Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 07:38:05 EST
From: Justin
Subject: Pool Kid

				WARNING!!!

The following story contains graphic scenes of sex between males.  If the
topic offends you please do not read on.  If you are not 18 years of age
you should not read this either.  If are at least 18 and the topic doesn't
offend you, then please read and enjoy.  (Justin)

			       The Pool Kid

   It was the first week of August and the hot Texas sun beat down on me as
I walked through the apartment complex parking lot toward my apartment.
What a bitch of a summer it had been.  Graduate school, my marketing class
in particular, was tearing my ass up.  I had lost my part-time job, my
phone bill was over due, and rent was due in two weeks.  In general, my
academic life, my finances, and my love life sucked.

   I stopped at the mailroom on the way to my apartment.  Great!  More
bills that need to be paid.  Things are just gonna get better, I thought to
myself sarcastically.

   I headed toward my apartment, passing the pool on the way.  Not too
crowded today, just a couple of chicks lying out.  That was one good thing
at least.  I could go upstairs and get on my swimsuit and at least enjoy
the pool.

   My answering machine had the usual solicitation hang-ups.  There was a
message from Alan all excited about the latest guy he had been out with.  I
made a mental note that I would return the call later.  I just wasn't in
the mood to hear Alan gush on and on about his latest love.  Especially,
since mine had gone sour.

   Trin and I had had an on-going relationship for over a year before I
discovered, quite by accident, that he was seeing someone else.  Alan had
seen Trin and another guy at the Rainbow and tipped me off.  In a way, I
was pissed at Alan for telling me.  I had really gone head over heels for
Trin and I thought we had what was going to be a permanent, if not
long-lasting, relationship.

   Trin and I had gone to see "Titanic" and talked all the way back to my
apartment about what a beautiful love story it was, and what a good-looking
guy Leo was.  We made love that night but I could tell it wasn't the same
for him as it was me.  It was when we were lying there talking afterward
that I asked him if he was seeing some one else.  He didn't deny it.  We
dissolved our relationship that night.

   I took off my clothes and got my swimsuit out of the drawer and slipped
it on.  I looked at myself in the mirror.  I still looked pretty good in a
Speedo I thought.  It had been six years since high school and I had done
any competitive swimming.  Yet, the stomach was still flat and my chest
still had form.  For twenty-four I didn't look too bad.  Working out in the
exercise room at the apartment complex seemed to be paying off.  I gathered
up my towel, sun tan lotion and the latest copy of XY Magazine and headed
down to the pool.  Once there I didn't have much trouble finding a chair to
lie down on.  Cheryl and Ginger were the only people there.  I said hello
to both of them and spread out my towel on the lounge chair, sat down, and
started to spread sun tan lotion over my body.

   "Hey Justin, where is Trin?  Haven't seen him around lately," Cheryl
said.

   "Sore subject," I replied.

   "You guys bust up?" she asked.

   "Yeah, something like that," I replied.

   We made small talk while I finished putting on the sun tan lotion, then
I lay down on my stomach and began to thumb through my magazine.  Although
the magazine deals mostly with young gays, I had found that occasionally
there were some good articles by older guys.

   The sun felt good on my body and the cool water of the pool felt good
when I finally jumped in.  As was my usual routine, I swam a few laps then
got out and laid on my back.  And, as usual, I dozed of for a bit.  When I
finally sat up I noticed that Cheryl and Ginger had gone.  However, that is
not all I noticed.  Stretched out on a chair directly across from me, lying
on his back, was the prettiest guy I had seen in a long time.  This dude
was definitely what the term eye-candy was all about.

   I guessed that he was about 17 or 18.  His blonde hair was buzzed around
the sides and was kind of shaggy on top. His dark-tanned skin was covered
here and there with drops of sweat.  His stomach was beyond the term six
pack.  It was ripped like hell.  From the shape of his chest and shoulders
he had to be a swimmer, I thought.  As I sat there and took every inch of
him in with my eyes, I realized I was getting a hard on.  For me, that is a
definite not do when I am wearing a Speedo.  In high school that had
embarrassed me on more than one occasion.  It's not bad to have slightly
over eight inches, unless your dick gets hard when you are wearing a
Speedo.  I rolled over on my stomach, lay down and tried to put the kid out
of my mind.  It didn't work.

