<disclaimer>
The various nations of the world have varying ideas about who may touch whom in various ways on various parts of their bodies. In the United States, contact considered "sexual" is generally limited to those who are eighteen years of age or older. Throughout much of Europe, that age is often sixteen, though some nations consider fourteen to be an acceptable limit; in fact, there are still yet a few societies in which twelve is an acceptable age of consent.

In this realistic treatment of the topic, which takes place in the US, US rules apply. "Eighteen or older" is the rule. However, as in the author's youth, the people in this story are not ones to be much concerned about such rules. But it might be illegal for you to even READ about such things. Meanwhile, here, a youth and an adult have quite the dashingly gay affair.

As always, this author has no interest in telling pure JO stories. As always, there IS a story, and, hopefully, you will find the people interesting and their challenges exciting. There are, however, many sexy parts because sex is fun, and fun is good.
</disclaimer>


Author’s Note: In the first chapter, these two stangers, young and old, establish that they are both into guy on guy action. It remains to be seen whether they find each other attractive enough to take it to the next level. We know Nathan’s mind, maybe, and Adrian has coyly hinted that he finds this man quite handsome, saying he is a particularly buff version of “Daniel Craig meets Brad Pitt,” but we shall shall see…

It is Fun to be Out

They had a moment where they simply looked at each other, smiling, feeling coy and shy. It was sweet.

Adrian broke the silence with a flurry of talk about his ex riding partner.

“I should have known he’d be a little cunt. When we were stuck in this freak hail storm in Kansas – only it was not so freaky because the midwest has freaky storms normally, but, uh, anyway, instead of just hunkering down in our tent and trying to find a way to be pleasant, he just bitched and bitched and bitched! And it’s not like I hadn’t had warning signs. I knew he was a complainer. I mean, we grew up together, but he was focused and disciplined and worked hard to make the trip happen, like I did, you know? And no one is perfect, but when he didn’t get his way, he’d sulk and sulk. He was always like that. I was always having to take responsibility for arguments. He would never apologize, so I should have known! But the thing is? I learned something. It is only when you’re ‘under fire’ that you learn about how someone really is. My dad always said that. He warned me! He was right! He’s ex army. He’s a Gulf War vet – the first one! Anyhow, our friendship was tested, and it proved to not be a friendship at all! So, finally, when I told him, it was only because I didn’t care what he thought any more, so I didn’t care if he was repulsed. Only then did I have the courage. You know?”

That was a lot of information. Nathan was stunned, trying to digest it all. All he could think of to say was, “Yeah. I do know.”

This deep conversation was relieved by Adrian’s sudden exclamation, “Man, I gotta take one ferocious piss! That Gatorade just blew through me!”

“Well there’s a nice place to stop above the lake coming up. It’s a little information center. They will have a restroom. It’s near here, if I recall. Keep a lookout for a sign that says ‘Visitor Center.’”

“Cool.”

They drove in silence for the next few miles. Nathan was reeling from Adrian’s revelation. He had not expected that. The silence was only slightly awkward. Nathan was not at all diffident about hitting on attractive men, but this was a boy. He was not sure how to play it. He had not even asked his age. He smiled to himself. It had been a long time since he had felt shy. He found himself enjoying the old feeling. It made him feel young again.

The freeway rolled up and over multiple passes in that stretch. Adrian was focused on the signs. Nathan noticed he had that same squinting sneer as he looked at them. It occurred to him then that what he had thought was a sneer, was not a sneer at all! It was just a peculiarity of facial expression that indicated Adrian was concentrating.

Looking off to the left of the freeway, he asked, “What lake is that, anyway?”

“Pyramid Lake. Never been on it, actually.”

“Hmmm.”

“Say, Adrian, do you need glasses or something? I see you squinting as you try to read the signs.”

“Oh, fuck yeah, man! I crashed my bike in New Mexico and my glasses went flying off a cliff! When I went down to find them, they were all smashed. I haven’t been able to replace them. I’ll get new ones when I get to Portland.”

Nathan nodded. He said nothing for many long seconds. There was an exciting charge in the atmosphere between them. It was always that way when two gay guys recognized each other that way at first. There were, Nathan knew, a few more psychic bridges to cross, but they had time. No need to push it.

Finally, Nathan got him talking again. “Is that where you are headed? Home?”

“Yeah. My family’s in Portland. You ever been there?”

“Many times. Lots of bookstores. Great coffee. Friendly people. More laid back than LA. Seems like a great place to have a boat. Good college and university system too.”

