Chapter Seven

Nico's New Toy

Nico: Tutor me daddy

Me: You have to stop saying it like that

Nico: Please daddy! 🥺👉👈

Me: Ask it normally

Nico: LOL 😂

I sighed, turning my attention back to the busy store. Kids dressed in school uniforms wandered around with excitement in their eyes as their exhausted parents followed close behind. I tapped my fingers on the cash register, wondering if my mom would ever replace it with a modern touchscreen one, or if I would have to. As I watched the kids scamper around, my thoughts drifted to Nico, and if he had a school uniform. My phone vibrated in my pocket.

Nico: Ok seriously I need help with math though

Nico: Mom said I can't jack off until I finish my homework

Me: You have homework on the first day back?

Nico: I'm telling you

Nico: These teachers are sick in the head 😒

A little toddler was running around screaming while his mom chased after him, trying to quiet him down. I did wish I could just leave and spend time with Nico, but I was an adult with responsibilities. Mom would be upset if I left the store unattended.

Me: What makes you think I'm a good tutor?

Me: Seems to me you're the one always teaching me stuff

Nico: You've already done this stuff plus also I miss you 🥺

Me: Haha okay I can come by after work in about two hours

Nico: Yay!!! 💕

I smiled to myself. Worried that school might have distracted him from wanting to spend time with me, I was relieved to find that he was eager to invite me back over at the first chance he got. Though we had only been apart for a day, it felt like an eternity after spending the whole weekend with him.

Finishing the last few hours of work proved difficult. Since our night out camping, I spent most of my time reminiscing about our frotting in the tent. I was hesitant to face Grace again after she discovered her son covered in cum, even if she didn't seem bothered by it at all.

Grace opened the door, wearing a robe and cradling a glass of wine between her fingers.

"Oh Christ, Logan, he didn't even mention you were coming by."

I stood awkwardly in the doorway, like a little boy checking if his friend could come out and play. "Sorry, if it's not a good time..."

"No, no, come on," she said, beckoning me in. "Already wanted you back, huh?"

"He said he needed some help with school work, however true that might be."

"He should have said something to me," she said, looking up the stairs. "It's no big deal. I guess you're sort of like a father figure to him. I can't expect him to always want me to do everything."

I didn't like the idea of being a father figure for him. Last thing I needed was more reason for him to call me "daddy". It was uncomfortable.

"Are you staying for dinner?" she went on. "We'll eat in about an hour and a half."

"Maybe," I replied, "I know my mom wanted some help at home tonight, but I'm waiting for her text."

She shrugged. "Nico's in his room. Please don't do his homework for him, even if he begs. He needs to learn. Teach a man to fish, that kind of thing."

"Of course, Grace. I'm probably not the best teacher, but I'll do my best," I said, and turned to go upstairs but stopped myself. "Hey, about yesterday. I'm—"

"Logan, don't feel like you have to explain yourself. You guys have your fun, and as long as everyone's happy, I'm happy." She gave me a reassuring smile, and I found myself smiling back.

"Thanks, Grace. You're amazing," I said, and headed up the stairs.

Nico's door was cracked, and I pushed it open to find him lying on the bed with the lights off. The room smelled vaguely like apples, and I noticed a white bathroom towel on the floor. When I closed the door, he finally noticed me and sat up.

"There you are!" he said cheerily while reaching into his messy blonde hair to pluck out two wireless earbuds. His upper body was bare, with only a dark blue pair of short gym shorts  keeping him modest. He climbed forward on the bed, onto his knees, and held out his arms. I rushed over and gave him a hug, and he pulled me onto him, falling backwards so I was laying on top of him. We kissed for several minutes, making up for the missed time over the last day, and his hard penis poked at me through his feathery shorts.

He finally pulled away to catch his breath, rolling over on the bed to drink from the bottle of water on his nightstand. I watched with adoration as he used his arm to brush away the few droplets of water that he spilled on himself.

"I've got something to show you!" he exclaimed.

"Oh yeah?"

"Uh huh, you know how, the other night, I made that wish to grow some hair? Well guess what?" he asked, then continued without waiting for my reply. "I got my first hair ever!" 

"Wait, really? Awesome dude, let me see." I looked down from his face to his shorts, the pronounced tent lifting the waistband away from his body.

He grinned and hooked his thumbs into his shorts, pulling them down his waist, and with no underwear to be seen, he exposed his crotch to me. The motion caught his erection, jiggling it for a moment before it settled down.

"Look," he said, motioning to me with his eyes. It was hard to see with the lights off, so I moved my face closer. I could see nothing but smooth, untanned skin, and the mark his tight shorts left against it.

Gripping his boner with several fingers, I pulled it aside so I could take a clearer look.

"See?" he asked, peeking over at me.

I studied the area, but couldn't find the hair he was talking about. Leaning closer, I squinted, searching his pubis for any signs of wispy hairs. Suddenly, he pushed his hips forward and smashed his erection into my cheek, and I fell backwards, tumbling from the bed onto the floor.

Peals of laughter erupted from him, and after I recovered from his assault on my face, I saw him rolling on the bed, gripping his stomach with his hands as he continued howling on the bed. His hard penis remained exposed, wiggling in tandem with his laughter. I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't see anything," I said flatly.

He pulled his shorts up, his laughter slowly dying down. "You saw something alright. Coming straight for you!" He busted up laughing again, and I sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I lied," he admitted through chuckles. "I still have no hair. I wish." He sat up, legs spread, and grabbed his toes.

"Good one."

"Come on, it was funny!"

I let out a single, breathy laugh, while he continued grinning. "So where's this homework of yours? Or was that a lie as well?"

He grew a serious expression, and got up from the bed. "No, I have some," he said as he walked over to his desk and got into his chair. I got up to turn the lights on, then joined him over at the desk. "Sorry I don't have another chair."

"It's fine," I replied. "I can stand. Or you could even sit in my lap," I suggested, which perked him up, so we traded places, then he took his spot in my lap. "Oof," I said, expelling air in a joking manner as he sat down, and he turned to give me an evil eye. I scooted him further onto me, and placed my hands on his bare thighs, stroking up and down.

"Comfy," he remarked, then picked up a folder and pulled some papers out. "So there's two pages of this pre-algebra, and then just some reading for English."

"You want me to help you with reading?"

"I can read fine, dickhead." He twisted around. "Hey... 'dickhead', fitting nickname!" I scoffed at him while he snickered at his ingenuity.

We worked together on his math homework, which was mostly just getting back up to speed with the prior year's curriculum. It was really easy stuff that he definitely didn't need my help with, but I was at least able to give him quick answers to basic problems which helped speed things up. While he wriggled in my lap, I used my hands to freely caress all around his almost-naked body, spending extra time playing with his nipples.

He described his first day back at school, which allegedly consisted of a girl asking out his friend, a teacher farting, sticking carrots up his nose during lunch to impress someone, and leering at cute boys when changing for gym. Seemed a little light on education, but I presumed he just left those parts out. It was really nice hanging out like that, sitting together, talking, and finishing homework on the side.

"And remember that guy we saw at the beach?" he asked.

"Guy? What guy?" I tweaked his nipples, tried to recall.

"Lucas, the blonde guy."

"Oh, yeah, that kid. At our private beach."

"Well, he asked me to sit with him and his friends at lunch. They're super awesome," he told me. "Lucas is in my gym class, too and we paired up. "

I felt a little jealous of Lucas; I would have loved to have been Nico's friend (or lover) when I was their age. At least our relationship would then be appropriate, and I wouldn't have to be living in constant fear of people finding out. Or maybe I still would; being gay at school surely isn't a walk in the park.

"Cool," I replied. My phone dinged, and I slid my hand down his chest to reach into my pocket, and he shuddered at the sensation.

Parker: Bet you're with Nico again

Parker: Got him under your creepy spell

I was seriously offended at his comment, he was basically calling me a groomer. Nico already explained to him that he was the one with the crush in the first place. He sensed my agitation, and leaned back on me so he could see my phone.

"What?!" he blurted out, flustered, and swiped the phone from me, pressing the call button.

"Am I wrong?" came Parker's quiet voice.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nico shouted.

Parker went silent on the other end, and I reached around Nico to put the call on speaker.

"'Creepy spell'? What are you trying to say?" Nico's voice cracked through his outrage. Parker  remained mute, so Nico continued, "Well?"

