Kyle, Part 3
Chapter 18
Disclaimer: This story is a continuation of the story of Kevin Foley, Rick Mashburn, and their "sons," Tim Murphy, Kyle Goodson, Justin Davis, and Brian Mathews that started in "Tim," continued in "Justin" and "Kyle," "Kyle, Part 2," and now continues in "Kyle, Part 3." It is about gay men and gay boys living and loving together as a family, and it contains descriptions of sex. The sex is never intergenerational, though. If you are offended by descriptions of gay sex, or if the law in your area forbids you to read them, please exit the story. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it. I appreciate feedback, and you can send it to me at brew_drinker23@yahoo.com.
--Brew Maxwell
(Kyle's Perspective)
We did a lot of cool stuff during that week. The three plays we went to were probably the highlight for me, but every new thing we did was better than the last. I would say the low point for us was probably the Metropolitan Museum of Art, although we ended up spending about two hours there. The Natural History Museum was a whole lot better. I had actually been there once before, and I remembered the dinosaurs from the first time. It was good to see them again, like visiting old friends.
Tim and Brian both went apeshit in that place, and they wanted to get the taped tour. I discouraged that because I knew it would take a long time. Justin and I actually stepped outside a couple of times to have a smoke, but those other boys were keen to read everything they saw. My motto is, in a big museum like that, read the stuff if the exhibit really interests you, and that's all. Tim ended up buying a series of videotapes about the exhibits, and I hope to God he won't want me to watch them with him. I'd do it if he wanted me to, but I know I cannot be held responsible for any naps I take while watching them. I know Grandpa and Doc would be all over those tapes.
One of the things I did before we ever left Emerald Beach was make a list for each guy of the people they had to buy souvenirs for. I wrote down the amount of money that I thought was right to spend on each one and some suggestions of what to get. My mother used to do that for me and Clay before every big trip we ever went on, and it was a godsend. There were a lot of people we could all go in on for, like Jerry, Pat, Mont, Terry, Fred, Sam, Chad, and Gage. Me and Tim needed to get something for Philip and Ryan, and Tim and Brian needed to get something for Blake and Riley. Jus and I would take care of Morgan. There were a few more people on that list, including the most important ones: Kevin, Rick, my parents, Doc, Sonya, and our brother Jeff. We'd all go in together on something for Kevin, Rick, and Jeff. Tim and I would handle my parents, Doc, and Sonya.
I gave them the lists right after the bus tour on the first day we were there.
"I want all this stuff bought by Tuesday night, at the latest," I said. "We'll put all of it in Federal Express Wednesday morning addressed to me at Kevin and Rick's house. I'll send it overnight so it'll be sure to be there when we get home Saturday."
"Who made you boss of this," Justin asked.
"I made myself boss. You got a better plan? If you do, present it now," I said.
He and I couldn't even look at one another because we knew that if we did we'd both bust up laughing.
"No, I think this is a very good plan," he said. "I was just wondering, is all."
That time we did bust up laughing.
"Just about every place we're going will have a gift shop," I said. "I think we should get Jerry, Pat, Mont, and those other guys baseball caps that have something to do with September 11th. Tim and Brian, y'all might want to get those for Blake and Riley, and me and Justin will get the same for Morgan. We can get Chad and Gage CD's of the music from the plays we're going to. They'll love that, and I know they won't want caps. We can get Doc something at Ellis Island; he'll love that. A book or video or something. Tim, you and I can get my parents three or four of those Cat's Meow replicas of buildings in the city. My mom collects those things, and my dad don't give a shit what he gets. We can get him a cap, too. We all need to get something really nice for Kevin, Rick, and Jeff."
"Kyle, this is going to take up all our time, man," Justin said.
"No, it's not. Not if you follow the plan, Jus. But if you see something that is just perfect for somebody and I hadn't thought of it, buy it for them. This way we'll get it all done fast," I said.
"Why are we even buying people souvenirs," Brian asked.
"I think it's a way to tell them we care about them and were thinking about them even on our busy trip," I said. "It's just one of those things you have to do, Bri."
"Everybody loves souvenirs, Bubba," Tim said to Brian. "It's just a custom that you bring people souvenirs from a trip like this one."
I got with Tony the bellhop Tuesday morning and told him we needed a couple of Fed Ex boxes and some styrofoam packing peanuts for that night. I gave him $20 as a tip for doing that. They were in our room when we got back from our day.
