I wish to retain all rights to this story. However, I am delighted to grant permission to any person to publish this story as long as there is no charge to the reader and as long as no changes are made to the story.

Copyright 2005. All Rights Reserved.

SEA CHANGE

CHAPTER 34 — Guadalupe River

“I’m sorry,” he said.

I nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

Interlacing his fingers with mine, he looked away, back out his window. “We’ve never talked to each other that way before.”

“Never,” I agreed. “I’ve been thinking… maybe we oughta hold off the beer and the grass; at least not get so blown away.”

Dan nodded. “I thought about that. I was thinking the same thing.”

Lifting our clasped hands, I kissed the back of his. “You aren’t normally jealous,” I said.

He shrugged. “Neither are you… well, not much.”

“Was it because of Caitlyn? Because she’s a girl?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Why? Does it really bother you that you haven’t done a girl?”

“And that you have?” he asked. “Yeah, I guess it does. Maybe it always has, you know?”

“We can take care of that easy enough,” I said. “You could have any girl you want…”

He shook his head, emphatically.

“You could have done Caitlyn last night,” I continued.

“I don’t want to do a girl,” he said, exasperated. “I just don’t want you doing them.”

I had to laugh. “Why? Not that I’m dying to do that, but how is my doing a girl any different from, like, you doing Scott or Sam or any other guy? Shit, how is it different from me doing any other guy?”

“It just is,” he said, and started to pull away his hand, but I hung on to it.

Daniel frowned and leaned his head against the passenger window. “You like girls, Sean,” he said quietly. “You don’t think you click with them, and maybe you didn’t back home – just because they all might have guessed you and I had something going. But girls like you. You think you’re just normal looking, but you aren’t. You aren’t fuckin’ close to normal. You don’t know the affect you have on people. You think it’s because some swimsuit is hot. It’s you, Sean. You’re a six foot tall god and you take peoples’ breath away.” He squeezed my hand. ”There are times you still take my breath away.”

He shook his head slowly against the window. “You know what worries me? You like girls, and they like you. You like kids. You want to have kids someday. A girl can offer you a family; I can’t.”

I started to say something, but he chuckled, mirthlessly and continued. “That’s why I was so willing for us to include Ry in our… family. I guess I figured he could help me hang on to you… Oh, I like Ry just fine. He is special and if he wants to live with us, I think the three of us can be really special.” He glanced at me. “Really special.”

He turned from the window and leaned close to me. “Oh, Sean. I don’t care how many guys you do. You get just as horny as I do and we both know it. We both get hot looking at other guys. And as long as we’re both just bopping other guys, it’s not a big deal. In fact, when we do rescues together, it’s fun… you know, doing guys together. But that’s guys.”

He squeezed my hand tightly. “I know you. I know what we have. The rival I fear isn’t some guy you have sex with; the rival I fear is… a wife.” He put his hand gently over my mouth before I could protest and pulled the side of my head to his forehead. “Shssh,” he said, quietly. “I know what you’d say. But Sean, you’re a sweet guy, sometimes too sweet. Sometimes -- and don’t take this the wrong way, because I love you for it -- but sometimes you’re a little stupid when it comes to falling in love.”

He kept his hand over my mouth and his forehead against the side of mine. “It scared the shit out of me when you did Linda. You hadn’t done a girl in so long. And the way you talked about her… you like her. What if you screw her again? What if you screw her and she gets pregnant? I know you, Sean. You’d want to marry her, and not just to ‘do the right thing,’ but because deep down inside, part of you would want that… a wife, a family, kids… especially with a girl you actually like.”

His hand over my mouth was actually comforting, because I didn’t have to answer; I wasn’t sure how to answer.

“And then, last night with Caitlyn,” he continued. “I know I was wasted, but not so wasted that I couldn’t see what was happening between you. She turned you on as much as I do. And I could just see you, getting horny down here in San Antonio, away from me, doing girls and getting back into straight sex.”

Leaning my head against his, I smiled under his hand because I knew he was wrong about that. I took his hand by the wrist, kissed his palm, and then pulled it from over my mouth. “I’m not getting… back… into straight sex, Dan. I was never straight and won’t ever be.” I smiled. “You knew that, even before I did.”

Our heads were still resting together, and I turned mine to kiss him, briefly, before returning my eyes to the road.

“And just for the record, not Caitlyn, not anybody can turn me on the way you do… no one can,” I said.

He pulled away from me and leaned back into his seat, one eyebrow cocked. “Not even Ry?”

“Well, he might come the closest,” I acknowledged.

“What about Aaron?” he challenged.

A sudden image of Aaron moving over me, wrapping me in his arms as he entered me filled my mind. I had to push it away. I nodded reluctantly. “No, Aaron comes the closest.”

Daniel nodded. “He’s the only other guy I’ve ever really been jealous of because I know the affect he has on you. To be honest, I’ve wondered before… if you had both of us in bed with you, who you’d wind up doing.”

My pulse jumped with that image and for a brief moment, I knew why Dan would wonder. I tried joking. “I’d want to do both of you at once.”

Daniel frowned and looked away.

“Oh, damn it, Dan,” I said. “No one holds a candle to you, OK? Not even Aaron. Even if all you’re talking about is the sex, and we’re a hell of a lot more than just sex.”

“What pisses me off,” he said, as though he didn’t even hear me, “is that I know why Aaron has that affect on you – it’s because he is a stud. He’s done lots of girls, and you’ve told me that he makes love to you like he would to a woman. He’s big, he’s strong, and he… he… he takes you, just like he would a woman.”

