Desert Heat Chapter 11 (The Pause Before the Storm)

Author's Note

Introduction

I welcome feedback from readers, in fact I thrive on it. It's really the only payment authors on NIFTY receive for their efforts. If you enjoy the story please take a moment to drop me an email and let me know. Comments from my readers drive my creativity.

This story is radically different from what I usually write. There are no magic or supernatural elements, and there are no Dominant/Submissive relationships. This is a story about an older man (Fernando) and a younger man (Matty) who fall in love. Both are adults. It's also a story about Matty's cousin Jimmy who is being abused without his knowledge by a close friend, and a story about Fernando's son Johnny and his lover Alex Xiao, a basketball player and engineering student.

I plan 1 chapter every month.

Please remember that NIFTY is a free site that provides an invaluable resource for men like us. Please consider donating to help ensure that site remains available for everyone. https://donate.nifty.org/

You can contact me at pseudonominius@gmail.com.

Author's Notes

·        If you want to be informed of new stories, send me an email, and ask to be put on the notification list. I'll send a notification. Everyone will be on the bcc line so your email address will not show to other members.

·        I have created a google group for people who want to get more information about my stories in that format. Only I can view the member list, so data should be secure. If a reader sends a question my way, I will post the answer to that group after removing any information about the reader. It's a good way to get more background information if you want. https://groups.google.com/g/pseudominius-stories

·        This type of story is new to me. I welcome your feedback, but this story is a new LBGTQ genre for me so please be gentle.

·        My editor is Robbear (robbear78@gmail.com). He not only edited this story but provided a lot of insight and suggestions that made the story better.

My Stories

·        College Magic (authoritarian and sf/fantasy)

·        Jack and the Giant (sf/fantasy)

·        Sacred Submissives (authoritarian and sf/fantasy)

·        Bellus Cinaedus (authoritarian and historical)

·        Guardian Angel (authoritarian and sf/fantasy)

·        Nivean and the Dvergar (authoritarian)

·        Small Town Slave Boys (authoritarian)

·        Desert Heat (beginnings)

·        Eros in Arcadia (Sf/fantasy)

·        Constituent Services (Encounters)

·        The Dancing Princes 

Desert Heat Chapter 11

This chapter takes place the morning after Halloween on a Sunday. Neto took Jimmy home after rescuing him from his pimps. They'd slept platonically in Neto's bed. Fernando had overreacted to his friend Ben touching Matty provocatively on the dance floor, and he'd scared Matty badly. They made up when Matty told him that he'd been afraid that he'd ruined their relationship by being too friendly. The story of Alex and Johnny's party is told in flashback in this chapter.

Fernando

I'd been pushing myself hard on my morning run today. Maybe I was trying to punish myself for upsetting Matty at the party last night. I'd been mad at Ben because I thought he was treating my boy like a worthless slut, but when I'd yelled, it was Matty who'd been terrified, but not of Ben. He'd been terrified of me. When he'd become non-communicative with me, I didn't know what to do. I'd been so angry at myself. I'd always been loud and abrasive when my temper was up, but I wasn't the most dramatic in my family by a long way. Even my kids had never been afraid of me. Hell, I'd been the calm one compared to their mother. Most importantly, they knew that I would never, ever raise a hand against someone I loved. Matty was different. He was delicato, soft, and he'd been scared. I promised myself that the next time I got angry, I would take whatever time I needed to calm down before I let anything out.

Little did I know how tempted I would be as soon as I got back to the apartment. I heard the loud dance music before I opened the door. Matty was in the kitchen. It looked like he was wearing one of my good shirts while cooking breakfast. He didn't see me because his back was to me. When I walked around the bar I noticed the disaster. He'd cooked bacon and the front of my shirt had grease spots on it. The stove and the side of the refrigerator were splattered with grease. Coffee grounds spread across the counter, and there was more flour on the floor, the counter and Matty than he'd used in the pancakes he was making.

I was a bit of a neat freak, and Matty... was not. He was kind of a slob, and as much as I loved him, he was turning my life upside down. I took a deep breath to calm myself and then I saw the rest of the picture. He was wearing my shirt like a dress and from the tent in the front it was obvious that he was naked under there. He'd gotten out of bed earlier than he usually did on the weekend, and he'd made me breakfast. And when he noticed me standing there, his face broke out in a broad grin. And Matty's smile drove every bad thought out of my mind.

He pushed me backwards out of the kitchen. "Go, wash your hands, and sit down. I made you breakfast this time."

I ignored the smoke gently streaming up from one of my good pans, where Matty had fried bacon on too high a temperature, and went to the bathroom to wash my hands, as ordered. When I came back into the room, Matty was putting food on the table. I sat down and waited while he finished setting everything up.

That's when I discovered that Matty was a terrible cook. He'd fried an entire package of bacon, a full pound, just for me, because he didn't eat meat. And it was burnt in several places. He'd somehow gotten coffee grounds in the coffee. And his pancakes were that strange combination of overdone on the outside and a little underdone on the inside. And the funny thing was that I didn't care. I ate that burned bacon and those underdone but burnt pancakes. And I choked down that gritty coffee. Despite all that, I enjoyed it.

I put too much syrup on my pancakes to cover the taste, and to moisten the occasional dry floury lump, but it was still less than Matty used. He was young and thin, and eating nothing but sugar and simple carbs didn't seem to bother him. We chatted about nothing. Both of us were avoiding any discussion of last night. It had ended well, and we didn't want to ruin it.

