My Kid Brother

Copyright © 2003

By Lee Mariner
The author's copyright, dated June 2003, and all provisions of the original disclaimer and assignment remain in force.  All Rights are reserved.

This story is intended for ADULT READERS ONLY.  If you are not of legal age in your locality to read homo-erotic material, PLEASE LEAVE.  If you do not approve of such material, PLEASE LEAVE.

As always, I appreciate the assistance of my friend, Dean, in editing this story.

All of my stories can be found in the Nifty Archives listing of Prolific Author's by following:

prolific.html#leemariner

If you would like to be notified of future episodes to this or any other story, please contact me at:

mariner23502@hotmail.com
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Chapter XXIX

"Dalton," I called out, picking up his coffee cup and carrying it to the sink. "Are you going to want any more coffee?"

"I don't think so, Carl," he called back.  "I drank only half of the cup I had, and I'll probably wind up pissing in the lake if I drink anymore."

"You better not piss in our lake, Tourist," a voice that I recognized as Lyle's said from behind me; and I spun around to see him and Tip coming through the door.

"Damn, Lyle, you surprised the fucking shit out of me," I exclaimed angrily.  "Don't you knock on the door and wait to be invited in?"

"Sure, Carl, but we saw you standing at the sink, so we figured it was all right,"  Tip replied cheerfully from behind his older brother, who was holding the door open with his hand on the knob and blocking Tip from entering.  There was a lascivious gleam in Lyle's eyes as he stared at me leaning against the counter half naked, and his grin was almost lecherous. 

I didn't know whether I should have been embarrassed, angry or excited by the inspection Lyle was giving me; but it was causing a warm titillating feeling to spread through my loins.  I could see the way his eyes were going over my half naked frame and zeroing in on the bulge my cock made under the towel, and  I felt goose bumps spreading over me.  Locking eyes with him, I grinned and turned back to the sink.

"You're almost inside, Lyle, so come the rest of the way and close the door.  The morning air is still a little cool, " I said as I finished rinsing Dalton's cup, "and I don't want to spend the rest of the week in bed with a cold."

"Wearing only a towel, you might catch cold if someone sneezed,"  Lyle said, moving out of the doorway toward where I was standing, and allowing Tip to enter

"Where's Dalton, Carl?"  Tip asked as he walked into the room, looking around.

"He is in the bedroom dressing, Tip.  He won't be long," I answered, turning my head and seeing the sultry glow in Lyle's hazel eyes and also noticing that he was not paying attention to Tip who slipped into the bedroom.

"Are you going swimming with them?"  he asked quietly as he leaned against the counter, cupping his hands over the growing bulge in his crotch.

"After I get my shower and dress," I said, setting the cup on the counter. "There is coffee in the pot if you want some. The mugs Dalton and I used are clean."

"That's okay, Carl, I had some earlier. I'm not much on coffee; but I'll have a glass of milk if that's okay?"  he said, turning toward me, adjusting and thus highlighting the thick bulge snaking down his thigh inside of his shorts.

"Milk's in the fridge, and there are glasses in the cabinet, Lyle.  Help yourself while I take a shower and dress,"  I said, quickly averting my eyes as I turned toward the bedroom door, a feeling of excitement washing over me.

§
 Tip was sitting on the bed talking while Dalton was dressing.  He turned his back toward me as I walked in, and I said, "Lyle is having a glass of milk, Tip, if you would care for some.  There is also a pot of coffee I made earlier for Dalton and me, and it is still fresh."

"I'll have a glass of milk," he answered jumping up and glancing at Dalton before he quickly left the room, leaving the door ajar.

"Dalt," I said softly, closing the door after Tip had left.  "I don't know whether Tip has his mind on the same thing as his brother, but you're a big boy, so use common sense if he does.  I could see the minute he came in that Lyle had only one thing on his mind."

"I saw that last night," he said grinning at me, his eyes twinkling as he tightened his belt. "I thought you did as well; he made it as obvious as hell."

"Oh, now the pupil is teaching the teacher, is he?" I said, starting to undo the towel around my waist.

