The Dirty Bookstore Ch 8

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"Coming!" Rick yelled as he raced to the front door, still buttoning his jeans as he ran and almost tripping.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Joel said once Rick had thrown open the door.

"Oh, no...uh, just wasn't expecting anyone. What's up?"

"I just wanted to come by and apologize. For not accepting your calls and sort of avoiding you all week, that's all."

"Come in," Rick said, hoping Andy stayed put as he'd asked him to, and that Joel didn't stay long.

"Just for a minute. I know it's late, and we both have work tomorrow..."

"It's okay," Rick said, "do you want something to drink?" he said, then panicked as he realized he and Andy's half finished Cokes still sat on the table along with Andy's plate. To anyone who took the time to analyze the evidence it would be clear there were two people at the table at some point, but he was saved having to worry about that when Joel replied.

"Nah, I'm good. I just wanted to see if you wanted to do something this weekend? Maybe see a movie or something."

"Yeah, I'd like that, but can we take your car?" Rick chuckled.

"Sure, well...I guess I should go and let you get to bed. I just, well...I'm really sorry about how I acted this week. I'm just so confused."

"You and me both," Rick said, "but it's a good confused. I mean, up until I met you I was never confused about any guy I ever got with. Does that make sense."

"Perfect sense," Joel said smiling, "So...do you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I forgive you. Come here, knucklehead," Rick said pulling Joel into a hug and kissing him tenderly.

Joel sighed, "Thanks, I needed that. Uh, if you were gonna be up a while..."

Oh shit, Rick thought, what if he wants to go to bed? I have to keep him away from my room at all costs. Then thinking fast he knew exactly what to do.

Grabbing Joel's hand he led him to the couch and sat him down, then dropped to his knees and began unbuttoning his pants, "Just to show you I forgive you and what I've been wanting all week," Rick said grinning up at Joel.

Joel, eager to comply, helped Rick get his pants and underwear down then fell back on the couch and let Rick have his way. It didn't take long, he'd been dreaming about Rick's warm, wet mouth all day, and too soon he cried out and began to unload.

Rick moaned as he received his prize, not quite as sweet as Andy's had been, but delicious in it's own right. Thick and warm and plentiful, and just as satisfying.

"Thanks, I needed that. Want me to do you now?" Joel said after he'd recovered a moment.

"Nah, to be honest, I'd just finished jerking when you knocked," Rick lied, but his lie fell flat when suddenly Andy appeared at the end of the hallway.

The boy took one look at the two and said, "Oh shit!" but he knew it was too late to run, too late to hide, the cat was literally out of the bag, and the cat was Andy.

"What the hell?" Joel said jumping up and pulling up his pants in an attempt to cover himself, "What is Andy doing here...? Oh my God, you didn't. Please tell me you two didn't..." Joel said growing pale as he realized no words of assurance could fix what he knew must've transpired.

"It's not what it looks like..." Rick said, then almost laughed at the absurdity of that. Why did people always say that, when it was almost always exactly what it looked like?

"Andy, are you okay. Did he do anything to you?"

Andy looked confused, "What do you mean? Nothing bad, if that's what you're thinking. He was out riding his bike and we met at the park and we just came back here and had dinner, hot dogs, then you came and he got scared and told me to hide, but we wasn't doin' nothing wrong..."

Sweet boy, Rick thought, and an expert liar. In fact, Rick thought, if he didn't know the real truth himself, he'd have believed Andy's explanation was beyond reproach.

"Why didn't you tell me, once you saw it was me?" Joel said, finally calming down a bit.

Think fast, Rick willed himself, but don't be stupid, then he had it.

"Because of just how you're acting now," Rick threw back at him, "I knew you'd never understand or believe, but maybe you believe Andy, cause what has he got to benefit by lying?"

"Don't put this on me. I'm not hiding a young boy in my bedroom. I know you want him. Hell, you have since you first met him, but I never thought you'd go this far. You're a lying bastard and a creep."

Rick looked stunned now and a little hurt, "You know what, you're right. I'm sorry, Andy, and thanks for trying to cover for me, but what I said before was right, you gotta be honest with your friends. Joel, I'm sorry, you're right to be mad, but I never planned this. It just happened. Part of what Andy said was true, we did met at the park and we went riding. But then we came back here, and well...I'm sure you can guess the rest.

Yeah, I'm weak and a bastard, but I'm not gonna be a liar. I wanted Andy from the moment I first saw him, but I didn't want to risk hurting you. And though I know it's no excuse, you were avoiding me all week and I thought maybe you didn't want to see me anymore. Then there was Andy, and he wanted to come home with me, and well, here we are. But if it's any consolation, I only got him off."

"So far," Joel huffed, "I'm sure that was next."

"Can I say something," Andy said then, his voice a little shaky but his resolve unwavering.