I started to shake my head.

“Don’t you deny it, Sean,” he said. “You’ve told me yourself.”

“That’s not why I was shaking my head,” I told him. “You’re just too hung up on studs and girls.” I sighed. “Just because Aaron fucks girls doesn’t mean he has some special influence over me. The way he makes love does. That and the fact that he’s big and tightly muscled and gorgeous to look at… yeah he is, I admit it. But the fact that he’s fucked women doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it?” Daniel challenged, looking directly at me.

So I stopped to think about it. Dan seemed so certain, that I had to think about it. “I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “Maybe it does add some extra dimension, but not like you think; it’s not that big a deal… And fucking a girl isn’t that big a deal either, you asshole. Girls don’t have some kind of magical love potion. Oh, doin’ a girl feels good; it’s different. But you can never just fuck a girl; they get you all tangled up in their emotions, trying to hang on to you and all. Perhaps,” I said with a shrug,” that’s why I like Linda. She’s different from other girls.” I smiled. “She’s more like you.”

Daniel guffawed and looked back out the window.

“Well she is… some,” I said.

He didn’t move.

“Damn it, Dan, you want me to say it? I’ll say it… I love cocks, and balls, and guys’ asses, OK? And I love your big cock and balls and tight ass most of all.”

“Oh great,” Daniel said, without looking at me. “You love me for my cock.”

“Quit being a prick,” I said. And then I took his hand, squeezing it hard, and spoke softly. “Don’t you know how much I love you by now? Geez, if this summer didn’t break us up, nothing will.”

Dan leaned his forehead against the window.

“Sure I love your cock,” I said. “It’s gorgeous. I love to hold it, suck it, even take it up my butt… and the reason I love it is because it’s your cock! I love everything about you, Dan, and that includes every part of your body. Sometimes all I have to do is see you; to be close to you… You don’t just turn me on; you excite me, you stir me. What do you think Friday night was about?” I asked. “I was crazy horny, just being with you. And it wasn’t because you’re the hottest looking guy I know; which you are. It was because I was with you.”

I let go of his hand and rubbed his shoulder. “We’ve made love, how many times?” I asked. “Hundreds of times? A thousand? Whenever we’re close; whenever you are beside me…” I lowered my voice. “I remember the weight of your body when you lay down on me and how it always takes my breath away when our balls touch.” I combed the back of his hair with my fingers. “I remember the softness of your skin, the feel of your back muscles under my fingers, the scent of your hair; the scent of your sex.” I drew my fingers down his shoulder, and then down his arm. I lifted his hand and kissed his palm.

His head rolled on the window as he looked at me, and the beginning of a smile played on the corners of his lips.

I held his palm to the side of my face. “I remember the feel of you when you’re under me; when I’m inside you. I remember the feeling of being inside you. I remember the feelings when you’re inside me, moving in me. When your body is close to mine, it stirs a thousand memories of love we’ve made…. My body knows its mate and your closeness always calls to me.”

He caressed my cheek and leaned closer.

I kissed his palm again. “Sometimes, Dan, just the sound of your voice or the smell of your hair gets me instantly hard. Sometimes,” I said quietly, “your slightest touch stirs me.”

He leaned forward and kissed me once… twice. Then he lay down, putting his head in my lap. And when he found I was hard, he nuzzled me.

I stroked his hair while I drove. “I know your body, Dan,” I said. “I know every freckle, every muscle. I know the things you like. I know how to excite you; how to please you; how to soothe you. And when your body responds to mine, it fills me with… wonder… and desire. And then, when we’ve made love over and over and satisfied each other, and I hold you or you hold me… it’s always perfect.”

“In the mornings,” I said, “I watch you sleeping and sometimes my heart just fills up… all up. And I can’t believe you belong to me. And when we’re together, even when we’re just clowning around, I’m happy, Dan. I’m really happy.”

He rolled in his seat and in my lap so that he faced my stomach. He lifted my shirt and nuzzled into the bare skin of my stomach while wrapping his arms around my waist. I was still hard, and his head rested against my hardness, but I ignored it.

I rubbed behind his shoulders. “You OK?” I asked.

Daniel nodded. “Yeah.” He kissed my belly and hugged my waist. ”All those things you said… it’s how I feel about you, about us. The sex is incredible, but it’s much more than sex, much, much, much more. The sex is incredible because we’re incredible together.” He pressed his mouth hard to the flesh of my stomach, hugging me tightly once more. And then he simply held me and sucked on my stomach.

I stroked his hair and he sucked, all the way into the town of Boerne. There we stopped at a supermarket and dry goods store, where we filled a cheap ice chest with sodas and bought sandwiches and chips for supper, along with a few throw pillows and two cheap blankets to leave in the back of the Bronco… for camping.

When he grabbed up a permanent marker, I frowned. “You can not draw a handprint on my butt, Dan. I have to shower with guys everyday after swimming.”

He grinned. “Ken’s the only one in there when you shower. It might turn him on.”

“He isn’t always the only one. Besides, your fucking hand is too big. The print wouldn’t fit under my swim suit.”

“I’ll draw a little hand,” he said. “It’ll fit.”

“Put it back,” I told him.

“Come on, Seany,” he said, leaning closer. “At least let me daub your earlobe… to mark the spot where I’m going to stick you.”

I frowned.

“Please? And you can do me.”

I shrugged. “Oh, alright. Just don’t give me a black earlobe. I can explain away a little mark.”

