This is the first story I've ever posted, so be gentle.

I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Mike, I'm 18, 6'1" and around 150-160 pounds. People tell me I don't look it, though; they usually guess somewhere around 120. That's what it says on my license, anyway. The woman didn't believe me when I told her my real weight, and she'd already put it in the computer. I've got weird hair and eyes. I think they change with my mood, or at least with the weather. Typically, I think of myself as having light brown hair and dark brown eyes, which actually look pretty good on me. My hair can go anywhere from dirty blonde to a really dark brown, though, and my eyes have been known to turn a dark shade of green. I dunno, it's weird. I live in Indiana, hick central. Actually, it's a city built up around a highway, but there are farms on all sides. Oh, and I'm gay, but you probably guessed that already.

So I was lying there in my bed, visibly shaken, but without anyone to see it. It was cool in my room, but if I put the blanket over me, it was too hot. Eventually I wound up sitting on the bed in just my underwear, back against the wall, lamenting my situation and myself. The next day, I'd be calling the college I was enrolled in to withdraw. I had no funding and no way to get any before college started, so it was kinda pointless to go. I actually watched the numbers on my clock change from minute to minute, each time saying to myself, "That didn't feel like an entire minute."

Around 5:30, I drifted off to sleep. All too soon, my eyes were opened by a crash of thunder outside. We'd had barely any rain all summer, and now it seemed to be storming every day. From what I could gather from the news, it was too late for the crops, though. I really didn't care.

I grudgingly got out of the bed and switched off my alarm. I had it set for noon, and it was 10:00. I was angry, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I got up and threw on some clothes because I could hear my parents talking in the living room. I have a thing about being naked in front of people. I rummaged around in my dresser drawers, looking for somewhat acceptable clothes, and not really finding much. I found something and took them into the bathroom where I got all showered and pretty.

I didn't do much that morning. I sat around, feeling pretty damn sorry for myself. It wasn't really that far from my normal routine: I've been told that I make Hamlet look cheery. Still, somehow I always tended to be the life of the party. Being bitter and angry makes for good comedy material, I guess.

Around the time I was supposed to be waking up, I called the college. They had me fax over a letter saying that I wanted to withdraw. I had finally done it. Until the previous day, I had been entertaining the thought that I might actually go. Wishful thinking doesn't work as well as you'd think it does. I booted up the computer and started doing nothing on the Internet. Hell, it was more fun than doing nothing on the couch.

I was reading the news when my father announced that he needed to use the computer. I wasn't doing much of anything, so I didn't put up much of a fight. I went into my room and flipped on the CD player. Appropriately enough, there was a slow, mellow, sad sounding CD in. I opened the window and watched the rain fall onto the street, getting lost in my thoughts.

Without concentrating on anything in particular, I let things flow through my mind. They all seemed to center on Steve, my best friend of the past four years. I met him when I was a Freshman in high school, and he kinda took me under his wing. The CD ended and I realized that I'd been standing in front of the window, staring at nothing for over an hour. I went back out to the living room to check my email and see if anyone worth chatting with was on. Both resulted in "no's."

I was just starting to sink deeper into self-pity when the phone rang.

"Hello," I said.

"Hey, sexy!" came the voice on the other end. It was Steve.

"Hey yourself. What's up?" I secretly wished that he meant his greeting.

"Shouldn't you be in the Geo on your way to school or something?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

"Weren't you there yesterday when I was whining about my lack of money?" I smiled into the phone, not really knowing why. He just did that to me. "I decided to put it off until the Spring."

"Dammit, Mike." Steve groaned into the phone. "We both know that's not gonna happen. You're going to wind up trapped here, 'cause you won't have a way out."

"No I won't." I tried to convince myself more than him. "Anyway, how about you come over? I'm going stir crazy, and my mom's starting to piss me off."

"Man, you want me to put on pants?" Steve laughed.

"Did I say that?" I smiled back, knowing that he couldn't see me.

"Perv. I'll be there in 10 minutes." He hung up without saying goodbye. It's a Steve thing that I, oddly enough, found to be indescribably cute. I've been told I do that, too, though.

I went to my room and put on a cute pullover I'd bought on a whim a few weeks ago when I was out with friends. It looked good on me. I stared at myself in the mirror for the first time in a long time. "I actually look good," I thought to myself.

There's a love-hate relationship between my body and me. Most of the time, I hate the way I look. There are those flashes where I actually enjoy myself, though. They're mainly when I notice my eyes. I've always thought they were my best feature.

"Narcissism at it's finest!" exclaimed Steve as he burst into my room. I hadn't even heard his car pull into the driveway.

"Yeah, well, I've got to look at something to offset your ugly ass." I shot back. Immediately I thought to myself how wrong that comment was.

"You only wish you had my ass." Steve said, playfully bending over and swatting himself on the butt. I seriously had to fight myself against getting hard.

I rolled my eyes at him and sat down on the bed to put on my shoes. He sat next to me and we started talking. It wasn't really anything of consequence, just your basic weight-free conversation. I looked into his eyes for a second, then looked away and started doing something with my shoelace, suddenly feeling guilty for lying to him.

