and he said he just wanted to talk for a little while. "Of all the things we've done sexually, what have you liked best," he asked. "I've been thinking about that. I love it when you're inside me," I said, "but I love being inside you, too. I also love blowjobs, but I like to get them more than to give them. That's really not true. I like to give them to you, but I found giving head last night a little boring." "What are your sexual fantasies," he asked. "You," I said. "Seriously, what do you think about doing?" "I think about a lot of things. I love it when you push my legs back and fuck me. The other night when you sucked me off while you fucked me was absolutely fantastic. I want to try that on you." "Do you think you're flexible enough to do that," he asked. "I don't know." "Can you suck your own cock?" "No," I said, "can you?" "Yeah." "You're shitting me," I said, hoping he would prove me wrong by doing it right then. "Yeah? Watch." And then, "Get me hard." I took his cock in my hands and started playing with it. It was responding, but a little slowly. I put it in my mouth and started working it, and it responded in no time. "Okay, that's good," he said. "Now watch." I had read about guys who sucked themselve by getting on their backs and throwing their legs back over their heads, and that's what I expected Nick to do. Instead, he sat up in bed and bent forward. He teased the head of his cock with the tip of his tongue. Then he took the head into his mouth and sucked it a while. Then, and this was unbelievable to watch, he went down even further and got about two thirds of it into his mouth. He worked on himself for several minutes, and then he tensed up and started bucking. He was coming. At that angle it was hard for him to keep his cum in his mouth, and some of it started running down his shaft. When he finished his orgasm, he straightened up. He leaned over to kiss me. I opened my mouth for his tongue, and he deposited cum there. I swallowed it and licked his face. I went down on his cock and licked it clean. If this goes on all day, I thought, I will have died and gone to heaven. We lay back next to one another. Nick put his arms around me and covered me with his leg. He wasn't completely on top of me, but almost. I felt very warm and very secure. I asked him what his fantasy was. "I've actually lived out my fantasy more than once," he said. "But I still like to think about it when I jerk off. In my fantasy I'm fucking a gorgeous chick. Then, some guy I really like, like you, for instance, comes up and watches us. Pretty soon he's hot and ready to plunge. I say to him, 'My ass is yours, buddy.' He sticks his dick up my ass, and the three of us establish a rhythm and fuck away. The chick can't stop coming, my buddy in back comes two or three times, and I finally come in a tidal wave of sperm. We stay hooked together like that for a long time." "You've actually done that," I asked. "A bunch of times. Usually my friend Sean furnished the cock, but I've done it with a couple of other guys, too." After a long pause, Nick got up to put more wood on the fire. Then he went into Matt's room and got three video cassettes. He popped one into the combination TV-VCR that was near the bed, and it came on. "Matt made this one. I'm in it." It started out with Nick and another guy--"That's Sean," he said--coming into the room we were in then. They stopped and kissed, and Sean unbuttoned Nick's jeans. He took out Nick's cock and started playing with it. Nick got a look of ecstasy on his face as Sean pumped him harder and faster. Nick kept up a steady patter: "That's it, Sean. Pump that fucker for all you're worth. You love doing that, don't you, motherfucker. I want to stick this pole up you skinny little ass until it hits your stomach. I want to flood your guts with my hot cum, and then I want to stick it down your throat and fill you up again. Your hands are just like a cunt. I want to cream all over you." Then the two guys undress quickly and get down on the floor. Sean is hard, too, and he sits in Nick's lap, with Nick's cock up his ass. Nick bends down and takes Sean's cock in his mouth. They rock back and forth. Then Sean screams that he's coming, and Nick releases his cock as large spurts of cum shoot upward. Then Nick says, "You're making me come, too." He apparently comes in Sean's ass. Nick stopped the video. "That's stupid, isn't it?" He seemed a bit embarrassed. "No, it isn't," I said. I was rather enjoying it. "Turn it back on." Nick complied, but that scene was over. The next scene featured a group of five guys, all of them real hunks, including Nick. I didn't recognize any of the