Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 23:55:46 -0800 (PST) From: Robin Eagleson Subject: The Luckiest Summer, Part Eight The Luckiest Summer Robin Eagleson robineagleson@yahoo.com Part Eight I woke up before Brad, still nestled safely against him. I could tell it was approaching dawn by the odd light filtering in through the windows. It was a gentle red glow, the kind of sunrise everyone pictures when they think of one. I felt strangely awake, and strangely adventurous. My dick was doing its typical morning ritual, and after listening to the intensity of Brad's breathing for a few seconds, I decided I could get away with obliging it. I had never put on a shirt last night, so I could feel my bare skin against Brad's body. I lightly rubbed up against him as I started stroking myself, first through the Nike shorts I was still wearing, and then reaching inside them. The quicker my jacking got, the more often I found myself glancing at Brad to make sure he hadn't stirred any. I grew tired of working under my shorts and tugged them hastily down to my knees, tossing them on the floor beside the bed but leaving my boxers near my ankles. I still had the sheets over me, but if Brad had woken up and opened his eyes at this moment, I was caught in the act, plain and simple. That was particularly exciting. Things got hazy as the pleasure built. The subject of my desires was only inches away. I had to touch him. With my free hand I ran a single finger lightly down his right arm, which lay exposed on top of the sheets. I could feel the hard definition of his triceps, the slight bulge of his biceps, and the bony thickness of his forearm. He didn't move a muscle at the contact, and I became bolder, leaning over cautiously and ever so slightly putting my lips against his shoulder. My head reeled at the act. It was the first time I'd ever given anyone a kiss fueled by a sexual desire, and it felt surreal. Still he showed no signs of waking, so I rubbed his arm a little harder and increased the tempo with my other hand. I was getting really close now, and incoherent thoughts scrambled madly through my head. How I had allowed myself to get into this overly risky situation was beyond me, but logical thinking was not going to return until I had drained the hormones out of my system. Seconds before I erupted, I decided I wanted him to touch me. Not just anywhere, but there. I wanted it to be him that got me off at the end. I found his hand and guided it carefully towards me. Continuing to stroke my dick all the while, I placed his hand strategically on my crotch, pressing down on it and raising my hips desperately up into it. I closed my eyes and smiled as the familiar feeling washed over me. I shot once, twice, three times, all in impressive spurts that flew up and landed on my stomach. Then I was gulping in air, my head slowly clearing. His hand was resting limply on my oozing cock. I quickly picked it up and put it back to his side, burying it under the sheets. He would never know where it had been, but I would always remember. I sat up and leaned in gingerly, pulling up my boxers and wincing as I slid them back in place over my hips, my dick settling in tightly against the fabric. I stroked my chest and belly slowly afterwards, lying back with my eyes closed and my head turned towards the ceiling. I was hungry again. I didn't really want to get up and leave Brad, but I was starving. Then I decided I could probably handle starving to death as long as I got to do it next to Brad. I looked at his face, frozen in a peaceful sleep. The sun had been gradually shifting position, and was now shining squarely on his face. Sunlight had a certain harshness to it when aimed directly at someone, but it did nothing unflattering to Brad. He looked even younger than his eighteen years bathed in the sunlight, the blond stubble on his head growing longer by the day, traces of a light, downy beard growing on his cheeks, his nose turned to the ceiling, his chest rising and falling in steady fashion. I noticed, for the first time, how lengthy his eyelashes were as I looked at his closed eyelids. I felt something beyond lust, something much more powerful that was completely inexplicable, and I put my head on his chest. He grunted at this movement, finally showing signs of life after all I'd put him through. I kept picking up my head to look at him, and then dropping it wearily back on his chest until he finally admonished me. "Go back to sleep," he mumbled. "It's too fucking early for you to be up." I grinned into his chest and closed my eyes obediently. I could feel the hardness of his pectoral muscles against my cheek. I turned my head slightly and buried my nose against his shirt. It smelled faintly of his cologne. I became light-headed as the spices infiltrated my nostrils. His hand brushed through my hair momentarily. I think he was trying to soothe me into falling back asleep. It worked, because I could instantly feel myself dozing off as his hand made repeated occasional trips over my hair. The next thing I knew his alarm was going off, but neither of us was moving. I finally pulled my head off his chest and sought out the source of the dreadful sound. My eyes wouldn't open all the way for a few seconds. I finally leaned over the edge of the bed and saw the alarm sitting on the floor next to the outlet. I turned it off and collapsed back on top of him wearily. He still hadn't shown any signs of waking. "You're going to have to get off me," he finally said, but I didn't. "Just take me with you," I responded dreamily, trying to go back to sleep already. "Off," he repeated, taking hold of my arm in his powerful grip and tugging me to the side. I pulled at his shirt as he relocated me, trying to stay attached to him. It didn't work, and soon I was lying lopsidedly beside him. He threw the sheets off and bounded to his feet. Suddenly the idea of going back to sleep was nowhere near as interesting now that I would have to do it alone. I wasn't tired anymore. I watched him stretching for a moment; he seemed to grimace when he turned his neck. "What?" I asked him. "Thanks to you I have a fucking crick in my neck," he complained, massaging his back in between his shoulders and trying to loosen up the tension. "It's because I had to sleep in that cramped position." "I was pretty comfortable," I shrugged with a grin. He shot me a look. "You'd better go home and get ready for your big day," he advised, opening his closet to find today's clean work shirt. I wondered how many he had stowed away in there. "My big day?" I asked, drawing a blank. "Nadia," he answered over his shoulder. "Skinny dipping. You know," he added insistently. "Oh!" I said. "I don't think we'll be naked," I blushed. But he was right. She would probably be calling within the next hour or two, assuming she hadn't made the whole thing up just to tease me. I stumbled awkwardly out of his bed and got to my feet, winding up standing alongside him. "Definitely spend some time on your hair," he said in what I thought was a fond tone, ruffling my messy strands. "You've got awesome hair, you know. If my hair looked as good as yours did, I would grow mine out, too. I swear I'm going bald." He frowned and ran his hand across his hairline. "You're not going bald," I giggled. "You have just a widow's peak. We talked about it in science when we were studying genetics." "I hope you're right," he grumbled, not sounding satisfied, "but I don't remember having a widow's peak before." He looked back at me. "I've got to take a shower. Get out of here," he said, shooing me away playfully. "Go home and pimp yourself out." "Can we play tennis this weekend?" I asked, grabbing my shorts off the