Adrian shrugged. “I want to go to SOU, ‘Southern Oregon University’ that’s in Ashland, in the south. My dad disagrees. He wants me to go to University of Portland. It’s a great school – private and Catholic, not fucking cheap, you know? But I think it’s just ’cause he wants me to live at home. He got his ass kicked by the crash in 2008. Coming up with the money for my college is really important to him, but I like the liberal arts program at Ashland. Also, there’s ski resort right there! My dad is all, ‘Yeah, a BA in that shit and a dollar-seventy-nine will buy you a cup of crappy Starbucks coffee!’”

Nathan had to laugh and laugh at that. He noted that Adrian hinted that he was Catholic, and he was interested in having a ski resort near, but that was not what amused him.

“What’s so funny? And, shit, dude! Are we near that place? I’m gonna fucking burst! Oh! There’s the sign! It’s the next exit!”

Nathan shook his head and chuckled to himself at Adrian’s youthful changeableness. He was so very charming! He would tell him why he thought his father’s opinion about college degrees was so funny, but they were right then immediately upon the exit to the visitor center, and Nathan needed to concentrate on driving. He pulled off and crossed under the freeway. They parked in the small parking lot. Nathan told him, “I’ll tell you what’s funny after you piss. I could use one too. This shitty Chevron coffee did a number on me.”

Adrian laughed in his bright way as he hopped out. “Is this the part where two queers get to see each other’s dicks?”

Already, they were at the kidding around stage. This boy was sure easy to get along with! He was really cheering him up. Nathan merely grinned at him.

They made their way into the visitors center, walking across the windy parking lot, perched on the edge of cliff overlooking the waters of the deep, blue lake with a rugged coastline. Following the signs to the bathroom, they entered. In the one stall, they heard the voice of a little boy and someone, probably the father, discussing why one needed to lay down the protective tissue over the toilet seat. Fortunately, there were two urinals.

Adrian was right. This was the part where two queers checked each other out. Nathan noticed that Adrian was wearing bicycling tights under his shorts as he pulled down the front, standing far enough back for Nathan to see that he was well endowed. That was cool. So was Nathan, and like Nathan, he was circumcised. They looked at each other down there and looked up at each other and grinned as they pissed. Evidently, the young man was pleased by what he saw, and the feeling was mutual.

Adrian really did have to go, and Nathan envied the copious stream he produced, urinating loudly for quite a while after he himself was done.

Ah. To be young again!

They met at the sink where Nathan was washing his hands, and then again at the air dryer. They had said not a word. But they had another flirtatious moment, drying their hands together with their heads close.

“Let’s go look at the lake,” Adrian suggested. However, on the way out, instead of immediately heading for the exit, he wanted to look at the exhibits. There was a lot of interesting information about water, how it was used, who used it, where it came from and where it went. Adrian revealed yet again his natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge. “Who’da thought that most of the water in SoCal is used in commerce and industry and not agriculture, huh? And did you see how little is in residential use? That was very fucking interesting!”

Nathan had noted all that too. He had also seen how rapidly Adrian read. This kid was smart!

Once outside, they went to the viewing area and had a look at the pretty lake, sparkling beneath what were fairly dry, desert looking mountains. Nathan studied the wind patterns on the water. It would be tricky sailing there. Also, it was obviously a lake where power boats outnumbered sails, and power boaters were notoriously incompetent. The lake had, therefore, never appealed to him as a place for sailing.

Adrian asked him, “So what did you find so funny? You know, back there when I was talking about college?”

“What your dad said. It was pretty much the same thing my dad said! He wanted me to study engineering, but here’s what’s cool!”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I am a Southern Oregon University alumnus!”

“No shit?”

“No shit. And the fact is, if you want to make money? Well, any fucktard can add up figures or research portfolios; no, the real prizes go to those who understand people and the world, and that is where a liberal arts degree can help, not business, and not accounting. I got two MBAs I hire when I need such services, and they usually have dim-witted ideas, always short-run, never big picture.”

Adrian looked him up and down. He nodded. “And you do all right, don’t you, Nathan?”

“Yeah, Adrian. I do all right.”

“You should talk to my father. He got his MBA on the GI bill, but he’s not short-sighted! He’s really fucking conservative, but to him that is all about long term stability. I’ll bet you’re not a Republican, though, huh?”

Nathan perceived that though Adrian did not agree with his father on certain things and seemed to be engaged in a contest of wills, he clearly admired his father greatly and respected his opinion. He held all that back, and merely said, “Independent and proud of it. The funny thing is my partner was like your dad. A ‘financial analyst,’ and absolutely convinced my degree was so much toilet paper.”

“Your ‘partner?’ Like, your, uh…”

“Husband?”

“Uh, yeah. I didn’t know how to ask.”

“Yes. It was like that.”