others. It started with their faces, and then the camera panned down their nude bodies, pausing to give longer shots of their equipment. As usual, Nick was the best hung of the lot. One guy said, "Are you guys as horny as I am?" There was a chorus of "yeahs" and "damn straights" and "fucking aye's." "I could use some circle jerk action, if you guys could." Once again, agreement from the others. Two of the boys paired off and started pawing each other to arousal. Nick and the other two formed a trio and did the same. When all five were hard, they knelt in a sort of semi-circle, no doubt so the camera could have easy access to all of them without having to move too far, and they started jerking themselves off. Nick the Innovator took the cocks of the guys on either side of him into his hands and worked them simultaneously. One guy leaned over and put his hand on the next man's butt, and several guys worked on nipples. The voice of the organizer of the circle jerk said, "Youngest guy takes everybody's load. Nick, that's you. Get down on the floor." Nick got down on the floor, and the other guys knelt down next to him. They all continued pumping, and you could tell that they were getting close to shooting. Then the first man came, splashing his cum all over Nick's chest. Then Nick came, adding to the the accumulating spunk. Then two guys came at the same time, and the last guy added his load. Nick was covered in cum. He smeared it all over himself like it was some kind of sensual lotion. "This next part wasn't planned," Nick said, "but Matt kept the camcorder running and got some pretty interesting stuff." Before Nick could get up, two guys pounced on him and started licking the cum off him. The other two joined in, and pretty soon Nick was the object of a tongue-fest. The two guys who weren't still hard got hard during this phase. Then one guy raised Nick's legs back to his shoulders and hoisted his butt into the air. This guy started licking Nick's asshole. In a minute he lubed his cock with cum from Nick's chest and entered Nick. Then, one by one, the other guys piled on, lubed up, and entered each other. Pretty soon it was a five-way ass fuck. They got a good rhythm going very quickly, and they lunged and plunged for a good ten minutes. The camera got busy, circling the pile of men, getting them from every angle. Then Matt apparently decided to join in the fun. He put the camera on a tripod and shoved his cock into the guy who was last in line. They were all grunting and groaning and obviously having a hell of a good time. The camera wasn't on Nick's face, but it did give a good shot of his cock. I couldn't tell if he came first, but he certainly came hard, and his jism shot as far as his chin. They all came within a few seconds of each other, and they collapsed in an exhausted heap. Then you could hear Nick's voice: "Anybody want to fuck?" They all laughed. I hadn't been paying attention to the Nick beside me during the video, but I noticed when it was over that he had a handsome boner and was playing with it. I started playing with my own hard-on, and in a few minutes we both came. "So, how do you like my porno," he asked. "Pretty hot stuff," I said. "Are you in these other ones, too?" "No, these are commercial tapes. Do you want to watch another one," he asked. "In a little while," I said. "Who were those guys in the video?" "Those were all studs in the stable. Matt had just bought that camcorder, and he wanted to experiment with making porn movies, so he got us all out here to try it out. Sean could only stay a little while, but the rest of us had a great weekend. Those guys are perpetually horny, as I guess you could tell, and they all wanted to try different things. We've got six or seven more tapes, but they're in New Orleans, I think. Anyway, I couldn't find any more of them. Of course, Matt's got so much shit in his room, they could be there and I just didn't see them." "What all does he have," I asked. I was curious to see it. "You want to go take a look," Nick asked. I did, so we went into Matt's room. There was a whole bookcase filled with every sex toy imaginable. There were a lot more butt plugs, dildos, vibrators, maybe a hundred videos, and some stuff I didn't recognize. "What are these things," I asked, picking up a set of rubber balls attached to a chord. "Those are 'come beads.' You stick them in somebody's ass, and you pull them out as the person is coming. It feels fantastic. See, they come in different sizes and colors, not that the color matters." "Are these cock rings," I asked. "Yeah, they sure are. He's got a couple of dozen. One for every mood, I guess." Nick picked