   Eventually, the kid got up and jumped in the pool.  Quickly, I grabbed
up my towel, covered my raging hard-on with it, and headed up to the
apartment.  Once there, I stripped off my swimsuit and got into the shower.
The water not only felt good but it had the desired effect.  My dick
finally started to soften.

   I dried off and slipped into a pair of shorts and tee shirt, my usual
around the apartment attire, and noticed the light blinking on the
answering machine.  I checked the message and it was Alan.  He had heard
about a club over on Sixth Street that was looking for a bartender and
thought I might be interested.  I sure as hell was, not that I liked the
idea.  I had done that before but the hours are hell when you are trying to
go to make early-morning classes.  Yet, I was desperate and needed the
money.  I re-played the message and jotted down the number.  The doorbell
rang.  I walked over and unlatched the lock and opened the door.  It was
the kid from the pool standing there with a towel around his shoulders.

   "You left this at the pool," he said.

   It was my copy of XY.

   "Uh, thanks!" I stammered.

   I took it from him.

   "You gay?" he asked.

    I couldn't believe the boldness of this kid.  I mean he didn't know me
from Adam and he just came right out and asked me that.

   "Yeah," I replied.

   "That's cool," he said.  "Thought you might be because of the magazine.
Anyway, just wanted to make sure you got it back."

   "Thanks, I appreciate that," I said.

   "Well, take it easy man, see yah around," he said as he turned and walked
away.

   "Yeah, see yah," I replied.

   I closed the door.  My heart was racing at 90 miles an hour, my knees
were weak, and I had a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I sat down
on the couch.  I wondered what the fuck was going on with me?  Normally,
guys that age didn't do anything but make me realize how immature they are.
Why was this dude having this kind of effect on me?

   I cut on the television and flipped the channels.  I stopped on the
local news channel. That would be depressing enough, I knew, to get my mind
off of what had just happened.  After awhile, I settled down and called the
number that Alan had given me.

   The interview over the phone went well.  The guy said he liked my
attitude.  He had had a hard time finding someone because he was only
looking for someone for Friday and Saturday nights.  That was perfect for
me.  I figured with the income I could make on those two nights, and my
student loan, I could just about make it.  It would be tight, but I could
do it.  We made an appointment for the next week for me to come by for an
interview. However, he assured me that if I was half as good in person as
over the phone I had the job.  Things were beginning to look a little
better.  I decide to celebrate and go to the store for some beer, come
home, and order a pizza.

   The pizza arrived about 6:30 and I settled in for an evening of
listening to some music on my stereo, cramming down some high-calorie
pizza, and drinking a few beers.  I had checked out the television schedule
and nothing was on worth a fuck.  So, I decide that I might as well listen
to some CD's and read some of the crap I had to read for my marketing
class.

   I guess I must not have been into the routine because I had eaten most
of the pizza and drunk about half the beers, and had already tossed the
marketing book aside when the doorbell rang.  Probably another damned
salesman.  I got up thinking about how the apartment complex really needed
to do something about that kind of crap.

   I opened the door ready to rip-off the head of anyone standing there.  I
had finally found some time just to relax and let a zillion anxieties loose
and the fucking doorbell rings.  I opened the door.

   "Yeah, what is it?!! I said.

   It was the kid from the pool.  He jumped at the sound of my voice.

   "Geez man, I'm sorry, he said.  You also forgot this."

   In his hand he held my bottle of sun tan lotion.  I hadn't even noticed
it was gone.

   "I'm sorry," I said, "I thought it was another damn salesman."

   "That's cool," he said.

   He held out the bottle of sun tan lotion and I took it from him.

   "Thanks, uh I don't even know your name,"

   "Craig," he said.

   "Well thanks Craig, my names Justin, I really appreciate it."