floor and stepping into them. "Maybe," he said in an evasive manner that I knew indicated he had other things planned. "We'll see. At the very latest we can play next week. Come by on Monday after I get off work or something." "Okay," I said, slightly disappointed but knowing that was about as good of a guarantee as I was going to get out of him. I told him bye and left his room quietly. He was too preoccupied to hear me, I guess. I trudged across the lawn and opened our unlocked front door. Mom had left me another one of her notes on the refrigerator. It was pretty simple. I was supposed to mow the front lawn if I had time. After briefly considering not having the time, I concluded it would be in my best interests to get it over with before the temperature reached triple digits. I showered quickly afterwards, afraid the phone would ring while I was washing the combined sweat of last night's tennis and this morning's lawn mowing off. I took shortcuts this time, cleaning only the areas that I figured needed it the most. That included my crotch, my armpits, and then my hair, which I spent the longest time on. I decided not to worry about gelling it, but I did put Old Spice on. No sooner had I dried off and settled onto the couch and turned on the TV when the phone rang. I leapt up and had it by the second ring, but it wasn't Nadia. "I heard all about your pool party," Robbie's voice accused me on the other end of the line. "How come you didn't invite me?" "I didn't invite anyone," I said. "Nadia invited herself." "Nadia," he said mockingly. "I haven't even talked to you since you guys started hanging out. What's so great about Nadia?" "She has a nice pair," I said, intentionally echoing his sentiments from weeks back the last time I saw him. "You're the one who told me I should go out with her," I reminded him. "But you're not even going out with her," he said. "I talk to Stacey a lot, and she tells me everything Nadia tells her. For instance, I know that you guys have been holding hands, but you haven't kissed her." "Okay, shut up," I said, my face turning red. "Anyway, you can come over if you want, but Nadia might get mad at me. I'm not sure if she wants me to have other people over." "Why should she care? I'll bring Stacey. It'll be a small gathering. Like a double date," he elaborated. Robbie and Stacey had been going out since the end of last school year. "Fine," I said. "But I'm not even sure Nadia's going to call." "She'll call. She's been talking about swimming at your house with Stacey all week. She thinks you guys are going to make out in the pool or something." I blushed again, an undisputable stirring in my shorts. I had changed into a clean pair; I was wearing jean shorts now. "Come by at one," I instructed him. "Do you want me to bring my little brother again this time?" he derided me, hanging up before I had a chance to respond. I hung up and sat back down on the couch. This day felt painfully familiar. Mowing the lawn, taking a shower, getting a call from Robbie on the phone about going swimming. Was Tyler going to come ring the doorbell and ask if he could swim with us now? But I knew that couldn't happen. Tyler was away at camp, where hopefully he'd stay forever. Nadia kept me waiting a while, but finally called at half past noon after I'd been fidgeting on the couch for a while, going through soda after soda until I could no longer sit still. She had already heard that Robbie and Stacey were coming over. She was going to get a ride with Stacey and come in an hour. This only made me more nervous. I paced around the living room for a while until Robbie showed up. His mom dropped him off a few minutes early. He didn't even bother ringing the doorbell. "Hey," he said, coming in and helping himself to a can of soda out of the refrigerator and dropping beside me on the couch. "I did a hundred crunches earlier. Can you tell?" he asked, tightening his stomach muscles and looking at me expectantly. "Not really," I admitted. He wasn't fat by any means, but he didn't have a lot of visible muscle, either. I had to admit his body was a lot better than mine, though. "Fuck you. Hit me in the stomach and see how hard it feels," he commanded me. I looked at him doubtfully. "Try it. It won't hurt," he insisted. He smiled and I caught a glimpse of his braces. He was shy about his braces; I think they were the one subject he wasn't boastful about regarding his appearance. I gave in and hit him lightly in the side. "Wow," I said flatly. "Those are some rock hard abs." "Better than yours," he said. "I can see a lot of bones when you take your shirt off, but no muscles." "Nadia doesn't seem to mind," I said coolly. "She hasn't seen you without your shirt yet, has she?" he prodded me, and I realized he was right. "Don't worry, you'll be fine," he assured me. "Lots of girls really go for the Ethiopian guys." I hit him in the stomach for real. We wrestled momentarily on the couch until he had me pinned completely. "Got anything to say now?" he taunted me. His arms pressed hard into my chest, his entire weight holding me against the couch. I could feel his breath against my cheek. It wasn't bad. It smelled like he'd been sucking on a mint earlier. "Get off," I ordered him half-heartedly. I didn't mind the contact. It was kind of exciting to wrestle with him while he was shirtless. "Nope," he giggled, bouncing up and down now so his knees were digging into me. "Besides, you know you like it. You're gay like that." "I'm not gay," I protested, finally freeing an arm and extending it towards his chest to create some space. His chest was nice, but nowhere near as built as Brad's. It felt much more delicate against my palm than Brad's did. "If you're not gay, you should ask Nadia out," he challenged me, continuing to dig his knees into my stomach. "Okay, okay!" I agreed, because his knees were starting to hurt. He bounded off me and stood over me, his face breaking out into a smile. "You promise you'll ask her?" "No." He grabbed my arm and twisted it. "Okay, I promise!" I shouted. "Let me go!" "You promised," he reminded me, even though I had just said it about five seconds ago. "And you have to ask her today, before we all go home." "Not fair," I whined. "I shouldn't have to ask her in front of you guys." "You don't have to ask in front of everyone," he relented. "But by the time I go home today, you guys have to be going out. Or I'll tell everyone you're gay." "I'm sure your word means a lot to everyone," I muttered sarcastically. He was on me in a flash, and we rolled off the couch onto the floor in our wrestling match this time. This might have gone on for several more minutes had the doorbell not rang. He jumped off me and leapt to his feet, tugging on his shorts to adjust them and quickly reaching up to pat his hair. "Answer the door, stupid!" he whispered, settling on the couch and turning on the TV quickly so it would appear to the girls that we had only been watching TV calmly when they arrived. My heart fluttered in my chest. It was my house, so I had to answer the door, but I didn't want to. On top of the fact that I was very nervous about having to see Nadia, there was going to be another girl at the door with her. Plus, I had a semi in my shorts now thanks to Robbie and his thirst for wrestling. There was something electric about his skin; it was baffling. I walked slowly to the door, willing my dick to wilt along the way, which it mostly did, and then cautiously pulled it open. Nadia and Stacey were there, alright. Two attractive, popular girls from my school were standing on my front porch looking at me expectantly, and it was up to me to find the right thing to say. I had nothing. "Zach, you're supposed