We got out all the stuff we had bought to pack it up. We had done a good job of getting it all. For Kevin we got a nice coffee table book of the lobbies of all the famous hotels in New York. He could put that on the coffee table in his secretary's office, if nothing else. For Rick we got a cap, a tee shirt, and a pair of running shorts from the New York Marathon, and we got both guys NYPD caps. For Jeff we got a four-CD set of music and songs about New York, and we got him a beautiful poster of The Lion King play. For Sonya we got a really nice set of crystal NYC coasters. We all had something for everybody on our list, and we didn't have to fool with souvenirs after that night. We packed it all up, addressed it, and took it down to the front desk for them to put in Fed Ex first thing the next morning. I felt good about what we had gotten, and that was a load off my mind.
(Tim's Perspective)
I was so glad Kyle took charge of the souvenir buying. I figured Justin and Brian didn't really know about doing that, but Kyle had it all organized. That was just about the most painless souvenir shopping I had ever done, and I had done plenty on trips before that one.
We did some incredible things on that trip. I thought about that Best and Worst game that Kevin had made us play on the way home from New Orleans at Christmas, and I don't think I could have played that after that trip. I had been to a lot of big cities with my dad, but I know I never had more fun than I did on that trip.
And one of the best things about it was, the four of us got so incredibly close. We were all best friends before we ever went, but after that trip we were bound together like a four-headed person, or something. I felt like I could go anywhere by myself after that trip, and I knew Kyle could. We all thought of Kyle as our leader, and on that trip he proved he was, over and over. I knew Kyle was a boy, just like I was, but he was a boy-man.
We went to see The Graduate on Friday night, and then we went out to dinner after the play. It was late, but we had had a good snack before the play started. In a way, that was really our fourth meal of the day, not our third. Keith and Tony joined us for dinner that night, and we treated them. They had been so incredibly nice to us, over and above what they had to do or what we tipped them for doing. Kyle got their last names and told them about our family Web site. He said he would get Jeff to add them as users so they could see our pictures of the trip. We invited them to come visit us in Florida. It turned out that Tony had a sister who lived in Pensacola, just about a hundred miles away from us, so we're holding out hope they'll visit one day.
We weren't on the plane more than ten minutes Saturday morning before Kyle was sound asleep. I really envied him the ability to sleep anywhere. He rested his head on my shoulder, and I thought about how much he loved me and trusted me. Kyle was a very complicated guy. There was no question about that. Sometimes he got on my nerves so bad I could scream, but he never did it on purpose. But even when he annoyed the piss out of me sometimes, I could never get angry with him. He was so fundamentally good and noble and loving, that he made it impossible for me or any of us to ever really get mad at him. He was my lover and my life.
(Kevin's Perspective)
The kids got home from their trip around three on Saturday afternoon. Kyle had insisted on parking his car at the airport so we wouldn't have to stop what we were doing to go get them. We had gone to see them off, of course, but he had driven them in his car, and we had gone in mine. At the time, I thought that was wasteful because he had to pay for a week of parking. On Saturday afternoon, I thought it was a stroke of genius.
They came boiling into our house so excited that they made us excited that they were home. They hugged and kissed Rick and Jeff and me, and all of them were talking at one time. Kyle had a way of reacting to gifts he received that made the giver of the gift feel that it was the best and most important gift Kyle had ever gotten. That day they were all like that, and I was so happy we had given them that trip.
Kyle called his parents almost immediately, and they came down to celebrate with us. Tim called George, too. Sonya happened to be there, so they both came down. Rick saw a party developing, so he immediately called the butcher shop in town where he had bought the steaks for that night and ordered more. They were willing to deliver them, along with another cheese cake, more stuffed baked potatoes, and another full container of salad. We were good customers, and they tended to take care of us.
The boys took their luggage up to their rooms. Tim and Kyle evidently planned on staying at our house that night, and that was fine with us. They came down with the two big Federal Express boxes that had arrived for Kyle that week. When everyone was assembled and drinks had been served, they gave out their souvenirs from the two boxes. They had done a great job of getting things for people that were nice, interesting, and worth having.