    He just stood there in his tee shirt, shorts, and bare feet looking at
me.  His green eyes felt like they were looking into the depths of my soul.

    "Nice sounds," he said.

    I realized he meant the 98 Degrees CD I had on the stereo.

   "Yeah, it's one of my favorites," I replied.

   He just kept standing there.

   "You want to come in and listen?"

    I couldn't believe I had said it.

    "Sure," he said.

     I opened the door wider and Craig came in and plopped himself on the
couch.

   "You want some pizza?  There are a couple of slices left"

   "No thanks, he said.  I'd rather have a beer."

   "Well, I'd give you one but I know you are not 21 and I wouldn't want to
get into trouble."

   "Hey, no problem, man," he said.  "I drink beer at my sister's all the
time."

   "Oh, so you are visiting your sister?" I asked.

   "Yeah, thought I would come up and stay with her and check out the
university."

   "You planning on going to UT?" I asked.

   "Maybe, I don't know.  I graduate next year.  Hadn't really decided
where I am gonna go.  Don't even really know what the fuck I want to do
really."

   Spoken like a true teenager I thought.  I remembered I didn't know what
I wanted to do either at that age, and it wasn't that long ago.

   "Hey man, how about the beer?" he asked.

   I got up and went to the fridge and got a couple of beers.  I handed him
one proceeded to pop open mine.

   "Here you go," I said.  "Hope your sister doesn't chew my ass out."

   "I told you man, its no problem," he replied.

   The next CD began to play on the stereo.  It was a collection of old
songs by Chicago.  A little before my time but I liked their style.

   "You mind if I ask you something?" Craig said.

   "Not at all, ask away," I replied.

   "How long have you been gay?" he asked.

   I had assumed he was going to ask me some questions about college or
some such thing.  I was really taken aback.

   "Well, Craig, I guess I have been openly gay since my freshman year in
college.  I realized I liked guys long before that.  Why do you ask?"  I
said.

   "I looked at your magazine after you left the pool and there was this
article in it by a guy my age telling about what it was like to be gay in
high school and all.  It was cool," he said.

   "Yeah, they do have some good articles," I replied.  "That is one of the
reasons I read it."

   I hadn't noticed that Craig had already downed his beer.

  "Say man, could I have another beer?" he asked.

  "Sure", I said, "I just don't want your sister pissed at me if you get
drunk."

   "No way on two beers dude," he said laughing.

   I went to the fridge and got Craig another beer and handed it to him.
He popped it open and took a big swig and then looked at me.  Again those
green eyes of his looked into me.

    "I think I am gay," he said.

   "Really, what makes you think that?" I asked.

   "I get turned on by guys," he replied.

   "You mean you just like to look at guys?" I questioned.

   "No man, I mean like I get a boner thinking about guys and I think about
guys when I beat off," he said matter of factly.

  "Well, Craig, that doesn't mean you are gay.  When I was your age I used
to get hard when the wind blew the wrong way."

   Craig laughed and I could tell he seemed more at ease.  Must be the beer
I thought.

   "Have you ever had any relationships with other guys?" I asked.

   "Yeah, there is this guy on the swim team.  He and I get it on all the
time.  We have been doing it since ninth grade," he replied.

   I resisted the temptation to ask what they had been doing.  Besides,
that was a private thing and it was really none of my business.

   "Well that still doesn't mean you are gay.  All guys experiment with
other guys.  It's natural," I said.

   "So when I get hard looking at another guy that is natural?" he asked.

   Well, he had me there.  I tried to carefully weigh what I would say
next.

   "It might be, depends on how much it happens," I finally replied.

   "Well, it has been happening a lot more lately man.  Its like almost all
the time now when I see a guy I like," he said.

   I wasn't prepared for what he would say next.

   "Like today by pool," he continued, "I got hard when I saw you lying there
in the chair."

   What could I say?

   "I really did," he said smiling.

   I laughed and the smile was replaced on his face by a look of
disappointment and hurt.