to invite the guests in," Robbie chided me, hopping to his feet and appearing behind me in the doorway. He pushed me aside and gave the girls his biggest smile. "Welcome to Zach's house, ladies. You may enter." "Shut up, Robbie," Nadia's voice replied. "Hi, Zach," she said sweetly, stopping briefly in the foyer to run her fingers through the front of my hair, quickly but definitely aiming to tease me. "Hi, Zach," Stacey's voice echoed after Nadia. She, like Nadia when I first met her, had never spoken to me before. She blushed when I looked at her, which was kind of interesting. Usually I was the one who blushed when I made eye contact with girls. "Hi, Zach," Robbie cooed in a fake girly voice, mocking the two female visitors. "Oh Zach, you're so cute," he continued, and now I was blushing. "Stop acting jealous," Nadia snapped. She glowered at him. They were exactly the same height. I had never noticed it before, but from the looks of it they didn't get along too well. Robbie had probably gotten on the wrong side of more than a couple of Nadia's friends in the past, more than likely. "We need to change," Stacey butted in airily. "Where's your bathroom?" she asked me, ignoring Robbie even though he had positioned himself to where he was standing inches away from her. "Down the hall all the way to the end," I said, pointing the way. The girls walked in the direction together, whispering predictably to each other. Before they turned the corner, it was Stacey, not Nadia, who turned back and smiled at me. I heard giggling before the bathroom door closed. Robbie pushed me against the wall, not so gently. "You'd better not have plans to steal my girlfriend," he threatened, although he smiled. "Don't forget you're going out with Nadia. Or at least you will be by the end of the day," he reminded me. "Get off!" I said, pushing him back. He was being really weird about this subject. He did as I asked, though. "How come girls always go to the bathroom together?" he asked me, seeming truly confused, and perhaps curious. "If two guys walked into a house and immediately ran off to the bathroom with each other, everyone would think they were a couple of fags." "I dunno," I shrugged. I really didn't have a better answer. "Whatever," he said. "I'm going out to the pool. Bring your girlfriends out with you when you come." He gave me a meaningful look, and then disappeared through the sliding door. "I don't know why you had to have him over," Nadia said darkly from behind me after I'd settled on the couch to wait for the girls. "Stacey doesn't even like him anymore, you know," she added. "Oh," I said. "Well, he kind of invited himself. Why doesn't she like him anymore?" I asked, hoping he didn't find out. He'd probably blame it on me and be mad until he got a new girlfriend. "He's a jerk," Nadia answered shortly. "I really can't stand him. He's the biggest creep in our grade. To be honest, once I found out he was coming, I wouldn't have showed up if you weren't so hot," she said wistfully, knowing exactly how I would respond to a comment like that and getting her intended result. "Stacey thinks you're cute," she whispered at me, leaning over the back of the couch to say it into my ear. "But if you tell her I told you that I'll kill you." She pinched my earlobe threateningly, and then rubbed it gently for a few seconds. I didn't dare move, even though I wanted to shudder. "Do you want to swim?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly. "Of course," she said brightly, linking her hand in mine as soon as I stood up uncertainly. She squeezed it for a second and then let it go. "Do you want to wait for Stacey?" I asked, feeling more retarded by the minute. "I think she'll be okay," she smiled, and we started out to the backyard. Gunther greeted us excitedly, but thankfully refrained from leaping onto Nadia, who wasn't nearly as accepting of his presence as Brad was. She wanted me to chain him up while we swam, but I wouldn't. "Hey Nadia, nice swim suit," Robbie called, commenting on her one-piece. He stopped just short of saying what I knew he wanted to, which was that it really accentuated her chest. "If I even see you looking at it again I'll seriously drown you," she warned him in a menacing tone. He giggled, but she didn't even crack a smile. I wondered how he could possibly not be scared by this point, but I supposed that was just one of the areas where we differed from each other. He liked to piss girls off; I was terrified of them. Stacey joined us shortly, but she and Nadia had settled into a few of the lawn chairs while Robbie and I splashed around in the water. He did his best to show off, repeatedly diving into the pool with gusto, often taking his aggression out on me by dunking me and putting me in headlocks. When the girls got in the pool, he spent all his energy bothering them and trying to knock them off their air mattresses just as he had done with the little kids the last time. When the splashing and screaming became a nuisance to my ears, I slipped out of the pool and rested in a chair at the edge, watching as Stacey slapped at Robbie around his chest, trying unsuccessfully to fend him off. Nadia was resting undisturbed on her air mattress, her eyes closed as an attempt to ignore their quarreling. She opened her eyes and saw his blond head beside her mattress at one point, and with a frown, reached down and smacked him from behind even though he hadn't even done anything to her. He only grinned and splashed water at her, but didn't dare touch her. I closed my eyes and looked up into the sun, nearly dozing off despite the abundance of screams coming from Stacey, who was continually yelling at Robbie. Robbie looked as though he hadn't had this much fun in a good deal of time, though, and he didn't seem ready to quit anytime soon. When I opened my eyes again Nadia was walking towards me, dripping wet from the water, and she sat in the chair beside me, looking disapprovingly at Robbie and Stacey in the pool. "She doesn't really want him to leave her alone, or else she'd have killed him by now," she observed to me. "I want to kill him, and he isn't even bothering me anymore," I mumbled, tired of all the noise he was creating. "Oh my God," she sighed, shielding her eyes from the sun so she could continue watching them. "Let go of her, you disgusting pervert!" she shouted at Robbie. I looked in their direction and saw them tangled up near the deep end, Robbie's arms hooked around Stacey's front, dangerously close to her chest. Stacey squealed in pretend frustration and battled half-heartedly to get away. "I'll never forgive her for this," Nadia groaned. "She's just letting him feel her. What a whore." She turned to me. I was determinedly silent, and doing everything I could to appear disinterested. "You wouldn't do that, would you Zach?" she asked teasingly. "Um, no," I squeaked, gulping. "Not even to get even with them for being so gross?" she suggested quietly. I swallowed. "Come on," she said quickly, before I had a chance to choke out some response. "Let's go jump in the deep end." She leapt out of her chair and pulled at my hand, yanking me up with her and pulling me all the way around the pool. "Jump!" Robbie called, noticing we were stationed at the farthest end now. He let go of Stacey and swam towards us. "I'll catch you," he said, holding out his arms. "If any part of your flesh comes into contact with me, I'm ripping your balls off and putting them in the pool filter," Nadia threatened, and I winced. "I was talking to Zach," Robbie grinned, ignoring the vicious threat, but backing away considerably. "Come on, Zach," she said to me, reaching over and giving my back a slight nudge. When I resisted, she