They took turns telling stories about what they had done on the trip, and they kept us in stitches. They had each had $500 in spending money as part of the gift Rick and I had given them. Kyle had turned that into $700 for each of them before they even went to their rooms, and he had turned it into $850 for Justin and him by shooting pool. We had also made them each take $500 more, so they had had ample spending money, considering the plays were paid for in advance. Kyle had wanted them to give us back the money they had left over, but Rick and I categorically refused to take it.
"You know what this means, don't you, guys," Kyle asked the boys. "Another trip. Real soon."
"You had a good time, didn't you," Gene asked.
"Dad, this trip was more than just a good time," Kyle said. "We became more and more like brothers. I'm not saying this very good, but it was so much more than just a good time, Dad."
"And you didn't have anything to do with that, did you," Sonya said.
"Ma'am," Kyle asked, as though he didn't understand what she meant.
"He had everything to do with it, Sonya," Justin said.
"That's what I thought," she said.
"Rick, I guess me and you need to start cooking," Kyle said.
"In a little while, Bubba. I'll tell you when. It's too early yet," Rick said.
"Will y'all excuse me, please," Kyle said.
He got up and went upstairs. Tim and Justin looked at each other, and then Tim excused himself, too.
"What'd he do? Drop a turd in the punch bowl, Justin," Gene asked.
"Gene!" Rita said. She looked at Sonya for her reaction, and Sonya was laughing just like the rest of us were at Gene's question. When she saw it was all right, Rita laughed, too.
"No, sir. He was well behaved. He just doesn't like it when people single him out for praise, like Sonya was fixing to do," Jus said. "But, Gene, let me tell you something about that boy of yours. He ain't a boy anymore. He's a man. Time and time again he stood up, got us organized, faced down some tough boys who were pool hustlers, negotiated with the desk clerk and got us each $200 extra, told us what to do when. He was totally in charge, Gene and Rita. He didn't drop no turds in the punch bowl, that's for sure."
"It sounds like Kyle might be your boyfriend, Justin," Sonya said.
"No, ma'am. He's Tim's boyfriend, now and forever. We're best friends, though," Jus said.
"Go get them, Jus," Rick said. "Threaten them, if you have to. Tell them I'm coming up next, if they don't come down here."
"I think they both had to go to the bathroom, Rick," Jus said.
"Well, go see about them, anyway, and get them down here as fast as you can," Rick said.
"Yes, sir," Justin said. And he went upstairs.
"I think I committed a faux pas," Sonya said.
"No. Kyle's got to get right with who he is," Brian said. "He doesn't get it about the effect he has on people. Kyle builds people up. He makes them right. He saves people."
"I'll drink to that," Jeff said. "I think I might be his first miracle."
"No, I think you're probably number three, Jeff. Justin was number one, Brian was number two, and you're number three," I said.
"Who will be number four," Sonya asked.
"Number four is a kid in New Orleans named Seth, Sonya. He's still a work in progress, though, as far as we know," I said.
"Kevin, you forgot about Chad," Rick said. "He was before Brian, even. Chad is number two."
"Yeah, you're right. Damn," I said.
"You are talking about my son, I take it," Rita said. "He saves people? He works miracles? If you're talking about my Kyle, I can assure you I am not the Virgin Mary."
Everybody laughed hard at that line.
"Go get them, would you, Babe," Rick said.
I went upstairs to get the boys. I tapped gently on Tim and Kyle's room, and there was no response. I could hear the TV going, but it wasn't on loud. I opened the door gently and cautiously. I stuck my head around it, not really knowing what to expect. And there I saw all three of them--Tim, Kyle, and Justin--spooned together, fully dressed, sound asleep.
I nudged Justin a little.
"Hey, guys. Wake up. We've got a house full of company downstairs, and they're here for you guys. Get up," I said.
Kyle yawned big and grinned at me.
"We're up. Did Rick start cooking yet? Do we have raw oysters?"
"No to both of those questions, Kyle. Y'all get up. I'm not leaving until you're on your feet," I said.
They stretched and yawned, and eventually they got out of the bed. All three had piss hard-ons that I could see tented in their pants.
Once they were back downstairs, Kyle explained what had happened.
"I had to go to the bathroom. Tim came up and turned on the TV and laid down on the bed. He went to sleep while he was waiting for me to finish in the bathroom. I laid down with him for a few minutes, and then Jus came in and laid down, too. We all went to sleep."