   "Geez, I'm sorry Craig.  I wasn't laughing at you.  I was laughing with
you," I said hastily.

   His look of disappointment was replaced by one of puzzlement.

   "I got hard looking at you today too.  Why do you think I left the pool
in such a hurry toady?"

   The smile returned to his face and he laughed.

   "You mean it was happening to both of us at the same time?"

   "Yeah, Craig, I guess it did," I replied.

   I laughed and then noticed that Craig wasn't laughing or smiling
anymore.  He was just sitting there looking at me.  Oh God, I had seen that
look before.  It is the look that goes into your inner soul.  It is the
look that gives you that feeling in the pit of your stomach.  I sat there
in the chair frozen and speechless.

   Craig got up from the couch and started toward the chair where I was
sitting.

   "I am hard now," he said.

   I could tell by the bulge in his shorts that he was.

   I stood up and met him as he got to the chair.  We embraced each other
at the same time.  Craig's mouth sought mine and in an instant he had his
tongue inside my mouth setting me afire with his youthful passion.  We
slowly collapsed onto the carpeted floor.

  Any reservations that I might have had were gone, melted away by the heat
of the moment.  I had the hots for this kid from the moment I had laid eyes
on him.  Gone was any resolve I may have had.  I wanted him.  I needed him.
I let myself go.

  I began to explore his body.  I moved my hand down toward his crotch and
squeezed the bulge in his shorts.  A groan and a more frantic working of
his tongue rewarded me.  I moved my hand under his tee shirt and began to
explore and feel his stomach and his nipples.  Craig began to do the same
to me.  It would have been difficult to say who was more consumed with the
other.

   Breaking away from his kisses, I rolled on top of Craig and pressed my
hardness against his.  I let my tongue begin to work over his neck and
around his ears.  I pulled up his tee shirt and let my mouth began to
explore his nipples, first one then the other.  He trembled slightly as my
mouth worked its way slowly, like a giant snail, down his stomach to his
navel.

   I knew that Craig and his high school buddy had probably never done more
than give hand-jobs or blow-jobs to each other.  This was going to be
different.  I was going to show him what really making love with a guy was
all about.

   Downward my mouth continued until I reached the thin line of hair that
went from his navel and disappeared beneath his shorts.  I followed the
thin line with my tongue down to the top of his shorts and back up again.
Craig again groaned loudly.  With my hand I unbuttoned the top of his
shorts, opened them, and pulled them down.  He had on no underwear and his
dick sprang free.  He had nothing to be ashamed of.  Craig's dick was at
least as big, if not bigger, than my own.  A tiny drop of pre-cum oozed
from it as I pulled his shorts off the rest of the way.

   I wanted to tell him to just lay back and enjoy the moment but I didn't
have to.  Craig was totally lost in his feelings.  He had forgotten about
doing anything to me.  He was too consumed by sensation to care.  I licked
at the drop of pre-cum with my tongue and was greeted by an another low
moan from Craig.  I began to explore the head of his dick with my tongue.

   "Oh Geez, that feels so good," he said.

   I nibbled up and down the shaft of his dick with my mouth, then to his
balls.  A low, almost continuos, moan came from his throat.  I worked my
way back up with my mouth to the tip and took the head into my mouth.
Slowly, I sucked on the head while working my tongue around it.  Craig
hunched his hips upward straining to feed me more.  I continued working on
just the head until I felt him relax again.  Then, I took a deep breath and
went down on him all the way to his pubes.  I could feel his dick pulse in
my throat as I held him captive.

   "Oh fuck yeah!" he screamed.

   I came up for air and let his dick slip from my mouth.  It plopped on
his belly all shiny and slick, jerking slightly with his every heartbeat.

   "Oh please, don't stop," he said.

   I took hold of his hand.

   "Come on," I said.

   I led him by the hand to the bedroom.  I removed his tee shirt.  Craig
undid my shorts letting them fall to my ankles.  I stepped out of them and
kicked off my tennis shoes.  My dick now stuck out straight and hard.
Craig removed my tee shirt and let it fall from his hands to the floor.  We
now stood face to face totally naked.  He reached out and began to run his
hands over my stomach and shoulders.