There was only one person who knew about me. Hell, it was a she, too. Sadly, not the supportive boyfriend type, but I was glad that she was the supportive female best friend type who always tended to point out the cute guys when we went out. I still laughed about the way she pursued me all through high school, not even noticing the way I hung on Steve's every word like it was gospel.

"Yo, Mikey, wake up." I heard Steve snapping his fingers at me. "What happened there? You just kinda went off somewhere. Anyplace good? Get a nice piece of tail?" Not even looking at him, I could tell he had a broad smile. I turned toward him. God damn, did he know how fucking sexy he was? I took a second looking at his gorgeous smile, making him look devilish and perfectly innocent at the same time. I noticed that he had a bit of a 5'o clock shadow, despite the fact that it was only just about 2.

"Oh, umm, no--" I stuttered out. What the hell was wrong with me? I usually had much better control over myself. Maybe all of these life-decisions were draining me more than I knew. If I didn't get hold of myself, he'd notice that I was staring, and that'd be it. Yeah, I know that real friends support you through whatever it is you're feeling, but I doubt that he'd be able to handle the fact that I was head over heels for him very well. I was knocked back to reality by Steve's hand smacking the back of my head.

"C'mon, Mr. Drifty, where're we off to?" Steve was looking at me kinda funny. I was sure he'd noticed something, though it was probably just that I was distracted.

"I dunno, we could go, umm--" I was at a loss for ideas. Typically in this situation, we'd just drive around, but I didn't want to be trapped in an enclosed space right now. "Well, there's too much rain to do anything outside." I stopped and thought for a minute. "Hey, I know, your parents are both gone, we can pick up some movies and go to your house."

"That works. Just as long as you don't space out anymore." Again, Steve smiled at me. I could tell he knew something was up. "Hey, have you had lunch yet?" I shook my head. In all of my moping around the house, I'd forgotten to eat. Not that I was all that hungry. "We can pick up some McDonald's or something on our way to my house. My treat."

"Works for me. I'm too damn poor. I need a job." I looked at Steve for a second, thinking something inappropriate, then added, "but I'm getting the movies."

"Just means less money for me to spend on you. Damn you're an expensive date. I'd better be getting some action tonight!" Steve laughed at me and I laughed back, secretly thinking it wasn't really all that funny. In the back of my mind, I wished that I could take his comments at face value.

I looked up and he was already at the door. "Get your lazy ass up off that bed and come on. I don't have all day."

"Yes you do." I said as I turned off the CD player. "I don't know why I spend so damn much time with you."

"Nothing. Just distracted." I couldn't even bring myself to look at him when I said it. "I dunno, might have something to do with not being able to go to school."

I glanced at him to see if he bought it. The look on his face said he didn't, but he didn't press the issue. After all these years, he learned that when I have something important going on, I'll tell him about it when I'm ready. We pulled into the movie store.

"Hey, Mike." Brittney said from behind the front desk. "You too, Steve." Brittney and I had known each other in high school. We weren't close or anything, but we were cordial. Steve and I made our greetings and walked over to the new releases' wall. There wasn't much we hadn't seen. We rented movies whenever we stayed the night at each other's houses, and that was quite a bit. We finally settled on some stupid action movie with one of the Van Damme clones on the cover (his choice, though I didn't mind all of the shirtlessness), and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, one of my favorite movies (my choice). We took them up to the counter and I paid for them. Then we hit McDonald's, then back to his house.

I was in much better spirits by the time we got there. Steve's cheeriness was infectious, it always has been. We sat down in his kitchen and started eating. I looked at him, arranging his fries in a circle around his burger on a plate, and I had to laugh. I knew he was only doing it for my benefit, but I appreciated it. I felt another pang of guilt, this one more intense than ever. It literally was gut wrenching. I excused myself to the bathroom, saying that I had gotten ketchup on my pants.

In the bathroom, I took another good look at myself in the mirror. Here I was, spending the day with a guy I was madly in love with, and I couldn't even tell him the truth. I thought about what it would be like if I did tell him. Not the part about me being in love with him, just the part about me being gay. I knew it'd take him some time, but he'd accept me. Still, if he knew that, there'd be a much bigger chance that he'd find out how I felt about him, and I couldn't let that happen. As much as I wanted to let him know how much he meant to me, I couldn't risk losing him.

I was startled out of my thoughts by Steve barging into the bathroom, announcing loudly that he had to "piss like a racehorse." I stayed where I was, rubbing at an imaginary spot on my pants, embarrassed for being caught thinking like that.

I almost fell over when I heard him unzip right next to me. I looked away, then down at the spot on my pants I was rubbing, then I sneaked a glance at his dick. It wasn't like I hadn't seen him naked before. There were the gym showers, the numerous sleepovers (he would change right in front of me, like he knew that I was watching and he was teasing me), and the times we went skinny dipping while camping. Still, every time I saw it, it felt like my stomach rose up into my ribcage.