"No...," he said haltingly. "I still have things to learn, but I saw the way Lyle was looking at you and covering his crotch when you and he were leaning against the railing.   Sometimes it's obvious what someone wants, and Tip didn't say anything when we were in the bathroom, but he sure let me see him milking his cock while we were using the toilet."

"You and he used the same toilet together?" I asked, but not surprised.

"There was only one, Carlie," he answered, lowering his eyes, his face flushing as he moved closer.

"And you wanted to see what he had," I said, letting the towel fall to the floor, my cock stirring with the excitement I felt as he put his arms around me and looked into my eyes.

"Wouldn't you?" he asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.  "Jeff is older than Tip; but, from what Tip showed, he is bigger than Jeff, and I've got the feeling that Tip wants me."

"I'm sure he does, only a fool wouldn't," I thought to myself, looking into the softness of his big brown eyes before saying, "If he does, Squirt, let him make the first move," I cautioned, breathing in deeply, feeling a twinge of jealousy, and thinking of him in bed with Tip.

"You won't get mad at me?" he asked softly, his eyes brightening.

"No...," I answered, trying to suppress the feeling of apprehension in the pit of my stomach.    "Just try to remember what I've been telling you."

"I will, and it won't stop me from loving you as much as I do, Carlie," he replied, squeezing me tightly and brushing my lips with his as he said, "No one will ever do that."

I could feel the sincerity of his words in the strong steady beat of his heart and the glow burning in the depths of his eyes. Thinking about my feelings for Jerry, I started to say, "You won't really know that until you have been with someone else, and this may be your first test," but I said, "You'll always be mine kid, always," as I loosened his arms from around me to go into the bathroom.

"Tip asked  me if you were going into town  with us," Dalton said as he followed me into the bathroom.  "I didn't think anything about it when I told him that I thought you were since you had said something about seeing Jake and Tracey."

"Lyle sort of asked me the same thing," I replied as I stepped under the water.  "I told him I was, but that's all. He didn't say anything else. Lay my Levi cutoffs and a pair of briefs with any pullover on the bed for me, will you?"  I asked as I pulled the shower curtain shut.
§
Dalton had laid out the clothes I had asked him to, but the bedroom was empty when I finished showering.  The door was ajar slightly, and I could hear him and Tip laughing.  For a moment, I was tempted to peer through the crack to see where Lyle was; but I resisted the temptation, continuing to dry myself, but thinking about Lyle.

"Lyle is nice looking kid. He's good looking, got a great body; and, if  the bulge in his crotch as any indicator, he seemed to be hung better than the average teenager.  It might be a nice experience to have sex with him just for the fun of it; but, what about Dalton, what would he think after all of the talking we have done?"

I was slipping my briefs on after spreading my damp towel over the top of the bathroom door when there was a light rap on the bedroom door followed by, "Carl, it's Lyle.  I need to use the bathroom, is it okay if I come in?'

I was flustered for a moment; and,  hesitating, I breathed in deeply trying to regain my composure before answering, " It's okay, Lyle.  Come on in, I'm decent."

I started to turn away to finish dressing, but the look in Lyle's eyes as he came into the room stopped me, and I felt a tingling in my nuts as my cock started to get hard.

"Yeah," he said, smiling as he passed by me on the way to the bathroom after closing the bedroom door.  "You are decent."

A sudden rush of heated embarrassment washed over me when I heard the sexual overtones of his comment; and, seeing the gleam in his eyes, I mused "why, why does this have to happen now?" as I heard the force of his water splashing in the commode  A vision of his cock hanging over the commode sent shivers through me; and, without much success, I was fighting the desire to succumb to his sexual overtures for fear of what Dalton would think and say even after talking with him about what he thought Tip wanted.

§


Shaking my head, trying to clear the sexual cobwebs, I bent over the bed to pick up my shorts and was putting them on when the commode flushed. Zipping the fly up and snapping the waist band shut, I quickly retrieved my pullover from the bed and was attempting to put it on when he came back into the bedroom.