   "Geez you are beautiful," he said.

   "I bet you say that to all the guys, " I kidded back.

  He smiled and took hold of my dick with his hand, and kneeling down,
began to lick on the head.  This time it was I doing the moaning when he
took me into his mouth, and doing the hollering when he buried his nose
into my pubes.  So loudly, in fact, that he quit sucking me and let my dick
flop from his mouth.

  "Got you back," he said laughingly.

   I couldn't help but laugh too.

   Soon we stopped though.  I put my hands on his shoulders and lifted
Craig up to where we looked at each other eye to eye.  I moved my lips
forward and kissed him.  This time it was me who let my tongue explore the
inside of his mouth.  Soon, we were again consumed by the passion of each
other.  Clinging to one another we laid down upon the bed.

   We explored each other's bodies again with our mouths and our tongues.
In due time, we ended up in my favorite position, a 69, with each of us
giving the other all the pleasure we could.  I moved my hand around to
Craig's ass and inserted a couple of fingers in his hole.  He did the same
to me.  I bucked back wanting more.  He did the same.  On we went like that
until I couldn't hold off any more.  I could feel the cum boil up from my
balls and outward through the shaft of my dick.  It sounded like Craig was
moaning even more.  I couldn't tell that he was trying to tell me he was
going to cum too.  I spewed my load into his mouth.  Not a second later I
was greeted with Craig's load of cum as it flooded like a raging river into
my mouth.

   We stayed locked together in that position long after each of us had
cum.  We continued to suck on each other long after both of us were no
longer hard, draining the last drops of cum from each other.  Eventually, I
moved off of him and changed position so I could lay my head on the
pillows.  Craig snuggled up and put his head on my chest.

   "That was awesome," he said.

   "Yeah, it was," I replied.  I wasn't kidding either.

   "I have never done that before," Craig said.

   "You mean you have never given a guy a blow job?" I asked.

   "No, I meant I have never done what we just did," he said.

   I resisted the temptation to tell him I knew that he had his buddy
probably hadn't ever done anything near what we had just done.  I gave him
a hug.

   "Well, now you have," I said.

  Crag moved his hand down toward my dick and started playing with it.

   "Easy guy," I said.

   I was wondering what I had gotten myself in to.  I had just had the best
sex that I had had in months and was totally wasted.  This kid's motor was
still running and he was ready to go again.

   "Let's take a shower and clean up a little," I suggested.

   We went to the bathroom and I cut on the shower.  Both of us got in.

   The warm water of the shower felt good.  I got the soap and rag and
begin to wash Craig's body.  I paid special attention to his backside; in
fact he squirmed a little when I made sure that his crack was good and
clean.  I wanted it that way for a reason.  He was already hard again by
the time I turned him around to finish the front of him.

   "I can see you liked that," I remarked, looking at his erection.

   "I think I know something you will like better," I said.

   I knelt down and took his dick in my mouth again.  He groaned and began
to rock his hips back and forth.  Just as before, I took the head into my
mouth and used my tongue on it.  He moaned again.  I let his dick slip from
my mouth and took my hands and turned him around so that I was looking at
his tight firm ass.  I spread his ass cheeks with my hands and dove in with
my tongue.

   "Oh God!" he exclaimed.

   Craig leaned forward and placed his hands on the wall of the shower.

   I worked my tongue in and around his hole as begin to moan and groan
almost continuously.  He didn't know it, of course, but the best was yet to
come.  I parted the lips of his asshole with my tongue and inserted it in
to his rectum lapping as I went.  Craig screamed so loud I thought he was
hurt.  I stopped.

  "Oh please, he begged, please more!"

  I went back to work.  Darting my tongue around, over, and in and out of
his asshole.  With my right hand I felt for the bar of soap in the soap
tray and found it.  I begin to lather Craig's dick, replaced the soap back
in the tray, and begin to work my hand up and down his now well-lubricated
shaft.  I just thought he had screamed before.