"He's taking advantage of you," Parker insisted, but his voice was noticeably full of doubt.

"That's bullshit and you know it! We love each other, and Logan would never do anything to hurt me." He looked up with furrowed eyebrows. 

"Parker," I said, taking the phone from him, "I don't know what you think is going on, but we have a very loving relationship. It's a little unusual, but whatever issues you have with us, we need to get straightened out right now." Nico nodded in agreement.

"Hmph. What you guys are doing is wrong, and you have to stop now."

"That's stupid!" Nico said. "What's your problem?"

"Why do you gotta be like this, Parker? We're both happy. Really, what is the problem?"

"Tch."

"Please, tell me what your problem with us is."

"You're being a douche—" Nico started to say, but I nudged him to stop.

We waited for Parker's response, but instead, it was quiet for a while. Finally, he spoke up. "Come here Friday," he said quickly, and ended the call.

Nico was shaking. "Why's he such a fucking dick?" he shouted.

I shook my head. "I really don't know what's up with him. I mean, everything was fine at the water park. What changed? Maybe it secretly bothered him then, too?"

Nico turned around on the chair and hugged me, pressing his cheek up against my chest. I held him, and tried to understand where Parker was coming from.

I recalled spending Easter with his family several years prior. Our families met at a local park, Oracle Community Park, and were enjoying lunch at the picnic tables. Parker had recently gotten a Nintendo 3DS, and was obsessing over it. The adults kept to their own table while Parker and I usually found ourselves stuck together. Though Parker's brother August wasn't much older than myself, he preferred the company of the adults rather than the two of us. He was in college, and had brought his violin to practice for a recital.

Parker was about eight years old, and, like his brother, rocked some unusually-long-for-a-boy brown hair that was so dark, you could almost call it black. We had finished eating, and I was enjoying my time lounging and listening to August's rendition of Spring from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, when Parker pushed his 3DS in my face to show me what he had created in Scribblenauts. I tried to give him a little acknowledgement, but as a sixteen-year-old, I was pretty uninterested, and simply humored him with half-baked compliments while I went back to enjoying August's music.

He seemed to pick up on that, and became visibly frustrated, sneering in his brother's direction. "What's so great about his dumb violin? It sounds stupid," I remember him saying to me.

He tried to show his dad, but received similar treatment. When August finished playing, he received applause from all of us, except Parker, who had angrily buried himself in his 3DS.

The following year, we repeated our Easter tradition at the same park. Parker gathered everyone's attention, and announced he would be playing "Amazing Grace" on the recorder—an instrument he had started learning in school, and had quickly taken an enormous interest in. I remember clapping with everyone else once he'd finished, while an immensely satisfied smile crossed his face, eyes covered by the shadow of his long, dark hair.

We went back to Nico's homework, finishing up what was left on the back of the sheet. I wasn't helping a whole lot, as he was pretty effortlessly gliding through the problems without much trouble. Nonetheless, it was nice to be there with him, enjoying the weight of his small body on mine. While he was busy with the final problem on the worksheet, I got a text from my mom.

Mom: Your sweater came in the mail. It looks like it belongs to Steve from Blue's Clues.

Me: Why are you opening my packages?

Mom: You know I'm renovating the basement. Lots of packages are coming this week.

Mom: You should have let me pick out your sweater.

Me: Mom nobody at college even knows who that guy is

Me: I barely do

Mom: Where are you? Can you help me move stuff down tonight?

Mom: Your dad is out.

Me: Yeah

Me: I'll come home soon

Me: Just stopped by at a friend's

Grace entered the room to find us sitting together, Nico still facing towards me.

"Oh, that's cute," she said. I must have turned red, and Nico narrowed his eyes at her. "How's the homework coming?"

"All done," Nico said, picking up and holding the sheet out towards her. His movements caused him to wriggle against my groin, which started to harden from the rubbing. "Can you go now?"

"In a sec. You two are so cute! Let me get a picture," she said, reaching into her robe pocket.

"Grace," I moaned, wincing.

"Logan, it's fine. It's just for me," she said and fumbled with her phone. "Nobody has to know." Nico smiled widely, and I gave in and offered her a weak half-smile. She snapped the photo. "Thanks Logan. I'm going to go get started on dinner. You're—"

"Actually," I interrupted. "I've got to get going soon. My mom needs help with moving some crap."

"Ah, fine. We'll have to have dinner one last time before you leave. Which will be when, by the way?"

"I'm leaving Sunday."

Nico clung to me, burying his face in my chest. "Nooo!" he hollered. Feeling more relaxed with Grace's presence, I returned his hug. She watched with a solemn expression.

"That's too bad," she said. "I was hoping we had at least until September with you."

"I'll be back," I assured her. "Don't worry."

She smiled, and Nico got up to usher her out of the room. "I need some time alone before he has to go," he demanded, closing the door behind her. I could hear her chuckling in the hallway, and listened to her footsteps as she went back downstairs. Nico turned to me and flashed a naughty smile; his shorts tented with a naughty lump. "Can I have a blowjob? I'm done with everything."

"You didn't read," I reminded him.

"Oh. Well, I can do that later."

I laughed.

"Please?" he requested.

"Alright," I conceded.

"Awesome," he said under his breath and flopped onto the bed, bending his legs to remove his gym shorts. I followed him with my gaze, swiveling the chair. Once he tossed them on the ground, he got into position, suspended on his elbows, and cocked one eye.

I drank in his form. It was becoming a familiar sight, but I still couldn't get enough of it. Long, tan, lanky limbs, a face decorated with small, kissable features. The penis that lived in my deepest desires was not quite hard, but not quite soft. It leaned forward over his balls in a suspended curve, just beginning to unfurl as it stiffened before my gaze. My own penis throbbed at the sight of his forbidden glory.

"I can't believe you're leaving this weekend," he said, looking down at the sheets.

I got up from the chair and made my way over to the bed. "I know. I'm not looking forward to it either."

He reached down to grope his dick, forcing it into its most rigid form. "Do you think you'll come back soon?"

"I will," I assured him. "I'll probably be back for Thanksgiving, even. And then next summer, I'll take ownership of the toy store for good, and we'll see each other all the time."

The thought made him smile. He leaned back in the bed and retracted his arms, placing them on his sides. His boner pulsated, clearly eager for attention. I slid onto the bed, moving on top of him, and ran my hands up his sides, brushing against his ribs, then lightly slapped them, making him giggle.

Without hesitation, I ran my tongue up the length of his shaft, and brushed it over the end of his foreskin. He must have just recently come out of the shower, because he tasted very clean and smelled like apples. I took him in my mouth, rubbing him up and down with my lips, and he was quick to lean his upper body forward to grab onto my head, scrunching my hair between his fingers.

"I'm really gonna miss this," he grunted.

I pulled off of him to reply, "Me too." We both looked down at his glistening penis.

"He's happy," he said, giggling. "It sucks that we can't do blowjobs when you're gone. Snapchat's not as good. I don't know what I'm going to do without you!"

I nodded, and began using my hand to carefully massage his nuts. "Your balls are so smooth," I told him, caressing them with my thumb.

"Touch my butt?" he asked, lovingly stroking my arm with his hand as he inched it downwards.

I grinned and slipped it over a buttcheek, giving it a tender squeeze. He let out a very cute, high-pitched moan, and bent his knee. I went back to his penis, slipping it back into my mouth as I played with his ass. As I sucked on it, he resumed grabbing my head, his whole body now crumpling around the center of his pleasure. It was leaking small dribbles of sweetness into my mouth; a tasty reward for the good work I was doing. I alternated between rubbing his balls and squeezing his butt, and he exhaled urgently as I did so.

I released him from my lips, and started jerking him. "Are you going to cum?" His eyes flickered halfway open, and locked onto mine.

"Yeah," he said breathily, leaving his mouth slightly agape. I kissed him, continuing to masturbate his slippery dick, which was generating some sexy wet noises. He shoved his tongue into my mouth, whimpering softly, before pulling away and pushing his hair out of his face. I could feel his warm, rapid breaths.

He reached down and pushed my hand away. "Please, can I do it in your mouth?" he asked.

I wasn't about to decline such an offer. Without answering him verbally, I slithered down his body and took the pink, throbbing boner into my mouth, sliding my tongue all over it. I placed my two hands on either side of his genitals, and kneaded the outside of his butthole with my thumbs.