I was still absent-mindedly rubbing the spot on my pants when he finished and flushed. I wished he would have left himself out a little longer, but that wasn't going to happen. He patted me on the shoulder and said, "I think the spot's out. You're gonna be rubbing skin in a second." He had no idea how much skin I'd be rubbing later.

We walked out into the kitchen and cleaned up. He washed the plates we'd used; I dried. Then he noticed a note taped to the refrigerator.

Steve,
Your dad and I went out with friends tonight. We won't be back until late tomorrow afternoon. There's money on top of your nightstand for pizza or whatever tonight.

Love you,
Mom "Hey, kick ass. Ya wanna stay tonight?" Steve grinned at me. I rolled my eyes at him and told him I'd call my mom at work. He handed me his cordless and we both sat down on the couch.

"Smith and Company Finances." I heard on the other end of the line.

"Hi Mom. Nice greeting." I laughed. "Hey, can I stay over at Steve's tonight?"

"You know you don't even have to ask that anymore. Just leave a note or something so we know you're not dead." Mom said. "Just be sure to be home at a reasonable hour tomorrow."

"Thanks Mom, you're great." I hung up. Realizing that I hadn't said goodbye, I started laughing to myself.

"So what's so funny?" Steve asked. "I don't remember your mom having that killer sense of humor I love so much about you."

"Nothing." I said between stifled laughs. He kept looking at me. "I'll tell you later."

"You and your secrets. They're not all as well kept as you think they are, though." He looked me squarely in the eye. I panicked, trying not to let it show on my face. Did he know? How did he know? Was I that obvious? He couldn't know. If he did know, he certainly wouldn't be making jokes about it. Would he? Maybe this was his way of letting me know. All of these thoughts raced through my mind in a half of a second. When Steve laughed at me, I knew it was okay. He didn't know.

We sat down on the couch and started watching the movies. Mine went in first, mostly because I was the first one to get to the VCR. Steve's family had an impressive entertainment system. A big screen TV, an incredible stereo system, VCR, DVD player, and an impressive library of videos. We'd seen most of them -- the ones that interested us, anyway. I sat down on the couch next to Steve, though not nearly close enough for me. I hit play on the remote and sat back, looking blankly at the screen. I fast-forwarded through all of the commercials and we watched the movie.

Steve and I started talking again, mostly about nothing. There was something different, though, like he wanted to tell me something but didn't know how. Damn, I knew what that was like. My mind went back to the conversation I'd had with myself in the bathroom and I desperately wanted to tell him. Instead, we talked about me not going to school until the Spring, with me trying to get Steve to come with me, and various other things.

I suddenly felt like I needed to be held. I don't know why. Maybe it was the consequences of what I wanted to do suddenly hitting me, maybe something I'd already done, but I just wanted to be held. I don't know what came over me, but I crawled over closer to Steve and snuggled myself up close to him. I didn't care if he pushed me away or hit me or whatever, but I just needed to feel him close to me, if only for a second.

Much to my surprise, he didn't recoil or pull away. He actually put his arm around me and held me tighter to him. I rested my head against his shoulder and couldn't believe what I was doing. I was cuddling up to my best friend, and he was holding me. If I had died at that moment, I would have been happy.

"It's ok, Mike," he said, looking down at me, "I know."

That was all I needed to hear. The lump that had been building in my throat all day burst and I started crying like a little girl. It was okay, though, because I was somewhere I felt safe enough to do it. It took me a long couple of minutes to compose myself enough to talk again.

"How?" I asked as I turned my head to look at him, not really wanting to move for fear of losing the moment. Hell, I don't think I could move: it took most of my strength to just ask that question.

Steve smiled at that. "You know, your glances aren't as covert as you'd like to think." I blushed deeply, thinking about who else might have seen me. He was apparently reading my mind. "Nobody else has noticed. It's just because I'm with you so often." He paused for a second before continuing. "And, umm, I asked Susan--"

My eyes opened as wide as they ever have. I immediately sat up, no longer caring about the moment, and made a mad grab for the phone. I was about to dial her cell phone number when I realized that I didn't know it, I always used the speed dial.

Steve knew what I was doing and he grabbed the phone away from me. "Look, she didn't tell me. Not at first, at least." I saw him looking me over for a second before he continued, gauging my response. "Not until I told her why I wanted to know--"

For the second time in as many minutes, my eyes got wide and I looked at Steve, his eyes glancing toward the floor. I couldn't be hearing him right. He didn't just imply what I thought he did...

"Umm, Steve--?" I didn't know how to ask what I wanted to know. I didn't have to. This time, it was he who crawled over to me, needing someone there to cuddle up against. "Oh, shit, man. I-I had no idea." I wrapped my arm around him, almost exactly the same way he had me a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, I guess I'm better at hiding it than you are." Steve looked up at me and smiled. I could have smacked him, but I didn't. We were both too vulnerable. Just then I realized how exhausted I was. This was too much emotional turmoil for one day. Still, I had to tell him how I felt, even if it was going to kill our friendship. I couldn't live without telling him anymore.

