Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:23:19 -0400 From: TCHASE MCPHEE Subject: FiRE iSLAND BiKiNiS ~ ?MAkiNG WaRRioRs? 13 The story below is a work of fiction, set in the format of reality. Any resemblances to real people, alive or in the hereafter, is entirely coincidental in nature. It is not meant to accurately reflect upon persons, of continents or islands, in countries, counties, cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, streets, cul-de-sacs, nor governmental or non-governmental areas, which the story is staged. If a sexual scene involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then why are you here? Seriously, if guy-to-guy sex stuff makes you barf or is going to screw up your mind, you should not read this story. Various states and countries have various rules regarding reading or viewing `adult material'. It is up to the reader to research this subject, abiding by their own laws. The pages of this story contain `adult material', intended for an `adult audience'. Bypass this warning at your own risk. % Sexual safety matters. Remember guys, this is fiction. In real life, use protection. Hey dudes, if you have enjoyed reading NiFTy stories as much as I have, over the years, consider adding some support for `internet $pace'. http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html ^o^ Concluding remarks ~ reading this story could make you stiff or gooey, so I would suggest not reading it at work... just sayin'! :) % FiRE iSLAND BiKiNiS ~ `MAkiNG WaRRioRs' 13 WriTten by T. Chase McPhee ^o^ % On the return trip of the ferry, Jay feeling a little better, his wheels almost back again on familiar turf, turns to say, "I'm sorry I disappointed you, Dirk." His smiling face dragging Jay's chin down, because of falling into a squat, something Dirk has been getting a lot of practice, by doing, he cuddles, "Me? Disappointed? Why should I be, when we both know they wouldn't be having any cubs like me at affairs such as this?" It drew a bigger smile to Jay's face, but knew Dirk wasn't fooling him one bit, "I thought you said you liked muscular, smooth dudes?" A quick shrug of both shoulders, Dirk says, "I like'm all!" He realizes it's caught himself wrapped up in a little lie, Jay getting him off the hook, by not laboring on the bod issue, "Do you think Alex will invite me again?" "What happens to you is not really your fault, you know?" "You understand stuff like that... like, what's wrong with me?" Jay puts it to Dirk. "Of course. I do have multiple degrees under my belt?" Jay's right hand drops off the rail of his chair, checking for those degrees, "Lemme see!" By his humor, Dirk could tell Jay was getting back to normal, almost in time, because the ferry was feet from the dock. As he strolled Jay over the planking, he says, "Still, it was nice of Alex to take your friends along with him?" "Yeah," Jay agrees, "I bet Alex would give his right arm for someone." "Like your right arm did for me?" Dirk says. Jay had to do a check, "Right. I think I see the pup tent!" Of course, last night, as the two lay in the same bed, Jay was checking Dirk out and knew, probably there wasn't enough stimulation, or the fact they were `public', the reason Dirk didn't need a 5-man puptent! "Oh good," Dirk tends to incite malice, "now that you're not going with Alex, we can work out at Warrior One!" "Go ahead," Jay is ahead of him, "you can go, but today's my day off!" "Only one problem with that, boyfriend," Dirk walks around the chair, combing his fingers over the top of Jay's head, "me without you, is not going to work." A little dumb in the love dept., Jay asks, "Really? I'm your boyfriend?" Putting on airs, Dirk says, "Sure. Boy," Dirk holds up thumb and index finger, like holding the word, "and friend. Boyfriend!" This was one thing Jay had labored his brain over, speaking his mind about his own failure to get it up, "You're going to get sick of jerking yourself off, or worse, not shooting at all?" Dirk knew it to be true, but figured he would persevere, but sidetracks, "How else are going to test to see if you feel anything, if `you' don't have anything to hard over?" "You got a point there, but still..." "Hey, when we have a problem, we'll deal with it. Right now," Dirk rubs his tummy, "how about some lunch?" They agreed on Westside Market, since they were right there, Jay leaning over one side, "Mm-mm, blueberries!" Bending over to pick up a little plastic shopping basket, they hear from behind Dirk's back, "Mm-mm, now there's two ripe melons!" It's at this moment Dirk realizes, when he bent over, his pants have scooted down a little, probably showing his hairy asscrack, but more, recognizing the voice, "In town for gay pride, Professor? "No. I live here," Arne says. Jay, he was already admiring Arne Fracao's furry front, even though he has seen it before. At the time, HOODWINK'd was kind of dark. Right now, with the sun shining off all that chest and stomach covering, even dropping his shades to nose, he could swear the reflection was blinding. "Still working out, I see?" Dirk taps the back of his hand against Arne's abs. "Yep," Arne says, nicely mocking, "more than you're apparently doing?" "Oh really?" Dirk says, pulling up his tee shirt, "I challenge you to a gut-punching match any time!" drops the shirt. Seeing Dirk breaking a two-pack, even though he would still classify him as a `cub', Arne says, "Perhaps... uh, you've come to shop?" Dirk laughs, "Not unless they're giving everything away!" "I know you're going to be shocked to hear this, but now I'm the owner of Westside Market!" "You?" Dirk questions, "I thought you were head of some boy's dormitory, connected with..." "Nah," Arne's hand magically wipes the slate clean, "gave up that life. After all, I'm not getting any younger and have got to think of my future as a retiree!" Cutting him down, Dirk says, "Better hurry up. 5 years will go by fast, Arne!" "Pulling a psychology joke on me, Dirk?" While they caught up on old times, Jay not only was admiring the blueberries, but also the dude at the end of the row, trimming cabbages. Seeing he could roll away on his own, Dirk and Arne with their backs to him and the sun, he twirled around and made his getaway. The closer he got, the more he smiled, seeing the dude wore sandals, shorts, and only an apron for a top garment. Watching the cabbages shoot out of a bin, carved and placed on the counter, Jay butt in, "You're good at that!" Stopped, using the knife as a pointer, the dude says, "I have to be. I work here!" Well, this wasn't any uniform Jay would find on an employee, back at the surf shop. Even Warrior One employees, they were required to wear the orange shirt, Warrior One embossed on the front, sneakers and socks, "You work here?" Jay was surprised, asking, "What happened to Jose?" "As I hear it, when Miguel sold the place to Arne, he went back to the mainland, Jose going with him." Being observant, Jay recognizes, "I know you." Having starting lopping, stopping, the dude says, "I know you too, but..." "What?" Jay pressures. "Promise not to get mad at me?" "Only if you tell me your name first?" "Kiernan," Kiernan stabs a cabbage, wipes both hands on his apron, "and what I was going to say, but kind of chicken out, because I only recognized you because of the chair?" Pranking Kiernan, Jay's face dropped the cheery disposition. "Oh shit!" Kiernan replies. Jay smiles, "Gotcha!" Finding out Jay is Jay, Kiernan says, "You did, you did! Man, I thought you were going to get up and... oh, sorry." "That's okay," Jay says, Kiernan being cute and all, "if you're not around a guy like me 24/7, you don't think to not say stuff." Being nicely mean, Arne comes over, "Done with the cabbages yet, Kiernan?" "On it," Kiernan says. "Talk to you later, Jay." Going inside, Jay met a couple of the other guys whom worked there, guys not there when Miguel owned the market, remarking about something which has not changed, "Oh cool, you still have these?" Jay almost runs over a foot to get to a table. "Yeah," Arne stops, cups an elbow in his hand, sums it all up, "a lot of people go for them, so