"That felt good," he said as he came back into the bedroom zipping his fly shut. "I drank coffee at the house before we left, and it always goes right to my bladder."

His eyes were examining me closely as he spoke. A feeling that he was removing each piece of clothing with his eyes swept over me, and the bulge in his crotch confirmed that feeling.

"I'm  the same way," I stammered, feeling like a schoolboy, still trying to pull my shirt over my head.

"I like you the way you were when, I came in," he said rubbing his cock as he moved toward me.

I felt the warmth of hot blood rushing into my cock, and the movement of his hand over his cock was mesmerizing.  I couldn't take my eyes off of the slow hypnotic stroking movement of his hand over his growing cock. His bright hazel eyes held mine; and I stood rooted in one spot, my cock hardening inside of my shorts until I felt his hand sliding around my bare waist to the small of my back; and then I croaked weakly, "Lyle...,"

He didn't stop; and, as I felt the pressure he was exerting with his hand pulling me to him, I said huskily, "Lyle, don't..."

"Why not?" he asked, breathing harder as he pulled me closer and saying, "I've wanted you since we first met, and I've got a hunch you feel the same way.."

I gasped when his hard cock pressed against mine, and I moaned softly from the electrifying sensations his hands on my bare hot flesh and his steel hard cock pressing against mine were creating as I whispered weakly, "What about Tip and Dalton?"

"They are in the loft; and, if I know Tip, he's already sucking your kid brother's cock. Both of our kid brothers are getting it on, Carl. Tip has the same feelings for Dalton that I have had for you since we met," he answered, whispering seductively, his gleaming eyes filled with lust as he pulled me tightly to him, covering my lips with his.

My muscles relaxed as I melted into his arms, and Lyle's tongue was a deft rapier darting in and out entwining with mine. Dropping my shirt, I put my arms around his heaving chest and returned his kiss.  His mouth was sweet from the residue of the milk he had drunk, and his hands were all over my back muscles, squeezing and kneading.  He dropped his hands to the cheeks of my ass while he greedily sucked on my tongue; and, pulling our pelves tightly together, he started humping, grinding our cocks together in a rapidly increasing dry fuck.

"Damn, Lyle," I said breaking away from his sucking mouth.  "Slow down, take it easy. You can't be that horny?"

"Don't bet on it, Carl.  I haven't had anyone all summer; and, man, do I ever want you." he said huskily, his voice quivering with emotion and his hands and fingers trembling with excitement as he started taking his clothes off.

"Do you mean, you and Tip are...," I started to say, but he anxiously cut me off.

"Are we gay? Of course we are, just like you and Dalton," he said, almost triumphantly as he dropped his t-shirt followed quickly by his khaki shorts, but no briefs on the floor.

Lyle stood with his legs akimbo, his cock swaying from side to side. His hazel eyes flashed golden, burning brightly as he saw me gazing up and down his hard lean muscled frame. Lyle's chest muscles were hard and defined; and he had large brown breasts and hard dark brown, almost black, nipples. A thin auburn trail of silky hair led down from his navel, spreading to a luxuriantly silky mass of curly hair at the thick base of his cock.  His uncircumcised cock matched mine in size and girth, the tapered head a dark purple, engorged with his hot blood.   My cock stood at an angle when it was hard, but Lyle's cock thrust upward like a ballistic missile sitting on a launch pad, his hair-covered, walnut size balls nestled in his groin.

"Do you like what you're looking at?" he asked huskily as he reached for the snap on my shorts.

"What do you think?" I replied, standing still as he nervously started removing my clothes, piece by piece.

When he pulled my briefs down, my steel hard cock snapped free of the restraining elastic waist band, slapping against my stomach with such force that it sounded like a pistol shot.  He stood for a brief moment, looking at me as I had at him, and I said almost impudently, "Do you like what you're looking at?"

"Oh, yeah, you're just what I knew you would be," he said softly, inhaling deeply; hissing as he sucked air through his clinched teeth before suddenly taking my balls in his hand, and dropping to his knees.