"Steve?" I looked down at him, tentatively. He was looking back up at me, directly into my eyes. "Shit, this is too hard." I looked away from him, then almost immediately back down at him. "I, umm, I ... love you." Fuck, I'd said it. It felt amazing just to get that off my chest. In the few seconds between then and when he gave his answer, I felt this enormous weight being lifted off of me.

I could tell he was about to say something. This was the defining moment. The one second in my life that stood between true happiness and absolute despair. I would lose the best friendship I'd ever had or I'd gain something more than I had ever dreamed of with Steve. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't make my lungs inhale. I had to hear his answer.

"Fuck, I'm so glad you said it first." With that, I felt all of the pent-up tension release, I could breathe again, and I almost immediately began crying again. I couldn't control myself; I bent down to kiss him. It took him a second, but he responded eagerly.

I hate to admit it, but it was my first time kissing anybody. I never bothered dating in high school; it seemed pointless. "Hell," I thought to myself, "if it's even 1% this good with girls, I've been missing something--"

We didn't break the kiss until we absolutely had to. I came up gasping for air. Hey, like I said, it was my first kiss. The fact that it was with a guy whose very touch sent sparks through my body didn't help much. I sat there, next to him, panting. He broke out laughing.

"What's so funny, asshole?" I laughed as I tossed a throw pillow at his head. Maybe that's where they get the name.

"Damn, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that to you." Steve smiled at me, showing off that devilish/angelic smile of his that I loved.

"I'm guessing for just about as long as I've wanted to do it to you. About three seconds after we met." I pushed him down onto his back on the couch and laughed as I crawled on top of him, going in for another kiss.

"Nope, two," he managed to smile just before I kissed him. He opened his mouth and I took the hint. My tongue snaked in and started wrestling with his for dominance. Hell, his mouth tasted so damn good, I didn't want to leave that position. He slowly pushed his tongue into my mouth and started running it across my teeth. I swear I almost shot off right then. I pulled myself away from him, leaving him looking in to my eyes with a hunger I hadn't seen in him before. He really was a little devil.

I cleared my throat, still lying on top of him. "So, am I still staying over?" I grinned at him.

"Fuck yeah, you're staying over." He paused for a moment and gave me that grin of his again. "Except this time I won't have to take out any extra sheets."

"I wouldn't be so sure. It depends on how excited you get me." I moved in for another kiss, and he didn't make a move to stop me.

He had the most gorgeous body. He stood about 6'1", making him exactly my height, but he was better built than I was. He wasn't a huge guy, but he was big enough to be able to play football. At least he could if he wanted to. Neither of us were big sports people. I pretty much couldn't if I tried (I have no coordination at all), and he really didn't have the inclination. He had gorgeous, short, chestnut-brown hair with some natural red highlights and these amazing green eyes. Not that I could see them with his eyes shut.

I wondered if I could possibly get out of that without waking him up. I doubted it, but I tried. I slowly inched my way toward the edge of the couch, watching to make sure I didn't wake him. I seriously had to pee, though, so I was trying to move as fast as I could. I made one turn too fast and wound up face down on the floor, with a very confused Steve crushing my back.

"G-huh? What?" He was apparently still groggy from his nap.

"Damn, get the fuck off me!" I shouted, not really minding it. "You weigh a fucking ton!"

He rolled off of me, rubbing his eyes. "That's not a very good way to wake someone up. I've got half a mind to beat the shit outta you."

"Yep, you've got half a mind, alright." I teased. "Get up and make me some dinner, woman!"

"Yeah, whatever, I thought you were gonna be the woman." His retort wasn't as good as it could have been, what with him being all spaced out after having just woken up. "Fuck you."

"Later. Right now I gotta piss." I got up and went to the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind me. Sure enough, within minutes Steve was beside me, also whipping it out.

"Hey, I'm in here, asshole!" I shouted in mock indignation. It didn't work too well, since my eyes were glued to his equipment.

"Yeah, you got to watch me, now it's my turn," he grinned. "Did you really think you were being sly?"

"No more than you're being right now," I said, noticing that his eyes were fixated on me. "Damn, take a picture, it'll last longer."

"What makes you think I'm not going to?" The way he grinned left me guessing as to whether or not he was joking. I do the same thing with the sarcasm in my voice, though, so I can't complain about it too much. I finished pissing, but wanted to wait until the last possible second to zip up. I kept my eyes on Steve's dick, and he started getting hard.

"Damn, man, if you don't quit, I'm gonna wind up pissing myself." He was laughing slightly, so I knew it wasn't that much of a big deal.

"How do you know I wouldn't be turned on by that?" I asked in my "you can't tell if I'm serious" voice. That just made him laugh even more. Finally, he finished up, but also seemed reluctant to zip up. I couldn't blame him. I was certainly enjoying the view. He shook the last few drops out while I watched, almost fascinated by something I do 5-6 times a day (I drink a lot of water). "You're gonna have to let me do that for you sometime--" I trailed off, even wondering to myself if I was serious. Hell, I don't think I'd object to a little watersports with the guy.

"In your dreams." He laughed and flushed. I zipped up.

"Damn right."