it's one thing I didn't get rid of." "I'm one of those people," Jay says of the shelves of colorful pots of different shapes, cactus, succulents and other plants. "Me too," Dirk smiles. "Right," Jay gives Dirk a cocky smile, "like, I've seen them all over the place at home!" "Well," he says, a little flustered, "I've always wanted to start a collection?" "Nash!" Arne calls out. "Yes, sir, what can I help you with?" Seeing this dude, Jay could find many things to keep this `Nash' occupied! He studied `Nash', whom looked to be about 18 or 19. Jay was always wrong when it came to judging height, since he wasn't `up there'. In comparison to Kiernan, Jay knew Nash was shorter. Then, startled out of his reverie of arranging stats, "Hi. I'm Nash. My boss says I'm to wait on you." Jay didn't want to let go of Nash's hand on account of he was so damn cute, but didn't want to remain obvious, "Cool!" Again, Dirk escapes, talking with Arne, talking the royal tour of the place. First plant Nash picks up, says, "This one is kind of cool... owch!" "The little sucker pricked ya, huh?" Jay knew very well how stubborn a cactus can be to leave the family! Setting it down, Nash says, "I think it broke off in my finger." "Gimme, here," Jay says, motioning for Nash to hand over his hand. Nash hesitates. "I promise to be gentle?" Jay's angelic face looks upwards. A soft smile of promise, Nash surrenders his pricked finger. It was a little awkward, Jay figuring out the best position, "Here, come stand behind me and put your arm over my shoulder." In his attempt to simplify, little did Jay know something was poking through the back of his chair, until noticing something poking through the back of his chair. Still, it did not take his mind too much off the matters at hand, Jay performing some easy surgery, pressing the needle right out of Nash's finger, "There ya go!" "Thanks!" Nash says, coming around the front, examining his finger. "It doesn't even hurt." "I'm a good surgeon," Jay replies. Though, he was amazed there was no tent, thinking Nash must've gone down quick! Then, there, with sudden appearance, stands Joseph, "Gotcha back!" "Joey?!" Jay says in a blaming tone. "Sorry," Kiernan says, a smile on his face, one which asks forgiveness. Well, it left open a window for Jay, "Not only do you prank in bad taste, Joey, but you have to drag the innocent in on your stoopid, moronic pranks?" Leaning on the counter, Joseph replies, after a laugh, "At least some of us thinks it's funny," he laughs again. Jay would have the last laugh, as usual the case, sometimes Joseph doing something zany, which threw the ball over to Jay's favor. However, this was unplanned, Joseph's own undoing, his ass leaning far too close to the same cactus which pricked Kiernan, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Oh-shit! What was that?!" Leaping off the table, Jay and Kiernan exchange looks, followed by laughing, watching Joseph jump like responding to a jumprope, holding his ass, as if some dude slapped a leather strap across his cheeks! "Such sweet revenge!" Jay claims it, applauding Joseph's little dance to a sore ditty. Turning in his chair, Jay faces Joseph's profile, turned sideways, the big muscle-bear looking over his shoulder. It was both comical and erotic, Joseph in one of his signature leather garments. Could be either a leather vest or leather and chain-linked harness, today the vest. Jay licked his lips, even though he preferred feeling a man's hairy bod with hands. Wrong place, wrong time to do so, Jay settles for the humor approach, "Looking to see who's poking you in the back, Joey?" Even though an alpha sort of guy, Kiernan bows out, "I'm keeping away from that one!" In reality, Kiernan already knew Joseph, not a stranger to the occasional fling at The Spin Club, of which Joseph slips, breaks the confidentiality clause, "Oh really, `Master Kier'?" Jay knew something passed between the two, Kiernan condemning Joseph with just a look. "Oops!" Joseph covers his mouth. "Sorry!" "Oh, you will be," Kiernan says, with promise! More dominant than both, Jay speaks up, "Any of you guys interested in helping me pick out some cactus and stuff?" He owned both of them at this point, Joseph caving in first, "Of course, Your Worship," he quotes Star Wars, where the princess gets pampered by the pauper, "what will ye be needin' Master Vader?" Dirk, happening by with Arne, catches Jay saying, "There's so many to choose from." Instead of Dirk, Jay turns to Kiernan, right at his side, "Which do you think I should take, Kier?" Joking, Kiernan says, "Any, except the one that got Joey in the ass!" "Oh," Dirk turns his head towards Joseph, "I was wondering why he was playing with himself!" Joseph, listening in, threatens, "Yeah, well come down to The Spin Club some night and I'll show you how the `big' boys play!" Jay had a feeling the two have played together before, being Dirk was no stranger to HOODWINK'd and the cellar beneath, his boyfriend rebuking Joseph, "Jay, have you ever seen a grizzly squirm?" "In your dreams, Dirk," Joseph jumps in with. Same token, he informs them, "I've got to go have this taken care of, before I get an infection." Victim of pranking Jay, Kiernan says, "I can take care of it, Joseph?" Joining in on the scam, Jay offers friend's advice, "Or you can stop by tonight and we can watch Kier pull out the thorns, Joey?" Swatting them all away, Joseph says, "Yeah, right," leaving, "see ya later!" Jay turns to Dirk, "Cool! Do you think he'll show?" Dirk says, "I was under the impression you knew Joseph longer than me?" He did. Long before Dirk set foot on Fire Island, Joseph had already established his presence, which could have been in a doctor's office, jail cell at the small police station, security company he worked for, giving way to private detective, then the island police force. Joseph's powerful physique enabled him many free services, like passage on the ferry, to and fro, and now, finding out, as security manager at Korbeau's, the ability to work, but not be present on the grounds most of the time! Leaving out most of the gritty details, Jay left the explanation simple, "Joey was a big help to Jare and me, when our folks passed away. We, Jare, could've had a tough time with lawyers, but Joey was always there to smooth out the loose ends. We owe a lot to him, but never asks to be paid back. Instead, he's a good friend and our friendship is all he cares about." "That's really awesome," Kiernan replies. "Well," he holds up his wounded finger, "I guess I owe you a lot for saving my finger from the chopping block!" Being observant, his predicament at times being a positive outcome, sitting, he could very easily check out a guy who was standing. Although finding out it was Joseph's finger and not Kiernan's hard tip poking him in the back, his wandering eyes have been honed in on what lay between the simple apron and Kiernan's chest. Dark in between, sometimes Kiernan's movements would allow some light to enter the garment, giving the ability to check out some light chest fur covering. Tied at the waist, the apron was too taut to check out, if there was any happy trail, or... "You don't really want this one, do you?" Kiernan holds up the tiny pot containing the `pricker'. Treating it with kindness, Jay says, "He might have family and they would miss him?" Kiernan cracked a little smile, saying, "You're a special one, Jay!" Occasionally a go-go boy at HOODWINK'd, plus several other jobs in his latter teen years, some Kiernan was not too proud of, he had never met a guy, personally, in a wheelchair. Whether it was right to think it or not, Kiernan just didn't know, he wondered if it was right to think, could he get a guy like Jay alone, in bed and... By the way Kiernan posed the remark, Jay, again starved for gay affection, puts on a badboy attitude, "Haven't had that line used on me yet!" Not allowing Kiernan, who is lost for words anyway, get a word in, "Special, huh? How special would you mean?" Catching Kiernan with a cactus pot in each hand, the proprietor asks his employee, "Any luck yet?" Being cordial, Jay asks, "Am