pulled harder and I came tumbling into the water with her. My head went underneath along with hers, and momentarily I could see her under the water. Then I surfaced, breathing in the fresh air and flinging the wet hair out of my eyes. She clung to my back, and I couldn't think of anything to do but swim. I felt the nice pair Robbie had spoken of pressing against my skin through her one-piece, a strange new sensation rubbing on my flesh. Robbie and Stacey had cleared the way for us, retreating back to the shallow end where they continued to grapple about. When Nadia finally let me go a few minutes later, they had taken the chairs we had left behind and were now basking underneath the sun. Nadia reached for my hand underneath the water and found it as we continued to make our way to the middle of the pool. I could feel my feet touching against the bottom, likely a few seconds after Nadia had. We leaned against the side of the pool and continued to hold hands under the water. She looked up to where Robbie and Stacey were seated and shot them a look. They didn't see it, however, as they were busy staring at each other. Nadia sighed loudly. "They still haven't gotten the point yet," she said. "When will they learn?" Then she leaned in and kissed me, hard, on the lips. She'd given off no signs, no warnings, no hints. Just like her call and outright invitation to the mall. Her lips were firm, cold, and wet from the water, but the kiss was nonetheless very warm. I closed my eyes instinctively when she pressed her face against mine, but didn't move my lips. Instead I let her initiate, and once she'd pressed her mouth on mine, she didn't move any. She just held them there tightly, determinedly, and then slowly pulled back, the softest of noises resulting when our lips were peeled apart. It had been a pretty long first kiss, even if it wasn't a very passionate one. It wasn't the kind of kiss you saw in porn too often, but it was a kiss, and I was tingling all over, albeit not nearly as much as I had tingled when I had kissed Brad's arm. I still had my balance, and my head wasn't reeling too badly. "Do you think they got it now?" I breathed out deeply, too stunned to even think of what I was saying. She laughed loudly at my innocent question, but stopped abruptly when she looked back at them and realized they hadn't quit cuddling. "Oh, get a room already!" she shouted at them, even though they weren't doing anything that bad. They certainly hadn't kissed like we had, and I started to giggle over her reaction to realizing that no, they had not gotten the message. "Hey Zach," Robbie called, appearing at the ladder and climbing slowly into the pool. Nadia squeezed my hand under the water possessively, telling me without saying anything that I wasn't free to leave her side, at least not on Robbie's account. "Is Brad working today?" "Yeah," I said. "Why?" I looked at him suspiciously. "Do you think we can go in and get free pizza?" "Maybe," I shrugged. "We'd have to get there before three, though." "Awesome!" he said, his eyes lighting up. "We're starving," he said, and I could only assume he meant he and Stacey were. "Well, Stacey is eating for two now," Nadia remarked coldly. "I can see how she'd be hungry." "I'm not the one who was just kissing in the pool," Stacey responded defensively. "Yeah, but Robbie's a demented freak, so just the fact that you touched him at all is disgusting," Nadia said I pretended not to be hearing their back and forth. Stacey was all set to make a come back of some sort when Robbie actually interjected at the right time for a change. "I don't see what's so demented about wanting to eat pizza," he smiled innocently, breaking the tension at least momentarily. Nadia finally let my hand go, signaling I could move, so I climbed out of the pool. "We have to go now or he'll be gone by the time we get there," I announced, still trying to shake myself into believing this was all reality, and that I had just experienced my very first kiss. I couldn't wait to tell Brad. I couldn't wait to see Brad actually, even if I wouldn't be able to tell him anything of value in front of everyone else. Robbie and I dried off and threw our clothes back on while we waited for the girls to change in the bathroom together. They had been avoiding contact on the way inside, but it didn't seem to appear to stop them from changing together. Apparently that part didn't get affected any by their arguing. "Who is this guy that's giving us pizza anyway?" Stacey asked when she came out of the bathroom, back in her clothes again. "I told you already," Robbie said irritably. "He's Zach's neighbor. He's really cool. He brought us free pizza the last time I was over here." "Sorry," Stacey drawled out the word, sounding offended. "All you said was `There's this guy Zach knows that can give us free food.' And then you jumped in the pool and asked Zach if we could go. It's not far, is it? It's too hot to walk a long way." "It's just down the street!" Robbie answered. "And it's the same temperature it is every day. Aren't you used to it by now?" "It's really close," I added quickly before they got into a full-fledged fight over something ridiculous. "We'll get there in less than five minutes." "Did your sister come home yet?" Nadia asked, having reappeared in the living room along with us now. "I saw her room when I passed it. I love The Get Up Kids." Jesse had several posters of the band on her walls. "Yesterday," I answered softly. "What's she talking about?" Robbie asked, looking back and forth between us. "Where did your sister go?" "Never mind," Nadia responded icily, shooting Robbie down with a piercing glare. She seemed to enjoy knowing something about my life that he didn't. "Whatever," Robbie shrugged, although I knew he was going to ask me about it as soon as he had an opportunity. "Let's just go. It's after two already. If Brad isn't there, we're screwed. I don't have any money, so that means I'll probably starve to death." "Wouldn't that be a pity?" Nadia asked in a sing-song tone. We left the house on that note, the four of us forming a sloppily organized bundle on the sidewalk. "Is your friend cute, Zach?" Stacey asked me, not noticing the look Robbie was giving her. "Maybe my brother knows him." "He doesn't live here, so I really doubt your brother knows who he is," Robbie said heatedly before I even had a chance to reply. "How old is he?" Nadia asked, brushing her blond hair sideways out of her eyes. "Eighteen," I said. "Why do you guys want to know so much about Brad?" Robbie asked, turning back to the girls and giving them a frustrated look. "It's not like he's going to go for a couple of 13-year-old girls anyway." "He still might be cute," Stacey answered dreamily. "I'm fourteen, thanks," Nadia said. "Really?" Robbie asked. "Wow, that's cool. So you got held back a grade or something?" "No," Nadia answered. "I just already had my birthday this summer. Being held back is for complete idiots like you with an IQ of less than 50." "My IQ is at least 51," Robbie grinned. "I'm reading at a second grade level now. You should be more supportive." "I do support you, Robbie," Nadia said sweetly. "I support you failing miserably at everything you try to accomplish and eventually taking your own pathetic life in despair." The two of them bickered so much I was beginning to wonder just what kind of history they had, and where all this hatred stemmed from. Even with their back and forth fighting, though, I felt enlightened as I walked within the quartet down the street. The summer had opened on such a sour note, I was sure it would be the worst of my life. Instead I had made an awesome new friend, kissed a girl for the first