up a thin gold chain with two decorative balls at the ends. "Do you know what this is," he asked. "No, what?" "This is a piece of cock jewelry." "How do you wear it," I asked. Nick crouched down in front of me and put in on my cock where the head joins the shaft. He wrapped it around and let the two balls dangle free from my dick on each side. It felt pleasant, but it wasn't really a turn on. "Walk over to that mirror over there and see what you look like," Nick said. When I walked across the room, the balls swung back and forth. This put pressure on the sensitive spot on the bottom of my cock just under the head, and it really felt good. My cock started responding a little, but it really didn't get hard. "It feels good when you walk, huh?" "Yeah, it does. Can I wear it," I asked. "Sure. I'll wear this one." The one Nick selected was similar to mine, but it also had a rather long chain with a hook on the end. He wrapped the jewelry around his cock; then he hooked the longer chain to his nipple ring. "This one's better than yours because it tugs on your nipple, too," he said. We looked at more of the stuff. Nick showed me a combination butt plug and cock ring. The plug had a battery implanted in the base, and it vibrated when you turned it on. "I want to wear that, too," I said. "You'll have to take the jewelry off, then. This one will make you hard as a fucking rock, and the jewelry won't stay on. Why don't you do it later?" "Okay, but I definitely want to try it," I said. Nick found an earring in the shape of a cock and set of balls, and he put it into his left ear. I hadn't known before that moment that his ear was pierced. "Does it hurt to get your ear pierced," I asked. "I've really been thinking about having it done." "I can do it for you," he said. "You want me to?" "What the fuck," I said. "Why not?" "Let's go down to the kitchen. I need some ice, and the needles are down there. Which one of these do you want to try?" "I want the same kind you have," I said. "Are there any more?" There were at least ten more, and Nick picked out the mate to his. We went downstairs and got alcohol, a needle, and an ice cube. The whole thing lasted maybe three minutes. Nick cleaned my ear, the needle, and the earring with the alcohol. He put the ice cube on the back of my earlobe for about a minute, and then stuck the needle through. He wiggled the needle around to make the hole bigger, inserted the earring, removed the needle, and put the back on the earring. I barely felt a thing because my ear was numb from the ice. I was pierced. Cool. It was a little after noon, so we fixed ourselves something to eat. Nick took a frozen chicken out to thaw. This business of cooking every day was really tedious, I thought. Nick didn't seem to mind, though. The weather wasn't any better. If anything, it seemed to have gotten colder than it had been this morning. One of the problems with old houses like this one is a lack of insulation. The heater was good, though, and we managed. After we finished in the kitchen, we went back up to Matt's room to look at more of his stuff. I picked up what I thought was an earring, but it had a kind of wire loop where the part that is supposed to go into your ear should have been. "That's a different kind of nipple ring," Nick said. "How does it work," I asked. "Here. Let me show you." Nick started rubbing my left nipple, and it became erect in a few seconds. I think the cold weather must have helped in that department. He kneeded it into as much of a point as it would go. Then, he pinched the nipple ring on both sides to make the loop larger and placed it over my nipple. "It might sting a little," he said before he let it go. "Are you ready?" I nodded, and Nick put the ring in place. It didn't sting, but it felt terrific. My cock started responding, as it usually does to any nipple action, and the chain I had wrapped around it came unwrapped. Nick laughed and said that was the problem with that kind of jewelry, it doesn't work with a hard-on. Nick took the chain off his cock and let the whole piece dangle by the chain connected to his nipple ring. He told me to make him hard, and I went to work on his cock. Nick led me over to a sofa that I thought was covered in leather, and we knelt facing each other. "Cock duel," he said. He placed my hands on his shoulders, and he put his hands on my hips to steady us. Then we started rubbing our cocks against one another. "The object is to make the other guy come--and, of course, to come yourself--just with cock-friction. Matt and I love doing this with each other." And I could certainly see why. It was an exercise in self-control. I kept getting