I holding up business, keeping Kier's attention?" Little did Jay, nor Kiernan know it, Joseph, whom walked out, went down the lane a few feet, decided he didn't need no doctor, had heard Arne mention to one of the other guys who worked there, the `Nash' kid, tell him to go help Kiernan, to help, that the guy in the wheelchair was holding up business. At the time, Arne had no clue that Jay and Joseph were good, good friends. This was before Joseph got pricked in the ass, but soon enough, Joseph had reamed out Arne, figuratively and in the real sense, telling him if he ever slighted `any' handicapped person again, he would haul his ass down to The Spin Club and really fuck him up! Arne, backed into the corner of his own stockroom, had responded with `Name a time!' Joseph had suspected, the former dormitory chief, housing dancers and other workers from HOODWINK'd and The Spin Club, used his position of chaperone a backdrop for his own personal gain and through this little incident, discovered a new summer playmate... "There's so many cactus and succulent to choose from," Jay claims. Arne had no choice, but to stare at Kiernan all day long, thinking about his succulent fruit. Never showing it, it was quite the opposite, Jay calling Dirk's attention away, from across the market, eyes on Nash, "What do you think, Dirk?" Dirk didn't answer. "Dirk!" "What?" Dirk finally answers Jay. Knowing Nash was standing over by the melons, Jay says, "I feel like having watermelon. Do you want to pick one out for us?" Looking back and forth, like a lizard, to Jay, then switch off to Nash, Dirk stutters, "Uh, sure." Arne didn't have much tolerance, had to run off and take care of himself. "Now, where were we?" Jay play on the sentiments of his own wants. Kiernan comes up with a brilliant idea, "If you can't decide, you could always open a greenhouse and take them all?" He knew there wouldn't be room, but Jay had ulterior motives, saying, "Yeah, cool. Can you help carry them home with me?" It made Kiernan smile. He wasn't sure if he could get it on with a dude in a wheelchair, but the chair itself, or the lack of abilities which put Jay in the chair, wasn't stopping Kiernan from doing what his heart was telling him, "Well," he stopped, thought, meaning it might mean missing out on half a day's paycheck, "sure. I can do that." At HOODWINK'd, dancing up on a cube, the 19-year old knew the skimpy briefs amplified his soft package. The first time Kiernan put on `the uniform', he frowned upon the idea of his fuzzy pubes showing, but more than hair, the outline of balls and his cock, soft and big, curling up, base camp at the bottom of the briefs, lip right below the elastic attachment, all with the ability of the fabric to tug, showing the tip of his cock, the flange, more prominent, larger than life. It's not that Kiernan ever viewed himself in the mirror, clothed or naked, but a pair of briefs fitting 2 sizes too small, well he couldn't deny it gave himself an extra kick, viewing the package, surrounded in white. He always smiled when pulling the elastic waist away from where treasure trail melded with pubes, looking down into the mass of hair and flesh, comparing how it looked on the inside and out, coming to the conclusion, `What a magnet this is gonna be!' For a boy from Iowa, this was strange stuff. Like, back on the farm, and anywhere in the vicinity, a guy never did `faggot' stuff like that. In the mirror next to him, it wasn't the first time Kiernan had checked out what lie between a dude's legs, but saw he wasn't the only one. Comparison became a hobby, which sometimes got him into trouble, sightseeing... nothing which he couldn't fake himself out, fooling those who wanted to make more out of branding Kiernan `non-straight'! Being he's never been friendly to a guy in a wheelchair, Kiernan was a little nervous, rushing around, getting a two-tiered cart, carefully placing cactus and succulent pots on either shelf, asking Jay, "Should we classify them?" "You know the difference?" Jay asks. "Nope!" Kiernan smiles, "Except, some will get you pricked and others, not?" "Oh good," they hear, out of the mouth of another employee, "take them all, Kier!" At first Jay was in love with Kiernan. Now, the new guy... "Jay, this is Tommy Piani. The assistant boss." First obsession, when being introduced to a dude, Jay had a formula all in place, depending on the guy, put two and two together, `Piani' + `Italian' = Tommy's got to be hairy! However, the outcome would have to wait, until opportunity presented itself, on account of, Tommy wasn't wearing the skimpy apron, where Jay could steal a glance inside the slacking part, between armpit and waist. A hint of chest, in the v of Tommy's shirt, shown he was smooth. Even when Tommy bent over to shake Jay's hand, looking in the cave of the shirt, between pecs, it turned up `smooth'. Giving up pursuit of what Jay termed `a hobby', he at least could not resist the smile, "Hi Tommy. What's up?" He had no inclination to where Tommy's sexual preferences lie, but when Tommy turns to Kiernan, Kiernan spells it out for Jay's benefit, "Uh, I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, Tommy!" The hairy thing wearing off, glee takes over, Jay thinking, `Cool! Tommy's gay!' Guilt riddled, Tommy throws off his own inability to deal with guys always trying to pick him up, "Sorry about that." Since he already got the message, Jay says, "What? Sorry that you're gay?" he laughs. Turning back to Kiernan, Tommy blames, "You told him?" "No, imbecile," Kiernan puts it back on Tommy, "like, when are you going to get it through your head... you're fuckin' hot?" If Tommy was the assistant boss and Kiernan was speaking to him like that, Jay wondered if Kiernan would feel Tommy's backlashing. He also was under the impression, Tommy could still be in the closet, assuring, "If you don't want people to know, I can keep a secret, Tommy?" The title of assistant boss didn't mean a thing between friends. Tommy was semi-in the closet, trying to step his feet outside, permanently, which is why he took a big, big chance one night and ventured inside HOODWINK'd. Five minutes inside, having parked his shirt at the door, rubbing shoulders with other half-naked men gave him such a yearning to be out. Yet, at a gay club, he felt no remorse, nor reluctance to be whom God intended him to be. First time in a gay bar, he took everything at face value, smiling back at a guy for feeling his package, while waiting for a drink to be served up. He questioned the dude, after hearing his proposition of, `downstairs', his look of `like, what the hell is that?' enough to make the other guy shy away. It happened to be Joseph Rocco! Going into his first gay bar experience, Tommy was open to anything, but not knowing what `downstairs' meant, he left it to next time. Good thing too, or else he would not have met the first gay man he was instantly in love with, Kiernan's swaying bod up on the cube. Without going into too much detail, like about the dude who wanted to have kinky sex, downstairs, Tommy told Jay how he and Kiernan happened to meet. "I kind of felt awkward, afterwards, getting to know Tommy," Kiernan stresses. "Yeah," Tommy smiles, "imagine your first time at a gay bar and this dancer, who's pubes are at waist height, grabs your head in two hands and then grinds his cock and balls into your face?!" "Oh man," Jay says with sad, whining attitude, "I wish it were me. Do you think you can dance for me sometime, Kier?" They both laugh, Tommy saying, "I can dance too?" Okay, so Tommy could dance, but somehow, a cubby type of guy definitely had different moves than a lithe stringbean! "That's good," Jay tells him. Sarcastically, Kiernan rolls his eyes, "Yeah, but you better stop before those big hips wreck the joint!" Little did Jay know, but would eventually find out, why Kiernan could sass his boss and get away with it. Always attracted to guys his own physical build, trim, muscular, developing sixpack, Kiernan had an awakening of his own, Tommy's pecs like melons, moving up and down to the rhythms of the night. There were tons of `delicious' guys, but Kiernan's sudden pangs made him lust, thirst for Tommy's bare chest, in particular those wide, pinkish circles around eraser-size nubs! Hearing Kiernan was ready to roll the cart over to Jay's frat-cave, Tommy felt obligated to tag along. Thrilled to have two new friends, Jay, seeing Dirk, still in conversation with Arne, asks, "Hey! Toss me the house keys!" It was Jay's way of saying he was ready to go, which made Dirk hustle around produce to get to him. "I didn't mean to tear you away from Arne?" Jay says to him, ending with a stiff smile. Dirk says, "I know I should have been paying more attention to you?" Showing up with some brown paper, to wrap some of the plants in, Kiernan says, "We'll just wrap some of these prickers up and then we can be on our way." "Oh," Dirk says, looking at the two and then to Jay. He felt like a sap, but somehow, Jay was under the impression, he was doing Dirk a favor, saying, "If you want to stay and finish your conversation with Arne?" "Really? You don't mind?" It was all Jay needed to know. Last night, sleeping together, sugar plums were dancing in his head, but he knew the sour grapes would return. Not blaming, he knew, like the rest of the gay population, a guy needed an outlet. Solo JO's were okay, but not the best of a solution for beating off, "Of course not, Dirk." "Which one of you are pushing the chair?" Dirk asks. Neither of the two knew, Kiernan saying, "I don't think that's been decided." Tommy volunteers, "I'll handle the cart," snickering, "I've got more weight to push it!" Jay didn't think Tommy obese, just nicely plump. After his good friend, Joseph, straightening him out about the bear-cub-otter and more, scene, after that it was just `research'! "Well, okay, come around here then," Dirk calls Kiernan, explaining to him the ins and outs of wheelchair navigation. Suddenly they hear Kiernan say, "Like, oh my god!" "Whatsamatter?" Jay moves his head to the side, his eyes trying to peer over the back of the chair. Dirk's face was beet red, apologizing, "Sorry `bout that," when he had reached to the far, lower side of the chair, accidentally patting Kiernan's crotch with the back of his hand, "I didn't mean it. I swear!" Things don't happen without a reason, Jay finding out some more history between his two new friends, Tommy saying, "You putting the moves on my boyfriend, Dirk?" Again, Dirk, like fearing for his life, "I didn't mean. I swear to you!" Jay thought Dirk's reaction was priceless, hands out in the open, like a cop making an arrest, jaw dropped open... "Chill," Kiernan says. "Tommy's just practicing his acting skills on you, for when he goes," looks at Tommy, "downstairs!" "Hey, someone told me they saw you here!" It was, "Jare?" Jay questions, looking up at his brother. "I thought you were at the store?" He was, Jared on his way to the flagship store in Jersey, having Bron make a u-turn, after receiving his brother's canceling out call, "I was, but..." "I know," Jay knew the familiar time and time again, "you had to make sure I was okay. I'm okay, okay?" "I think he's okay," Bron says. Knowing his brother elected Bron the new manager of his surf shop, Jay asks, "Who's minding the store?" "Jay, there's been a change in plans," Jared softly says, which causes everyone else to wander away. "Bron is not going to be manager of the surf shop." "Don't you want to be..." Jay fired a question off to Bron, only to find out, "Where'd he go?" Squatting down in his suit, Jared says, "I'm not sure if I mentioned, we're now the owners of Kermit's Nook?" "I know," Jay says, waiting to here other news. "It's not going to run itself, so I've moved Bron over to the Nook." It didn't phase Jay much, except, "The Nook, like, who's nook is it now that Kermit's not owning it?" "Um, that's something for us to determine." Thinking on it, a tiny little detail, Jared says, "Which, maybe, it might be a good little detail for you to work on, for us?" Jay finally gets it, "You mean it's mine, too?" "Do I need to give you a nougie, to remind you we both own the marine stores, the surf shop, Warrior One and..." "Okay, I get it, I get it, moron," Jay reacts. Forgetting, Jay asks, "So, how come you're here, again?" "You called me, remember?" "Oh, right, but I didn't say you had to come?" Jay says. "Right," Jared stands, sarcastically brings up the past, "like I didn't have to come and rescue you and Jake from Bartosz's dungeon devices?" "I wasn't me. It was Jake's balls in the balance, remember?" "Oh really?" Jared stands, arms crossing his middle, "Did it ever occur to you what was going to happen when Bartosz got tired of playing with your buddy?" "Um," Jay says somberly, after gulping, "yeah, it did occur to me. Thanks for saving my balls too, bro!" "Your welcome. Now, is it safe to leave you alone for a minute?" Jared asks, looking around. "I'll be fine." "Where's Dirk?" Jay smiles, saying, "Probably in the storeroom with Arne." "What?!" Jared blows a fuse. "Don't worry. I got my new friends to take care of me." "Friends? What friends?" his brother questions him. Soon as Tommy and Kiernan were done studying Jared's ass from afar, after he stood, they casually began walking over to the cart, Kiernan announcing, "He means us. I'm Kiernan and this is Tommy." In Jared's opinion, Tommy was cute, but Kiernan way beyond calling it, "So, you're Jay's new friend?" he shook Kiernan's hand. Jay rolled his eyes. "Me too," Tommy nudges his boyfriend out of the way to shake Jared's hand, wanting to make his chance at getting know the hot, Matt Bomer lookalike too! Out of the picture for the moment, Jay wheeled around, knowing, as always, his brother checking out his new friends. Though, he knew he had already won over Kiernan, Jared bonding with a sole handshake. Jay smiled, just thinking, `Jare's gone and done it to me again,' meaning another hot ticket to paradise being stolen away! Then again, on the other foot, Jay thinks, `What paradise?' "Looking for something else?" Nash asks, placing apples on the stand. "Yeah," Jay flirts, "got any apples?" Smiling, Nash says, "Sorry. We're fresh out!" Picking up an apple, Jay says, "Does Arne know you don't know what an apple looks like?" Nash asks, "How many apples do you want?" "I dunno," Jay says, not in the market for apples, more bananas! "Well, are you going to bake a pie or want them just for eating?" Nash asks. "I just moved into a new place. I don't know how the kitchen works yet. You better give me some for eating," Jay says. As he picks out some Granny Smith's, "These aren't the sweetest, but they are versatile. You can eat them or pack them. If you want a good recipe for apple pie, I can share my grandmother's recipe." Jay wishes Nash would share more than Granny's recipe, "Have you made it? Is it foolproof?" "Sure. Dozens of times. Not a baker, are you?" Nash asks, holding up the brown bag. "Sure. I'm a gourmet chef. I know how to use a can opener and a saucepan!" "A multi-tasker, eh?" Nash jokes. "Okay," Jared interrupts, "I'm on my way out, before I never get to the store, bro." Captivated by Nash and his sandy-brown hair, rather fluffy haircut surrounding a bright smile, Jay replies, "Nash knows how to make delicious apple pie. You should hire him at your nook." It still didn't sink in yet, Jared replying, "It's not only mine, remember?" he says in leaving. "Get his info. See you for dinner!" Already a crush on Jay, Nash says, "I know how to cook dinner, too?" "Great. Then you're hired to cook dinner for us tonight," Jay hesitating, "that is, if you want to?" As it came to be, Tommy couldn't leave the store, but Kiernan braved rickety sidewalks and other obstacles, which Jay zipped around. For a four-wheeled cart, each wheel wanting to head off in a direction of its own, Jay could only laugh at Kiernan's cursing! "Are we there yet?" Kiernan asks, having removed one wheel from a tiny gutter. "Over there, on the right," Jay points to a concrete barrier, giving way to an ornate iron walkway. "Wow, you're friend has a nice place," Kiernan meant, an area of the island where you had to have a hefty bank roll to