I gasped as my muscles tightened at the sudden sensation of his lips sliding over the blood engorged crown of my drooling cock; and, grabbing his head, I groaned loudly as my cock slid into the depths of his sucking mouth.  I felt my balls churning as he massaged them while he sucked greedily, and my hot sperm was starting to rise when he stopped as suddenly as he had started.  A feeling that my balls would explode spread over me; but, I inhaled and exhaled deeply almost gasping as I attempted to relax and dispel the tense feeling of erotic desire his sucking had created.

Lyle stood up, and putting his arms around my neck as he pressed his hard body to mine, his hot gleaming eyes gazed into mine; and, he whispered, asking huskily, "Did that feel good?"

"You damned near took me all the way," I answered still breathing heavily.

He moved his arms from around my neck, and moved back slightly as he slid one hand between us whispered, "I was only getting started."

§
Wrapping his fingers around my throbbing cock, he pulled me to the bed; and we fell onto it with him on top.  Lyle was all over me like a ravenous animal before I was fully stretched out.  His hot lips and tongue kissed and bathed my chest with saliva from my neck down to the thick bush around the base of my drooling cock.  With him sucking and biting on my nipples, I felt the hot sensation of electric shocks shooting through every nerve and sinew and into my surging testicles.   It took all of my inner strength not to scream, "Lyle," as my muscles tightened from  the ecstatically painful pleasures that were radiating white hot into the depths of my loins.  I only succeeded in uttering a low whimpering moan as wave after wave of ecstasy enveloped me.  He must have sensed that I had succumbed to the sensual rapture of his ravenous advances.  When I felt his lips touching the head of my drooling cock, hot passion overcame me; and, grabbing his head with both hands,  I drove my hips upward, hissing, "suck it, Lyle," as I arched my back, violently driving my cock into his mouth.  He gagged briefly when my cock hit the back of his mouth, but I felt him opening his throat, letting all of my granite hard eight inches penetrate until his nose touched my balls with his chin was resting on the silky thick hair around the base.

 I held his head tightly, and he clamped his lips around the base of my cock moaning softly, "mmmmmmm."  My cock jerked violently and pulsed, reacting like a tuning fork; and I felt pre-cum oozing out of the urethral opening in its velvety soft, sensitive head.  The vibrations of his moaning deep in his throat sent streaks of fire rushing down the length of my cock into my churning balls; and, breathing heavily, my chest heaving, I gasped and let my hands fall from his head, groaning, "Christ, Lyle, you're torturing me; and, if you keep on doing that, you're going to get more than a mouthful."  I said, from the intense sensations from the vibrations that his moans were creating.

He withdrew from my cock; and, twisting around, he rolled on top of me, his lips covering mine in a deep passionate kiss, and his probing tongue entwined with mine; but not as violently as he had kissed me earlier.  The passion of his kiss lessened slightly; and, as he lifted his lips from mine, his hazel eyes glistened, filled with lust; and he said softly, almost whispering, "Oh no, Carl, not yet, I haven't waited this long to pop your rocks and that's all."

"What have you been waiting for, L:yle?" I replied, feeling his muscles relaxing and letting my hands drift over the velvety softness of his back while the tenseness in my muscles relaxed as my breathing receded. 

"A man, a real man," he answered without blinking, his eyes gleaming as he gently rotated his hips, rolling his hard cock over mine.  "I've been waiting for a man who wants, and likes sex as much as I do. I need a man who knows how to make love to another man; and I had a feeling that you were that kind of man, Carl. I can walk into the bathroom at the pavilion and get all of the lollipop sucking college boys I want; but that's all they want, a quick blow job." He said passionately, his heart beat increasing.

"Me too," I said softly, twisting to my right, and rolling on top of him.

His muscles flexed as we rolled over; and he inhaled deeply before exhaling and sighing a long soft, "oh yeahhhhh."  I looked down into soft golden glow of his hazel eyes and he smiled at me as I lowered my lips to his. 