We went out to the kitchen and realized that we were both hungry. I looked in the fridge, only to find that there was almost nothing in it.

"Dammit, woman, how are you s'posed to make me dinner when there ain't nothin' in the fridge?" I asked in the best gruff-hick-farmer voice I could muster. Steve laughed, but then played along.

"Well how the hell am I s'posed to cook somethin' if you don't never bring nothin' home from them fishin' and huntin' trips you always goin' on?" He answered in the best trailer-trash girl voice I'd ever heard from him (and yes, there is material for comparison). "I'ma startin' to thin' thar's somethin' goin' on 'tween you and them thar fishin' buddies o'yourn."

I almost dropped to the floor laughing. I had to stop. "Seriously, though, what're we gonna do for dinner?" I asked in my normal voice, which thankfully didn't sound like a hick at all. I actually retained a lot of my Northwest accent from Washington.

"Dumbass, didn't you hear me read the note out loud?" I got smacked in the head again, but this time the hand lingered for a bit on my neck before he dropped it to his side. "There's pizza money. Go order. And if you get something nasty, I'll have to give you one hell of a beating."

"You're supposed to give a downside, dammit!" I yelled at him as he disappeared into his room. I sat down on the couch and dialed up the pizza place, whose number I sadly knew by heart. I placed the order, then kept looking at the phone. I had this strange urge to call Susan and thank her. Hell, without her meddling, this entire thing wouldn't have happened. Steve came back with a $20 and put it on the bookshelf next to the front door.

"So what'd you get me?" He asked, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me up to kiss him. I let him take me with his mouth. Damn, how'd he get this good at kissing? I'd have to ask him about that. His hand reached down to the front of my pants. "Aah, sausage!" I laughed at the stupid joke.

"Large pepperoni and mushroom, 2 liter of Pepsi," I said when I could get a breath in. I wasn't about to complain, though. I loved the way his lips felt pressed against mine.

"Mushrooms count as nasty, you get a spanking," he said matter-of-factly. His hand swatted at my ass hard enough to make me jump, but not hard enough to make me pull away. "Mmm, did I ever tell you that you have an incredible ass?"

"Yeah, I think it was one of those times in the locker room." I smiled back at him. We were both quiet for a second, just enjoying being with each other. "Ya know, we have about 35 minutes 'till the pizza comes--"

"I don't go that far on the first date." Steve let go of my waist and wandered over into the kitchen. I surprised him by coming at him from behind. I grabbed him around the middle and started kissing the back of his neck.

"Damn, if all of you tastes this good, you're gonna have one hell of a time getting me off you in the morning--" I smiled, then continued licking my from his earlobe all the way down his neck. I was tempted to give him a hickey, but I resisted-for now.

"What makes you think I'd let you anywhere near me?" His hands were wrapped around mine, which stopped right above the button to his fly.

"This does," I said as I pushed my hand down the front of jeans. I could hear him gasp as I went past the waistband of his boxers and cupped his furry balls in my hand. I softly kneaded them and he started moaning like crazy. I seriously thought he might shoot off in his pants. I pulled my hand out and brought my fingers up to my nose. "Mmm, nice. Can't wait to get straight to the source."

I pulled myself away from Steve and walked back into the living room, where I stretched myself out on the couch. I picked up the remote and started searching through which CDs were in the changer. I immediately found Tricky's Maxinquaye, which was more music in the vein of Massive Attack (Tricky actually used to be a part of Massive Attack, until he branched out on his own).

"I've got a question," I said as Steve walked into the room and positioned himself on top of me once again. "Did you plan this or something? 'Cause all of my favorite CDs are put in." He just smiled at me, letting me know that he wasn't going to tell me. "Dammit, c'mon!"

"I dunno, really." He looked kinda shy, which was a side of him I didn't see that often. Damn it was sexy. "I knew you were coming over, and I had found out about you," he looked into my eyes for a second before continuing, almost looking for my permission to say this, "so I guess I might have had some subconscious motives. Hell, the music is pretty damn sexy, too. Not my thing, though the jazz beats do kinda turn you on after a while."

"Like you need to be more turned on," I laughed as I grabbed his crotch for the umpteenth time that day. "Can't wait to get that in my mouth -- or maybe more--" I looked directly into his eyes when I said that. I think I shocked him a little bit, but he snapped out of it and put on that devastating grin of his. We started making out on the couch again, which was interrupted all too soon by the doorbell.

"Fuck, has it been a half hour already? Goddamn..." Steve grudgingly got up and walked to the door. I followed him like a puppy, staring at his cute ass as he walked in front of me. I thought about what a good time I'd have fucking it later on that night. I cut myself off before I got too lost in thought and popped a boner, which would look pretty damn suspicious to the delivery guy.

"Hey Steve," the pizza delivery guy said when we'd opened the door. "Oh, hey Mike. Didn't know you were here." It was Jeff, a guy both Steve and I knew from school. Was it me, or did he look jealous? He shook his head really quick, as if to get rid of a thought. "Umm, that'll be $13.48. Cash only, I don't take checks from deadbeats." He smirked. Steve handed him the money and invited him to come back the next day to hang out or something. Jeff rolled his eyes, but said he might come by.