“‘Was?‘“

Nathan sighed. He looked over the lake. The wind felt good on his face. He told Adrian, “Yes. He died. Just a few weeks ago. I am taking his ashes to pour in the river near where we met and where we enjoyed much time together. I’m taking him home. That is where I am going. That is what I am doing. Some ‘vacation,’ huh?”

“Oh man. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a long illness. We had a chance to say goodbye. He was a good man. He gave me a leg up, and, in the end, I returned the favor.”

There, on the windy cliff beneath gathering gray clouds, Adrian studied him in that intense way he had with his sapphire eyes diamond sharp. He said nothing. He only nodded.

“Let’s roll, huh, Adrian? I don’t want to be on this hill if it rains. Too many shit drivers on the road already, and when it rains, it gets worse.”

Without a word, Adrian followed him to the truck.

They drove in silence then, for many miles. Finally, Adrian said, “I see you have a nice sound system. You mind if we put on some music?”

“Go for it,” Nathan told him, hitting a button below the screen to bring up the player. “I have thousands of tunes. Check out the playlists. Pick whatever you want.”

He watched Adrian lean forward to peer at the screen. Yes, the kid needed his glasses!

“Wow, you do have a lot of music! Anything in particular you’d like?”

“I told you. Pick what you want. It wouldn’t be there if I didn’t like it.”

Adrian nodded. He picked, “Ambient → Vocals.”

Soon they were listening to the cool, soft strains of Enya.

“Good choice,” Nathan commented.

“She’s soothing,” Adrian agreed.

After a moment, he said, “You are used to being in charge, aren’t you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, I was listening to the way you talked to the guy Jim. Is he your job superintendant?”

“Yep. And? What? Do I sound bossy?”

“No, oh no, not at all! You sound confident! Even just now, the way you told me to pick the music. And the way you came out to me, like right away, giving me an option. You say what you mean, and you mean what you say. You are a ‘straight shooter.’ That’s an expression my dad uses. It’s a great compliment.”

“Well, thanks then, Adrian. Your capacity to admire is a great gift, if I may return a compliment.”

“You may!” Adrian smiled his dazzling smile, adding, “and thank you. My mom says that about me too.”

They drove without talking for a while more, soon surmounting the pass and beginning to head down the steep hill that led to the lower part of the great central valley of California. In twenty or so miles it would be flat, farm country for a good six hundred more. It was a long drive to Mount Shasta. Nathan had planned on leaving home early, but he had a hard time breaking away from the demands of his business. Against his better judgement, he went in to the yard first; there, he found himself beset with the needs and demands of his crews. He was not able to leave until after ten. They would reach Bakersfield around noon. From Los Angeles, it was an ten hour drive with occasional stops. He did not want it to be dark when he got to camp. He always hated having to set up a camp in the dark. He was cutting it close.

The music filled the silence, but was a comfortable silence. Adrian occasionally thumb-typed away on his phone. He was fast at that skill – a skill Nathan had never mastered. He did not ask what Adrian was texting. He figured Adrian would tell him if he wanted to.

As they approached the outskirts of good old, grungy Bakersfield, Adrian finally spoke up. “So your partner? If you don’t mind me asking? What was his name? How old was he? What did he die of?”

“I don’t mind. It’s good to talk about him. His name was Brian. He was sixty-nine. He died of pancreatic cancer.”

“Like Steve Jobs?”

Nathan’s voice remained calm and flat as he said to his beautiful travel mate, “Yeah. It was a fucking nightmare, Adrian! He was in and out of hospitals and treatments for years. We’d beat it, and then it would come back. The chemo and radiation basically trashed him anyway, so even in remission, he’d lost the ability to do the things we loved. By the time the end came, he was just about ready to blow his brains out. He told me it was a relief to die. He said he was looking forward to it.”

“Wow. That’s really intense, man. I’m sorry.”

Once agin, Adrian scored points. His way of simply acknowledging Nathan’s pain showed an endearing sense of natural empathy. Nathan merely said, “Thanks. We had our time in the sun, man, and it was a great time. I wouldn’t trade the world for a second of it, but now, that time has come and gone.”

“I hope it won’t bother you, me saying it, but I thought I felt this dark edge to you, and I wondered what that was. Was that it?”

“I’m trying to recuperate. Yeah. I’m not sure what the next thing is. All I can tell you is that getting out into the woods and being in nature really helps. I don’t need time to think. I need time to not think! And no, it doesn’t bother me. You’ve been scoring points with me all morning. Your curiosity is refreshing. Thank you for asking.”

Adrian nodded. “So you won’t mind me asking how old you are?”

Nathan smiled wickedly. “No. I don’t mind your asking.”