time, and already increased my popularity for the coming school year just by hanging out with Nadia and Stacey. Jesse had returned, Mom hadn't been crying in weeks, and even Dad wasn't looking quite so sickly of late. If only Mom and Dad would get back together, I thought maybe things could be as good as they'd ever been. That was a big if, though, and I wasn't about to let myself dream that much. I also didn't want to think about the inevitability of Brad returning to Dallas with his mom after the summer. I wanted to stay in a good mood. He was working the counter when we got inside. At first he didn't notice me. I was at the back of the group, and it wasn't until we were all almost at the counter that he realized it was me. He didn't smile, but instead looked at the two girls casually and then glanced back at me with a slight nod. I grinned, feeling proud to receive his approval, even if he didn't know which one was Nadia. I stood close to her so he would be able to figure it out. "The buffet's over. Am I to assume you children would like a free sample?" Brad inquired formally, leaning against the counter and giving us all a condescending look that informed us we were at the mercy of his generosity. His posture was relaxed and carefree, as if he'd never had a care in the world. Sometimes I didn't think he had. "Yes, about two or three large pizzas should do the trick," Robbie said, leaning on the other side of the counter and trying to match Brad's level of passiveness. "I'm going to have to ask you not to lean on the counter, sir," Brad remarked coolly. "You guys can have one large pizza." "But I'm hungry," Robbie whined. "Shut up, Robbie," everyone said at once, except for Brad, who just stood there watching us with amusement. "What about two mediums instead?" Robbie bargained, ignoring us as if we didn't exist. Brad pondered this, cocking his head and placing his hand on his chin, striking a philosophical pose. "Two mediums," he drawled slowly, his eyes searching the ceiling for a decision. "Tell you what," he began carefully, "I'll make you the two medium pizzas if you write me a 500-word essay on what it means to you for me to risk my job just so you can eat enough free pizza to hold you over until dinner in two hours that your parents are going to cook for you even though you don't deserve it." "That's impossible," Nadia groaned, cutting in. "He can't even write. He's a caveman." "Five-hundred words?" Robbie whined. "Five hundred is almost a million!" "You're a moron," Brad observed dryly, much to everyone's amusement, including Robbie. "Fine, two mediums. I'll just put you through the oven if I get caught stealing product, then. And you have to clean whatever dishes you get dirty." He handed us four glasses and plates and then started to head back to the kitchen. "Sit in the back," he ordered us. "I don't want to listen to you guys talk. Zach, my man, come back here and help me make the pizzas." I quickly filled my glass full of Root Beer and eagerly bounded into the kitchen, feeling strange crossing over the area reserved for employees but pleased he had invited me. Robbie tried to follow but Brad put up his hand and pressed it lightly into his chest. "No cavemen allowed. Go write on a tablet or something," he smirked. Robbie merely grinned and turned away and disappeared in the back with the girls. Then Brad turned back to me. "The blond one, she's your girlfriend?" "Yeah," I whispered, trailing him as if attached by a rope, watching him open a door that lead to the walk-in refrigerator. He came back with two firm dough balls and tossed them in a tray on the counter. "She kissed me today, in the pool," I blurted out, unable to help myself. "Nice," he said, raising an eyebrow. "You um, you did kiss her back, right?" "I don't know," I admitted. "I think so." He shook his head disapprovingly. "Well, it's your move to make next time. Don't blow it. Make sure if anyone's going to blow something, it's her." "What?" "Nothing, nothing," Brad said quickly. "I'm really impressed, man. Hell, give her about two more years and I think I'd do her myself. You guys are going to be freshmen next year, right? Oh, wait, never mind, you're going into eighth grade. Damn. Make that three years." "But you think she's pretty?" I asked, pleased. "Sure," he shrugged. "But, you know, too young. What do you suppose your friends want on these?" "Do one pepperoni and one cheese," I said. "Robbie loves pepperoni, if you didn't notice that day you brought over those pizzas to the pool." "Oh yeah," he said. "That little shit ate like both of the pizzas by himself." He started kneading the dough into larger circles, and I watched in fascination before he turned and pushed me away. "Don't keep her waiting, idiot. I just wanted to give you my stamp of approval." I shifted from one foot to the other, wondering how to tell him I would rather watch him make pizza (or do anything, for that matter) than sit and listen to Nadia tear Robbie apart, even if she was pretty funny. Actually, Robbie was pretty funny, too. Maybe it was them that should have been together. "Brad," I said uncertainly, "do you think I'm funny?" He picked up the first dough ball and set it on a pizza screen, stretching the edges so it fit perfectly on top of it. He didn't answer until he'd done likewise with the second. "Yeah," he finally said. "There are a lot of different kinds of funny. You're more unintentionally funny than anything else." "Oh," I said, biting my lip in disappointment. "I don't think I want to be that kind of funny." "But it suits you so well," he grinned, clapping me softly on the back. "You're shy and sensitive and easily embarrassed. People that are funny in witty ways are obnoxious and they get on some people's nerves. You couldn't possibly ever annoy anyone." "But you tell me all the time I'm too literal. Isn't that a bad thing?" "That's why you're funny," he said. "You could use a broader sense of humor, probably, but you're still a kid. I wouldn't worry about it." But now I was more worried about it than ever before. Hadn't Brad basically just told me my sense of humor sucked? He wouldn't be the only person that thought so. I often got needled for being unable to detect a joke by my family, like my older cousins and Jesse. "But why would Nadia like me if I never made her laugh?" I pressed on, trying to reach a resolution. "She's always saying funny stuff, but I never do. Won't she get bored with me and find someone else who's funnier?" "Yeah," Brad said instantly. "But she would get bored and find someone else eventually no matter how you were. So if I were you, I'd get to work on that kiss soon. And I'd definitely go hang out with her in the back instead of watching me make your pizzas." "I don't think I want to be her boyfriend," I remarked suddenly, ignoring his advice to go join her in the back. "I don't think we're right for each other." I wondered who I was right for. My gaze settled on Brad as he rolled a pointed object across the dough to perforate it all over. It was kind of cool seeing how a pizza got made. "For Christ's sake, Zach," he muttered, spreading sauce over the dough now. His strokes with the sauce spoon were quick and artful, as if he had been doing it his whole life. He was very graceful, and very efficient, needing just a few seconds on each pizza to get the sauce in a perfect circle, leaving about a half an inch of space for the crust. "What?" "You're being way too serious about this," he answered. "No one looks for their perfect match when they're thirteen years old. Just have fun, man. Get some experience and then move on to the next girl. It's remarkably easy." But I didn't think I wanted to do that. I wanted to be