His smile faded and he leaned his forehead on mine. “We need to do it. After this morning and all, we need to.”

. . . . .

We parked in the high campground at Guadalupe River State Park, and since it was a Sunday, and after Labor Day, there were few other campers. We took a site well away from everyone else and didn’t bother getting out of the Bronco. Dan climbed over into the back and I followed.

We knelt, facing each other, and he pulled off my shirt. I unbuttoned his, pushing it back off his shoulders, kissing down from his neck while he sucked the nape of mine. We brushed bellies and crotches, pulling on each other’s bodies. We pushed down our shorts and fondled each other. And then I took things the way I decided they needed to go.

I lay on my back and kicked off my shoes and shorts. I spread my legs and waited for Dan to finish stripping and lay down on me. And when we were snug, I held him by the butt while we rubbed together, and I whispered in his ear. “Remember what you said was my favorite way to have my balls rubbed?”

“Ummm,” he mumbled, chewing my ear. “Balls on balls.”

“Yeah, but you know what other way I liked to be rubbed?”

“How?” he asked.

“With your belly, on my cock,” I whispered. “When your hard cock is deep inside me.” I ran my hands up his back and dug in with my fingers. “You are a stud, Dan; my stud. And sometimes I need you to be.” I put my lips close to his ear. ”Take me.”

It was almost like his whole body instantly hardened, especially his cock. His muscles clenched, he groaned and rubbed his cock hard on mine. A gush of his warm breath washed down my neck. Then his mouth grew hot and devouring as he moved down my body.

And I let my body respond to him, at first, concentrating on responding, and then finding myself lost in the response. And when he took me, I was more than ready.

. . . . .

“You know when you’re the absolute sexiest?” Dan asked.

We were sitting at a picnic table on the river, under tall cypress trees. It was late. The sun was setting. Only three families remained in the picnic area and one of them was preparing to leave.

I looked down at my body, clad only in the tiny speedos that Dan liked so much. “When I’m wearing your swim suit?” I asked.

“Nope,” he answered, taking another bite of sandwich. He chewed it, winked at me, and then swallowed. “You’re the absolute sexiest when you’re drying your hair after a shower.

“You’re kidding.”

“No, seriously… look.” He stood from the table and stretching his body up and back, he ran his fingers into his hair; rubbed, buffed then shook his hair out. In only his speedos, the effect was undeniably erotic.

“You’re so lean, Sean,” he said, sitting back down, “that when you do it, I can see all the muscles in your back and belly and…” he wriggled his eyebrows, “ your butt, all working and when you shake out your hair the way you do, your cock waggles all over the place. It’s a wonder Ken doesn’t cream everyday when you guys come from the shower. If he hadn’t been there Friday, I would have grabbed you by the hips and swallowed you right up.”

“Hair drying, huh?” I asked, taking a thoughtful bite of a potato chip. “Maybe we need to come back here tonight to skinny dip.”

“I was planning on it,” Dan said. “But we won’t stay up too late. I know that I need to get you back for your classes in good shape. Besides, I’m still tired from last night.”

I reached up to scratch the back of Daniel’s neck while he chewed and leaned closer to him. “Speaking of last night,” I said, “I think we need to rescue Caitlyn. You need to do a girl. I mean, like every guy needs to do a girl sometime. You need to see what it’s like and that there’s nothing magic about girls. And you’ll see that you won’t feel any more of a stud by doing one.”

Dan frowned, dropping his sandwich onto a paper towel. “I told you, Sean. I don’t want to do a girl. I just don’t want you doing them.”

I twirled the back of his hair, thinking. “You know,” I said, “if it really bothers you, you can tell me not to do girls… at least not do them without you.” I kissed the back of his bare shoulder; no one else was close enough to really see. “Servant for life, remember?” I reminded him. “You can order me not to.”

“I’m not going to order you to do anything,” he said.

I sat up, and grasping his shoulders, twisted him on the bench to face me. He looked surprised, and I searched quickly for the words I needed. “Dan, I said. The awl in the ear thing… It’s serious. Don’t you understand? It means that I intend to take your every wish as an order. Please don’t cheapen it, don’t cheapen me, by saying you won’t order me to do anything.”

Holding his shoulders, I wrestled with thoughts, words. “I have given you the highest place in my life. Take what I’m giving you seriously, and you… you… honor me. If you don’t take me seriously…”

His brow furrowed as he studied my face. And then he placed the palm of his hand on my cheek and slowly shook his head. “You’re amazing… so serious about everything sometimes. But I understand.” He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Sean,” he said. “I order you to not have sex with girls, well except for Linda of course.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Especially don’t leave Linda out, not if it bothers you for me to have sex with her.”

He rubbed my cheek, and bit his lip. His eyes moistened. Then putting his forehead on mine, he spoke softly. “Sean, please don’t have sex with Linda, or Caitlyn, or any girl.”

“I promise,” I said. “I won’t.”

He hugged me then, in the gathering dark, and kissed the side of my face. We stroked each other’s backs and rested foreheads on each other. “I’ve thought of another order for you,” he said.

“Oh?”

“After we skinny-dip tonight,” he said, “I order you to dry your hair the way I like, and to wait to do it until I’m kneeling in front of you. I’m going to do what I always get the urge to do.”

. . . . .

The top of the flat rock was secluded; unseen from the path below. Daniel had found it and helped me climb to it. Over the high bluffs on the far bank of the river, a half-moon had risen and cast its silver light into the trees around us, but our rock was in shadow. Sounds from the rapids below muffled and muted the rest of the world, completing our isolation.