He shivered and gasped, once again throwing his body around my head as he pushed as far into me as he could. "Uh... uh... uhhh..." he grunted as his nuts drew up, tip flared, and three powerful spurts shot into my mouth. I could feel his butthole opening and closing in bursts around my thumbs, and his fingers dug roughly into my hair. His penis throbbed with each spurt, accompanied by the steady lifting of his hips. I kept sucking and licking it until he finished cumming. He remained wrapped around my head, panting as his grip loosened around me, and I released his drained noodle from my lips.

Streaks of deliciously sweet Nico lined the roof of my mouth, and I greedily gathered it all together with my tongue, savoring his wonderful prepubescent flavor, before reluctantly swallowing. He fell backwards onto the soft sheets, chest rising and falling with his rhythmic breathing.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. "I gotta go," I told him. He looked up with half-open eyelids. "Finish your reading," I reminded him and headed for the door.

"Logan," he whispered, still laying in bed. "I love you."

"Love you, too. See you tomorrow," I said, walking out of the room.

Grace was in the kitchen, hovering around a big pot on the stove when she saw me come down the stairs. I hoped she didn't hear any of the moaning from upstairs.

"So, you're out of here in a week, huh?" she called out.

I went over to sit at the counter. "Yeah. It's too bad I didn't come across you guys earlier in the summer. We could have had a lot more time together."

"I know," she said, looking genuinely regretful. "I honestly never thought we'd see you again. You know, after I left for college, I never went back to my hometown."

"Really?" I took Grace as a bit of a loner, but never someone who would abandon their family.

"Well, I had no reason to. Never liked the city much. Felt like a prison to me. I actually spent most of my twenties on a farm." She clasped her hands together as a small smile formed. "Next thing I knew, I met this guy, and then there was Nico. But life on a farm is such a limiting experience. I wanted more for him."

"He definitely seems to love it here."

She sighed. "I just hope he'll be okay when you're gone."

"He will. He'll be fine." I paused. "We'll be fine."

She looked over at me. "Thank you Logan. I know you didn't ask for this, but you're so important to him."

"He's important to me, too. At first I didn't know what to make of it, I mean, I felt like I could never be what he wanted me to be for him. But, thanks to his persistence, and your support, we've gotten to experience something I never knew was possible before. I think I love him, Grace. Not just in a way to spare his or your feelings... I genuinely do."

She turned away. After several moments, she spoke softly, "I couldn't be more glad."

"Seriousness aside, I need to ask you before I go, what's his shirt size? I want to get a gift for him before I leave."

She smiled. "He doesn't need any more clothes. I work at a clothing store, remember?"

"Right," I chuckled, and considered my options. "Maybe something from the toy store then? He doesn't really play with toys anymore though, right?"

"There are some toys he still plays with," she said enigmatically, and I looked at her with an uncertain expression for a moment before I realized what she was referring to.

"Oh, Grace, no, I couldn't get him—" 

"Why not? It would be a great symbol of your relationship."

"There's more to us than sex, you know," I said, mildly annoyed.

"Everything is sex." It was a weird response that I decided to ignore.

"Okay... well, I'm sure I can find a toy he might still be into at the shop. You never know."

"Think about it," she sang, returning to the stove.

I got up from the stool, and was searching my pockets for my keys when the situation with Parker occurred to me. "Hey, would it be alright if I took Nico to Keysville Friday evening? My cousin sorta wants to hang out with us."

She smiled. "Of course! That's the yin-yang kid he's been video chatting with? Black hair, white skin?"

"Yeah, him," I said, chuckling. "And then spend the night at an AirBNB. I mean, I was thinking that. If it's alright with you. Otherwise we'd be driving home pretty late, and—"

"Fine with me. I'll give you guys cash for a diner. Oh, he loves diners. We stopped at a half dozen when we were moving down here." We exchanged goodbyes as I shuffled out of the kitchen.

The screen door creaked as I opened it, getting stuck briefly and forcing me to tug hard on it. Damn thing had been broken for as long as I could remember. Stepping into the house, I saw a mountain of cardboard boxes in the living room, making the house feel more cluttered than it already was. Mom was dragging a large box down the hallway when she saw me.

"Finally, a home gym in this old place!" she said through gritted teeth as she slid the box another few inches on the carpet.

I went to help her, and we pulled the box the rest of the way, leaving it at the door to the basement. "Have you been doing this all day?" I asked.

"I got a few things down with lots of breaks in between. Thank God someone's finally here to help. I texted your dad hours ago, and haven't even heard back yet." We went back to the living room, where she picked up an opened box from the couch and handed it to me. "You really should have picked a better color than green."

I pulled the sweater I had ordered out of the box and scoffed. "What's wrong with it?" I asked, flipping it back and forth.

"Put it on," she demanded.

I did, then stepped into the bathroom with her following to look in the mirror. It looked exactly like the picture online, a simple cozy green striped sweater. I held my arms up. "What?"

"Honey." She stepped up behind me, resting her hands on my shoulders. "You look like a children's show entertainer."

"I do not! What the fuck? It's a good sweater. Come on."

She laughed and patted my shoulder. "I'll get you something nice for your birthday," she said, and walked out of the room.

I followed her back to the living room, and we got to moving the boxes down to the basement. The hard part was getting all the heavy equipment down the stairs, and I had to genuinely put in the effort to avoid getting crushed to death by the packaged barbells.

"Charlie called," Mom said casually as we were carrying a stationary bike down the hall together.

I stumbled, almost losing my grip before readjusting myself. "What? Like, today?" She nodded. "What... did he want?"

"Well, he actually called your dad this morning. He said he wanted to talk to you. Dad gave him your number."

"Charlie called, and he wanted to talk to me?" I reaffirmed, and she nodded. "W-what else did he say?"

"I don't know, I just got the brief rundown. He certainly still doesn't want to talk to me. I know that he asked if you were here, and your dad mentioned you were working at the shop this summer, then he asked for your number and hung up."

We got the box to the door of the basement, where I took a second to catch my breath, "Well, that doesn't sound good."

"It's fine! He's your brother, he just wants to... catch up!" she suggested unconvincingly.

"Maybe."

Once we got most everything down the stairs, we both lumbered into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, thank you for helping out, Logan. You're free now," she said, and I smiled. "But tomorrow, I'm going to need your help again. And probably for the rest of the week, if you don't mind. Your dad and I are visiting my parents this Friday. Can you bring in the boxes when you get home?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Mom."

"Just bring them inside. You don't have to bring them to the basement yourself."

I nodded, and went to the kitchen to prepare myself a sandwich.

Me: Hey

Me: I know you're probably in class, but I'm thinking about you

Me: Kinda random but do you like baseball at all? 

I ran my hand across the plastic wiffle ball set placed high up on the shop wall, then wandered to the small selection of video games we stocked. Though Nico didn't own any video game consoles, I thought maybe a fifth glance over the section might help give me some idea of a gift. For whatever reason, I was horrible at choosing good gifts. Some people had, for lack of a better term, a gift for it. Not me. It was less than a week before I had to head back to school, and I had no idea what to get him.

Nico: I'm in Spanish 🤠

Nico: Baseball es mucho dumbo 🤠

Nico: Do you know what chupa means?

I was typing back when I received a call from an unknown number, and quickly glanced around to find myself alone in the store. Curiously, I swiped to answer it.

"Hello?" I said.

"Logan?" A chill ran through my spine. 

"Charlie!" I sputtered. "Wh-what the hell? Where are you?"

"Listen to that voice, all grown up!"

"No seriously, where are you?"

He sighed. "Oh, Logan. I really should start off by apologizing."

"Mom said you were trying to reach me, but why the hell are you trying to reach me? Why now?"

"Listen, I miss you, man. What happened was between mom and I... I never wanted to cut you out, but I just really couldn't stand dealing with her."

"I miss you too, but, where the fuck have you been?"

"I'm far, I'm in Liberty Hills."

"Dude, I'm going to college like four hours away from you!"

"Really? Wait, you're still in college?"

"How old do you think I am?"

He chuckled. "You know, I wasn't entirely sure. I haven't thought about you guys in a long time." He paused. "No offense."

"So what the hell? Why are you calling?"

"Funny story, actually. My wife and I just had our second kid—"

"You're fucking married? You have kids? Jesus! I hope you know this is a lot to take in."