I carried the hot box into the kitchen and set it down on the table. Steve got us two glasses and filled them with ice. I watched him do it, not so much because he was cute, but because the fridge had an ice maker on the door. It may sound stupid, but my family barely even had a fridge that kept things cold. Well, that, and I was staring at his ass. Damn he had a nice one.

We sat and ate in silence for a few minutes. I suddenly remembered how Jeff had seemed when he first saw me, and I asked Steve about it.

"Umm, I--I don't wanna talk about it." Steve looked into his plate, as if searching for answers. He grabbed the red pepper flakes and sprinkled some on his food.

"Damn, if you can't even talk to me about a weird delivery boy, how the hell do you expect this relationship to work?" I asked, slightly annoyed, but still smiling.

Steve perked his head up at that. He sat there, looking at me in disbelief. "Relationship?" he repeated the word like he had never heard it before. "You-you wanna have a relationship -- with me?"

I almost laughed at him, but I didn't. I really couldn't understand how he could be so insecure. I got up and stood behind his chair. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Of course I do, man. Fuck, it's what I've wanted for the past four years." I turned his head so he was looking at me. "What, you thought I just wanted cheap, tawdry sex?" I grinned at him. "That's just one of the perks!"

He laughed at me. Damn, I loved the way he laughed. He turned and kissed me on the cheek, telling me that he was in it for the long haul. I didn't want to let go of him, but my stomach did the talking, and I was soon back in my seat, stuffing my face. Now that I knew about him, and now that we were together, I started noticing all of these tiny, cute things that he did. Things like the way he licked pizza sauce off of the corner of his mouth, and the way he'd get cheese on his lip, having to suck it off, and the way he could drain half a glass of Pepsi in one gulp. I suppose that last one was my favorite.

In no time, the food was gone. Hey, we were two ravenous teenage boys, it couldn't last that long. Again, we retired to the couch, where there was Cibo Matto's Stereo-Type A coming out of the CD player. I knew that Steve had borrowed that one from me. I was the only person I knew who owned it. Still, it's an incredible CD. Again, I have no idea what came over me, but I pulled Steve up off the couch and we started dancing in the living room. Eventually, the CD's requisite slow song came on ("Moonchild") and I pulled Steve close to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he put his around my waist. I didn't care, I let him lead. Usually, I'm the type of person who needs to be in control of everything, but with Steve, I didn't mind letting him take care of me. I had my eyes closed and my head resting against his shoulder. I just wanted to stay like that for as long as I possibly could.

"I love you," I whispered in his ear. I know I made him smile. He whispered it right back to me. Hearing him say it for the first time put those familiar butterflies in my stomach, but it was actually enjoyable. Hell, I could barely keep myself from crying on his shoulder.

When the song ended, we returned to the couch. I could tell that this time it would be something different. He pushed me to the side, then climbed on top of me. I was beginning to thoroughly enjoy this position. I could feel his hard dick pressing against my thigh as his hands roamed up my shirt and his fingers began rubbing around my nipples. I moaned into his mouth.

"Mmmmgph, oh fuck that's good--" I whispered, almost afraid to speak at a normal volume. He just licked my lips and continued on with what he was doing. Slowly, he moved downward until he was kissing my neck. I didn't notice he was sucking on it until he started giggling. I immediately knew what he was laughing at.

"You fucking bastard!" I yelled, not really that angry. It was actually kinda nice, but I wasn't going to let him know that. He just kept on laughing.

"You're mine now. I just wanted to make sure people could see that." He gave me another one of those damn grins. I just laid back and let him continue his way down. He licked my neck right on the spot he had sucked all of the blood to the surface and then reached down and started to pull my shirt up. I suddenly became very tense and reached down to stop his hands.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Again, I could see that look of concern on his face. I just looked down at him; he knew.

It was a remnant of my 6th grade year. That was, perhaps, one of the most horrible years of my life. I was withdrawn, distracted, and pretty damn dirty. I was also just entering puberty. Let's just say that as a result of that year, I had some pretty bad acne scarring all over my chest, back, shoulders, and upper arms. I had told Steve about it a few years ago when he asked about it after seeing me shirtless when we went swimming.

I waited for him to remember. I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes and he moved up to kiss me again. "It's all right, babe. I don't care. I think you're gorgeous." He always knew what to say. Heartened, I grabbed at the bottom of my shirt and pulled it over my head. I tossed it onto the floor and looked at him. I was still apprehensive, but I wasn't scared. He looked down at me and smiled. "Absolutely beautiful."

Steve moved down and ran his tongue from just below my lips all the way to my left nipple. I had a patch of chest hair in the middle of my chest that spread out in a diffuse pattern, leaving my nipples covered in just the lightest dusting of hair. Steve's other hand was pulling on that hair over the right nipple, sending me the oddest sensation of pleasure and pain. I can't say I didn't like it, but I moved his hand because it wasn't exactly comfortable. He took the hint and started twisting the nipple itself before switching sides. I was making contented gurgling sounds in the back of my throat. He slowly moved down, licking the trail of hair leading from the center of my chest down to my navel. I was softly moaning as his tongue traced it's way down my body.