We were in my favorite “talking” position; face-to-face on our sides, legs interlaced, crotches snug on hips, arms stroking sides, cushioning heads. We had started on our backs, trying to look up through the trees, but once we decided it was OK to take off our swimsuits, we rolled up on our sides to face each other.

At first, we let the river sing to us, while we spoke only in familiar touches and gentle strokes; in frequent embraces and light kisses.

His skin always seemed softer at night; his breath, warmer; his shoulder, more angular; his waist, narrower; his hips more pleasantly curved. An occasional gust of air blew his hair about, strangely dark as mine in the shadow of the trees. The warmth between our legs kept us comfortable in the slowly cooling night air. I drew closer to him, sliding my arm under his head to support him, pulling him close with an arm over his side. Close until his eyes filled my world.

“It’s good we talked,” I said. “I’m sorry we argued; and I’m damned sorry for the things I said. But I’m glad you finally told me your… secret thoughts.”

Daniel nodded, faint light reflecting in his eyes. “I don’t have many secret thoughts left,” he said softly.

“Many?”

“Not many,” he said. “Just an occasional one that will never see the light of day unless some psychiatrist like Roger coerces them out.”

I nodded. “Yeah,” I said. “I have a few of those.”

“Fewer than mine, I bet,” Daniel said.

“No,” I said with a faint shake of my head. “I know you think I’m Mr. Nice Guy, but I have dark thoughts, too.” Then I smoothed back his blowing hair. “But not when I’m thinking of you.”

Daniel laid his hand lightly on my butt, pulling us snug. “Do you have any secret thoughts I should know about? Secret thoughts like I told you, about girls and all?”

I smiled. “You don’t let me keep secrets; you always figure me out. Or I tell you. You’ve always known how I feel about Ry. You know about the chemistry between Aaron and me. You even know I have the hots for Ken.”

“I didn’t mean just sexual secrets,” he said. “And thanks for reminding me about Aaron.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s OK. I was just teasing.”

I brushed his nose with mine. “I’m not sure I have any non-sexual secrets; not from you… unless…”

“What?”

I shrugged. “It’s stupid.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s not really a secret, just sort of a secret sadness… It’s just… when I think about what I want to do with my life… well, you know that I’ve always wanted my life to mean something; I’ve always wanted to make a difference.” I shrugged. “But deep inside, I know I won’t. Not really. And that makes me sad if I let myself think about it.”

Daniel shook his head. “How do you know you won’t make a difference?”

Pulling him close, I laid my cheek on his. “We both grew up in a small town, Dan. We were big fish in a little pond. But when we go to Houston, or San Antonio, or Austin… there are people in houses and buildings from horizon to horizon… millions of people. And yet, we’re still in a small pond because around the world, there are bigger cities; hundreds of cities and towns and more people than it is possible to comprehend… I mean, I can’t really picture a billion of anything.”

Looking up, I could see stars through the trees. “We are on only a small planet, Dan, in a galaxy of a gazillion stars and there are millions or more galaxies. Who knows how many people lived and died before us and no one even knows they existed. We could become world famous, but even if we did, who’ll remember us a thousand years from now on our own planet, much less others.”

I sighed. “Blame it on my dad. He’s so fixed on God, he sees everything in infinite, eternal terms. At least when I’m with you,” I said, stroking his hair, “it really doesn’t matter who remembers me, or even who remembers us, because I matter to you and you matter to me and the rest of the world can go fuck themselves because I’ve got you and we’re in love. So who cares, right?”

Daniel grinned. “You’ve told me no secrets, Sean. You’ve always wrestled with stuff like God and the meaning of life and all. Sometimes you just think too hard.”

“No,” I said. “I really haven’t been trying to think too much about all that lately, especially God. I mean, if there is a God, in a way, it makes things better because then, no matter how many billions of people there are or have been, Somebody will always be around who remembers us. But the flip side is, if there is no God, then, all I really do have is you.” I smiled. “But that’s all I need. That’s more than enough.”

“I wonder,” Daniel said thoughtfully. “… do you think one reason you want to have kids is because you worry about things like making a difference, and eternity, and all that sort of thing?”

I thought about it. “Could be. Yeah. Maybe so… but I also just like kids.”

He smiled and ran his fingertip up the ridge of my nose, over my eyebrow, down my cheek. “Sean,” he said quietly, “If we ever were to do a girl together…” he bit his lip.

“Yeah?”

“Not Caitlyn, OK?” he said.

“She’s damned hot,” I pointed out.

He shook his head. “I was just thinking… if we ever did it… would you be willing to share Linda? Would she be willing to do it?”

I smiled. Linda would be perfect for any number of reasons. I remembered that when I teased about Aaron and I doing her together, she looked like she might even consider it. “I’ll ask her,” I said.

“No. Don’t. I just meant, like… if it ever happened.”

I nodded. “Yeah. It’d be cool.”

He sighed. “I shouldn’t have made you promise not to do Linda,” he said. “Two weeks will be a long time, and who knows how long other times might be this year. Some weekend, I’m going to have to stay in Austin and catch up on class assignments.”

“Tell me about it,” I said. “I’ve got to scramble to write something for Tom by Wednesday night.”

His eyes roamed over my brow, my eyes. “You can do Linda,” he said quietly.

I shook my head. “No. I promised. I’m not doing any girls, at least not until you and I do one together.”

He smiled and smoothed back my hair. Then his brow furrowed. “You’ll let me know when you do Ken?” he asked.