"Yeah, sorry to kind of show up out of nowhere. Didn't really have another option."

"The other option was staying in contact," I said bitterly.

"It was never personal, Logan, okay? You were too young at the time, I had no way of reaching you. I'm sorry."

"So what? Now's a good time?"

"Yeah, so, you know, baby names, my wife wanted to name our son Logan. We did, end up using that name. He was born five days ago, August fifteenth."

"Um, wow. Dunno what to say."

"So it got me thinking about you. And it took me a few days, but I... I did call Dad. I just wanted to know how you turned out. And you seem, pretty cool, I guess?" We both laughed.

"Yeah, I'm a college boy, and been working at the shop over the summer. That's pretty much what I've been up to."

"Uh huh," he said, biting his tongue.

"What?"

"You're a senior?"

"I am."

"What major?"

"Mechanical engineering."

"Fun stuff. Listen Logan, I'm an operations manager at the airport in the city here. If you graduate and are looking for a job—"

"I've got the shop, you know that."

He was quiet for a moment. "Logan, the shop is a waste of your potential."

"What do you know about my potential? You haven't even known me since I was eight."

"I'm just saying, do you really want to end up like Mom?"

"Charlie, I know you have your issues with her, but I enjoy that lifestyle too. It's relaxed, and... stable."

"The last thing that store is is stable. It's on the brink, Logan, you don't want to get involved with that."

"I might as well until it stops generating money. Then I can move on to other things."

"Just, hear me out, if you want a comfortable job that makes good money, maybe an aircraft mechanic, you just let me know, okay? Seriously. It's the least I can do after... you know... dipping. You'd make three times as much money as you would selling toys. Just consider it."

"I don't think so, Charlie. I've got this, and I'm sorry about what happened when we were younger, but I really think I belong here."

"Well hey, hit me up if things change, okay? My wife's back, I'll talk to you later, alright Logan? It's been good to hear your voice. Come up here some time, yeah?"

"Okay, I'll—" The phone beeped, signalling the ended call. I still didn't understand his reason for calling me and acting like we were buddies. We hadn't spoken since I was a little kid, and he seemed to have no interest in being a part of my life. While I had no reason to believe he was being deceptive, I was still curious what his intentions were; you don't just call up your brother you abandoned years ago and throw them a job offer.

I placed my phone down on the table, which then lit up with a series of notifications, with Nico's name at the forefront.

Nico: Chupa

Nico: Do

Nico: You

Nico: Know???

Nico: Hello?

Nico: 😑

Nico: Class is over bye then

Me: Sorry something came up, talk later 💖

Business seemed to have hit a lull, and the shop was empty. Stuffing my phone in my pocket, I stepped out the counter and walked through the aisles, scanning the shelves for something Nico might be able to entertain himself with. He may have been a sexual deviant, but he was also a kid, and I had no doubt I could find something that could make him at least smile.

I passed by a postcard rack filled with sticker packs, and picked up a sheet. Lots of different kinds of dinosaurs. If he was younger, maybe he would appreciate something like that. There was a sheet of marine life, which might have been more pertinent to his interests, but I set it back on the shelf after deciding he was much too old for stickers.

After a few more minutes of looking around, I came by the magic section that had piqued his interest all those years ago. The memory made me smile, but I knew magic was no longer an interest of his, and kept looking. Legos ended up being the closest contender, but just as I was about to give it the seal of approval, I realized he already had Minecraft to treat his creative needs. 

Brooding, I returned to the counter just as a family came in: a mother, father, and son. The boy was about Nico's age from when I first met him, maybe ten or so, and I saw his bright eyes flare with excitement when he set foot inside. He wandered around for a bit before finding a yodelling pickle toy, which he then carried with him around the shop. I realized being around Nico so much was warping my mind after catching myself admiring the boy's smooth-looking skin, and long eyelashes.

I distracted myself by going on my phone. After a few minutes, I had gotten all that I was going to get out of Instagram. I looked up and saw the boy leaned over, going through a basket with his butt stuck out towards me, and groaned internally as my penis began to come to life. I hoped I wasn't turning into some kind of weird pervert, and blamed it on not having masturbated since giving Nico a blowjob the previous day.

Opening my phone again, I tried to find something to occupy myself with, and decided to search for gift ideas. I typed in "gift ideas for couples" and tapped the first result.

There were a lot of fun ideas for adults, but I wasn't about to get Nico a charcuterie board for a variety of reasons, and I didn't think coffee was his thing either. There was an advertisement for a strange curved pink object that caught my attention, and it wasn't until I read the text that I could tell what I was even looking at: "Double pleasure – Vibrators for two!"

I thought back to Grace's recommendation, and groused to myself upon realizing that it was maybe the easiest option for a gift. At least I knew he would love whatever I got him, whereas a kids toy has the potential to be a total miss. Our relationship was already as taboo as it could get, so I opened the ad which loaded a website that had me cautiously looking around the store while I pulled the phone closer to my face.

Scanning the many categories was like reading a foreign language for me, with all the mentions of rabbits, eggs, bullets, and the like. I laughed out loud when I discovered the existence of "vegan lube", and pictured Nico having a stroke when he found out that I was using animal-based lube, or whatever the hell non-vegan lube was. I wanted to find something he could use by himself for when I was gone.

I checked out the dildos they had, but grew concerned they were too big for him, and the last thing I wanted to get him was something that would hurt him. They had lots of masturbators, but most of them were shaped like a vagina, which he most likely wouldn't appreciate. There was also a wide selection of butt plugs, but did he really need another one?

I was very curious about what exactly a "prostate massager" was. Bumpy, squiggly alien-like objects filled the screen, and I was unsure what the hell I was looking at. I found one listed on sale, and took a look at the description. The curvy dildo-like toy was inserted, then could be controlled with a smartphone app, and vibrated against the prostate causing intense pleasure.

Making a quick side-search, I spent a few minutes learning about the male prostate. It dawned on me that it must have been what I was touching inside of Nico that made him cum hands-free. If it was true that the toy could give him that pleasure, and I could control it with an app, it would make for the perfect gift.

Quickly, I went back to the page to read more. While the toy was on sale, it was a little expensive, but it would be worth it for all the fun we could have together while apart. There was an option for a "bullet" vibrator add-on, which attached to the penis for additional stimulation. I pictured Nico, naked and squirming as the toy pleasured him in front and back, and snickered as I tapped the checkbox.

I filled in my information and set the shipping for it to arrive on Friday, when my mom would be away from the house. It was perfect, Grace was right after all. To wrap things up, I added a gift note.

Nico,
Even when we're apart, we can be together. Love you.

I was smiling to myself when I looked up and realized the family was standing in front of the counter, ready to pay. Embarrassed, I locked my phone and shoved it in my pocket.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry."

The boy set down a variety of toys. I finished checking them out, and as they were leaving I couldn't help but leer at the boy again. His butt swished as he walked, and I shook my head to snap myself out of it.

I messaged Nico again to ask if he wanted to do more tutoring that night, but he told me that he was going to his friend Lucas's house. I replied, trying to avoid sounding as disappointed as I was feeling.

The fan was running at full speed in the store when my phone buzzed. It was just after lunch on Thursday, and the store was rather busy so I ignored it at first. Business was great, and I was feeling warm and optimistic about things. I took a quick glance anyway when I was less occupied to find a text.

Unknown: Hi Logan, your package is arriving earlier than expected! The estimated delivery window is Today, between 12PM and 3PM.

Instantly, my carefree smile shattered like a windshield in a car crash. I pulled the phone to my face, rereading the text in disbelief. Glancing upward, the phone's clock read 1:08 PM. The damn sex toy was going to be delivered in less than two hours to my mom, with a note that it was from me, to Nico. There was no doubt in my mind she would open it impulsively like she did with my sweater. I almost began hyperventilating as I looked around at all the faces in the store. There was no chance I could leave my shift while the store was the busiest it had been all week.

Why the hell didn't I just send it to Grace's address? The thought spurred an idea: I could ask Grace to go grab it—somehow the only person who wouldn't bat an eyelid at the concept of me getting a sex toy for her son. I let out an exasperated breath when I realized that, like me, Grace was also busy at work. I considered calling my mom and explaining to her not to open it, but decided that was way too suspicious.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think of anything I could do. Maybe she would open it and not realize what it was. After all, when I first saw the thing in a picture, I couldn't tell what the hell it was. No... the box would give it all away clear as day.