   In a matter of seconds he began to buck his ass back onto my tongue like
a wild man. I felt his already stiff dick get even harder in my hand.  He
screamed like he was being killed and exploded his load.  With my face in
his ass I could not see it, but I could feel his dick pulse in my hand with
every shot.

  "Ohhhhhhh," was all he said as he collapsed to the floor of the tub
breathing heavily.

   He looked at me through glazed green eyes and smiled a weak smile as the
water from the shower continued to spray on us like a waterfall.

   "Oh fuck man, I had no idea," he said exhausted.

  I let him catch his breath and then helped him get up.  Both of us
cleaned soaped down again, rinsed off, and got out of the shower.  I took a
towel from the rack and begin to dry him all over.  When I was about
through he took the towel and dried me.  We went back to the bedroom and
lay down upon the bed again.  It was then that I noticed he had been there
almost two hours.  It seemed like only minutes.

   "Craig, I hate to spoil and good thing," I said.  "Your sister is going to
be wondering what the hell happened to you."

   "Yeah, I guess I better go," he said.

   I helped him gather up his shirt and the rest of his clothes and he
began to put them on.

   "I really enjoyed being with you," he said.

   "I enjoyed being with you too," I replied.

   Once he was dressed, I walked with him to the door.

   "Can I come back?' he asked.

    "Sure," I said honestly

    "Cool, I want some more of this," he said grabbing hold of my dick.

    I kissed him and let him out the door, standing behind it so no one
could see that I was naked.  I closed the door behind him.  God, what had I
done.  As I thought about it I started to get hard again.  I chuckled a
little to myself.  Yep, I had the kid right where he wanted me.

   Craig came over again the next night and we made love again.  This time,
after rimming him real good, I reached for the tube of lube and put a big
glob on my fingers.  I worked them around in his ass as he pitched and
hunched trying to get more.  I got more lube and lubricated my dick well.
I turned Craig on his side so that my head rested next to his with his
backside facing me.  I inserted my fingers again, working them around until
I was sure he was as ready as he was going to be.  Then I replaced them
with the head of my dick, which began to part his ass lips as I slowly
moved forward.

   "Oh shit man, it hurts," he said.

   I stopped.

   "It will only hurt for a minute, I said.  Try to relax.  I will take all
the time you need.  You tell me when you are ready for more."

   I held still for several minutes, not moving and inch.

   "Okay," he said, "I'm ready."

   I eased in some more until I felt him tense up again.  I stopped and
waited.  Before long he hunched his ass back.  More of me went into
him. The warmth and tightness of him was incredible.  He moved his ass back
again.  I moved forward.  I slid in all the way to my pubes.

   "Oh God!" he cried.

   I lay still for several minutes and gave him a chance to adjust to me
being in him.  Then, I started slowly moving my hips.  He began to do the
same.  Very soon he was beginning to buck back at me much harder than I was
trying to fuck into him. Quickly, I pulled out, turned him over, and
positioned his butt so I could enter him from the rear.  I entered him all
the way until my balls swung beneath his.  I began to fuck him in earnest
then.  He fucked me backstroke for stroke, moaning and groaning all the
time.  Soon, I could wait no longer.

  "I am gonna cum, Craig," I said, "I have to pull out."

  "Oh no, please don't. Fuck me, man, please fuck me," he pleaded.

  The excitement in his voice was all it took.  I rammed into him one last
time and exploded in his gut.  A moan came from deep within his throat and
I could feel him shiver as I unloaded deep inside him and then slowly
continued my rocking motions.

   Then, I turned him over.  His dick was rock hard and he was oozing so
much pre-cum it was like he had already shot.  I quickly grabbed the lube
and worked some all over his shaft as he groaned.  I raised myself up over
him; with my hand I took his dick and guided it into me.  I knew, because
he was much bigger than Trin, that it was gonna hurt some but I didn't care
at that point.  I lowered myself onto that beautiful cock and sank all the
way to his groin.