little spasms of pleasure as Nick rubbed his cock in just the right place. It wasn't enough to come, but it was a great feeling. It was almost like somebody else was in control. "Aren't we going to make a mess on this sofa," I asked. "I hope so," Nick said, and grinned. "No, I mean, this looks like a really nice piece of furniture. Won't it ruin it?" "It's vinyl. Matt wouldn't have anything in his room he couldn't get cum on, and I can guarantee you this sofa has been doused more than once. We'll just wipe it off with a wet rag, and nobody will ever know. It's a miracle of science." We both laughed. We didn't talk much after that. We looked deeply into each other's eyes, and I tried to concentrate on what I was doing. It lasted quite a while, but finally we both shot our wads onto each other. I decided I really liked this game. Nick got a wet washrag, cigarettes, and his lighter. "The trouble with being naked is keeping up with the fucking cigarettes," he said. "I wish I could have a pocket sewn onto my chest, or something." I laughed, but he had a much more serious look on his face. When we finished our cigarettes, I wanted to try the vibrating cock-ring-with-butt-plug. Nick got the Vasoline and put it in me. He also put one in himself. We switched them on at the same time, and it was an almost instant turn-on for me. Nick took a few more seconds to respond, but I could tell by the smile on his face and by his monster hard-on that he really liked it. "So what do we do now," I asked. Ass-fucking was out of the question, but I thought maybe a blowjob. "Just sit and enjoy," Nick said. "You've got to learn how to savor the subtleties of sex, Brad. You're not exactly 'wham-bam, thank you, m'am,' but you haven't had a chance to learn how to really explore what sex feels like. Tell me what you're feeling right now." "Er, I'm not really sure. It feels good, that much I know." "Yeah, but where, precisely. In your cock? In your balls? Inside you? In your ass?" "All of the above, I guess," I said. "Try to focus on each spot of your body. Think about your cock. It feels really tight, doesn't it." "Yeah." "Does it feel like it's vibrating, too?" "Yeah, it does." "Open your legs so I can adjust the speed." When Nick turned it up, I gasped because the feeling was so intense. It was like my cock was about to fly off my body and get a life of its own. "Wow!" Nick smiled. "That feels good, doesn't it?" He adjusted his own. In a little while he told me to focus on my ass. "That doesn't feel like anything you've ever had in it, does it?" "No. It's making me really want to come, though. It feels really deep inside me, too. It's almost like my bones are humming." "That's it. Focus on what's happening. You'll come pretty soon, and you won't have to touch your cock to do it. I think those are the best comes, when it just happens because you're so excited the cum just bubbles up out of you. When you rub your cock, it's pretty intense, but when it just comes naturally, man, that's really something." Nick knelt on the sofa again, and I did, too. "I like to watch you come, buddy. You make the cutest face when you do, did you know that?" "I like to watch you, too," I said. In fact, I thought, I like to watch everything you do. We knelt there a while longer than I expected. Nick and I were both giving off pre-cum in big sticky drops, and it was running down the head of his cock in a little stream and then down his shaft to his bush. I wanted to scoop some up, but I knew Nick didn't want me to touch him. The longer it took, the more excited we got. Nick was breathing really hard, and he had a look of angelic bliss on his face. I continued to concentrate on the different sensations I was experiencing, and at one point I thought my whole lower half had turned into some hot liquid that was looking for an escape valve, like lava from a volcano. "Nick, I don't know how much longer I can stand not coming," I said. "This thing is driving me wild." "Hang in there, buddy. When you come, it'll be well worth the wait. Watch me and do what I do, okay?" "Okay," I gasped. In thirty seconds or less, Nick started bucking involuntarily. "I'm coming, Brad. I'm coming," he said. That was all it took to set me off, and I was proud of myself that I had stayed as long as Nick had. I gave in to my instincts and bucked like Nick, and in a second both of us blasted each other with cum. When he had finished spurting, Nick took his cock in his hand and started pumping. I did the same, and in a matter of ten strokes or less we both came again. "Don't stop," he said hoarsely and never stopped stroking his meat. I kept up with him, and we both came