A customer came up to pay, and I helped them out, but my mind was focused almost solely on figuring out what to do. Something bad was coming, and I felt powerless to stop it. I swiped the customer's card the wrong way in the machine, and he looked up at me with a slight grin.

"Whoops," I said, offering an awkward smile as I re-swiped the card, brushing sweat from my forehead. He chuckled, and his large mustache laughed with him. I looked down and was horrified to find that I was still swiping it the wrong way. "So sorry," I said.

"You'll figure it out," he replied, making me feel even worse.

After wrapping things up with him, I resumed my panicky plotting, deciding that the best thing to do would be for me to go to the house and intercept the package somehow. The last hurdle was that I couldn't leave the store unattended. Could someone cover for me?

I called my friend Wesley, drumming my fingers on the counter and listening anxiously to each ring, with all my hope riding on him.

"Hello?" he said groggily.

"Oh thank God," I muttered under my breath. "Hey man, what's up?"

He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Hey."

"Did I wake you up?" I checked my phone's clock to verify it was indeed one in the afternoon.

"Nah, I was... in the middle of..." he trailed off, then sniffled. "What's going on?"

"Are you at home?" He lived even closer to the store than I did.

"Yeah."

"Think you could do me the biggest favor of all time? I can pay you."

I heard shuffling around. "Wazzup?"

"I really need someone to man the toy store I'm working at. Just for like an hour or two. Something really urgent came up."

He went quiet again. "Uh, yeah, I guess so."

I made a fist in triumph as a wave of relief washed over me, then told him where the store was and he said he'd head over. It was only about ten minutes before he showed up. His usual messy curly hair was even more of a disaster than usual, and he looked exhausted with small bags formed under his eyes. Not the most ideal replacement, but he'd have to do. We fist bumped, and he stared at me with eyes half-closed.

"Hey, thanks for coming by. This is a big help, seriously," I said to him.

I didn't have to spend too much time explaining how things worked, as he had worked as a cashier before. I told him that nothing crazy should come up but to call if it were to, and after thanking him profusely, rushed out to my car.

I leaned on the door and attempted to breathe. Once calmed down, I got in and sped off towards the house.

I drove slowly down our street, eyeballing our house as I passed by, and parked down on the side of the road. Taking my phone out, I checked the order status only to find that it was "out for delivery". I hoped it wouldn't be too long. At least the air conditioning was sparing me from the harsh heat.

I put on some Cage the Elephant as I leaned back in the seat, and took the time to think more on my brother's proposal. Although our family wasn't poor, we didn't remotely live any sort of lavish lifestyle. My mom was content with her place in the world, and thinking about it, I wouldn't have minded spending my life selling toys by the beach either. Simplicity was a value of mine.

From my vague memory of Charlie, he was never content with our lifestyle. I remembered him showing me luxury cars he wanted from magazines he had, and the look on his face on his eighteenth birthday when he finally got the fake Rolex watch he had been begging my dad for for months.

He wasn't always that way, though. About a year before he left for college, he got into a huge argument with my mom. I was in the bathroom when the screaming started, and pushed my head up against the door, listening to new words I had not quite heard before...

The rumbling sound of an engine snapped me out of my daydream. I sat up in the seat and pulled it out of its reclined position. A large UPS truck was making its way down the street. It was time. Nervously, I wiped away some of the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand, and leaned forward to watch.

After several minutes the truck stopped at our house, and the driver took two trips to place several boxes by the door. I gripped the steering wheel as he placed the smallest of the boxes. That was definitely it. To my dismay, he rang the doorbell once before heading back to his truck and driving away.

I peered at the front door. Besides the rustling of foliage, the street was still. I opened the door of the car and stepped outside, trying to keep out of direct line of sight from the house. My footsteps sounded impossibly loud in my ears, and I tried my best to take lighter steps. I approached the driveway and positioned myself behind the mailbox to peek into the window that overlooked the driveway, but saw nothing. I tiptoed stealthily over to the steps that led up to the front door, ducking below the window.

There it was, the source of such massive anxiety laying on the welcome mat, taunting me with its silly cardboard material and ridiculous packing tape. Slowly, I crawled up the stairs on my hands and feet, being as quiet as I possibly could, and reached out to pick it up.

That's when I heard the sliding of house slippers, rapidly becoming louder and louder. I looked quickly between the package that was just barely within reach, and back towards the corner of the house, then winced as I forced myself down the stairs and slipped around the corner, hiding under the carport at the end of the driveway.

Just as I rounded the corner, I heard the door open, followed by a brief struggle with the screen door. I smacked myself on the forehead with my wrist, swearing under my breath. I was officially doomed to be outed to my own mom as a weirdo creep who bought sex toys for children. There was no explaining that away, and I would have to deal with the consequences.

It took forever for my mom to bring in all the boxes. I waited around the corner, resigned to my fate, as I heard her haul each box inside. Eventually the door closed, and I moved back to the front of the house where I cautiously looked through the window.

My mom was in the living room and dressed in workout clothes, with the boxes all stacked behind the sofa. I hung my head. When I looked back up, she had turned away and began walking down the hallway. I watched curiously as she disappeared from view, realizing another opportunity may have presented itself, and waited to see if she was coming back. After about fifteen seconds, I decided this was my chance, and crawled back up the stairs to the door.

I went to quietly open the screen door, but to my greatest annoyance, it was stuck. I tried jiggling it, but it wouldn't budge, and stopped, listening to the inside of the house. Silence. Wincing, I pulled hard on it, and it flung open forcefully, but fortunately didn't make too much noise. I stopped again to listen, and heard nothing, so I cracked the front door, and looked inside with one eye. The hallway was not aligned with the door, so I couldn't see down it completely. I cracked the door even further open, and stuck my head in, looking around. The smallest box sat atop all the others, all I had to do was rush over and nab it. I had pushed the door about halfway open when my mom's phone, which was sitting on the kitchen counter, started ringing.

Rolling my eyes at my misfortune, I closed the door most of the way, leaving it barely cracked, and went back to crouch under the window. I peered inside and saw my mom in the kitchen, facing away from me and on the phone with a pocket knife in her other hand; the only thing separating her from the truth. She nodded and said some things I couldn't hear, then set the phone down and started towards the boxes.

I had to do something. Thinking quickly, I ran down the driveway, and crouched behind the mailbox, pulling out my phone and calling her.

"Honey?"

"Hey, mom."

"Hi, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm at the shop... it's, um, a little quiet right now. Listen, I was thinking about what you said... about the sweater, and I was going to return it—"

"Return it?" she repeated. "Logan, don't let me tell you what you can and can't wear."

"I know, but, I looked up the guy you said, the Blue Clues guy—"

"Steve!" she said excitedly.

"Yeah, him. And, uh, pretty spot on."

"Well, I did warn you. Go out in that, and you'll be entertaining crowds of children all of the sudden."

"Anyways, my friend might want it, if you don't mind, could you send me some photos of it? It's in my room, I think on the bed."

"Oh, yes, I can do that. I'll take them in a little bit, I need to—"

"Actually," I interrupted, "my friend's here at the shop now, can you just do it real quick?"

"Just show them the picture from the—"

"Mom."

"Fine, yes. Give me a minute. See you tonight."

"Thanks. Love you."

"Love you," she replied, ending the call.

I peeked across the driveway into the window just as she turned and disappeared into the hallway. Quickly creeping across the yard, I prowled up the steps and cracked the door again. It felt like being a kid on a secret spy mission, only minus the fun. I tiptoed across the hardwood floor until I reached the carpet in the living room, struggling to quiet my breathing.

Hovering over the boxes, I read the label on the small one to confirm it was the one, and found my name. I snatched it and immediately headed back, opening the doors and closing them as quietly as I could, hearing another door in the house close at the same time. Making sure to stay low, I slinked under the window and waited for several moments before looking inside.

Mom was opening one of the large boxes with the pocket knife, seemingly unaware of the missing package. I took off down the driveway and got back into my car and slammed the door, burning with adrenaline and gasping.

My phone buzzed, but I was too out of it to even look. It wasn't until I buzzed again that I pulled it out to find two pictures of the shirt from my mom and grinned. There was no way I was parting with that awesome sweater.