I gently kissed his lips and the side of his neck, working my way down to his hard sensitive nipples. His muscles tightened when I nibbled one hard nipple, and I could feel drops of pre-cum oozing from his throbbing cock as I rolled its hard length over his hard flat stomach.  I slowly worked my way downward as I kissed and lip-nibbled his hard muscled chest.   He turned on his side as I turned around, and stretched out beside him.  I felt his muscles tense with anticipation as I breathed on the glistening blood engorged head of his cock.  When his lips touched the head of my cock and I felt his mouth taking me in, I opened my mouth; and, using my hand, I pushed on his ass as my cock sank into the depths of his throat. Instinctively, he thrust his hips forward driving his cock in until it touched the back of my mouth.  Holding him in place with my hand, I swallowed; and his thick eight inches sank deeper into my throat as he swallowed all of me. 

Lyle's arm went around my waist; and my hips responded with a slow steady piston movement, moving my cock in and out of his open throat.  I tasted his flowing pre-cum as he withdrew, and we fell into a steady rhythm sucking and thrusting our hips to meet the plunge of each other's cock.  Lyle's continuous moaning sent ecstatic feelings of erotic pleasure flowing over me; and, from the intensity of his thrusting hips and from the tensing of his muscles, I could tell he was as close as I was to disgorging the hot churning sperm in our balls.

We both hit the peak of intense pleasure at almost the same moment.  Lyle drove his hardening cock deep into my throat, shuddering as he reached his climax; and I felt his cock spasm, gushing thick streams of his hot bitter-sweet sperm down my throat.  I went over the edge falling into the abyss of erotic pleasure as my cock jerked, the hot magma of my balls erupting with volcanic force and flowing down his throat.  We both swallowed greedily as the thick bitter-sweet nectar of our balls gushed into our sucking mouths and down our gulping throats until our cocks started softening and the bitter-sweet nectar we had craved slowed to a trickle. 

Breathing heavily through our noses as we stripped the last remnants of nectar from wilting cocks as they slipped from between our lips, we held each other closely while our tense muscles relaxed; and we slipped into a warm euphoric fog of the contented afterglow that always follows a mutually satisfactory one on one sexual experience.

§
Several minutes passed before I swung around, back to the head of the bed as Lyle scooted up on the pillows. He seemed to be thinking as I lay down beside him holding my head up with my hand; and I said," Got something on your mind?"

"You might get mad at me if I tell you," he said softly.

"Try me, Lyle," I said, somewhat perplexed, not knowing what he was getting at.

"Well....," he said slowly, hesitating a little. "Oh hell, are you and Dalton lovers?"

"Holy Christopher, Lyle," I exclaimed, my mind racing, trying to think of an answer.  "What in the hell makes you think that?"

"I dunno, Carl, I've just had a feeling that you were, that's all.   You both are gay; and, from the way you look at each other and react, you seem to be more attached than straight brothers do."

It took me several minutes to gather my thoughts after listening to his analysis.  He had come awfully close to ascertaining the truth, but I didn't feel I should tell him anything more about the relationship between Dalton and me.   Breathing in deeply, I gazed at him for a moment before exhaling and answering.

"Lyle, a few minutes ago, you told me that you and Tip are gay," I replied. "Does that make you and him lovers just because you're brothers and both gay?"

"Nooooooooo, but we have sucked each other off when we're really horny and tired of jerking off.  I'd like to fuck him in the ass, but, he say's I'm too big, and I don't want to hurt him," he said.  "Besides that though, I don't think he would let me. Have you and Dalton ever done anything like that?"

"Shit or get off the pot time," I thought to myself.  "Do I admit the truth or take the easy way and lie, hoping Dalton hasn't spilled the beans to Tip."

My head said the easy way, and tell him the truth, but that would not be fair to Dalton.  I answered slowly trying to remain calm and choose my words carefully before I said them, "No, we haven't, Lyle.  I jerked him off; in fact, we jerked each other when he was learning how to do it, but that's all. That's not unusual though; most brothers do that sooner or later," I fibbed, feeling a little guilty.