“We’re not sure he’s even gay,” I reminded him.

“But you’ll tell me if you do him?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve always told you everything like that... You’ll tell me when you do Sammy or someone else?”

“Sure,” he said, and then kissed me, and left his lips on mine.

We had grown hard against each other. When your crotches are snug, it’s hard to hide when something excites you. We had hardened up talking about doing others. I guess I knew then that he’d do Sammy, or someone up in Austin soon. And I wished Ken really was gay.

I felt bad for that, for us. Being in each other’s arms, we really should have been thinking about just us.

Daniel must have felt the same way. “When will we do the ear piercing?” he asked. “Could we do it Thanksgiving?”

I shrugged. “I might have some money by then. Depends.”

He rolled me to my back and moved up over me. I pulled up my knees for him to settle between and he stared down into my eyes. “Don’t take too long, OK?”

I stroked his back. “We’ve forgotten Ry,” I said. “Even if he can’t come, we need to tell him about it, and invite him.”

Dan frowned. “Yeah, we can’t forget Ry. I wonder what he’s going to say.”

. . . . .

We found a sandy area beside the river where Daniel could kneel, and there he waited for me. He smiled as I left the water, and in the moonlight, walked up to him.

I shook my hair out, the way he wanted, then placed my hands at my temples and stretched my body for him. Using the flat of my hands, I pressed more water from my hair, and it ran down my back and shoulders. When I did, I felt Daniel’s hands grasp my hips, and then his mouth closed over the end of my cock and he swallowed me, slowly, all the way down to the pubes.

Spreading my legs, I stretched back farther, looking up at the sky. It glittered with stars, but I barely saw them.

. . . . .

It was early the next morning when I woke. I cracked open an eye to see that sunlight was just hitting the tops of the trees, and then closed my eye again. The rear floorboard of the Bronco was a little hard for sleeping on, but I’d been comfortable on my back. I thought I’d been dreaming that Daniel was scratching my pubes, and then as I slowly awakened, I realized he was scratching above my pubes. It felt pleasant, and with my eyes closed, I thought about dozing some more. And then I realized that Dan was scratching me with something; something moist.

My eyes shot open and I leaned up, propping up on my elbows to look down my body. Daniel was lying over my legs, drawing just above my pubes with the black marker. I gasped. “What are you doing?”

He glanced up and smiled. “I had this wild urge,” he said. “Last night in the moonlight, for just a split second, I thought I saw the reflection of my eyes in the water on your belly, and well…”

I pushed up farther on my elbows, bending to look down my body. Daniel had drawn two large eyes, just above my pubes. “Aaaah!” I cried out.

“Relax!” he said. “I drew them below the tan line from your speedos; no one will see them when you have your suit on.”

“Great!” I fumed. “Just how am I supposed to shower after swimming?”

He ignored me. With his weight across my legs, he propped his head on his elbow and flopped my cock back and forth. “Looks like a nose,” he said. “Sorta cute. But we need to shave your pubes. A mustache should be below the nose.”

“You are not shaving my pubes!” I roared.

“Cool it,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll do it sometime when you won’t worry about showering with the dive team. But I’ve got to try the eyes again. It’ll look so cool.”

“Dan! I won’t even be able to shower back at the dorm!”

He frowned and glanced up. “Look, just shower with your back to Ken. I’ll bet he likes that anyway… oh, speaking of which, roll over,” he said, sitting up. “I need to draw my hand.”

“You’ve done enough,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you refusing an order?”

I scowled.

“Come on, it’ll all wash off in a couple of days.”

“I thought you were just going to mark my ear,” I said.

“Yep. I need to do that. And you’re going to do mine. Now roll over.”

I sighed. “Just don’t make it so big it’ll show.” I started to roll over, but stopped. “Don’t make it look like your hand, OK? Make it look like it could be a girl’s hand or something, in case anyone sees. And keep it way inside the tan line.”

“Will do,” he said, making a rolling motion with his hand. “Now flip.”

Reluctantly, I rolled on the hard floorboard to my stomach. “We’re going to have to get an air mattress for this thing,” I said. “Like Aaron did for the back of his truck.”

“That’d be cool,” Daniel agreed, rubbing my butt. “How about lips?” He asked. “Instead of a hand. Can’t tell a guy’s lips from a girls.” He kissed my butt. “Can’t really trace them though… I’ll just wing it.”

“You do realize,” I said, “that whatever you draw on me, I’m going to draw on you.”

“Sure,” he said and kissed my butt once more. “I think… right here…”

. . . . .

I had enough trouble staying awake in class that morning that I almost opted for a nap instead of lunch. But after only sandwiches the night before and no breakfast, lunch won out.

Ken waved me over to where he sat. “Hey Streak, hat happened to your ear?” he asked.

“Huh?” I asked blankly as I took a seat across from him.

“There’s a black mark on your earlobe. At first I thought you got an ear stud.”

I shrugged. “Just clowning around, but I’m planning on getting my ear pierced.”

“Cool.”

“Hey,” Eric said, taking a seat beside me. “You missed the fun last night.”

“What fun,” I asked.

“Somebody tried to penny our door again. They thought we were in the room, but I was still over at Tracy’s. Anyway, I knew it was Ferg and the guys, so this morning, I waited until I heard their showers on and cut off the hot water to their rooms.” He laughed. “Lots of howling.” He looked around and then leaned closer. “Just be careful. I saw Ferg huddling with a couple of guys this morning. They’re planning something.”