I felt his hands working on the fly to my pants. I reached down to help him, but he slapped my hand away, saying that he wanted to enjoy this. I knew that meant torture for me. I was right. He ran his hands all along my bulge, tracing his finger along the outline of my hard cock. He was using his thumbs to massage my balls while he pressed hard on the head, making the wet spot on my pants grow darker.

I looked down and noticed for what felt like the first time that it was MY BEST FRIEND who was causing all of these sensations on my cock. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on something else to keep from exploding right there. I listened to the music coming from the stereo. I sang along with it in my head. "Was up B, Was up B, I'm searching the city for Sci-Fi Wasabi!" It worked a little bit. I still had to bite my lip to keep from cumming. I started to beg.

"Please, please let my dick out! Goddamn, I need to get it out! Please, oh fuck, if you keep doing that I'm gonna cum in my pants! Mmm, please. Oh, god, just keep doing that! I'm gonna cum soon! Fuuuuuuck!"

Steve took that as a sign to stop for a bit. He moved his head down and licked my navel, then smiled at me. I felt him pull open the button and slide the zipper down. He pulled the pants off of my legs, leaving me in my socks and underwear. The only thing standing between his mouth and my cock was the thin cotton of my favorite gray boxer-briefs. I always knew these things were lucky. There was a huge wet spot extending from where the head of my very hard dick rested.

"Looks like your underwear is ruined." Steve grinned wickedly. "We should take those off of you--" He hooked his fingers in the waistband and started to pull downward. My cock, which had been pushed down as he yanked my underwear off of me, flopped up and hit me in the stomach. It was drooling like crazy-more than I'd ever seen come out of my dick. I groaned as Steve licked my balls, wondering how the hell I'd managed to hold off for so long. He stopped abruptly and knelt next to me on the floor, where he could talk to me on eye-level. He whispered in my ear, "This is your first time, isn't it?" I nodded. "With a guy, or with anybody?" I saw that gorgeous smile.

"Anybody," I answered, suddenly slightly embarrassed about my lack of experience with anybody but my hand. I looked at him curiously, and he knew what I was asking.

"Yeah, I have." He seemed somewhat reluctant to give me any details. "There was one girl and one guy. I don't think there's gonna be any more after tonight, though--"

"You don't think?" I glared at him, even though he knew I was just feigning anger. I paused for a second, then looked at Steve and said, "Strip."

He turned and walked to the stereo. He switched the song over to Morcheeba's "Friction." It had one hell of a sexy groove. He started bumping and grinding his hips to the beat. I was still as hard as hell and dripping all over myself, but I turned to face him. I started whooping it up, shouting for him to "Take it off!" and "Shake it, baby!" He slowly started pulling his shirt over his head, all the while gyrating his hips to the music.

As soon as he had pulled off his shirt, I just laid there, speechless. Steve was a god among men. He had the classic swimmer's build, though the only swimming he really ever did was just splashing around with me, and I'm not exactly an Olympic athlete myself. The sight of him shirtless astounded me. I'd seen him shirtless and even naked before, but never in the way I saw him that night. He had a gorgeous, even tan (compared to my own pale skin, the result of my English/Scottish/Irish/Swedish genetics) covering his entire body. There was a small bit of dark hair sprinkled on his chest, though it was pretty damn hard to make out if you weren't up close. He had a gorgeous, dark trail that led from his navel down into the front of his jeans. I made a soft whimpering noise in the back of my throat, getting his attention.

"You like this, dontcha?" He smiled at me, all the while still grooving the to music. I nodded, unable to take my eyes from his absolutely stunning body. "Yeah, I knew you would." He returned to his tease.

He tossed his shirt to me, letting it conveniently land on my face. I closed my eyes and took a nice, long whiff before I pulled it off. Damn, that boy even smelled sexy. When I focused my attention back on Steve, his hands were slowly unbuttoning his fly. I watched him slowly pull the zipper down before he turned his back to me. I didn't mind that view. He slowly shook his ass as he lowered the jeans down, leaving just his socks and boxers on. He tossed his jeans at me, too, but I didn't bother sniffing them. I'd be getting the real thing soon enough. With his back still turned to me, he started to slowly bend over. I didn't realize what he was going to do until he pulled off one sock and tossed it at my face. It hit its mark.

"Ugh, gross, man!" I yelled, laughing. He didn't stop stripping; he just chucked the other sock at me. I was tempted to throw it back, but the main event was coming up. He still had his back turned to me, the bastard, and I couldn't see his bulge-not that my dick went down any for the inconvenience. I just stared at his gorgeous ass as he slowly lowered and then raised the band of his boxers. "C'mon, baby, take it off!" I yelled, finding my voice again. He turned his head and smiled at me, bending all the way over and taking his boxers off, but holding them in front of him as he continued to dance for me, leaving me unable to see his dick. "You'd better get over here or I'll take care of this myself," I said, pointing to my dripping cock. He was unable to resist that threat, so he chucked the shorts over his shoulder and made a mad dash for my cock.