"I hope I didn't embarrass you, Kyle," Sonya said.
"Oh, no, ma'am," he said. "Not at all. Oh, guess what! We went into an art gallery in Soho on Sunday afternoon. They had photos in there, and I talked to the photographer, who also runs the gallery. He looked at some of my pictures on the Web site, and he said he wants to help me improve. He said he might even represent me some day."
That boy knew how to change a potentially uncomfortable subject, and that was a social skill that would serve him well in life.
"Kyle, that's wonderful," Rita said. "Will you have to mail him pictures?"
"I'll send them through e-mail," Kyle said.
"Make sure you watermark them, Kyle," Jeff said.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, make sure your name is on every one in a place where he can't take it off without ruining the picture. I'll show you some on the Web of what I'm talking about," Jeff continued.
"Why do that," Kyle asked.
"So he won't rip you off, that's why. There's no way you can prove that you took the picture unless you mark it like that. I'll show you how to do it, Bubba," Jeff said.
"I think Jeff's got a good idea there, Kyle. In fact, you probably ought to do that to the better ones you put on your Web site, too," Gene said.
"You're right, Gene," Jeff agreed. "This guy's getting good, and there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who will sell his work without giving him a dime."
"That guy in New York referred to the pictures as my 'work,' too," Kyle said. "He also said I should learn how to develop pictures myself in a darkroom. He said he became sort of an apprentice to a master photographer, and that's how he learned."
"Do you know anybody who knows how to develop pictures," I asked.
"The guy who took our Christmas pictures does," Kyle said. "I was thinking I would ask him to show me some stuff about it."
"Who was that, son," Gene asked.
"His name is Charles Finch," Kyle said.
"Oh, hell, I know Charlie Finch. I've known him for years. He's gay, you know," Gene said.
"How do you know him, Dad," Kyle asked.
"When you grow up in a town as small as this one, you know a lot of people, especially if you're in business," Gene said. "The same will be true of you, Kyle."
"Do you think he'll teach me darkroom work," Kyle asked.
"We can ask," Gene said. "I'm trying to think if he owes me a favor."
"Was he the one you put in a good word for with Winston Flowers so he could get the bank loan," Rita asked.
"No, that was . . . Yeah! You're right, Reetie. He was the one. So, yes, he does owe me a favor," Gene said. "I'll call him first thing Monday morning."
"Thanks, Dad," Kyle said.
We had dinner in a little while, and the company all went home. Ordinarily, the boys would have stayed up talking some more, but they were beat. They all went to bed.
(Kyle's Perspective)
I was the first one awake of Tim and me on Sunday morning. This was going to be the big unveiling of our tattoos, and I couldn't wait. I slipped out of bed real easy to take a leak, and then I slipped back in next to my boy. I propped my head up on my elbow so I could watch him sleeping. He was so cute, just like an angel.
He went to sleep the night before in his briefs. Usually he and I sleep naked, but sometimes, if we're really tired, we just leave our underwear on. I was naked that morning, but he wasn't. The monkey didn't get no banana the night before, either.
I decided I wanted to take some pictures of him sleeping. I got out my Minolta. I had real fast film in it, so I shut the flash off so as not to wake him up. His dick was only a little bigger than normal for when it was soft, and he definitely didn't have a hard-on. He must have gotten up to pee during the night, I thought. Maybe nobody would notice, especially since he had briefs on.
I just started snapping pictures at random. I didn't have a plan or anything, but I got at some different angles to get different views of him. I had bought a few rolls of black and white film just to see what I could do with it, and that's what I was using that morning. Most of the pictures in the gallery of Bret Marston were in black and white, and that was the effect I was hoping I could achieve.
Tim rolled over onto his side, and that gave me a chance to get him from a different perspective. In that position, even I couldn't tell that his dick was a little swollen, and believe me, I knew everything about that dick. In that position, I could see his tattoo, and it looked great.
Then he did something that just about wiped me out. He was still asleep, but he reached out for me. He actually mumbled my name, and he was trying to find me in his sleep. Then he grabbed my pillow and hugged it to him. That's when he calmed down and kept still. I don't know why, but him doing that was totally arousing to me. I would have needed a stop watch to time how fast I got hard just standing there watching him do that. He wanted me. My boy wanted me in his sleep. I had never even imagined that before, and I damn sure hadn't known what it would do to me to see it. I wanted to get back in that bed, but I didn't want to wake him up. Plus, I wanted to finish the roll of film I was working on. I just kept taking pictures.