“That’s the problem,” I said. “You screw around and they think I’m in on it.”

He cocked his eyebrow meaningfully. “Yeah, that’s always a problem with screwing around, people might think your roommate’s in on it… how was camping?”

His double meaning was obvious enough, I wondered what Ken thought Eric might be implying.

“Camping was fine,” I said. “Skinny-dipped in the Guadalupe in the moonlight.”

“You into camping?” Ken asked, sounding interested. “Who were you with?”

“Relax,” Eric said, with a half-frown at me for commentary. “He was with his buddy.”

“Oh,” Ken said with a nervous laugh. “Always streaking, huh?”

“Hey, Streak,” Caitlyn said on cue as she stopped by the table. “I hear you’re a brain.”

“Not on Mondays,” I said.

“A brain? I sure as hell didn’t know that,” Ken said, grinning.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to embarrass you,” I replied.

“Are you any good at math?” Caitlyn asked.

Before I could answer, Eric did. “He’s good. He’s been helping me with Algebra.”

Her eyes lit up. “That’s exactly what I need help with. Could you come over after swimming and give me a little help?” she asked.

I sure didn’t want to lead her on. I tried to think what to answer.

She smiled. “I promise I’ll find some way to repay you.”

Eric hooted.

“I meant, I’d help Streak with something sometime,” she said with mock indignation.

“Exactly,” Eric said with a shit-eating grin.

“Sure, Caitlyn,” I quickly said. There wasn’t going to be any graceful way out of it. “I’ll try to help.”

“Thanks,” she said happily, and walked away.

Eric, watching her butt, shook his head. “She’s hot.”

“She is,” Ken agreed. “You should see her in a swim suit.”

I thought to myself that I’d have to tell Daniel he was way off about Ken. And then I felt a little frustrated because he had Sammy and Adrian and who knows who else up in Austin to jump if we went too long between weekends and I had no one; especially since I promised that I wouldn’t do any girls. A shame, I thought. Caitlyn could have been fun. But Ken would have been more. Oh well, maybe they could get together and I could jack off thinking about it.

“Coach promised us a short practice today since we won on Saturday,” Eric said. “Now that you’ve taught me everything you know about algebra, maybe I should coach her.”

“You have a girlfriend, remember,” I said, distractedly.

“So do you,” Eric said and I wondered if he meant Daniel, or Linda.

“You have a girlfriend?” Ken asked, sounding surprised.

I hesitated only a moment, trying to think of the best answer to the question, but Eric answered for me. “Yeah, he’s got a picture of her and him naked, up on our wall.”

“I’ll have to see that,” Ken said, with obvious interest.

“Not much to see,” Eric said. “It’s only from the waist up and they’re hugging.”

Was Ken interested in the picture just for Linda, or maybe… for me, too? Or was it just wishful thinking on my part? Oh well, I was tired. I looked at my watch. Maybe I’d skip Tom’s class and get a nap.

. . . . .

I wore a long T-shirt to swimming, and switched out of my underwear for a swimsuit before taking it off. Then I decided to wear the team swimsuit over the first one because I thought I saw an outline of one of the eyes on my belly.

During warm-ups, Caitlyn asked if I was still able to help her with Algebra afterward and I said I would. So even though I waited to hit the showers until only Ken was there, I couldn’t take forever. I shampooed and rinsed with both suits on. But when Ken soaped up his hair, I thought I saw an opportunity to pull my suits off, rinse them and myself, and get out quickly. So turning away from him, I stripped off the speedos.

I gave the suits a couple of quick squeezes under the shower stream and was about to make a dash when Ken gasped.

“Whoa! What’s that?” he asked, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him pointing at my butt.

I tried to shrug it off while I recalculated my exit. “Just some clowning around.”

“Oh, so it was your girlfriend you went camping with after all,” Ken said. “I thought Eric said it was your buddy from Austin.”

What could I say to that? That’s exactly what Eric had told him at lunch. I shrugged and made my way to my towel, keeping my back to Ken.

“So what happened?” he asked, following me.

“Like I said, just some clowning around.” I quickly wrapped my towel around me and breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow, I’d just wait to shower back at the dorm.

Caitlyn was waiting for me outside the locker room and held out her hands to take my books for me.

“I can carry them,” I said. “I’ve gotten used to the cane.”

“Well don’t get too used to it,” she said. “You’re supposed to heal up.”

Ken passed us and waved. “Catch you tomorrow.”

We waved back, and then Caitlyn stepped closer. “Look, Sean. I’ve been waiting all day to tell you that I’m sorry I got so wasted on Saturday night.”

“I hope you weren’t pissed,” I said, “because I took you back to your dorm. That guy who gives you the creeps was prowling around and I didn’t want to abandon you there.”

“Oh, no,” she said, laying her hand lightly on my arm. “I wanted to thank you for doing that. You were really sweet.”

We turned toward the doors. “Maybe we can try a party together again soon,” she suggested.

We had barely turned up the sidewalk outside before we ran into Ferg and several other football players. True to his word, the coach had let them off early and they were returning to the dorms from their locker room. That is, until they saw me.

“Hey Streak,” Ferg called, and like a flock of birds, they changed their direction as one, and came my way.

“Oh, shit,” I said to Caitlyn under my breath. “My roommate’s having a prank war with these guys.”

“Hey Streak, buddy,” Ferg said, blocking our path. “I’ve been thinking and thinking of some good way to give you and ol’ Eric a little payback.” He stepped between Caitlyn and me and put his beefy arm over my shoulder. “I think I see a little opportunity here.”