"Sure, buddy," this is as much about you as it is about us, go ahead," Rick said softly.

"Joel, please don't be mad at Rick. I'm the one who caused this. I wanted to mess around with Rick and I sort of tricked him into bringing me here and all. But, that's not all. I wanted to mess around with you too. That first night we met I would have done it then and then when you introduced me to Rick and I could tell that you two were doing that stuff, it only made me want to do it with both of you even more. Why does it have to ruin things for us?"

Andy seemed agitated now and his voice was strong and almost belligerent as he continued, "I just don't understand adults. They make everything complicated and hard. Me and my friends...well, we don't get jealous and we don't get mad or worry who's messing with who. We all do it, we all have fun, and we all like each other. Why can't we be that way too...all of us, us three?"

"Because we're older and you're just a kid," Joel spit out, "Rick is six years older than you. Do you know he could go to jail for messing with you, and I'm not much better. I'm only 3 years older, which isn't so bad, but I'm still technically and adult."

Andy seemed to be considering this, "How would they ever know? I sure wouldn't tell them and my mom doesn't care what I do as long as I stay out trouble. Hell, she's not even around most of the time, so how would she ever know what I do?" there was some sadness in his voice as he spoke the last few words and Joel felt a genuine sympathy for him.

He was just a kid looking for love and acceptance, but in the wrong way, Joel thought. What he needs is a father figure, or at least a big brother, not a lover.

"Andy, this isn't just about you. It's about Rick and it's about me. We...or at least I really like you and I don't want you to get hurt. I understand that you want to make friends. Friends are important, and those boys you mess with back at the apartments, that's fine cause they're boys too, not adults."

"I'm 15, almost 16," Andy butted in, "in a few months I can get my license and drive a car. I ain't not kid. I know what I like and I know what I want. So...you may be able to keep me from doing stuff with Rick, and you may tell me know when I say I want to do stuff with you, but you can't stoop me from doing it with other guys...men, and they might not be as safe as you."

"What are you saying?" Joel almost screamed.

"He's bee hanging out in the park," Rick explained, "hooking up with men in the bathroom or the bushes. That's where I found him tonight."

"What, no...please tell me you didn't..." Joel said falling down on the couch again, his face buried in his hands.

Andy felt bad now, guilty and a little dirty after seeing Joel's reaction. Would this kill any feelings Joel had for him? Was he a bad person for doing what he'd done and not worthy of Joel's friendship. Tears threatened to escape his eyes, but he held them back, not wanting to show this side of him.

"Andy..." Rick said sensing the despair the boy was feeling now, "it's okay buddy," he added as he placed a reassuring hand on the trembling teen's shoulder.

Joel looked up then and sighed, "I don't have to tell you how dangerous that is, do I?"

"No, but I'm careful. I don't get in their car and I don't go nowhere with them that I can't scream for help."

"Why?" Rick said in an almost whisper as he eyes turned to the floor.

For a moment there was dead silence, and Rick assumed it had been a rhetorical question, but apparently Andy felt it needed an answer, he just had to think of the right one.

"Because I'm 15, almost 16, and I'm horny all the time. And I like the way it makes me feel when guys tell me how cute I am, or how sexy, and how they tremble when their hands touch me...like I'm the best thing they've ever had. For just a few minutes I'm important and wanted and some even say they love me," he said wiping a few tears from his eyes now, "I know they don't really mean it, that they probably have wives back home, maybe even kids of their own, but for just a little while maybe they do love me a little, and I love them too." he was finally finished now, emotionally and physically exhausted and he didn't want to talk about this anymore. For once he actually wished he was home, even if he had to be there alone.

"Andy, buddy..." Joel said, his heart breaking for the boy now, "I'm sorry..."

Andy was surprised at Joel's sudden change of temperament, but he dared not think he had come around completely to his way of thinking.

"Do you hate me now?" Andy said almost defiantly.

"No, I could never hate you," Joel said looking up into those lipid pools of blue shimmering with tears, yet a hint of defiance still lingering there, "come, sit by me, okay?" he said patting a spot next to him on the couch.

Andy looked at Rick who nodded, then he did as Joel had asked, lowering his eyes to the floor once he was seated.

"I'm not blaming you for anything. You maybe 15, almost 16 but you're still just a kid. When I was your age I was the same way. I let my dick do all my thinking, so I understand. And I understand you wanting to be accepted and to be loved," Joel said slipping his arm around the boy only to find he was trembling, "I like you, a lot. I know we just met, but I see a lot of myself in you and you're easy to get to know and to like. I guess that's why you have so many friends back there at home."

Rick, being the good host that he was, had gone off to the kitchen and he returned moments later with a bottle of Coke for everyone. Joel hadn't realized he was thirsty till he took a swig of the delicious, cold soda and it was quickly followed by a second bigger gulp.