live. "Wait till you see the inside." Taken the same way Dirk entered, they didn't head for the front door, but rather the alleyway, Jay asking, "Can you stop for a minute and help me up this one step?" It wasn't a step, never intended to be that way, but an inch of wood, sunken over the years. "Not a problem," Kiernan abandoned the cart, which he went back to after helping Jay. "I can make it the rest of the way on my own." Well, Jay thought he could, only the sharp turn around the back of house, he made a blunder. Still unfamiliar with the outdoors turf, he goes around a planter, "Oh shi-i-i-it!" Kiernan saw the whole thing and because he had quick reflexes, was right on it, soon as he saw Jay's chair tip towards the side of the pool. Sneakers, apron and all, he dove into the pool, swimming to where Jay was submerged. Good thing Dirk had gone over the specifics, Kiernan knowing where to release the chest strap. In less than a minute he had Jay to the surface, rowing towards the edge with one arm, comforting, "I've got you Jay. Hold on... I'll have you out in a second!" Later on, Kiernan would not be able to explain it, how he got out of the water first, without Jay sinking again and then hauled Jay out. "Oh shit!" Kiernan said of Jay's condition. Not expired, Jay was making gurgling sounds of which Kiernan, with some lifeguard experience, was not sure what was happening. He went right for his cell to dial 911. It was soaked, not working. "Shit!" he exclaims, after digging in Jay's pants for his cell, finding the same. Running to the back of the house, to gain entry, Kiernan flips around towards the pool, saying, "The keys." With quick decision, instead of worrying about finding the keys, whether Jay had them on him or at the bottom of the pool, Kiernan picks up an wrought iron chair and crashes it through one of the double-doored entryways. He uses the same chair to clear the shards, yelling back to Jay as he tosses the chair aside, "Hold on Jay. I'm getting help!" Fortunately, the house phone was remote, carrying it out to the pool as he dialed. By the time he reached Jay, he looked a little purple, a shiver to his presence. "Blankets," is all Kiernan could think of, finding not the coverings, but tons of towels, which he layered Jay's bod with, rolling one up for a pillow. "Yo! You the one who called?" They only needed one look, towards the opposite of the pool, Jay flat out on the ground, covered in colored towels, to see where their victim lay. "You guys came fast!" Kiernan checked out the man in uniform. Knowing this was an emergency and not a social call, "I don't know what's wrong," Kiernan tells them, standing there, drenched. "Let's take a look," the paramedic says, the other one helping him to unwrap the `mummy.' Of course, when Joseph overheard where his police buddy, on assignment, checking out a guest at Korbeau's, was headed, he froze, thinking, `I know that address!' He was all sweaty from running, a little out of breath, jogging out of the alleyway, yelling, "Oh my god, Jay!" Running around the pool, of course, it was clear as day and night, Jay's chair at the bottom of the pool. Looking above the surface, seeing towels around a human figure, Joseph at least sighed that Jay wasn't on the bottom or on the way to the morgue. Kiernan hadn't met Joseph, was surprised to find they all knew each other, which was cool because then he could find out how Jay was, without asking. "What happened, Jay?" Joseph squats down next to Jay. "Um, he can't answer you," Eric, the paramedic tells Joseph. Smirking, Joseph feels like a sap, "I wonder why?" seeing Jay breathing through a little plastic mask. "Is he on any kind of medication?" Eric quizzes. "He's got a problem with anxiety. I think he takes medicine for that," Joseph reports, gently rubbing Jay's arm, which, given the scenario, could be mistaken for an intimate moment. Then Joseph glances up, sees Jay's drenched friend, being questioned by a police officer, asking, "Who's he?" "Jay's hero," Eric replies, smiling. Next question, Joseph, who knows almost every professional on the island, asks Eric, "I haven't seen you around before?" Could have been misconstrued as a sassy remark, only a smile was attached, "Is there a reason why I should know you?" He was squatting down, didn't want his pants to start showing the package, Joseph keeping his cool, "I suppose, not unless you `want' to know me?" "You think I'm gay?" `Uh-oh,' Joseph thought, allowing his other senses to override rationality, "Uh, no, no, no, of course not!" "We need to get your friend out of these clothes. Do you think you can run inside and find something to change him into?" "Sure thing," Joseph accepts gladly. Walking away he asks, "I didn't get your name?" "I didn't get yours." "Joseph." He didn't get the paramedic's answer, but didn't press him, because he was working on Jay. While he was inside, searching through clothing, which he noticed could not possibly belong to Jay, Joseph made the call to Jared. For the second time today he had to have the limo driver make a u-turn on the NJ Turnpike! "His brother is on the way. He'll meet us at the hospital," Joseph says, clothes dangling from his finger tips. He noticed, Jay stripped down to nothing. "Great, but I don't think Jay needs to go to the hospital. Dr. Phillips, at the hospital, you know him?" "Of course. I know everyone," Joseph boasts. "You didn't know me?" he smiles up at Joseph. Placing arms parallel over his abs, tapping a foot, Joseph asks, "Well, am I ever gonna get the chance?" "Eric," Eric finally relinquishes to his identity. "What I was about to tell you, they're swamped at the hospital, something about 2 boats colliding. The doc says he'll make a quick house call. From my medical opinion, he doesn't think Jay is in any danger." Big relief to Joseph, exhaling. He wondered something else though, watching Eric look around, "What's up?" "I just wanted to tell you... I lied." "About what?" Joseph asks. "About me pretending to be straight?" A conversation could have turned in their favor had not Kiernan intervened, "How's Jay doing?" Now, there was someone else Joseph hadn't gotten to know yet, "I know `all' of Jay's friends, but I haven't met you?" "I'm Kiernan," is all he said, brushing Joseph aside, squatting to ask, "How's my buddy?" "Well!" Joseph acts like he was having a tissy-fit! In an instant he had recovered, seeing Dr. Phillips come from the alley, "Brick! Over here." Dr. Brick Phillips was built like a brick house, from his hair down to parts unknown. On occasion he would make house calls, knowing he could run faster than the portable wagon, a backpack clinging to his blades. Even though he didn't feel the need to explain taking his shirt off on the jog over there, "Hot one, today." "Are you sure Jay doesn't need to go to the hospital?" Joseph asks, concerned, even though he was scanning the doc's bod! "Nah. Just get some air into him, which I think Eric has administered and we'll sit with him for a while until he falls asleep," Brick ushers in his diagnosis. Regardless, everyone stood back, Dr. Phillips opening his back pack, pulling out his steth and some other stuff, which Joseph hadn't a clue to what they were about, but smiled, thinking how they could be put to use! Five seconds later, Joseph's cell is buzzing. Jared had called back, said he was tied up in traffic and as much as threatens Joseph not to leave until he gets there. Joseph says back to him, "Yeah, okay, but don't forget all these favors I'm doing for you. I'm keeping track!" Jared hung up! Leave it to Joseph, a guy who had connections, knew the 2 brothers who ran the glass place in Babylon, got on it right away and was happy to report, as they carried Jay inside, "This will be fixed before the night is over." And, as Jared had passed on to Joseph, he passes on to `Dr. Brick,' "You owe me one!" Not hesitant to speak his mind, the 31-year old doctor replies, "In your dreams, Joe!" Eric tells him, "My, aren't you the handyman?" "In more ways than one!" Joseph says proudly! Kiernan can only wonder, the doctor joining in on the fun, "Oh yes. Joseph