“Hey,” one of the other jocks said, “maybe he’d like to streak back to the dorm.”

“No he wouldn’t,” I said, trying to step from under Ferg’s arm. But he held my shoulders tightly. I wished to hell my knee worked; I’d outrun them all. But all I could do was hope to bull my way out. So I tried pulling away once more, and that was a mistake. The other guys took it as a sign the struggle had begun and suddenly, I was on my back with a half-dozen jocks pulling off my clothes.

I tried hanging on to the pants, but Ferg threw himself across my stomach and pinned me while two guys pulled my T-shirt over my head and pinned my arms back. I tried kicking, but someone sat on my shins and held me down. “Geez guys, not the underwear, OK?” I begged. “Not with girls around.”

But they were going to show no mercy. I could feel fingers tugging at my waistband, and my pants came down. I closed my eyes and cringed as I felt my underwear pulled down as well.

And suddenly it was quiet. One of the guys on my arms said, “What?” He shifted and then I heard him say, “Oh, shit.”

And then there was a roar of laughter and guys were falling away from me, clutching their sides in laughter. Somebody pulled my pants and underwear the rest of the way off.

Ferg was still over my middle and I couldn’t twist away when Caitlyn came up, looking all concerned. Then her eyes dropped to my middle and went wide. She had a “deer-in-the-headlights” kind of startled look.

That did it for Ferg. He jumped up from me, laughing loudly.

I sat up, trying to cover my crotch with my hands, but it was hard to cover the eyes that Daniel had drawn and my genitals at the same time. I looked around for my clothes, but Ferg had gathered them up, even while he was howling with laughter.

Several other people gathered and the laughter was growing; people pointing at my belly and slapping each other on the back.

I held out my hand demandingly to Ferg. “Give me my clothes!”

He shook his head, tears streaming down from his eyes, and then bent to pick up my cane.

“Not the cane,” I pleaded. “I’ll never make it back.”

Even Caitlyn was laughing. At least she covered her mouth with her hand and tried to hide it.

I got to my feet and moved toward Ferg. He backed away. In fact, they all backed away. I tried hobbling after them, but they just backed farther away from me.

I gave up trying to cover myself, and amid more hoots and howls, I gathered my books. I was pissed; I was embarrassed, and I had but one thought, which was to shoot Daniel!

“He’s got stuff on his butt, too,” someone howled and suddenly, everyone was trying to get around behind me.

Mustering the fragments of my dignity, I tried to straighten to full height and limp toward the dorm. I took a few faltering steps and decided Caitlyn was right; I needed to get used to not using the cane.

And then she was beside me, on my weak-kneed side, putting her arm around my waist to support me. I shifted my books to my other hand and resting my arm over her shoulder for support, we worked our way back to my dorm.

It was like a march through hell, with new faces coming to gawk, others teasing and following along. And I kept thinking of all the things I was going to threaten Daniel with.

“You OK?” Caitlyn asked.

“What do you think?”

She laughed. “I think it’s funny. Who drew on you?”

“Long story,” I said.

“Yeah, I saw the long part,” she said, laughing.

“I’m sorry I don’t have a towel or something to cover you with,” she said as we neared my dorm.

“I’d even take a skirt at this point,” I told her.

“That’d be almost as funny,” she said, then thought about it. “Cute, but funny.”

Even after she helped me into the dorm, faces were appearing around corners and from behind doors.

Ferg came past from the stairs. “I left your clothes at your door,” he told me happily.

“I’m going to so owe you,” I warned.

“Hey, I’m not the one drawing pictures on myself.”

Caitlyn waited in the room with me while I put my clothes back on. There was no sense sending her out; she’d seen everything already.

“Who’s this?” she asked when she saw the picture of Linda and me on the wall. “A girlfriend?” she asked.

Quickly deciding it would be simpler if she thought so, I nodded. “Yeah. She’s going to Southwest in San Marcos.”

“Is she the one who…” Caitlyn started to ask.

There was a knock at the door, and Ken leaned in as I was pulling my shirt down. “I just heard,” he said, grinning broadly. I wondered why you were acting funny in the shower. Let me see.”

No sense not letting him now, so with a shrug, I lowered my pants and pulled up my shirt. His eyes widened and he howled.

I covered myself again.

“Sorry,” he said. “But that’s hilarious.”

“His girlfriend did it,” Caitlyn said, nodding toward the picture on the wall.

Ken looked briefly puzzled, and with a lopsided smile, examined the picture of Linda and me.

I grabbed up a couple of books. “Caitlyn and I are going to go study at her dorm,” I said, “if you want to come.”

“Maybe I will,” Ken said as we followed Caitlyn out the door. He leaned close. “I want to hear the whole story.”

“Not in this life-time,” I told him.

. . . . .

By the end of the evening, the name “Streak” might as well have been tattooed on my forehead. Eric and my suitemates all demanded a “privates” showing. And I called Daniel to promise everlasting revenge.

Guys from the swim team hung around my locker the next day while I put on my swimsuit, and the entire men’s diving team waited for me in the shower after workout. Reaction from professors was generally amused. Coach’s only comment was, “In here, the swimsuit stays on, Sullivan.” At least he smiled.

To all inquiries, I answered, “It’s a long story,” which amused people, usually for the same reason it amused Caitlyn. Some started calling me Longstory. Eric knew the truth of course, and I think Ken was suspicious, though if he preferred to believe Linda or another girl had drawn the eyes, I’d let him.