  The pain and the pleasure were all as one.  I began to move up and down,
ridding Craig's dick like there would be no tomorrow.  He began to thrust
up into me at the same time.  He grabbed my hips to get more leverage and
began to fuck me harder.  He moaned and came.  I could feel the warmth
spread within me as he shoot load after load into me.  I collapsed
exhausted on his chest, thinking that even at 24 I was too old to keep up
with this kid.

  As before, we lay holding each other after it was all and enjoying the
after-glow of having been with each other.  For the rest of the week, every
night we made love.  Soon, though, it was time for Craig to leave and go
home.  The day he left he came by to say good bye.  We talked a little
about his senior year coming up and some about what colleges he might go to
but soon those things were exhausted.  A silence came between us.

  "I have had the best time of my life," he said.  "I will never forget
it. Thank you," he said.

  "Me too," I said, and I meant it.

  We kissed and he was out the door of my apartment and on his way.

  I watched him as he walked across the courtyard and I waved back to him
when he turned and smiled.  `The little devil,' I thought, `he knew I would
be standing here watching.'  The grin on his face said it all as he waved
good bye, turned, and walked across the courtyard out of sight.

  I closed the door and couldn't help but feel terribly alone.  It had been
such a wonderful week.  Better than any in a long time.  I went to the
phone and called Alan, maybe he would want to go out tonight.  The thought
of being alone just didn't seem so good right then.  There was no answer.
Well, maybe later.  Besides, I needed to go to the store anyway.

  The trip to the store took longer than I expected.  I ran into a friend
of Alan's and we decided to have some coffee and chat.  Finally, after
about an hour, I finished the grocery shopping.  The total was way too
much.  I was going to have to cut down even more if I was going to make it
on the salary I was going to make at the new job.

   I got back to the apartment somewhere around seven, much later that I
had planned.  I put up the groceries and changed into my shorts.  I knew I
needed to do some reading for my marketing class and I figured that would
help me take my mind off of Craig.  That I would do, I decided, right after
I ate dinner.

   Dinner was the usual non-gourmet stuff, broiled chicken, some
vegetables, and some salad.  I had eaten too much junk food with Craig over
the week.  I had to get back into the routine.  Working out and healthy
good things had not been a priority lately.

   Finally, a little after eight, I settled down upon the coach with my
marketing book to read.  It must have been fifteen or twenty minutes later
that the doorbell rang.  My heart jumped, but then I remembered Craig was
gone.  Probably another fucking salesman.

  Those two thoughts -- Craig being gone and the possibility of a salesman
-- did not make me a happy camper when I got to the door.

  "Yeah, what do you want," I said as I jerked open the door.

  There stood a kid, not much older than Craig, with shoulder length brown
hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen.  I had seen him around the
complex before but never really noticed how cute he was.  He jumped,
startled at the harshness of my voice.

   "Uh, Craig said to give you this and tell you you left it by the pool,"
he said.

   In his hand was the same bottle of sun tan lotion that Craig had
returned to me that first night.  I hadn't been to the pool since the day I
first saw Craig.  How the fuck did this get my sun tan lotion.

  "He also said to give you this," he held out a small envelope.

   I took the bottle of sun tan lotion and the envelope from the kid and
opened the envelope.  There was a note inside:

       Dear Justin,

       Thanks again for a wonderful time.  I wanted to get you a present but
       didn't know what you really liked.  Jeff, the guy who gave you the
       note, and I got it on this week too.  He doesn't know as much as
       you though.  Maybe you can help him out.

       XXXOOO!!  Craig

       PS: He has seen you by the pool and thinks you are soooo hot.

   I looked up from the note, looked at Jeff, and smiled.  I knew now how
he had gotten the sun tan lotion.  Jeff's broke into a grin. I had seen
that same grin on Craig's face many times in the last week.

   "Thanks, for bringing this," I said.  "Would you like a coke or something
Jeff?"

   "Sure," he said.

   Jeff walked into my apartment and into my life where he remains today.
He has been a very special present from a very special friend.