After dinner, I locked my bedroom door and climbed onto my bed. I leaned over the side and pulled out the box from underneath, which I had covered with a small blanket—can't be too careful. 

Bypassing the need for a knife or box cutter, I ripped the box open with my bare hands. The box inside was covered in with unusual imagery, lewd phrases, and a usage diagram featuring a stick figure inserting the toy into its ass. What a nightmare it would have been if my mom had got to it first.

I opened it up gently and pulled out the contents and examined the foreign object. It was a black, alien-looking pole that seemed to warp in random ways along its length, with a base shaped like a sideways banana. Connected to it via a wire was a small, bullet-shaped object with a flexible band.

A QR code on the box prompted me to install an app on my phone, which I did, then proceeded to connect the two devices together. I looked through the app's settings, which contained many different modes and vibration levels, and held the bullet as it rumbled powerfully between my fingers.

I laid down comfortably on my bed and read the instructions shown in the app. Curious to get a taste of how the bullet felt, I pushed my shorts down, and finagled my penis out of the fly of my boxer briefs. It hovered at half-mast in the air, and I grabbed it and pressed the bullet against the side of my shaft, then used my phone to turn on the vibration.

It felt okay, not mind-blowingly incredible like I was hoping, but when I moved it around to the underside of my dick, the difference was immediately apparent. Sliding it further upwards towards the head, my eyes rolled back. Nico was going to love this!

I turned it off and shoved the toy back into the box. My penis was now totally hard, so I took the opportunity to send a picture to Nico on Snapchat. It was only a minute before I got a notification that he took a screenshot, and he replied with a picture of his own beautiful penis standing at attention with the caption, "You surprised me!"

Me: What's up?

Nico: A LOT

Nico: School has been so awesome

Me: Really? You were so not thrilled to be going back

Nico: I made a lot of friends 😁😁

Nico: I've never had this many friends

Me: That's so awesome! Such a charmer

Nico: 😏

Nico: Can you pick me up tomorrow?

Me: Yeah of course! Do you still want to go see Parker with me?

Nico: Yay! Yep!!!

Nico: We can investigate why he went crazy

Me: Lol

Me: Let's try to be understanding

Me: We don't know what he's going through

Nico: Right

Nico: How was your day?

Me: Stressful... I'll have to tell you about it tomorrow

Nico: I wish I could hug you right now

Me: A great charmer but a better lover 💗

Nico: Mostly horny but yep

Nico: Which reminds me gotta go

Nico: Thanks for the pic!

Even though Grace explained the school's car line clearly, I still expected a headache. When I pulled up behind the last car that seemed impossibly far from the school building, I foresaw an eternity of waiting. Growing up, my mom hated the car line enough to put me on the bus, which I preferred anyways. I think I got my hatred of lines from her.

I'd closed the toy store early that day. Nico's grade got out around three, and I figured the few hours lost wouldn't make a big dent in earnings. Since my mom was out of town with my dad, I was convinced she would never find out anyways.

Fortunately, once the cars started moving, the line went pretty quick. In under ten minutes, I was approaching the two-story school building and the long concrete path that stretched from the entrance all the way down to the road. I squinted my eyes to search for Nico through the valley of kids, backpacks, uniforms, and binders.

Finally, I spotted him sitting in the shady grass underneath a tree. He was sitting in the lap of another blonde boy, who was rubbing Nico's legs and resting his chin on Nico's shoulder. I was struck by a pang of jealousy.

Beside them was another smaller, skinnier kid, sitting cross-legged and searching through his backpack that lay in front of him with long dark hair that hid his face. They were all talking, and Nico was laughing. Even though the scenario was likely much more innocent than I was thinking, my heart lurched. I selfishly realized I didn't want Nico to find love his own age, as long as he was with me.

I pulled up further, and some sort of school employee signalled with his hands for me to lower the window. He was wearing a bright orange safety vest, and stared at me for a few moments. He held a small rectangular microphone up to his mouth, but lowered it as his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Name?" he asked, as if it were his one-hundredth time asking the question that day.

"Oh. Logan," I said, "Logan Lake."

"Logan Lake," he stated into a small microphone, and the name boomed throughout the school, echoing through the yard. From the corner of my eye, I saw Nico raise his head and look around.

"Oh, I mean, that's my name. I didn't... I'm picking up Nico Florakis," I explained, feeling suddenly hot.

He glared at me for a moment before slowly raising the microphone and repeating Nico's name into it. Nico sprung to his feet, and said something to the boys. They both giggled and waved at my car as I pretended not to notice. What had Nico told them about me?

As he approached the car wearing a goofy grin, I got a good look at his school uniform: a blindingly red polo and beige chino shorts. Though the other students were wearing similar uniforms, he seemed to be the only kid in that exact combination. At least there was some freedom in their dress code.

He shuffled past the employee who barely seemed to regard him, and opened the back door to toss his bag inside, then climbed over the seat into the front causing an avalanche of limbs before righting himself.

"Hi," he beamed, looking into my eyes with the same goofy smile from his approach.

"Hey. You're looking dapper," I said.

He looked down at his clothes. "Thanks!" he replied, and settled into his seat with a sigh, putting the seatbelt on. "You look hot, too."

I got us moving, and as we pulled away from the school and onward to my surprise destination, Nico waved to his friends from the window. While I sped down the road, he extracted a small tin from his pocket and popped a small yellow candy into his mouth.

"Where are your sunglasses?" he asked, checking in the glasses case above.

"Here," I said, handing them to him.

"Today was awesome," he said, adjusting his seat. "There was pizza for lunch, and they actually had vegan pizza! And it was so good. So good, Logan."

I reached over to squeeze his shoulder. "That is awesome. I've got to have you try a vegan burger some time."

"Maybe," he replied noncommittally. 

"Who were those kids you were sitting with just now?"

"Oh, that was Lucas. You met him once. And my other friend Ray. Lucas is cooler though. Ray's cool too, just quieter. And kinda short."

"You didn't tell them about me... about us, did you?"

"Nope, I mean, well, I told them you were cool. Like, really cool. But, like, I wouldn't tell them that you gave me a blowjob the other day. Nope, only Parker knows that."

"Wait. You told Parker about that?" I tried to refrain from sounding like I was whining.

"Well, he asked. A lot. I didn't want to say anything, but he kept asking!"

"Nico..."

"Where are we going?" He was looking out the window now, watching the trees go by. "This doesn't look like the same way as the water park."

"I thought maybe we could go down to the pier before going to see Parker. Maybe have another date. Are you hungry yet?"

"Oh. Yes! That sounds awesome!" He stomped his feet and pumped a fist.

"Great. And after we visit him, I rented us a place to stay right outside of Keysville," I told him. He hatched a smile that only a true rascal could wear. "It's a cabin out in the woods."

"Like camping?"

"It's not like a cabin cabin, but a sort of 'luxurious rustic getaway'," I said, reciting the description with a posh, royal accent. "I think you'll love it."

"Cool. My grandpa used to have a cabin, but it was really cold all the time. Maybe 'cause we only went there in the winter."

I turned the air conditioning up, and he popped another yellow candy into his mouth. "Hey, don't spoil your appetite with those," I scolded. "We're going on a date, remember?"

Instead of putting them away, he held the tin up to me. "Want one?"

I frowned, then asked with a tepid glance, "What is it?"

"Just lemon sours. They're addictive. And tiny—not filling at all. Want one?" he repeated.

"Okay, sure." He dumped one into my hand.

"What's that in the back?" he asked, craning his head around the seat.

I had kept his gift in its original shipping box because I wasn't very good at wrapping gifts, and I wasn't about to enlist my mom's help with it. My plan was to give it to him when we went out to the cabin, but it wouldn't hurt to let him see it early.

"It's actually a gift. For you." His eyes widened. "You know, since I'm leaving on Sunday, I wanted to get you something special. Something to remember me by. At least until I'm back." I winked at him.

He stared at me. "That's so cool! It really, really sucks that you have to go." 

I shoved him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, all smiles tonight. At least until we get to Parker's. Then I don't know what expression we'll need."

He leaned over the center console and grabbed the box, examining it all over. "What is it? Can I open it?"

"Sure! It's my thanks to you for making my summer so wonderful."