"And you and he haven't done anything else together because you are brothers, and having sex with each other would be incest; is that it?  We don't think of it like that.  We're brothers and we love each other, so what makes it  wrong if we have sex together once in awhile?  We aren't lovers or a couple as I've heard most gay guys are that live together. I don't see anything wrong in us having sex together." he said, exhaling explosively from holding his breath as he spoke.

"You are probably right, Lyle; but what you and Tip do, is between the two of you," I said, agreeing with his logic and chuckling outside while praying inside that Dalton wasn't going to make a liar out of me if Tip was asking him the same questions.

"You are right about that, Carl.  If our parents ever found out, I don't know what they would do; but we like having sex with each other, and deep inside of me I love him even more than him being just my kid brother.  He's had sex with only a couple of other guys that I know of, and we both are still learning about what it means to like men rather than girls," he said, glancing at me as he rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed.

"You seemed to know what you were doing, Lyle," I said, thinking about Dalton and me and what we had been going through since I was home.

"It's easy, Carl, when I'm with someone like you.  I'm not kidding when I say, I haven't been in bed with anyone like you," he said, almost in a whisper and not turning around.

Without answering, I rolled off of the other side of the bed; and I started to stand up when Lyle, still sitting on the side of the bed, asked bluntly, "Carl, are we going to get together again while you and Dalton are here?"

"I'm not sure about that, Lyle," I replied without turning and looking at him. "We weren't thinking about meeting anyone when we came up here, and I have to admit you took me by surprise and probably Dalton also.  It was great; it really was, but we just wanted to hang out and enjoy being together before I have to leave next week. I'll be gone over two years; and, if Dalton joins the marine corps after he graduates from high school, it's hard to say when we'll see each other again."

Lyle didn't say anything, and I walked around the bed to where our clothes were laying on the floor.  Picking his up with mine, I handed him his and he inhaled deeply before taking them from me.

§


We dressed silently, each with his own thoughts; and mine were on Dalton more than Lyle when I heard Lyle say my name, "Carl."

"Yeah," I answered as I was pulling my shirt over my head.

"Did you tell us, Tip and me, how long you and Dalton are going to be here?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember whether I did or not," I said. "We will probably be here until Saturday.  We'll spend Sunday with our parents, and then I'll be flying out on Monday.  I have to be in Brooklyn, N.Y. by next Tuesday. Why?"

"Awwwww, I was thinking maybe you and Dalton would like to go with us on a couple of hiking trails, just for the fun of it," he said with a twinkle in his eyes as he tucked his cock inside his shorts, looking down before pulling his zipper up.

"Smart thinking if you aren't going to wear briefs," I chuckled.

"Wha....!! Oh, yeah, right," he answered, his face flushing as he grinned at me. "I usually do wear 'em but, I figured they might get in the way this morning."

"And last night at the pavilion?"

"The same; but you didn't tumble like I was hoping you would. Tip wasn't wearing any either," he said.

"You had me all staked out, did you?" I replied with a hint of sarcasm as I buckled my belt and looked at him with a smile." Do all of your tricks fall at first sight?"

"Trick? You aren't what I call a trick, Carl," he said looking a little abashed at my directness. "There are some older men looking for young tricks, and college students who are hustlers and who might be called tricks; but they are just hustlers.   I knew you were different when we were sitting on the railing outside of Jake's office. I sat there looking at you, and I got a hardon just thinking about what it would be like to be in bed with you. If I wasn't wearing baggy pants, you would have seen how horny I was.  Ugh, unh, you aren't a trick, Carl; you're someone to settle down with and make a life, not cruise the streets and public rest rooms."

"Thanks for the compliment, Lyle," I replied, realizing for the first time that he was more like Dalton than I had discerned earlier.

"That's not just a compliment, Carl," he said as he moved closer and slipped his arms around my chest. "It's a fact which I'm convinced of now that we've been in bed together.  It wasn't the sex that made me realize that there is more to you than that, however good the sex is.  You will make someone a real lover, and I have a hunch who that will be.  I know it won't be me even if I wanted it to be."