I finished the roll and set the camera on rewind. The motor didn't make a lot of noise, but he must have been close to waking up because it was loud enough to make him open his eyes. He saw me standing there, camera in hand and hard-on ready, and he smiled his "melt my heart" smile.
"Hi. Whacha doing?"
"Taking pictures of you," I said.
I put the camera on the desk.
"Let me get in," I said.
"The monkey's hungry, isn't he?"
"He isn't a monkey anymore, Tim. This morning, after watching you sleep, he's a gorilla," I said.
He giggled all cute and sweet. That morning I really was a gorilla, but I was a nice and gentle gorilla. My little monkey liked his gorilla boyfriend that morning, and it was very good.
*****
Tim and I took a shower together, and we shaved each other. We had done that before, and, every time, he had left patches of stubble. I knew what that was all about. He didn't want to cut me in hard-to-get places. I rubbed my face and felt them.
"You better go over it again," he said.
I would never have done that if he hadn't said it, but he did, so I did. His beard was pretty heavy where it grew, but it didn't yet grow all over his face. Still, as light as his hair was, he could go a couple of days without shaving. Me, I had to shave every day. I didn't, of course, but I should have.
When we finished up in the bathroom, we put on briefs and took off for downstairs. Nobody was out in the den yet. I made a pot of coffee while he went out front to get the newspapers. When the coffee was made, I poured cups for me and him, and took them out to the den to wait for everybody else.
Jeff was the first one down. He told us good morning, but he wasn't good for anything until he had his first cup of coffee. He trudged to the kitchen and came back with a mug in just a minute. He sat down facing us. He wasn't paying any attention to us. I was so excited, I couldn't wait. I stood up facing him. He glanced up when I did that, but that was all.
"Jeff, look at me, man," I said.
He sighed and looked at my face.
"Jeff, don't just look at my face. Look at my body," I said.
"Kyle, I've looked at your body many times. I know what it looks like, and it's hot. But not right now, okay?"
Damn, I thought. Tim was laughing his ass off.
"What are you laughing at," I demanded.
"You, asshole. He's out of it," he said.
"I'm an asshole, huh?"
I jumped on him and was all over him, kissing and hugging and petting him. We were both laughing hard.
"Get me some more coffee," Tim said.
I went into the kitchen and got the whole pot. I also took a tray of sweeteners and half-and-half in there. We were going to need several more pots of coffee that morning. After I filled our cups, I took the pot back into the kitchen and made a twelve-cup pot.
"Let's go buy some breakfast," I said to Tim.
"Okay."
It was just the seven of us at home, so I bought twenty-eight meat biscuits at the hamburger place, and then I swung around to the Krispy Kreme doughnut place for four dozen of their glazed ones. I couldn't resist. Tim and I ate a dozen doughnuts between us on the way home.
I set it all out on a couple of platters when we got home. We took it into the den. That stuff was staring at me, and I was so hungry.
"I think we need to eat," I said.
"Wait for the rest of them to get up, Kyle," Jeff said.
I knew he was right as far as politeness was concerned, but, my God, I was so hungry. Smelling that food was more than I could handle.
"I know you're right, Jeff, but I can't do that, man. Not this morning."
Tim and I dove in. We got us some very good breakfast. Then I felt bad about eating so much. I went into the kitchen and cooked a big batch of scrambled eggs (whites only) and a half a loaf of toast. I was ashamed of myself, but I ate some of those eggs, too. I didn't know why I was so hungry that day, but I was.
Tim and I had gotten dressed to go get the food, but I wanted everybody to see our new tattoos. I stripped down to just my briefs and socks.
"Why are you getting undressed," Tim asked.
Sheesh, I thought.
"Because I want to," I said.
Then Jeff finally noticed.
"Come here. Let me see that thing," he said with a smile. "So you did it, just like you said you were going to."
"Yep. Tim, too."
Jeff started rubbing the tattoo like he was in a daze or something. I didn't know why he was doing it, but it made me start to get hard. Jeff was a really good looking guy, like one of the guys in those Abercrombie ads, but he wasn't really my type. Nobody remembered to tell that to my dick, though. He saw what he was doing to me, of course, and he put his hand on it. I was pretty shocked that he did that because even when me and Tim had played with Jeff, he never touched me there.