He smiled, and looked down at the box that was lazily taped back together before ripping it open. "What... holy crap!" He gasped, turning the box over. "No way!" I grinned at him as he pulled out the toy from the rigid box like a kid during Christmas. "You really got me this? Um... what is it?"

"I thought you'd like it, more than other kinds of toys I guess. It's supposed to massage your butt and your dick at the same time."

He pulled out the note I included, and flashed a smile at me after reading it. "This is so nice! I love you too!" He leaned over to hug my shoulder, pressing his cheek against me. "Thaaanks!"

I tilted my head onto his, only briefly because I was driving. He went back to examining the massager, reading the text on the back, the same way I used to read the back of the video game box on the ride home.

"So it's like, controlled with an app? That's crazy!" he said.

"Yeah. You can download it on your phone, and I also have it on mine. It'll still work even when I'm off at college."

He opened his mouth wide in amazement. "That's so cool!" He lowered his shorts to his knees, revealing his smooth, milky lower body, and apparent lack of underwear.

"What's the big idea?" I asked, watching from the corner of my vision.

"I gotta try it," he replied, then grinned widely as he looked at his new toy. "I've been really horny all day. I bet this feels really good!"

"Where's your underwear?"

"I didn't need it today," he explained with an innocent smile, lifting his feet up onto the dashboard.

"What do you mean you didn't need it?"

"I mean, I didn't want to wear any. Without underwear, it's easier to go pee and stuff. And my friend said it would make my dick grow bigger 'cause then it's not trapped in my underwear all day. It's like plants, sort of," he explained while he pressed the toy against his butt, trying to force it in.

"I think that's going to hurt without lubrication," I said, starting to get dangerously horny from the display. "We can pick some up on the way to the cabin."

"Logan, I really don't care if it hurts if it feels good at the end," he said, grunting. "Okay, maybe actually I should start with a finger. It's pretty big."

"Can't you wait until we're like, not in public?"

"No one can see in. It's fine." He spent a few minutes casually fingering his ass in the passenger seat before trying with the toy again. "Got it!" he announced with a grunt. "Now what?"

"Wha—really?" I did a double take. "Oh. Good job."

"Yep. I can fit pretty much anything in my butt," he said, dropping his legs down from the dashboard. "Can I have your phone?"

"My phone? Why?"

"For the app, dummy. Let's do this thing!"

I handed it to him.

"Six, four, two, six," he recounted to himself as he unlocked it. "Which app is it?"

I told him, and explained a little bit of how it worked, based on my brief experience with it. After fastening the bullet vibrator to the bottom of his penis like a safety belt, he turned it on, generating a small buzzing noise in the quietude of the car.

"Whoa! I can feel it vibrating way inside! I can't even tell which part of me feels better!" He placed his arms on the arm rest and closed his eyes. "Mmm," he moaned.

"Might wanna unplug," I said, pulling into the parking lot. "We're here."

I found a nice parking spot in the busy lot that overlooked the beach, real close to the pier. He grumbled as I took back my phone from him. I stepped out of the car, stretching my arms and looked around. People were everywhere, especially up at the pier where the warm scent of churros resonated from. Nico got out and started sniffing. We were both drawn to it like, well, humans to churros.

Climbing the rickety wooden stairs from the parking lot to the pier, I looked up to see more clouds in the distance, and hoped we weren't due for more rain. Seagulls squawked all around us as we entered the bustling world of stores, restaurants, shopping stands, and miscellaneous activities. Nico and I were both relatively familiar with the pier, having lived in the area for so long, but every visit was still a treat.

As we walked, I glanced over at him. I couldn't tell if he was looking back through his sunglasses, but a small smile spread across his face. If we were a normal couple, then would've been the time to hold hands.

Nico locked onto an old-school cotton candy cart, and when he started slowly guiding us towards it, I took his arm and veered us in a different direction.

"Don't forget, we're here on a date. To get, you know, actual food," I said.

"Cotton candy is actual food," he said thoughtfully, and I pulled on his arm again. "Can we go do something fun?"

"Yeah. What would be fun?"

He looked around, using a hand to shield his sunglass-covered eyes. I looked around as well, and before I could mention the boring-looking merry-go-round, he called out, "Photo booth!", pointing with both hands.

Perched on the edge of the pier was the photo booth he referred to—a hollow, orange rectangle that seemed to go entirely unnoticed by the crowds of people. Shrugging, I let him walk me over and slide open the ugly purple curtain that came unusually far down on the booth. I followed him into the artificially lit box, taking a seat on the small stool beside his while he handed me his sunglasses as if they were fully my responsibility now. A small hum radiated from the booth, which at first I thought was the screen, but then noticed it was originating from Nico's stool.

I placed my hand between his thighs, feeling for the toy under his crotch. "You left it in?" I bemoaned. He looked up with an innocent, toothy smile, and leaned away from me. "And on?"

"It's on low," he assured me, and went to fiddle with the booth's touch screen. I rolled my eyes.

We started with some generic settings, taking really basic photos of us smiling. Then Nico uncovered the "slow-mo" video mode, and we got to figuring out what the coolest stuff to do would be. Shaking his head rapidly was awesome, and his beautiful hair flowed fantastically in the playback.

Another great bit we did was him licking my cheek, followed by me turning towards him with an evolving look of pure disgust. We were both cackling with laughter at that one, which Nico managed to turn into a coughing fit that he continued to laugh through.

"Your face is so red right now!" I pointed out, and showed him on the screen. His cheeks were flushed crimson not only from his laughing, but from the heat that was made a little harsher inside the small booth (and possibly also the sexual stimulation from his toy).

"It's so hot in here!" he exclaimed, fanning himself. "How come you're not all red?"

"Gotta look good for the camera," I said, slicking my hair back.

He got up and climbed onto my lap facing me, breathing hot air onto my face. "How's that?"

I could feel his toy vibrating on my thigh through the material of his shorts. "You're vibrating on me," I told him.

"Feels really good," he said, and threw his arms around my neck, continuing to let out hot breaths in my face. He started rhythmically grinding against me, as he liked to often do.

"Come on, back to your own seat, horndog," I said, pushing his hips off of me.

"Can you turn the power up, then? And make it strong on my dick, please."

"Alright, back into your own seat then."

He climbed down onto his chair, and went back to poking around on the touchscreen. I went to the app on my phone and increased the intensity of both the massager and the bullet.

Cranking up the power was like turning up his volume."Ohhh," he groaned erotically. "Feel it!" He took my hand and placed it on his crotch. The vibrations coursed through my arm as my hand grazed against the stiff bump in his shorts.

"So to be clear, you like the gift?" His response was to look at me with a slight grin, his face still a bit red and sweaty.

We went back to taking pictures, this time using a "multi-frame" feature that took several still frames and created a little collage. Trying to think of a way to one-up our slow-mo clips, Nico came up with the fun idea of looking totally normal for the first few frames, then flashing our "boobs" for the final one. I had a feeling Grace would like that one.

Our photos kept coming back with Nico blinking. I was trying to get him to focus, but he kept getting this disoriented look on his face. We were in the middle of enacting our bit when his breathing picked up, and he abruptly grabbed my arm with both hands. "Turn it off!" he cried.

"Huh?" I asked, looking at the touch screen.

"On the app! I'm about to—unhhh!" He threw his head back and bit his lip. I quickly reached into my pocket, but I was too late. His grip tightened, and his legs flew forward and stiffened in the air. He trembled and let out an adorable little squeak. I pressed my free hand onto his thigh, and watched as his new toy stimulated him past his limit, causing him to ejaculate into his shorts.

I continued to caress his thigh until his breathing steadied, and his extended legs dropped back to Earth. I put my arm around him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, feeling the warmth radiating from him. He blushed, still dazed from his orgasm. I opened the app and turned the toy off, putting an end to the persistent buzzing. After a few moments, the blinking of the booth's screen caught my attention.

"Look!" I said, and he did. "I think we got a pretty funny clip."

The first frame was us sitting, looking in random directions with bored expressions. The second was him grabbing onto my arm as I looked down at him, confused. The third was him orgasming with his head tilted, eyes rolled back, and mouth opened. The last one was me kissing the woozy boy on the cheek.

"No!" he cried, putting his hands over the screen. "Delete it!"

"Why? It's funny!"

"It's embarrassing!" He studied the image. "Is that really what I look like, when... ugh!" He made an arch with his hand over the screen while he tried to figure out how to delete it, while I chuckled in the background. It wasn't until I looked back over at him that I noticed the large dark wet spot in the middle of his shorts.