"You do?" I said softly as our lips met in a long lingering kiss; and he mumbled, "unh, huh."  I couldn't help but compare his lips with the softness of  Dalton's.  His heart beat was strong and his breathing was slow and steady, but not like a passionate lover's would be.  After we broke the kiss, I was thinking about how lucky some guy would be someday when there was a sharp rap on the door.

"Hey, are you guys in there," Tip called out, knocking on the door again.

"It's not locked, Bro, come on in," Lyle said as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and slipped his sandals on.

"What's up?" Tip asked as he burst through the door with Dalton; looking a little disheveled, following him, his eyes quickly catching  mine.

"Not much, Bro. Carl said he and Dalton might go on a hiking trip with us before they leave," Lyle said, glancing up at me.

"Might is the operative word, Lyle,"  I replied.  "We didn't come equipped for hiking and sneakers aren't made for that type of rough treatment."

"Well, think on it," Lyle responded, glancing at me with a twinkle in his eyes as he stood up. "Are you and Dalton still going swimming, Tip?"

"We are," Dalton replied from behind Tip. "Are you going with us?"  he asked as he and Tip turned, moving toward the door into the other room.

"I can't, Dalton," Lyle said as we followed them.  "I wish I could, but there are a couple of yards I've promised people I would cut today."

"Do you want us to take you home," I asked, forgetting that they had ridden to the cottage on thier bikes.

"Nah, I'll ride my bike home," Lyle said, giving me a wink as he passed.  "Maybe we can get together later?"

"We'll see how things are going," I said glancing at Dalton and Tip who were waiting for us.

§
Dalton followed Lyle down the driveway until, waving, he turned left to go up the hill.  "I wish he could have gone with us," Tip said glancing over at Dalton and back at me.  "He loves the water and looks really great in a tight black swimming suit he has."

"I'll bet he does," Dalton said softly, glancing at me knowingly, his eyes twinkling.

"Hey," I said, ignoring Dalton's remark. "Did you guys put your bathing suits on under your shorts?"

"Nah," Tip answered.  "We can change in the bathhouse and put our clothes in one of the lockers."

We watched Lyle peddling up the road until he was out of sight before Dalton pulled out on the road, and I remembered what Jake had said about Lyle joining the army.

"Why doesn't he join the navy or maybe the marines instead of the army, Tip?" I asked.

"I dunno, Carl," he answered. " I don't think he likes the idea of being out on the ocean, and he has never said anything about joining the marines.   Neither one of us has seen an ocean, but you hear about big boats sinking and people being lost out there. I think that's why he is going to go into the army.  I wish he would wait until we could go in together, but he really wants to get away from here and our ...," he said hesitating without finishing his thought.

I could see from the way his shoulders drooped with his chin almost touching his chest that he was as close to Lyle as I was to Dalton.  It disturbed me, but I didn't really want to become involved in any personal problems they might have. However, it might make Tip feel better if I offered to talk with his brother about going into the service.

"Tip, do you think it would help if I talked with Lyle?" I asked, glancing over at Dalton to see his reaction.  "I'm not a recruiter, but I know a little about how things work in the military."

"Would you, Carl?"  Tip squealed excitedly, leaning forward in his seat.

"I don't know how much it would help, but I'd be willing to answer any questions he might have," I said, slowly.   "I wonder why he didn't ask me earlier?"

" 'Cause he hates asking people for help, Carl." Tip answered, dejectedly.

Laughing out loud as Dalton pulled into Jake's parking lot, I said, "He better get over that, Tip, if he's going to be in one of the services."

"If he does enlist, there are other things he has to learn; aren't there Carl?"  Dalton said looking at me with a twinkle in his eyes as he got out of the car.

"A few, Little Brother, just a few," I replied catching his meaning.  "How long will you guys be swimming?"

"Not long, Carl,"  Dalton said.   "What will you be doing?"

"I'm going to be in Jake's office for awhile, Dalt, trying to apologize to Tracey for the way she and Carla were treated last night. I want to call Mom and Dad and let them know we're all right. We did kind of slip away in the dark of night if you remember," I chuckled, grinning at Dalt. "If you guys aren't going to be swimming very long, maybe we could meet for lunch at the restaurant where we were last night," I said, turning to look at Tip and saying, "unless you have other plans this afternoon, Tip."