can be `very' resourceful!" He couldn't discount the fact, all three being hot, but right now Kiernan's allegiance lay with Jay and the outcome. Good thing Joseph stay, because when Jared checked in at midnight, he was a nervous wreck, damning the Jersey traffic, "Where's Jay?" Joseph assured Jared his brother was doing fine, sleeping, "Doc Brick left Eric behind, just in case, but says all it was is Jay panicking and combined with his medication, which he took way back when he met Alex at the ferry, it was just the wrong time for both to come together. Oh, by the way, not which it's very important, but you have Kiernan to thank for saving Jay's life?" By the time Joseph finished his monologue, they had reached the bedroom, Jared answering vaguely, "Okay..." watches his limo driver pull off at a service area, looks at his side window, watching twists and turns. Leaving Joseph hanging, he gets back on his cell, "I can safely report," catching his breath after he had informed his driver it was imperative they make a u-turn, of which the driver made a wide, wide u, "the trip back won't be as long." Admiring all along, from when first meeting the limo driver, Luca Gaggalio, Jared was not picky whom the agency dealt out to him, long as the driver was informative, knew GPS in and out and could get him to where he was going, timely manner key. Jared heralded his driver for beating the traffic. In the clear, going north on the turnpike, in moderate, but moving traffic, he credited the young driver with, `Not bad!', though holding on to the underside of the seat a couple of times when Luca wove in and out of lanes! Yet, Jared, had from the start, lusted after looks, which struck him as an incredibly hot-looking Italian man. Introducing himself, Luca's slight Italian accent moved Jared. In Jared's mind, it was a shame Luca had on a formal uniform, closing his bod up tighter than a package on Christmas morning. Here Jared had gone, his mind off on a rampage, when he didn't even know if Luca prefer girls, boys or `men'. Of all the facts, it was certain Luca were his brother's age and not an old fogey like himself. >From the start, the formal introduction, handshake, Jared thought it rude, but instantly forgave the shades covering the limo driver's eyes. At least he didn't need to look through double lenses, removing his own. Jared would have done so anyhow, the inside of a limo quite dark. So, even though he sat in the back of the limo, knowing most probably the driver was straight, he couldn't help but fantasize. Jared also had paperwork to finish up, signatures and a trip to the internet. Having his briefcase across his thighs, he was able to sign away, but stopped midway. Tapping his pen, in rapid succession, faster than Shannon Leto on the snare, Jared's mind was not on course, rather peering through the smoky glass, dampening sound, but not the view. Out loud, after refocusing on Luca's face, the bowtie, Jared reminds himself of the backlog of signatures, "I've gotta stop doing this," he realizes the nervous tapping and intent stare. Whenever a document came through familiar source, Bron, Jesse, or other manager, Jared would skim through, enough to absorb the topic, signing off on one after the other, hardly scrutinizing a document. For lack in caring about doing business right now, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," his hand flew over the bottom of the page, a simple initialing, acknowledging a sale of a half-million dollar yacht, off the books of J&J's satellite store, or tiny business, enough toilet paper for the restrooms. Chucking the small pile papers into his briefcase, Jared sits there for a moment, another glance to the smoky glass. "I gotta stop this and get some work done!" Rubbing his eyes, like they were tired, when Jared refocused, the situation hadn't changed. As Jared well knew, whatever office work he did not complete en route, the slack would need to be taken up at home. Home wasn't for office work, which he consistently avoided, in return, more time for being with Jay, or partying out at HOODWINK'd and other `important' stuff. Suddenly his mind switched himself off, thinking about Jay. Sometimes Jared's mind would be plagued by several factors. One, what would happen to Jay if something were to happen to him? He had that base covered, far as money was concerned. All holdings would default to his brother. In reality, they were both set for life, financially. There would not be a question, ever, enough money there to serve Jay out for the rest of his life. Jared had thought about this shortly after Jay's accident, as with the financial entanglements which occurred after their parents demise, which shifted Jared's mind, Wes Bentley. Just the thought of Wes, not in his speedo at the Evans' yearly summer picnic-swim party, at the family estate, for higher-ups at J&J, but his attorney in a business suit, addressing the court on his and Jay's behalf, all of this financial fiasco would not have been settled, which `haunted' Jared from time to time, in a good way. Trying to think of something else, Jared's attention also reverberated back to his brother. In reality, the cards had been stacked against Jay at the time. His medical outcome, the doctor in charge, in Oregon, had stated Jay to be a lucky teen, pulling out of such a horrific accident and bouncing back rapidly. Physically, Jay had hung intact, except for his debilitating injury. Mentally, the doctor predicted Jay would need help. Getting the heads up, Jared had found a psychiatrist on the island. However, this one was not good for Jay, couldn't relate. His brother hated him, so Jared did the next best thing, had one `imported'. Thinking back on all this, skipping some of the fine details along the way, Jared's brain speeds fast-forward, to the last few weeks. He knows it's been on Jay's mind, finding a man to live his life with, for the rest of his life. At this moment, Jared remarks to himself, "Don't we all!" >From staring at his briefcase, tapping out a `30 Seconds' tune, Jared looks up. There, his eyes remain glued to the rearview mirror, slightly fogged up by the gray partition, thinking, `Did I just...' "Nah," he says out loud, thinking he caught Luca's eyes caged in the mirror. Reflecting on Jay's history, Jared tells himself, "I think I need a shrink!" He laughs! For his own self, to know he wasn't reading into things, Jared takes a glance out the back window, perhaps to view something which grabbed Luca's mind, making him check out the rear. "Nothing unusual," he calls it, turning back. Now Jared is double-sure he needs a shrink! Then, seeing the turn off for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, he exhales, "Almost home!" Even more so, Jared feels a little relaxed, the Belt Parkway void of traffic. In doing so, he does a spot check, seeing if Luca is watching `the traffic' through the rearview. He wasn't, which in a way made Jared a little disappointed. Regardless, he smiled, made his own giggle, thinking, what does `straight' have to do with a guy looking hot? Why isn't it okay to check out a dude, even if he's not gay? Based on looks and the handshake alone, Jared was getting himself worked up, literally over nothing. Yet, if it were nothing, how come he found a hand softly massaging his crotch?! Then, nothing turned into something. Not paying attention, Jared's slacked legs made his briefcase sled down, catching it by the handle, right before making contact with the arch of his feet. He didn't know how to call it, maybe a gut reaction, but as his left hand went to the briefcase, he was a lefty, Jared's right hand felt the middle stretch of his pants, as if he were about to drop something else! Both, relieved he had made a good catch, Jared felt the euphoria of the pre-wanking condition. Even though he knew what was bringing the hard on, on, he set the briefcase to the side, his right hand sizing himself up! "Oh damn!" Jared said in a blaming tone, yet more so, "Why can't you be gay?" he wishes it upon Luca, as if a curse! Then, they hit traffic. Luca rolls down the smoky glassed window, to ask