"Get down on the floor, I need more room to work," he said as he came toward me. Who was I to disagree? I climbed onto the floor, lying on my back. I saw him standing over my head, his gorgeous dick hanging over me, threatening to drip its delicious pre-cum all over my chest. I grabbed his knees and pulled him down. "Damn, anxious, aren't you?"

I didn't say anything. His balls had come close enough to my face for me to lick them. He was standing with his legs spread over me at an angle where I could see up his crack. "Damn, babe, that's one hairy ass you have there." I said between licks of his equally fuzzy balls. He smiled at me.

"You're one to talk. You're hairier than I am--" He started to lower himself down, giving me the ability to reach his gorgeous cock for the first time. Immediately I pulled it down to my mouth, making it a point to lick all of that delicious pre-cum off the tip. Hell, I can't even describe what it tasted like. It wasn't exactly sweet, but it was, and there was saltiness -- I guess it's just one of those things that if you don't taste it, you can't know what it's like. Still, it was incredible and I knew that it was all mine, all produced because of me.

All that time, he had been working on my dick. I could barely even concentrate. When he sucked the head into his mouth. I thought I would shoot off right there. I don't have any idea how I held off. I knew that I'd never get his huge cock in my mouth, at least not on the first try, so I buried myself in his balls, licking and sucking until he moaned. His moaning with half of my cock in his mouth almost set me off. It would only be another few minutes. I pulled myself away from his gorgeous body for a second or two, long enough to warn him.

"Unnnngh, yeah, I'm gonna cum soon. Get ready for it--" I moaned, then focused my attention on his cock. I managed to get the head in, causing him to moan again. I knew I was about to blow, and I wanted him to join me. I swirled my tongue around the head, pushing at the rim and opening the slit, drinking his juice straight from the source. I pulled down on his ass, forcing another inch or two into my mouth. The head of his gorgeous prick was poking at the back of my throat, begging me to take it further. Try as I might, I was unable to push him any deeper. I continued to focus on tongue action, licking the sensitive head until I heard him moan out that he was gonna cum soon, too. I just let all of my restraints go and let the pleasure he was getting out of my cock wash over me. I desperately wanted to taste his cum, and I knew he felt the same way about me.

I'd had my hand on his cock the entire time, slowly stroking, and I could feel his balls tighten up. I closed my eyes in anticipation. Just the thought that I'd get to taste Steve sent me over, filling his mouth with a huge load of my cum. I felt it dribble down the sides of his mouth and onto my balls, even though I was sure he was swallowing all he could. I heard a loud grunt from him and he started cumming into my mouth. That bastard didn't even give me any warning. I'd have to smack him later. For now, I was too immersed in the incredible taste. It was a whole hell of a lot stronger than what I'd tasted before, and I loved it. I'd tasted my own before (who hasn't?), but this was in an entirely different league. I was sucking my best friend's cock, drinking down every last drop of his delicious cum, and having the time of my life. After six or seven rather large spurts, he slowed down and dripped a little more before pulling out because of tenderness.

I looked up at him, smiling, still tasting him. He turned himself around, lying with his arms under my shoulders, and kissed me. I tasted myself on his mouth and I was pretty sure he tasted himself on me. I just wanted to stay like that forever, kissing, tasting him. Eventually, though, he broke the kiss and rolled over to my side, panting.

"Oh, fuck," Steve paused to take a breath. "Damn, Mike, that was the best blowjob I've ever had!" He looked over at me and smiled.

"Mmm, you are one horny little fucker," I smiled back at him.

"Damn, I'm all tuckered out." Steve yawned in an awkward attempt to get his arm around me. I had to laugh at him. I took the hint and sniggled up closer to him. It was cool in the house, but we didn't mind. Hell, I kinda liked it. It was a nice contrast after the heat of our two sweaty bodies writhing against one another. Damn, if I kept thinking like that, I'd be getting excited all over again. I'm sure that'd just break Steve's heart.

I looked over at him. He apparently wasn't kidding about being tired; he was already asleep. I took a few minutes to look over his body. He had an amazing face. My eyes involuntarily continued downward, where they stopped at his chest. I don't know why, but I had always liked that dark sprinkling of hair. It accented more than it drew attention, I guess, unlike mine. Not that I didn't like mine, it was just nice to see something different. Again, my eyes went downward of their own volition. They followed that cute trail from his navel to his pubic hair. I thought it looked too nice -- he had obviously trimmed it. I'd have to ask him about that later.

I stopped exploring him with my eyes and decided that it would probably be better for both of our backs if we got into bed. I gently shook him, waking him up enough so that he could walk, and led him into the bedroom. I closed the door behind us, merely out of habit, while he crawled under his covers. I joined him and almost as if it was a reflex, his arm wrapped around me and pulled me close to him. I could tell that things just got a lot more complicated, but I didn't mind. I finally had my fantasy of four years: I was falling asleep in Steve's arms.