"Jeff, where is this going, Bubba," I asked.
He snatched his hand back like he had touched fire or something, and then he got all red in the face.
"Kyle, I'm sorry. I don't know what I was doing. Please don't be mad at me," he said.
I sort of felt sorry that he was so embarrassed, but there wasn't anything I could do about that.
"I'm not mad at you, Jeff. It's just that . . ."
"I know! I know! My God, I know," he said. "Kyle, I'll never do anything like that again, I promise you, man. I'm so ashamed." Then he started crying.
"Jeff, get over it. You gave me a hard-on, and then you touched it. Big fuckin' deal, man," I said. I was trying to make him feel better.
"It's not really all that big, Kyle," Tim said. Bless his sweet heart, he was trying to help out.
Jeff chuckled a little.
"Oh, yeah," I said to Tim, grinning. Then I grabbed him around his waist and pulled him down onto the floor. We wrestled around a little, and I got his pants undone. I pulled them down to his ankles, and then I dove for his dick with my mouth. He was struggling a little, but not really all that much. He could have gotten away from me if he had wanted to. I played with his dick with my mouth through his briefs, and he was hard as a rock in about ten seconds.
Jeff was laughing by then, so it was mission accomplished.
"So, are you just going to leave me like this," Tim asked.
"Yep," I said. "Did you think I was going to suck you off right here?"
He laughed. Actually, I wouldn't have minded doing it, but you never knew when Kevin and Rick would show up. If they had caught me giving Tim a blowjob in the den, there's no way to know how much trouble we would have been in. What I had done was risky enough, but I figured I could have explained it, if I had had to. I thought for a second about taking him upstairs to our room, but that would have been too rude, with Jeff right there, and all. Plus, we had already had a good session that morning.
"Jeff, did you see Tim's tat," I asked.
Tim stood up and finished taking his pants and shirt off so Jeff could see his bananas. He was still hard, of course, but Jeff didn't touch him.
"I like those, guys. I think tattoos like those are incredibly sexy," Jeff said.
"I do, too," I said.
"Me, too," Tim chimed in.
"Why don't you get one, Jeff," I asked.
"I've actually been thinking about it. I've been thinking about a little heart with Clay's name under it on my chest. Is that too gay, or what," he said.
"I think it would be great," I said.
"I'd use the French word for 'clay,' which is argile," he said. "That was kind of my pet name for him, anyway."
"That is so cool," I said. "I got the monkey because of Tim. He's my little monkey."
"Tell the rest of it," Tim said.
"No, you tell if you want to, but I'm not," I said.
"I'm his little sex monkey, Jeff."
"You guys are too cute," Jeff said.
In about a minute, Justin and Brian dragged into the room. They were both in briefs, but Brian had on a tee shirt that covered his tattoo.
"Hey," Justin grunted. He poured himself some coffee and immediately started in on a sausage biscuit.
"There are some eggs in the food warmer in the dining room," Tim said to them.
Brian got up for some, and Justin followed him. Jeff noticed Justin's tat when he came back into the room.
"You, too," Jeff asked.
"Yep," Justin said. He put down his plate of eggs and modeled for Jeff. "Cool, ain't it?"
"It's very cool. What about you, Bri," Jeff asked.
Brian got all shy and bashful. He pulled his shirt up enough for Jeff to see it, though.
"That's cute, Bri," Jeff said. "The frog can lick the bear. I like that."
"He licks him when he's bare," I said, just to be saying something. They all laughed, though.
"I'm going to have a smoke now, Kyle," Jus said when he had finished eating.
"You shit," I said, and started laughing. He laughed, too.
"What's so funny about that," Brian asked.
"Private joke," Justin said.
"No fair," Bri said. "Do you know the joke, Tim?"
"No. It's private, I guess."
"He's teasing me because I told him I like to watch guys smoke because I think it's sexy," I said.
"I do, too," Jeff said.
"See, smarty pants. I'm not the only one," I said.
"Y'all can all watch," Jus said.
About ten o'clock, Kevin and Rick finally came out. They told everybody good morning. I could tell they had been awake for a while.
I got up and got them cups of coffee. I checked on the eggs, and there were still enough there for two people, and they were still hot.