with someone who really did understand me, and wouldn't get bored with me as soon as they knew me well enough to realize who I really was. Brad knew who I really was, and he still wanted to be my friend. I told Brad everything. Well, almost everything. I didn't tell him about the research, but I wasn't going to tell anyone about that. Talking to Nadia was okay in a different way, but it was always Brad I really wanted to see. I didn't want to be with Nadia. I didn't want to be with anyone. Well, I didn't want to be with anyone except Brad, anyway. I watched him as he scooped a bunch of cheese in a sizeable measuring cup and then spread it on top of the sauce on the first pizza. I studied his face to see if he was watching me at all, and then turned away and headed for the back, feeling more confused than ever. "Quit it, Robbie!" Stacey shouted, the first thing I heard upon joining my friends at the booth they had chosen in the corner. "Zach, your friend is totally hot," she informed me as soon as I sat down. "He's not hot," Nadia disagreed. "He's kind of cute, but he's definitely not hot. I thought he seemed pretty cool, though," she shrugged, apparently not realizing she'd just used temperature adjectives to describe Brad. "I think he's hot," Robbie chimed in, slurping noisily through his straw. "I didn't expect you to come out of the closet until high school," Nadia said in a mock surprised tone. "Please," Robbie said. "If there's a closet homo among us, it's Zach." He shot me a meaningful look and I kicked him under the table. "Ouch!" he yelped. "That was my shin." Nadia followed suit and he yelped again. "I'm sorry, was that your leg?" she asked coldly. "I was aiming for your testicles but the target area was too small." I choked on my Root Beer. It was kind of interesting how Stacey never once stuck up for her alleged boyfriend. "Zach has something he has to ask you before we go," Robbie continued on happily, reaching down to rub his leg gingerly. "I just didn't want him to forget." I glared at him, wishing the light fixture above our heads would fall on him. "Oh, look!" he exclaimed suddenly. "My drink is gone. I'd better go fill it up." He grinned at me and got out of the booth. "You'd better get a refill, too, Stacey," he suggested. "I haven't even started drinking yet," Stacey said, confused. "He hasn't learned how to judge quantity," Nadia offered, sensing a brief window of opportunity to insult Robbie again. "Yeah, but I need your help picking out a soda. There are so many different choices. Plus, I hear Brad likes to cook pizza in the nude. Come on," he said, pulling her up and dragging her out to the front. I knew exactly what he was doing, and I hated him for it. "He is such an asshole," Nadia said, her voice rising at the last word so Robbie's retreating form would be able to hear it. "I am seriously going to go insane if I ever have to see him again." "Sorry," I said quietly, looking straight down at the table and pretending to be in dire need of another drink. "I think I know what you're supposed to ask me, Zach," she almost whispered, and my heart tried to climb up into my mouth and land on the table. "You shouldn't have waited so long." "Um," I stuttered. "Yeah, well, I'm kind of shy," I admitted, forcing myself to look sideways into her eyes. "The answer is yes," she said. "Of course I'll split the pizza with you." I froze, the soda literally halfway up the length of the straw before I stopped. I pulled my mouth off slowly and stared at her as if she was crazy. "Well," I said slowly, "that's a relief." She did laugh at me this time, even though I wasn't sure if I was joking or not. It really was kind of a relief if she somehow actually thought that was the question I was supposed to ask her. "Zach, I'm kidding," she said, searching my face to see if I knew it and was only playing along. "You were going to ask me out, right?" This time I sucked the soda in through the straw too quickly and swallowed it on the wrong side of my throat. I couldn't answer her because I was coughing, so with my eyes watering, all I could manage was a nod. I felt like crying. She scooted closer to me and found my hand, bringing it up to her cheek and lightly brushing my knuckles on it. Neither one of us spoke. I was still coughing a little. "Here's the cheese," Brad appeared suddenly around the corner and put the pizza on our table. He gave me an almost imperceptible smile at seeing me cuddling with Nadia, and then quickly disappeared without another word. So I sat there in the booth with Nadia snuggled against me as we watched the heat rise off the fresh cheese pizza, feeling anything but at peace. I had a girlfriend now. I couldn't wait to be alone that night, but it never happened. Robbie ended up weaseling his way into spending the night, and he kept me up until daybreak with his constant chatter and endless energy. I had more bruises on various parts of my flesh from our wrestling in just one night than I had previously accumulated over my entire life. He confessed he really wasn't interested in Stacey anymore, and that he thought he was in love with Nadia. He had expected this to piss me off, but I didn't care, and he was disappointed when it showed. I just wondered why he was pressing so hard for me to ask her out when he'd started to fall for her himself. I didn't ask, because it wasn't often Robbie operated within the realm of logical thinking. We slept in my bed together. My bed was big enough to fit us both comfortably, so it wasn't by any means an intimate encounter. I had slept with him numerous times before, although admittedly not since Brad had first made that interesting spark click within me earlier in the summer. I was especially horny, too, given that we'd been wrestling all night and I hadn't gotten to spend any time doing research. One of the main reasons I wanted to have the night to myself was so I could spend some time on my computer and jack off when I went to bed, the latest images burned into my mind. If there was one thing I knew about Robbie from our years as friends, it was that he slept hard. He usually snored softly when he was out, and he had been doing that for quite a while. Slowly, I transformed from my normal, mild-mannered persona into a thing of inhumanity as I laid there and listened to him breathe. All kinds of horrible thoughts filled my head, and try as I might to shake them out, it was out of my control. I had touched him all over tonight, but most of that had been incidental contact. Now I wanted to touch him purposely. I knew this was a bad habit to get into, this feeling people up why they slept. I didn't know why I'd been doing it so much lately, but that wasn't going to stop me now. I reached over carefully and put my hand lightly on his shoulder, resting it there and listening for signs of him waking. His snores continued, the rhythm of his breathing unchanging. I began to rub in small circles, cautiously at first, and then harder, massaging his skin through the soft cotton of his shirt. Since he had come in his swim trunks, he was wearing an outfit out of my wardrobe that consisted of a plain white t-shirt and a silky pair of my athletic shorts. Both were just a little small for him, but he hadn't complained. I thought he looked good in tight clothes because he really did have a good natural build, even though he wasn't anywhere near as muscular as he liked to believe. I knew he wasn't wearing any boxers because he hadn't brought any, and he'd told me earlier he didn't need any when he'd borrowed the clothes from me. He'd made some silly comment about liking it better going free style, and I hadn't thought anything of it. Now this bit of information quickened