a third time, this time even harder than before. "Once more," he said. We kept up the pace, and finally, after more strokes than it took the second or third time, we had our fourth orgasms. Neither of us produced much cum, but the force was strong enough to be measured in double digits on the Richter Scale. When we were done, we collapsed into each other on the cum-slick sofa. We couldn't move for a long time. Finally Nick summoned enough strength to turn off our vibrators, but we left the cock rings and butt plugs in place. Nick kissed me deeply, letting our tongues mingle in the single space our two mouths made. Then he said, "What the fuck happened?" We both laughed, and we snuggled together. After a few minutes we both noticed the chill in the air of Matt's room, and we decided to go back to Nick's room. I got in bed and pulled the comforter up to my chin. Nick stoked the fire and wanted to put another log on it, but there were no more. "Shit," he said. "I'll go get some more." He went into his closet and came out with a puzzled look on his face. "My jacket isn't in there. Did you see what I did with it?" "Is it a black leather jacket," I asked. "Yeah," he said. "I don't think you brought it in from the car. You threw it on the back seat Wednesday afternoon, and I don't remember seeing you touch it since then." "Goddamnit, you're right. I'll be back in a second." Nick wasn't gone long, and, when he came back in, he looked good enough to eat. He had on a really sexy black leather motorcycle jacket, open in front. He was bareassed except for that, and he was carrying four good-sized logs for the fire. His longish hair was wet from the rain, and the leather studded cock ring stood out sharply against his now-bluish skin. He had wrapped the jewelry around his softened cock, and the effect of his whole appearance was stunning. He put two logs on the fire and two in the wood holder on the hearth, and then he joined me in bed. He didn't take off the jacket. "You know what," he asked. "I forgot all about my pager. It's been in the pocket of this jacket since Wednesday." He took it out and checked his messages that were stored in memory. There had only been two calls, both from the same number. "Matt's been trying to get me. I'd better call him." He went to the phone on a table in the room and dialed Matt. After an exchange of fraternal profanity, he listened to what Matt had to say. "No, that's cool." Pause. "What time?" Pause. "That's cool." Pause. "Yeah. His name is Brad." Pause. "From school." Pause. "No, he's way cool. You'll like him." Pause. "Yeah, he's got one of your vibrating cock rings and butt plugs on right now. So do I." Pause. "It was fuckin' fantastic." Pause. "Well, fuck you, too, cocksucker!" Nick laughed. Pause. "Okay, see you later." Pause. "Yeah, I love you, too." "Jesus, what was that all about," I asked. "Matt's coming up here this afternoon around five. He wants to meet you." "How did he know I was here?" "I told Philip to tell him and Scott to stay the hell away unless they called first because I thought I'd probably have a friend here with me. We respect each other's privacy, even though we talk to each other like we're ready to fight all the time." "Did you tell him you loved him," I asked, not sure I had heard right. "Yeah. I did because I do. We always tell each other that, unless somebody's around we'd be embarrassed to say that in front of. Being orphans really brings brothers together." I hadn't really thought of it like that, but Nick and his brothers really were orphans. They were rich orphans, and they were horny orphans, and they were men-of-the-world orphans, but they were still orphans. I thought of my mom in Brazil and my dad in Tuscon. In some ways I was kind of like the Marshall brothers, but without a sibling I could say "I love you" to. In a few minutes we had both warmed up enough to function again. Nick got up and got two warm, wet washrags, and he and I cleaned up our mess on Matt's sofa. We got back in bed, and we smoked. Nick still had his jacket on. Then he remembered it and took it off. I liked having his skin next to mine, but I really liked the way he looked in that jacket. We settled down and listened to the rain. In a few minutes I could hear Nick breathing the kind of regular breathing that comes with sleep. I propped up on my elbow and stared at him. He looked for all the world like a very vulnerable little boy. His hair was uncombed, and he was completely relaxed. I was so overcome by emotion for my friend that a tear trickled down my face. What a beautiful, beautiful man. I lay back on the pillow, and in a few minutes I was asleep, too.