"Thanks, Buddy," Rick said when I handed him his coffee. Kevin said thanks, too. They fixed their coffee the way they liked it. I was still standing up because I wanted them to see.
Finally, Kevin noticed and broke out in a grin.
"Kyle, come over here," he said.
I was grinning big as I walked over to him. He touched it and then started rubbing it. What is up with this, I thought. First Jeff and now Kevin? My dick started putting on weight, but Kevin noticed it right away. Hell, they all noticed.
"Oh, sorry," he said.
"So, what do you think?"
"He's a cute little thing, Kyle," Kev said.
"He meant the tattoo, not his dick," Justin said.
They all laughed. Justin said lines like that without any humor in his voice, and that, in itself, was funny.
"Very funny," I said.
"Did you get one, too, Tim," Kev asked.
"Yes, sir. We all did," Tim said.
They wanted to see all of them, and they said they were all cool or cute or something like that.
"I'm taking Jeff to get one today," I said.
"Now wait a minute," Jeff said.
"It doesn't really hurt that much, Jeff," Brian said.
"Do you want one, too, Jeff," Kevin asked.
"Well, yeah, I do, but . . ."
"Well, let's get it today, man," I said. "I know three places right here on the beach. We won't even have to go into town."
"Do you know what you want," Rick asked.
"Yeah. I want a small heart with Clay's name in French under it. On my chest," Jeff said.
Kevin and Rick didn't say anything, but I could tell they were touched by what he had said.
We fooled around a little more, talking some more about the trip.
"Is it warm enough to go swimming," Tim asked.
"Oh, hell yeah," I said. "We can turn the heat on, if it isn't."
"Test it first, Kyle, before you turn the heat on," Rick said. "Kevin and I have been in every day since you all were gone. We didn't need the heat. It's spring, guys. The weather has been beautiful."
"Come on. Let's have a quickie," Justin said.
We all went outside, and the weather really was beautiful. It was bright sunshine, and it must have been 75 degrees already. We pealed off our briefs.
"Kyle, you have such a lovely penis," Justin said in his idea of a mock-gay voice.
He made a grab for it, but I jumped back. I grabbed his and pulled him by it to the side of the pool, and then I pushed him in.
"Owwwwwww," he screamed.
"Is it cold," Brian asked.
"No, Buddy. It's good. Come on in."
We played in the pool like we were otters or something. It had been a few months, and it felt good to be naked and outside with my brothers. I had wanted to swim before our trip, but we just never got around to it. That, plus it hadn't been all that warm yet. It was a perfect day for swimming that day, though. We stayed in the water for about an hour, and then we got out to get some sun on some mighty white asses.
Tim and Brian got out a basketball, and before you knew it, everybody but Jeff was in a game of three against three. We were still naked, and that felt great. They all teased me off and on about always wanting to be naked, and it was true. I loved being naked outside, and I wasn't ashamed of it. It was a good thing we lived where we did so we could do that.
After we had played for a good while, Jeff called me over to where he was sitting.
"Will you really take me to get a tattoo," he asked.
"Sure. We can all go," I said.
"No, just you. And Kyle, I'm really sorry for what I did this morning," he said.
"What did you do?"
"You know. Touching you."
"Shit, Jeff. That wasn't anything, man. You saw how fast I boned up, didn't you?"
"I'm glad you're not mad at me," he said.
"Jeff. You're my fucking brother, man. I'm not going to get mad at you. You of all people!"
"It's a good thing Tim got to you first," he said.
I knew what he meant, and that was pretty damn flattering, even if he wasn't really my type. I'd never tell him that, of course.
"Kyle, I want you to know something. It's because of you that I was able to heal after Clay died. Getting this tattoo today is going to put the lid on it for me. That's why I want it to be just you and me," he said.
"It'll be special for both of us, Jeff," I said. I knew what he was talking about, and I was honored to be the one. "Let's go."
Jeff was real brave getting his ink that early Sunday afternoon, and he smiled the whole time. I felt it was sort of like Clay was entering him for the last time and forever. He and I stood in front of the mirror to look at it when the lady was done, and Jeff and I cried. He was very happy, and I was happy for him. He would really be able to go forward after that, dating again and living life. Jeff was such a good boy, and I knew my brother was watching from heaven, blessing him and blessing me.