the pulse of my throbbing dick. He wasn't Brad, but he'd do just fine for now. Feeling very bold now, I let my hand run down his chest and stomach until I could feel the bottom of his shirt. It had ridden up to his belly button in his sleep, and I didn't even have to lift it to feel his skin. I used my pointer finger and ran it all around the base of his belly in slow tantalizing circles, occasionally dipping it into the little crater of his belly button. I wondered if my skin would feel this perfect if another person was doing this to me. Slowly, I worked his shirt up as high as I could get it without disturbing him, which was just under his nipples. I continued to caress all over his stomach with my one finger, leaning over him now so I could get a good look at his torso. I reached under the part of the shirt I couldn't lift any farther and felt around for his nipples. I finally found the left one. It was tiny and soft until my finger brushed across it, and then it swelled just slightly. I pinched it gently, but pulled back quickly when he jerked in his sleep. My heart sped up momentarily, but when his breathing slowed to its previous pace, I slowly got my courage back. Now I wanted to feel him lower. My heart started dancing again as I put my hand back on his stomach and slowly moved it down the flesh. I had never, ever touched another boy here, and it was going to be something very memorable. I felt my palm hit the waistband of his shorts, the silkiness of his flesh replaced by the silkiness of the material. My head pounding in anticipation, I lowered my hand until it was resting squarely on the little bulge in his shorts. It didn't move when I settled my hand on it. I fondled it lightly through the shorts, poking it gently and feeling for his balls. I could feel everything clearly through the shorts, but that wasn't good enough. So I relocated my hand to his knee and worked it up from the bottom, never more grateful he hadn't worn boxers than I was at this moment. The first thing I felt was the squishy texture of his scrotum. I cupped it with my whole hand and held my breath to make sure it didn't wake him. Then I felt the shaft, still soft and lying sideways against his left thigh. He was circumcised, but I had already known that much. Now I could feel it in the flesh. He wasn't much bigger than me, at least when he was soft like this. I took a gamble and nudged it off his thigh, wrapping my fist around it and squeezing it just enough to get the blood pumping. I didn't tug on it at all, but I kept squeezing it and relaxing my grip, squeezing and relaxing. After repeating this just a few times he began to grow right in my very hand, and I had to stifle the gasp that came out of my mouth. I couldn't believe it was actually working. His breathing had gotten no more rigid, however, so it appeared he was just as asleep as before. I eased my hand up and down on the shaft, feeling the sparse hairs at the base of his crotch when I got to the bottom. I stopped jacking him and felt around there, inserting my fingers into the faint webbing. He had more there than I did, but not by much. I wanted badly to study his cock up close, but that would involve getting the shorts down, and I didn't think I would be able to manage that. I was going to have to settle for this. Snaking my free hand inside my own shorts, I began to jack myself off quickly while I got him off at a much slower pace. I was pretty sure it wasn't possible to actually draw an orgasm out of him without waking him up, but just the action was enough to stimulate me. I was going at full throttle before long, and my breathing started to quicken considerably. I got reckless, and the strokes I was giving to him became harder. His snoring cut off abruptly and he made a grumbling noise in his sleep. My heart halting immediately, I ripped my hand out of his shorts and froze. He tossed and turned, winding up on his stomach but otherwise showing no signs of being conscious. A few minutes later he was snoring even harder than before. But now he was lying on top of his dick, so my fun was over. Or was it? I reached back in my shorts and started stroking myself again. I had seen a few things guys did to a willing rear end. There was the anal sex thing that I knew about (everyone knew that), but there was more, and it had shocked me and initially repulsed me. Who would ever have even thought about putting their mouth on someone's butt? I glanced at the rounded form of Robbie's backside, noting how perfectly it filled up the back of my shorts. I giggled quietly as I realized his butt was actually kind of cute. I reached out to touch it with my left hand but shied away when I got close, feeling too embarrassed even though I knew no one could be watching. I kept stroking meanwhile, and my breathing was getting rapid again. If I was going to do it, I would have to do it soon. Then it hit me that it was the idea of feeling his butt that had excited me and gotten me so close to shooting off in the first place. So I touched it. I was too confused to do more than rest my hand on it for a bit, but then I started moving my fingers back and forth. I gently squeezed one cheek, and then the other, my doubt and curiosity disappearing slowly when I realized it was every bit as erotic as feeling his cock had been. I let a finger sink into the valley in the middle of his bottom, and I ran it up and down the crack, fascinated with the level of excitement I was getting out of it. I was going to have to get under the shorts and feel it in the flesh. If I had been horny at the start, I was approaching depravity by now and practically drooling on myself. My dick was begging for a release, but I had stopped tugging on it because I was so turned on right now one flick and it would go off and stream endlessly. With almost no concern for how deep of a sleep he was in, I jammed my hand underneath the waistband and found myself stroking his bare ass, the only noise in the room the thudding of my heart. I stroked each cheek briefly, and then shuddered as I allowed my finger to trace up and down his crack. It was smooth and enticing, but I didn't dare try to do any inserting. There was no way I was going that far. However, there was one more step I was prepared to take, and I knew before it even reached me on a conscious level that I was going to go through with it. I pulled my hand out of the shorts and listened as the waistband snapped back against his skin. He breathed in sharply, and then returned to snoring. Slowly, carefully, I lifted myself off my back and aligned myself on top of him, straddling his back. The vantage view of my cock was comical; it was straining against my shorts and trying valiantly to bust through them. It looked like I had a mutation between my legs. In some ways that was sort of what a penis was. I was pretty sure being hard had never hurt this bad before. I slowly lowered my cock against Robbie's bottom, fitting it gently against his crack. My eyes rolled back in my head when the contact was firm, a jolt of electricity running through my spine and nearly causing me to pass out. I humped him lightly a few times, but made myself stop when a grain of common sense seeped into my head and informed me he would probably wake up if I kept masturbating against his backside. He was a heavy sleeper, but if his body was consistently being rocked as if sleeping on a boat floating along the river, he would eventually wake up. I hadn't wanted to hump him, anyway. I had something else in mind. I retreated lower under the sheets, and it was now my head aligned with his bottom. It was now or never. I took a deep breath and dove. My nose bumped into the shorts, colliding with the rounded