a question, "This is construction traffic. I know another route. It might take a few more minutes, but the traffic will be more steadier?" All this time, Luca has been approaching the car in front of them, a micro section of an inch. Suddenly he stops... Jared is sure now, his right hand, cupping up what he hoped could be hidden, has caught Luca's eyes. This was good and bad. `Oh good,' he noticed, but bad, as he presumed, Luca being straight, Jared figured he just made a fool out of himself! "Uh, whatever you think," Jared gave leeway. In reality, he just wanted Luca's mind back on the road, so he could look upon himself with full attention! "Fine," was all Luca said, zipping up the window between and signaling right. Jared had wondered at one point, whether they were going to get off the main drag alive, but realizes it wasn't negligence, but Luca's driving expertise which gave him the assertiveness to change lanes, before getting off the exit. Off at exit 7, Jared lost interest for a while, realizing he has never been through a Brooklyn street the broad window drawing his attention away from `other business'. It's always been the Belt Parkway. Heading up Shell Ave., the window comes down again, Luca sharing, "Have you ever been over this way?" "Can't say that I have," Jared feels a resurgence, excited Luca is making casual conversation with him. Making a turn, onto Coney Island Ave., Luca says, "In a few minutes you'll be able to see Coney Island. Ever been there?" "Nope," said rightly so, since Jared hasn't. Afraid the conversation might end there, "Have you?" "Religiously, after school." There it was, the `in' Jared sought, "Oh really? You'll have to share you're history with me sometime." Like Jared found, married dudes, they'd be headed right home to the family, except if they were married and wanted to get it on with a guy. He was ready for the next question, would he know of a place... "I'll have plenty of time for that," Luca replies, pulling into a McDonald's lot. Then, Jared had his suspicions. Was there a detour or was this `Luca's detour?' He thought best of staying in the car. Luca rolls down the window, saying, "I'm sorry for the stop, but I had to skip breakfast this morning." Foul play on his mind, Jared buys time, "Not a problem." While Luca was in the fast food joint, Jared, his erection long gone, speed-dials, "Joseph!" Even though the day was working into the afternoon hours, Joseph had answered a call, one of his fuckbuddies, needing to get laid. An out of towner, the dude getting fuckt was a former visitor to Korbeau's, an Egyptian businessman. Joseph had remembered this guest at the swanky temporary resident, simply by, when told, he really knew how to get a guy hard and leaking, simply by torturing a guy's nips! An ordinary feat for Joseph, usually it was by means of clamps, snagging the chain in one hand and while buried deep, jerking the cub's hard shaft, they both benefitted from a hug eruption. However, `torture' was not only by nips, Joseph backing off, which made his victim whimper. It was always incognito, the Egyptian lad wanting to keep things under wraps, reason he could seek out the best sex, simple or rough, flying across the earth, spending the time on Fire Island, keeping under the radar, because he knew he could trust Joseph. Guys knew they could trust Joseph, which made him a marked man. Playing the part of a sweet man, wasn't acting at all. Only when a request for being `rough', is when Joseph had to pull all the stops out and act it up. He was good at it too. Often an encounter could start out easy going, ramping it up, according to a dude's request. Whatever the case may be, the outcome was always the same, both men (or more), reaching the same verdict, shooting their loads, catching the benefits of a huge orgasm. Great times brought back repeat business. Though, Joseph was no prostitute to neither sex, nor the bdsm-stuff. He did it out of full enjoyment, for himself and the other party. Right now though, he was cursing out his best friend, though courteously, his shaft lodged in the Egyptian cub's ass, whom they both had worked up into a force situation. The cub, hands tied to the top of the bed, was in the process of having his ass terrorized, "What tha fuck, Jared, you have to call me right now?" Some people were more important than sex, no matter how satisfying it could be, though there were regrets, Joseph having to inform, "Hold on a sec." Jared, a little scared at this point, torn off the Belt Parkway, sidetracked onto a Brooklyn street, he knew Joseph was `engaged,' it wasn't the first time Jared had to condone, "Well pull out and suck it up, Joseph!" On the other end, Joseph told Jared he meant for the cub to `hold on'... "I know that," Jared excuses himself, going on to tell about his predicament and Joseph's advice on what to do about it. % Even though Joseph's voice was all grumbly, he kind of got a jolt out of the whole thing. He could count on one hand, the number of men who could order him about, get their own way, Jared being one of those `dominant' figures in Joseph's life, but not just that, the two have been there for each other. Much as Joseph wanted to stay, shoot his load and run, he had to skip out of filling Gamal's chute, which he made a play on it, "Take me with you," the deep-skinned said, in a tone which mimicked him calling the shots. Biting a lip, Joseph thought on it, while buckling his belt and with mixed reaction, gave in, "You can't go like that, Gamal!" "Why not?" Gamal teased, the 25-year old jumping into action, going for pants, but not briefs, shirt, scrambling faster than Joseph. While doing so, he converses, "This friend of yours, Jared?" "What about him?" Cracking a half-smile, Gamal asks, "He as `big' as you?" Knowing where Gamal was going with this, Joseph sets him straight, "Listen, boy, while you're on the Island, you belong to me, so don't get any bright ideas..." By now, Gamal, pants still open in a `V', sashays over to Joseph in a sexy swagger, butts Joseph in the crotch with his still hard shaft, "I thought he was your best friend?" "He was... is. So?" "Don't best friends like to share?" "Just get ready," Joseph tells him. He then realizes, the only `shirt' he had, was the leather harness he wore. It's how the scene worked it's way out, every time Gamal was in town. Donning his chaps, slipping on spit-polished boots, Joseph would always snicker, pissing on his own boot before leaving the room, drying it enough so as not to get it on the rug. Showing up at Gamal's room, he slid the master key card through the door. Upon entering, Gamal would set the scene. It could be about a drug bust, or prostitution ring, or wild, but not too fictitious, sent by his father to turn him from gay to straight. Whatever the details to get each other hard and going at it, the ending came with each shooting their load. Thinking on this, Gamal says, "You and me. We never been outside this room as a... gay couple?" "Don't get your hopes up, loverboy. I'm going to bring the car around." It's not which Gamal hasn't thought about this before, finding a man to settle down with. Though, it would not be in his native country. This is the reason he disguised money for this, as his travel allowance. Eventually, whenever the time was right, Gamal would cancel out on the return trip home. If he wanted to live as a gay man, with a boyfriend, then more, he knew he would have to give up his citizenship. At that point, Gamal knew he would be alone in the world. Thinking about this just now, he reflected upon meeting Joseph. Then he hears the car honk! % For the interim, while filling his stomach, Luca hopped in the back, holding out a package, "Want a fry?" "No thanks," Jared said with cautiousness. Sitting back, Luca says, "I really had a reason for stopping here?" "I bet you did," Jared snuggly held arms across the middle, pressing against his pecs. With a fry in his fingers, about to chomp down on it, Luca retrieves it, "Wait a minute. What do you think is going on?" "I don't know," Jared tries remain composed, keeping up the tough facade, "you tell me?" "I'm scared." "You're scared?" Jared's arms unfold, flanking out to the sides. Stuffing the fries back in the bag, "I'm not really hungry. Just a nervous reaction when I... get nervous." "You're not the only one," Jared goes to bite a nail, stops it. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Somehow, Jared didn't lose his cool altogether, because right now, Luca wasn't acting much different than Jay, in frustration after his accident, thinking life as he knew it was at a close, "Oh? How would that go?" Hearing Luca's history, of how he got to where he is in life, Jared slowly realizes he is not the victim of hoodlums, as he dreamt it up, rushing into the back of the limo, hauling him out, taking him to a warehouse, which in his mind, resembled something the setup of The Spin Club and not tortured, raped, maybe held for ransom... After spilling his guts, which took no more than ten minutes or less, Luca concludes, "I don't think my story is much different than others who grew up in a family, where to be gay is to be weak. Whether you buy it or not, that's what happened and now, the company I've put 6 years into, never had an accident, always complimented by my customers, it's the same old story. They hate gays working for them." "You still didn't tell me what we're doing here, sitting in Brooklyn at a McDonald's?" Jared asks, feeling more relaxed, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top of his shirt. Cracking half a smile, Luca deviates, "You want to get it on?" "No, it's stuffy in here?" "Right," Luca covers it up, "I feel it myself." Yet, Jared would have liked Luca to go a little more further than pulling at his bowtie, until it came unfurled, "A real one?" "Yeah. Took me two weeks before I got enough practice, but about why we're here..." Jared knew, if he didn't pay close attention to Luca's explanation, he would remember a single word, though felt `thirsty', watching the limo driver go a little further than the first button. Before he got into it too much, the door opens, which Jared reacts, "Joseph?" It wasn't Joseph, Luca saying, "This is my cousin..." "Gerardo," he pulls himself in, lured by Jared's hand. "It's nice to meet you Jared." "We've met?" Gerardo smiles at Luca, then to Jared, says, "Not really," changes his tone to boasting, glancing to the other person in the cab, "but for the past half hour I have been `hearing' about you?" Jared had wondered about the small detail, whether it were music or cell pumped into the wires, plugging Luca's ears, "Is that so? Tell me about myself," Jared says, entertained by what Luca said. Luca hadn't shared this, Gerardo saying, making himself comfortably in the lavish back compartment, "Tell me, has anyone ever mistaken you for a movie star?" Feeling more comfortable, Jared says, "All the time!" Motor turned off, it seemed like the cab had hiked up a few degrees, especially since Gerardo came into the picture. It was about to accelerate, the door swinging open, "Hands where I can see them!" "Joseph?" Jared knew right away. "Shit!" Gerardo reacts. Even though this had been a rendezvous point for the cousins before, it didn't mean danger lurked about. As perceived by Gerardo, this dude swinging the door open, clothes in a getup which would make him look like a chain-gang-hoodlum, a gun stuck into their privacy, he reacted. "O-o-o-oh-shit!" Jared exclaims. For a few seconds, all that it took for Gerardo to kick the gun out of Joseph's hand and using the door frame as inertia, foot as a weapon, had set Joseph spinning around, holding his nuts! Joseph wasn't the only one having to suffer. Even though Gamal was told to stay in Joseph's black Mustang, when he saw his fuckbuddy back out of the limo door at a speed faster than the Mustang could do, adrenaline made him react. Going down first, Joseph held his bruised nuts intact, both hands clutching them. From his knees, he kissed pavement, moaning and groaning. He cursed, feeling dead weight fall right on top of him! "Oh shit-oh shit-oh shit!" Jared held both sides of his head, stepping out the limo door. "I'll say," Luca broke silence. Gamal kind of got the idea, "Um, you know each other?" Reaching down, grabbing the shoulder of Gerardo's nice suit, Jared asks, "You okay there?" First he did a pushup and as scenes dictate things, Gerardo felt something good come of the aching in his stomach, leather bands crisscrossing the hairy back. Rolling over, off Joseph, the pangs of Gamal's gut punch returns. Hearing the groaning in his left ear, Joseph pries his chest up, his balls missing one hand, says, "Did you have to go for the balls?" Defying gravity, Jared grabs hold of the apex of Joseph's harness, saying, "Wouldn't you, moron?" Watching the whole scene repair itself, Gamal sees Jared single-handedly lift Joseph to his knees. It's something he had never witnessed, Joseph being subdued by another guy. Usually it's him, a slight sock in the stomach or light lashes on the belt with a flogger, only for effect. However, in Joseph's case, recovery comes quick, which makes him smile, thinking of `balls of steel!' Looking up at Jared, from his knees, Joseph feels gypped out of something, saying, "I suppose you know this ball-kicker?" Having known Joseph for ages, Jared can just about read his mind, "If you want your revenge on Gerardo, you two will have to work that out!" It was like Jared was speaking his language. Not Italian, but s&m, Gerardo sitting up, like he had been waken out of a deep sleep by a shotgun, "Like..." he spoke slowly, a slight Italian accent, "I am so sorry about that.... Sir?" he offers Joseph his hand. Getting up, stretching, the Italian's words compensating somewhat for the injury to his crotch, Joseph loosens up his arms, and much to when he introduces himself to a dungeon-boy, flexes his biceps. Taking Gerardo's hand, he hoists him up, "Give me your number. I'm sure we can work out some revenge!" It all coming out in the wash, Gerardo was an attorney, monitoring his cousins paperwork for citizenry. Since none of this involved Joseph, done with his end of the bargain, Jared not being in harm's way, he piled back in the mustang, Gamal in the back seat. They hung for a while, which signals went up for Jared, saying, "You can go, Joseph." Leaning over to the passenger side, Joseph returns, "Not without my other boy!" All Jared could do was roll his eyes. After the exchange of words and paperwork, Jared hinted, "It's your call... Joseph's waiting for you?" Gerardo looks towards the Mustang, saying, "Cheaper than the bus!" He arrived mass transit, Gerardo leaving with something much more massive on board. "You're not going with them?" Luca asks. "Home?" Jared replies. "Nah. If I know Joseph, which I do, very well, he's not headed back to Fire Island, but to Manhattan!" Luca, not sure what it all meant, accepted it, offering Jared, "Would you like to ride up front with me?" Smiling, hidden motives, Jared says, "I sure would!" % They weren't the kind of roads where a companion could ride next to the other, hand lying on a thigh, Luca still doing some of his weaving tricks. Jared, a little `seasick', more than once made sure he was still framed in by the seatbelt. Nonstop, Luca and Jared traded off questions, until they arrived at their destination, parking lot for the ferry. As if parked at his hacienda, Jared asks, "How about coming in for a drink?" Looking where the ferry should be docked, Luca asks, "Sea water?" Laughing, Jared apologizes, "I'll never get it straight, forgetting it's a more than a little trip to the doorstep." "Sure," Luca accepts, upbeat, "I'd be up for a drink and maybe more?" "Well, I didn't want to mention it..." Jared's voice trails off as they each make their exit. In his hand, Luca carry a small briefcase. "Overnight bag?" Jared smiles. "Maps and other stuff, in case the GPS goes down?" "Sure. That's what I meant!" Jared lied. Luca had a feeling he was being snowed! % Copyright 2014 T. Chase McPhee `MAkiNG WaRRioRs', and developing segments of this story, may not be sold, nor made part of any collection, without prior consent from the author.