It certainly added to my mystique; the mystery of the eyes. My number of friends and acquaintances on campus skyrocketed. Girls flirted, and guys clapped my back good-naturedly.

Tom Edelstein tried to ply the story from me on Wednesday night, and though I refused, he was amused enough to allow me an extra couple of days on my assignment. “It’s obvious you were up to other things this last weekend.”

My picture was in the school paper on Thursday, or rather a picture of me from behind with my arm over Caitlyn’s shoulder as we hobbled back to the dorm. The lips Daniel had drawn on my butt were surprisingly visible. If I’d known someone had a camera, I would have hunted him down.

That night, I called Linda first, while Eric was still over at Janet’s. It took me a while to tell her the story. She thought it was hilarious, and I had to promise her a picture. It took a while longer for me to finally work around to what I wanted to ask her.

I told her about the argument Dan and I had, though I skipped over the details of Caitlyn being the cause. Then I told her about what Dan explained about being a virgin, but again skipped over the details of him being afraid I would marry a girl.

“It just sorta affects how he looks at himself, you know?” I said. “He sorta feels like he’s… well, less of a man than me. I think it affects how he feels about us.”

“Gotta be something with guys,” she said. “But I think I understand.”

“Well, he and I really talked it out Linda. We even talked about trying to find a girl who would help us out; you know, help Daniel with his problem.”

It grew real quiet on her end of the line.

“Linda,” I said quietly. “You’re one of a kind. I wouldn’t dream of even mentioning the idea to any other girl, but if sometime it worked out for the three of us… “

No answer.

“Are you pissed that I’d ask?” I said. “Because I’m sorry. I really meant my asking to be sort of a compliment because you’re really special. And to be honest, Daniel wouldn’t even consider it until he thought about you.”

“I’m not pissed,” she said quietly. “I’m just trying to think how I’d feel about it. You’re awfully special to me little brother. What we did was special. I guess I hoped when we got together again sometime, that it’d be that special again.”

“Well yeah,” I said. “It was. I’m sorry if my asking took away from that.”

“To be real honest,” she said after a moment’s pause, “the idea is sorta hot.”

It was late and Eric was back by the time I called Daniel, so I had to watch my wording. But I wanted to tell Daniel about the photo in the paper, and even more importantly, about Linda; and it was my last opportunity to call before he left for his field trip that weekend.

When I told him about the picture, he demanded a copy and a copy of the story. Actually, I had saved several because I knew Linda would want one and I was sure Colin would get a kick out of it.

“Oh, by the way,” I said, watching Eric to make sure he wasn’t eavesdropping, “that idea we had about Linda… the one we talked about on Sunday at the picnic table… I think she’s for it.”

“You mean the three-way?” Daniel asked slowly.

“Yeah, that.”

“Damn, Sean. You sure didn’t waste any time asking her. I’m still not sure that I like the idea.”

“Well if we decide to, I think she’d go for it… I mean if we handle it right. Like we couldn’t just jump her, you know.”

Eric’s ear twitched.

Daniel cleared his throat. “Say, Sean, you remember how you wanted me to tell you when I did… well, Sammy wanted to suck me off, and since I wouldn’t be seeing you for a while, and since I was all horny after this weekend and all, well…”

“You let him do it?” I asked.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Just him? You didn’t return the favor?”

“Well, we sorta sixty-nined.”

I knew it was coming, but it still bothered me; partly, I had to admit, because I didn’t have a Sammy.”

“Thanks for telling me,” I said, trying to sound unfazed. “Maybe now you can relax on the field trip.”

“Yeah, maybe so… Sean… I miss you… I love you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

I was bummed. But it did help that on Friday, two different guys told me their girlfriends had given them black markers for the weekend. And I heard that several girls had my picture from the paper tacked to their bulletin boards. Even Ken had a copy up in his room, with a Shakespearian epitaph so obscure, only a fellow honor’s student would understand and punch him in the arm for it.

Caitlyn enjoyed her part in the whole thing. “People think I’m your girlfriend,” she told me as we prepared for warm-ups.

“Yeah, well I’m already committed, remember?”

“Sure didn’t slow you down last Saturday night,” she observed.

“We were both pretty wasted,” I pointed out.

Coach blew his whistle and waved us over.

“How about if we get a little wasted together tonight?” Caitlyn asked as we walked over to where Coach stood.

“Can’t,” I said. But I was kicking myself for not getting Daniel to allow Caitlyn as an exception until I found my own Sammy.

Coach told the dive team about a two upcoming practice meets and I was surprised he didn’t send me on to the pool since I wasn’t on the team. But when he told the others to warm up, he kept me behind.

“Those guys,” he said, nodding toward the divers, “say they adopted you onto the team. How would you like to travel with us to the meet in San Angelo weekend after next? I could use the help and might even give you a little part-time pay for the weekend.”

I wanted to think about it but knew Coach would want a quick answer. With my going to Jimmy’s trial the next weekend, going to the meet could make three straight weekends without Daniel… or sex. But I needed any money I could make. And maybe I could stop by Austin next week on the way up to Inks Lake. And maybe I could stop by Austin after the meet the next weekend. “Sure,” I told Coach. “I’d love doing that.”

And though I was still bummed Friday night because of Sammy, I was encouraged that so many other things seemed to be going well. My biggest emotional boost came from Ferg’s incredible funk. The more stories he heard about my notoriety because of Monday’s streaking, the more depressed he became. That was immensely satisfying.