flesh through the silky material. I continued to hold my breath while I poked around with it, trying to find the spot where it dropped off into his crack. I settled on it and then, when I couldn't hold my breath anymore, exhaled. Then I inhaled for the first time. The first smell was exploratory. I was ready to bail out if there was some rank odor that made me nauseous, but it wasn't so bad at all. I took another quick whiff and found it to be almost of the pleasant variety; different, but definitely sexy. My cock continued to strain against my shorts. I buried my nose as deep in the crack as I dared, grinding my crotch against the mattress simultaneously. It got messy fast. I had to bite my lip to make sure I stayed silent. Without being able to control myself, I placed a hand on each of his hips and pressed my face into him harder, wanting to drink in the aroma, even daring myself to find a dirty spot I hadn't discovered at first, because now nothing could draw me away until I was empty no matter what smell greeted me. I found nothing but the intoxicating scent I'd picked up initially, a clean but erotic scent that was becoming more and more appealing by the second. As I ground against the mattress I wished the shorts weren't in the way, because if they weren't I would be swirling my tongue in his crack, exploring it as deep as his hole allowed, with just as much vigor as the guys had shown in all the movies I'd found during my research. I started using my lips against the shorts, kissing him through the thin material. Just when I began to want him to wake up because it didn't matter anymore, because nothing mattered except how incredible this discovery had been, my vision became cloudy and I blacked out briefly, exploding inside my shorts and grunting into Robbie's unsuspecting ass. Movement was impossible for several seconds, and I almost fell asleep using his butt as a pillow, but as soon as I felt like myself again I jerked my head up with a start that was so violent he groaned and shifted positions again. He was on his side now facing away from me. But his position didn't matter to me anymore; I had gotten what I needed. I fell back onto my side of the bed and closed my eyes, shame flowing through me powerfully. Then I found myself leaping up out of the bed and running to the bathroom, feeling almost ill with guilt. My bladder was bursting. I quickly emptied it and then turned to go back to bed. "I wondered where you were," Robbie said, standing in front of me in the doorway, looking considerably more awake than I would have expected someone who had been snoring the past hour to be. His sudden appearance had scared me. "What are you scared of? It's just me," he grinned. "I didn't hear you," I said softly. "Good night," I whispered when he continued to stare at me without saying anything else. I tried to brush past him, but he grabbed my arm. "You sure like my butt, huh?" he asked, his eyes gleaming in the dark, his grip painfully strong, stronger than it had any right to be. "What?" I asked, blinking in surprise, trying to hide the panic that was rising in my chest. He saw right through me and laughed. His fist shot out and connected hard with my right eye. A flash of light went off inside my head. "I was awake the whole time," he told me calmly, his voice coming out in a growl now. "I know you got off. Now it's my turn." "What do you mean?" I asked him, my voice trembling, a tear running down my cheek. My life might as well have been over. "I mean it's my turn to get off. And you're going to help me do it." "I can't," I sniveled, the tears increasing exponentially. "Oh, I think you can," he countered. "I think you want to. Besides, you don't have a choice." He hit me again, and I stumbled to my knees after this blow, my head spinning. His dick was fully erect and protruding out from his waist. He jabbed me in the face with it through his shorts, and then lowered them. They landed on the floor around his ankles. He jabbed me again with it, and I opened my mouth to take it in. But it didn't fit very well. Somehow I had failed to notice Robbie's cock was not ordinary. How could that be? I had held it in my hand earlier. I had felt it get hard, and it was normal! It was like mine. It wasn't the sickeningly oversized monster he was forcing down my throat now. I tried to fight it off, but he was too strong. He rammed it down my throat. I couldn't breathe. I had no choice but to try and blow him, bobbing up and down in vain on its endless length. He pulled at my hair and thrust his hips into me as hard as he could. My cries were desperate now, but they were muffled. I was pleading for help, but no one would be able to hear me with Robbie's dick in my mouth. What's worse was that it seemed to be growing longer still. My eyes searched around wildly in the hallway, hoping Mom or Jesse would come out and save me, because he was killing me. Instead I saw there was someone else in the living room. Not just one person, but two. It was Brad and Nadia, and they were both naked. They were standing side by side, cruel smiles filling up their faces. Nadia leaned against Brad. He had his arm over her shoulder. "Sorry, Zach," he said, but I could tell he wasn't sorry at all. "I couldn't wait three years, man," he shrugged apologetically, his face breaking into a sickening grin. I was trying to scream, but I couldn't. My mouth was too full, and I was still choking. I pulled away from Robbie with all my strength, and came free. I bumped my head on the wall. I was in my bed. Robbie was on his side facing away from me like he had been right after I finished my dirty deed. So that part had really happened. Everything after that had not. I had nodded off after the orgasm. It was just a dream. I realized I was shaking all over as I climbed wearily out of bed and walked unsteadily to the bathroom, even though I was still so thoroughly creeped out by my dream I was almost too afraid to go in there. Why was I letting myself get so worked up? I grabbed a towel off the rack and quickly cleaned off the drying semen around my crotch. I found that I truly had to piss, so I was going to get that out of the way and then go back to sleep and do my best to forget everything that had happened, both the dream and the strange events that had sparked it. My cock worked slowly, the pee oozing out of it uncooperatively. I shivered as I recalled flashes of the dream. Finally the last of it was out and I reached down to flush the toilet. "At least turn on the light so I know you're using the toilet if you're not going to shut the door," Robbie's sleepy voice greeted me, and I jumped and yelped in surprise. He smirked and pushed me out of the way. "I woke up with a hard-on, so it might take a while, but I seriously have to pee," he informed me. It was far too soon to be talking to him as if nothing happened. To be honest the very sight of him terrified me right now. Even before the dream I had already wondered how I'd ever be able to look at him without feeling like the world's biggest pervert. I muttered something unintelligible and ran back to my bedroom, wanting to lock him out but resisting the urge. I buried my face in the pillow and pretended to be asleep when he came back in the room. He yawned, made a big display of stretching his arms up to the ceiling, and then jumped back in bed beside me, his legs brushing against mine as he positioned himself under the sheets. I scooted over to the far edge and almost fell off. "G'night, Zach," he mumbled innocently to me. "Again," he added mischievously, recalling that only an hour ago we had gotten in bed in the first place. I was too busy praying that my sleep was dreamless this time to respond.