Andy nursed his, thinking about all that happened and wondering what came next. Was he about to lose two friends, or just one, or would Joel figure out what he was saying and fix things with him and Rick?

Rick, who had settled into a worn but serviceable recliner that had belonged to his grandpa, observed the two but did not speak at this point. He figured this was more or less between Andy and Joel now, and though his own happiness and relationship with both of them might hang in the balance, he felt staying silent was the best course of action for the moment.

"I'm sorry I messed up," Andy said then, his voice choked with emotion, "I just wanted you guys to like me, that's all."

"We did, we do," Joel assured him, "you didn't have to do anything to make us like you."

"Okay, maybe I'm the bad person then, cause I wanted to do stuff. Why is it bad if I want to have fun and do sex stuff? Isn't that what most guys want?"

"Yes, but..." however, Joel had no witty comeback, no definitive answer for he himself had been a victim of his own libido starting from puberty till present day. Why else would he had been cruising the dirty bookstore, and how was that any different than Andy cruising the bathrooms at the park? The only difference he could conceive was the difference in their ages, but given the opportunity, Joel wondered he might not have done the same things Andy had done. As a teen he's been very sexual, messing with any friend who'd allow it, some younger, some older, and though he'd never gotten with an adult male back then, who's to say he wouldn't have if the time was right?

"But what?"

"Nothing, I was about to say because you're a kid, but I see now that you're not a kid. You're a teenager, and teenagers do crazy stuff sometimes, I know I still do," Joel admitted, "but this isn't just about you, it's about me and Rick too," he said chancing a look at Rick who seemed to wilt beneath his gaze.

"Don't be mad a Rick, please," Andy begged, "be mad at me, if you gotta, but don't stop seeing Rick. He...he loves you, I can tell."

"Funny way of showing it," Joel huffed, "messing around with you behind my back."

"I have no excuse for what I did," Rick conceded, "once again I was thinking with my little head instead of my big one. I'm sorry, and if I had it all to do over again, I'd try to be more sensible about it."

"I was pretty mad, at first," Joel said, as much to himself as to Rick or Andy, "but not for the right reasons," he added with a sigh, "I think. No, I know I was jealous."

"Jealous, of Andy or of me?" Rick said incredulously.

"I...I'm not sure, both maybe," Joel said, realizing he still needed to analyze his feeling further.

Rick sighed, "I get that you might be pissed thinking I was trying to steal Andy away, but you don't think I'd trade you for him, do you?"

Joel shrugged, "He's cuter, younger, no doubt more exciting..."

"Hey," Andy said looking up, "I'm right here. Don't talk about me like I'm not here. I can speak for myself. I ain't tying to come between you two. Don't you see, I want both of you as my friends. You're both cool and even though you're different in some ways, you're both the kid of guys I want in my life."

"It's a shame things like that don't work in real life..." Joel sighed, "someone always gets jealous and someone always gets hurt."

"Why?" Andy said raising his voice just enough to garner both the other boys' attention, "Why does it have to be that way. Why can't we make it work? Or are you just afraid to try? Maybe the reason it doesn't work out most times is because nobody had ever wanted it as bad as I do."

There was total, bone-chilling silence for a moment, but at last Rick spoke up, "It would take guys who are really open-minded, and not afraid to take chances, and to think with their heart, not their heads."

Joel stared at Rick then, where on the earth did that come from? It seemed so unlike the Rick he'd gotten to know over the last few weeks. But he was right, it would take being open-minded and understanding, and yes...giving his heart to more than one person. It was scary, yet fascinating and exciting.

"I need to go home and think about all this," Joe said at last, "want me to drop you off on the way?" he said to Andy.

For one second Andy almost blurted out that he was staying the night with Rick, but at the last minute he decided that wasn't a good idea after all.

"Sure," Andy said, studying Rick for his reaction. At first he thought he might be disappointed, but what he saw in his eyes now was relief. Rick understood that Andy staying over would be a poison that might finish anything they had with Joel forever.

"Thanks," Rick said, "You saved me a trip."

"No problem," Joel said, feeling a big awkward as he rose.

Not knowing whether to kiss Rick or hug him he settled for a pat on the shoulder as he passed him, Andy in tow.

"Well, I'll uh...see you...around, I guess," Joel said.

"Yeah, call me...or I'll call you..." Rick said escorting them to the door, "And Joel, I'm really sorry about all this..."

"Yeah, me too," Joel sighed, "night."

"Night Joel, night Andy," Rick said, then they climbed into Joel's car and he backed out of the driveway. Rick watched until the read taillights were out of sight, then he went inside, closed and locked the door behind him and fell down on the couch and cried.

End Chapter Eight, two more chapters to go...

Kewl Dad

4-18-24

Send all comments to: kewl_dad1@hotmail.com I welcome all feedback and promise a timely reply.