"Me?" Tip answered quickly, looking wide-eyed at both of us. "I don't have anything to do, but I don't have enough money to eat in a restaurant; I've only got a couple of bucks for a hamburger and a Pepsi."

"Who said anything about money, Tip?" Dalton asked, elbowing him in the ribs and then fending off Tip's mock punch to his shoulder.

"I'll tell you what, instead of meeting me at the restaurant, I'll meet you at the pavilion. If I'm not there, wait for me," I said turning and walking away as the two of them ran on down the hill to the lake beach.
§
Jake looked up from his desk as I opened the door.  Seeing it was me, he got up and, with a smile, walked toward the railing.  "Good Morning, Carl," he said, extending his hand.

"Good morning, Jake," I replied as we shook hands.

"What brings you to town on a gorgeous day like this? I should think you and Dalton would be out on the lake sailing or swimming." he said.

"I get enough sailing in the navy, Jake, but I'll probably be doing some swimming later on.  Right now, Dalton and Tip Coleman, the kid you were telling us about, are swimming.  We met him and his brother, Lyle at the pavilion last night, and Dalton and Tip sort of clicked like most guys their age do," I replied, looking around the office before continuing.  "We saw Tracey and her friend Carla at the pavilion last night; is she around?"

"I'm sorry, Carl, she had to run over to Richmond for me this morning.  Is there something I can do for you?"

"No, I just wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed dancing with her last night.  I'll probably see her later on, and I can tell her." I fibbed, and then realized that I seemed to be doing a lot of shading the truth.

"She said you weren't a bad dancer once she got you started," Jake said, grinning, his eyes twinkling.

"She did, did she?" I said, chuckling to myself.   "I enjoyed dancing with her; but the hard part was, like she said, getting started.  Tracey is a pretty good dancer herself and is very persuasive."

"She gets that from her mother," Jake said, nodding his head in agreement before saying,  "How do you like the cottage?  The Andersons really want to sell it."

"We like it, Jake; it's not very big which is good, and I like the seclusion." I said in answer to his query.

"That's the way they wanted it when they bought it, Carl, secluded and quiet.  Their big worry was renting it out to college students, but I've avoided that for the most part," he said eyeing me closely before continuing. "I really think I could get you a good deal if you want me to talk with the Andersons; and, as far as the mortgage goes, you should qualify for a veteran's loan at a very low interest rate."

"I don't know, Jake; I'm leaving next Monday for my duty station in Panama, and that doesn't give much time to work things out even if I were interested," I said hesitating as I thought about it before saying anything else.   "I'll be gone for at least two years which would mean someone would have to watch over it for me, and then there is the maintenance to think about.  I don't know Jake...." I mused aloud.

"Carl," Jake said in a persuasive tone, "why don't you let me see what I can come up with?  You have nothing to lose, and I bet that if we do work something out your family would pitch in with the maintenance and would probably want to use it occasionally.  I'll be here to handle the rentals if you decide to go that way, so what do you say; want me to see what I can come up with?"

Jake fell silent as I stood looking out the window into the street and mulling over what he had said.  He was right; it would be nice to have a place that the family could use, and if the payments weren't too high, I could probably set up an allotment to handle them.  "Why not," I said to myself, turning around and almost bumping into Jake who had moved up behind me as I was thinking.

"Go ahead, Jake, as long as I don't have to sign anything, see what you can work out," I said.

"All right, Carl," Jake said exuberantly as he went back to his desk and sat down. "I'll jump right on this and get in touch the Andersons first thing after lunch to see what they have to say, and I should have an answer for you before you leave or maybe earlier.  They really do want to sell since Mr. Anderson became ill, and that is to your advantage."

"Oh, Christ, Jake.  I forgot all about lunch and I'm supposed to meet Dalton and Tip at the pavilion," I exclaimed.  "I'll check with you later." I said, opening the door and leaving Jake at his desk.