“I notice you didn’t answer!”

“Ah, you are ever the keen observer, my lad! So tell me, how old do you think I am?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to figure that out. I get mixed signals! Which do you want, honesty or bullshit?”

“You know the answer.”

“OK! Here goes! You asked for it!”

“I did, yes.”

Having passed through a few miles of derelict oil pumps, they were in Bakersfield proper. There was not much to see from the highway but the big signs advertising gas, food, or lodging. Nathan knew that the view from freeways rarely revealed the intimate aspects of any cities, but Bakersfield was particularly adept at hiding her humble virtues – the little lakes and parks, her pretty neighborhoods, and the general, hospitable, friendliness of tough, farm country, people.

Suddenly, Nathan’s “copdar” pinged. He slowed down and was soon rewarded by the sight of a CHP cruiser blazing by.

He smiled to himself over that as Adrian continued his earlier exposition, “See, you seem like one of those guys who’s older than he looks. I mean that as a compliment. You talk like a guy who is used to being in command. You don’t take any shit, but you’re old enough to not really want to give any shit either, like an old man, not trying to impress, not trying to score points, so there is that confidence again.”

He paused, looking at Nathan in his quizzical way. He appeared to be studying Nathan’s reactions. To encourage him, Nathan said, “Yeah. Fair enough. And pretty cool, actually. Thanks? Go on?”

“By your face though, you could definitely pass for a guy in his thirties. Mid-thirties, but probably late thirties.”

“Uh huh.”

“But your hands! You have old hands! But that makes sense if you’ve been a guy who works with his hands, and may I ask, what happened to your left hand?”

In the gay scene, Nathan’s missing fingers had always been off-putting to those who needed absolutely pristine bodies. He chuckled. A lot of people were afraid to ask. He was missing his little finger, most of his ring finger, and the tip of his index finger.

“Short version: Got shot off by a shotgun messing around as a kid, Adrian. It kept me out of the military though. Long version: Some other time!”

Adrian, ever the consumate “scorer of points,” then did something magnificent.

“Can I see it?”

“Sure.” Nathan reached across his front and let Adrian look. But Adrian did more than look. He held his hand and probed the stumps with his fingers. It was their first real physical contact.

“Hngh,” he grunted. “That’s kinda interesting. Kinda badass. That’s not so bad. Has it given you trouble?”

“More social than physical. So many gays are hung up on the physical. But it has served as a filter to weed out superficial people. Brian thought it a blessing rather than a curse.”

“Wow. That’s pretty cool!” He let go of Nathan’s hand.

“I noticed it right away when you were lifting up my bike. I didn’t want to say anything, but I saw you did not try to hide it at all, and I liked that.”

Fuck. I am falling in love. “Good. So you know you made it through a filter. Congratulations. But you were saying my hands looked old? Yeah. I know. They’ve taken a beating!”

“Yeah. No offense, right?”

“No offense.”

Since it was lunchtime, the traffic in town was heavy. It did not slow to a crawl as it would in LA, but it did slow down to below the speed limit. Central California Valley drivers, Nathan had noticed many times, were fairly erratic, speeding up, slowing down, changing lanes, driving at radically different speeds from each other. They were not as accustomed to driving on freeways as were drivers in Southern California. He stayed in the left lane as far from the entrances and exits as he could get, keenly observing, driving defensively rather than aggressively.

“OK,” Adrian continued. “Young face; old hands. But fit! I mean your belly is flat as a gymnast. No paunch at all. So you work at it. I dig it. You’re in way better shape and look younger than my dad, and he’s forty-seven. That’s my guess.”

“Impressive, dude. Dead on the money!”

Adrian grinned his big grin. He added, “But like I said, you actually look younger than that. You totally look like a movie star. Anyhow, I’d fuck you.”

There it was.

He said it so cheerfully and casually.

Nathan looked over at him and smiled thinly. “Glad to hear I’m still considered fuckable, for an old man, that is.”

“Ha ha!”

Nathan liked his guys saucy. It looked like he had found one.

“So how old do you think I am, Nathan?”

“Same thing, Adrian. You are older than you look. You could pass for sixteen, but you converse like someone in his mid-twenties. My guess is nineteen.”

“Yep, exactly,” Adrian quickly agreed, adding, “I’ll be twenty in September.”

“Of course,” Nathan nodded, glad to hear he was of legal age, “I had a good clue when you were talking about college.”

“Yeah.”

“But definitely fuckable.”

“I’m glad we agree on that, Nathan.”

The kid was slick. It was no longer a matter of “whether.” It was a matter of, “when and where.”

“In what way, by who, and to whom,” remained to be seen.


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