"Oh, shit," I said.

"Huh?" He looked down, then back up at me with his mouth and eyes ajar. "It looks like I pissed my pants!"

"Yeah, that's..." We both watched as the stain slowly continued to widen as his watery emission absorbed into the material. "...not good. If only you were wearing underwear," I admonished.

"I can't go out," he pouted. "Can you get me something to cover myself?"

"Like what?"

"Like... my backpack! Actually, get my gym shorts from it! Please!"

"Okay, stay here."

I left him in the booth and jogged back to the car, opening the back and rifling through his backpack. His level of disorganization was astounding, with pieces of candy, gum, and paperclips strewn around randomly between the books and binders. I finally found his nylon gym shorts, stuffed into a ball at the bottom of the bag, and headed back over to the pier.

When I returned to the booth, there was a man and his girlfriend standing around outside. I slipped past the curtains and found Nico crumpled in the corner with his face lit by the dim, teal glow of his phone. "Someone tried to come in," he whispered. "I told them just a minute."

"Here," I said, handing him the crumpled gym shorts.

"Thanks," he whispered back, and sat on the stool to change. He slipped the soiled school shorts down around his ankles. The sight of his limp noodle with the bullet wrapped around the shaft was an arousing one. His red, overstimulated tip glistened with the final remnant of his orgasm until he dabbed at it with the shorts.

Once he was changed, we both downloaded copies of the photos onto our phones from a QR code, and exited the booth, receiving a glare from the couple that was waiting for us to finish. One of us certainly did.

"So there's no animal meat at all?"

"None. I promise," I said, sitting down beside Nico at the edge of the pier.

He held up the top bun and eyed the burger patty with suspicion. "It feels like a trick."

"You read it on the menu. It's all plant-based, and there's no gluten or soy."

"And it doesn't taste like shit?" he asked, then took a tentative lick of the patty. "Hmph," he said, kicking his dangling legs back and forth over the water far below.

I bit into my regular burger, moaning out loud at the taste I missed. Skateburger was the best burger place in town, with the best atmosphere, too, being on the pier. I saw him bite into it meticulously with just his teeth from the corner of my eye, and then nod a couple times.

"Good?" I asked.

"Wow. And I get this whole thing of fries, too. Best. Date. Ever!"

He chowed the rest of it down as I struggled to match his speed. Though we were still on the pier, there were few people over at the end with us. The sound of crashing waves and distant chatter was calming. It was just us, and that was the way I liked it most.

"Hey. What does this," he said, raising his burger, "and a dildo have in common?"

"Is that a joke? What?"

"What do they have in common?"

I mixed up my face. "I don't know."

"They're both meat substitutes," he giggled. I laughed at the unexpected joke.

He laughed too, then slowly frowned. "I wish you were staying for longer. I can't believe you're gonna be gone in two days. I want to keep hanging out with you."

"Hey," I said, and put my arm around him to pull him to me. "We'll always be together. No matter the distance. Didn't you read my note?"

He smiled and snuggled into me, still holding the last of his burger. "I wanna see you every time you come back."

"I'll do anything for you," I said, and sighed. "I got a call from my brother. I haven't even talked to him since I was eight." Nico leaned in to listen attentively. "He offered me to move away from here, and live out by him. He has a nice job lined up. But I don't want to do it. I want to stay here, with you. Once I finish college, I'm going to move back here, and we'll see each other all the time."

"Wow Logan, you're the best! I can't wait! But... well, you don't have to give up that job just for me. Especially if it's a really good one..."

"I'll work at the toy store my whole life if it means being with you."

"And I'd hug you, but I have burger hands. Here, let's touch elbows!" We smacked elbows together. "Yeah!" he shouted, then went back to eating. "I'll never forget this summer," he said with his mouth full, staring wistfully into the horizon.

The sky was fading into a dull grey color, with ominous looking clouds rolling in. While we walked back to the car, I looked to Nico who strolled happily beside me with the stained shorts stuffed lazily into the side of his "backup" shorts. He was checking out the cotton candy cart again, and when I offered to get him some he declined with a loving, thankful smile.

Nico opened the passenger door and stood by it, waiting for some of the heat to air out before getting it. It hit me what was in store for us later that night.

I handed him my sunglasses, and he put them on without a second thought. "Ready to see what Parker wants?"

He chuckled as he searched around into backpack, and pulled out the small tin. "Nope," he said with a content grin, and slipped a lemon candy into his mouth.

About thirty minutes into the hour-long drive, Nico ran out of school stories to tell and took my phone to put on some music. I was pleasantly surprised when he put on The Foo Fighters' "The Pretender" from my Spotify and proceeded to drum his fingers on the dashboard.

"You really like this one, huh?"

"Yep," he replied. "I've been listening to them a lot. This one's definitely my favorite."

I smiled at him jamming out, once again wearing my sunglasses regardless of the lack of sun in the gloomy sky.

"What about you? Let me guess," he said, and squinted at me. "You like 'Come Alive'."

"It's good, but it's not my favorite."

"What is your favorite then?"

"I don't know. I like their older stuff I guess."

"Oh. So like The Colour And The Shape? Or more There Is Nothing Left To Lose? 'Learn to Fly' is awesome!"

"Just how much of them have you been listening to?" I cocked an eye at him, and he just grinned. I thought it was awesome that we had some music we both liked.

My phone buzzed in his hand. "Hey, Parker just texted you," he said.

"Really? What did he say?" I asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

"It says 'Go to Oracle Park'. What's that?"

"The park? Um, okay. Can you nav that for me?"

He nodded and updated my phone's navigation to our new destination, and I instructed him to reply affirmatively to Parker. Why did he want to meet us at the park anyways? We both got quiet after that, and I focused on driving while Nico seemed content to sit and listen to music.

The quiet spell lasted for nearly ten minutes before Nico started fidgeting in his seat. "Are we close? How much longer?"

"Don't ask me, you have my phone! Just check the navigation."

"Still like thirty more minutes. I gotta pee!" he moaned.

"You can pee when we get there. There's bathrooms."

"Can you pull over somewhere? I'll go quick."

"We are on a highway, and I'm not getting off. Sorry. You won't have to wait much longer."

"But thirty minutes is forever! It's like a whole class."

"Here, hold my hand," I suggested, holding it out.

"Okay," he replied dreamily, and took it. While I rubbed his soft hand in mine, he stared out the window, watching the trees go by.

My distraction worked, but only for fifteen minutes or so. "I'm bored," he whispered.

"Where's your phone? Why don't you play something on it?"

"It's still in my other shorts, which are in the back," he said, looking over his shoulder. I didn't reply, and he squeezed my hand. "Can I do a blowjob on you?"

I laughed. "No. Not when I'm driving."

"Later?"

"Yeah, sure, when we get to the cabin. That would be fun. I can do you, too," I said, and stroked the back of his hand with my thumb. He smiled widely.

The gray sky was drizzling on us when we finally pulled into the parking lot of Oracle Community Park. When we got out of the car, Nico rushed from the car straight into the small wood-and-cobblestone bathrooms, holding both hands over his crotch.

I peered around the vast, grassy park, searching for Parker. It wasn't quite dark yet, but it was definitely starting to get dim. He wasn't by the picnic tables we often spent Easter at, and he wasn't in the small playground at the other side of the park either. Or was he?

I squinted, and spotted a figure faced away, sitting on one of the four swings, wearing mostly black, almost completely still. The eerie sight caused a shiver to run through my body, even though I knew it was most likely just Parker. A small drop of rain tapped against my face, just under my eye.

Nico came out of the restrooms with dripping hands held up. When he noticed me looking at them, he said, "What? The hand dryer wasn't working."

Without a word, I motioned towards the figure on the swings, and I watched Nico's eyes follow the trail until he, too, shivered.

We both began the long walk across the whole park to the playground area, with Nico wiping his wet hands all over his shirt before fishing the lemon candy tin out of his pocket. I heard him nervously crunching on the normally suckable candies.

Before long we were within ten feet of the small, dark figure; definitely Parker, clothed in black jeans and a hoodie. Nico and I stood awkwardly in the sand, both unsure how to approach him until I finally called out.

"Parker?"

His hooded head turned, finally noticing the two of us standing behind him.

"Hello, Logan."