When he got up to clear the table, I grabbed him and pulled him onto my lap. I stopped his giggling with a kiss, and I slid one hand up his smooth leg to cup his bare butt. We kissed for several minutes; the slow passionate kind of kissing that made it feel like your bodies were beginning to meld together. I was hard and I could feel Matty's dick poking out of the shirt he'd ruined. Suddenly he stopped and pulled away. "I need to clean up my mess."

I was happy that he wanted to take some responsibility, but I wasn't feeling very domestic right now. I'd cleaned up his last mess and I was ready to make love to him. I moved my hand around to his front and stroked his hard little penis. He gasped and laid his head on my shoulder. "If you don't let me clean up now, I'll end up leaving it all for you and this is your day. I'm trying to make it special for you."

I scooped some of his precum onto my finger and moved it back to rub his tight little hole. "I'm your man, chico, and I have needs. Of course, I can always go shower while you're cleaning."

He pushed his butt back against my finger and moaned. "Okay, Daddy. Sex first, then I clean up the kitchen."

I picked him up in my arms and kissed his sweet lips. "You are the perfect little lover, chico. Sex then cleaning the house? You'll make someone a perfect wife one day."

He wrapped his arms around my neck and rubbed his smooth cheek against my bristled jaw. "I'd like that, Daddy."

Damn if I thought my cock was leaking hard, those words really got things flowing. I laid him down on the bed, facing me, and pulled my tee shirt off. He grabbed for it, so I let him have it. He held it to his face and breathed deeply through the cloth. My boy loved the scent of his man.

I pulled the rest of my clothes off and I held my sweaty jock out so Matty could really indulge himself. Then I crawled into bed next to him and began unbuttoning the shirt he was wearing. I asked, "Why are you wearing my shirt, Matty?"

He pulled my sweaty jockstrap away from his face. "It smelled like you, sir."

"And you like the way I smell?"

He looked at me like I was stupid. "Of course, I do. You smell like a man, a real man, a man who's ready for sex!"

I grabbed his head and pushed it into my armpit. I laughed as his tongue lapped up the sweat. "You are a sex crazed little monkey."

He mumbled, "You made me that way, Daddy."

I pulled his face out of my smelly pit. "And you never thought about sex at all I suppose, until I corrupted you?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No, sir. I was just an innocent schoolboy."

Damn! He'd looked young before he'd had his body waxed. Hearing him play the innocent, looking as young as he did, should have sent a chill down my spine. Hell, it did send a chill down my spine, but it wasn't a chill of guilt at the thought; it was a chill of excitement.

"You make me sound like a dirty old man, chico."

He ran a hand down my chest between my pecs, playing with my chest hair the whole way. "You're my dirty old man."

I moved down between his legs and ran my hands up his smooth thighs. "I'm not too old for you?"

He spread his legs and licked his lips slowly. "I've never really been attracted to boys."

I bent down and kissed his thighs, from his knees right up to his hairless scrotum. "Not even in high school?" I asked.

He shook his head and smiled. "Well, there was Mr. Crane, my math teacher. And Mr. Hernandez, my PE teacher. Oh, and Mr. Miller, the principal."

I couldn't help but laugh at him. "So, I didn't corrupt you; instead, you were laying a trap for me."

He bit his bottom lip and nodded slowly. "I wanted you from the moment I saw you in the pool."

I rubbed his hole gently, making him moan. I asked, "What did you imagine doing with me?"

He was getting excited enough that his voice was getting high pitched. "I had no idea what to do with a sexy man. I'd never had one before. I hoped you would know what to do with me."

I sucked my finger to get it wet and then pressed it inside his hole, making him gasp loudly. "Hoped I knew what to do with you? Hoped?"

He wiggled his butt and said, "You do, Daddy! You know exactly what to do with me!"

I pulled my finger out and sniffed it. Matty laughed, "I'm clean! I did it before making breakfast!"

I pushed his knees back and kissed his hole. "You knew exactly what I wanted for dessert."

Then I dove in and ate his ass for real. I loved the way he squealed when my tongue touched his pretty hole, and I loved the way his hole quivered when I teased it with the tip of my tongue. And when I rolled my tongue and probed him, he completely lost control.

"Oh God, yes, sir. You always know exactly how to make me feel good!"

I continued to pleasure him with my tongue until his little hole relaxed. It was loose and sloppy from my attentions, and it was begging for my cock. I lowered his hips and licked my way up his taint, across his scrotum and along the bottom of his erect penis. I tasted his sweet precum at the tip, then engulfed the whole shaft for only long enough to suck it clean.

I lined my cock up at his entrance, looking down at his body while I positioned myself. Matty was almost unspeakably beautiful stretched out on my bed. He was soaked in sweat despite the cool temperature of my apartment. His slender body glistened in the indirect light from the window. His eyes were clenched tight. I called out, "Look at me, chico. Look papi in the eyes when he takes you."

Matty opened his blue eyes and looked directly into my brown ones. I pushed against him and watched his face move from lust, to pain, to that look of bliss that happens once you've moved past the discomfort of penetration. I grasped his jaw with my hand and rubbed my thumb against his bow shaped lips. He parted them and allowed me to press it inside his mouth. And then he sucked it like it was a tiny penis.

"You are the most beautiful boy in the world, Matty, and that makes me the luckiest man. You have the face of an angel, and a devilishly pretty little hole that any red-blooded man would kill to get inside."

He couldn't talk with my thumb in his mouth, but he moaned prettily as I thrust my cock all the way in. Once my pubes were rubbing against his smooth cheeks, I left my cock inside him for a while, just enjoying the warmth and the tightness, the way his hole clenched around the base of my shaft. Then I pulled almost all the way out and thrust back inside him.

Tears appeared in the corners of Matty's eyes. It had scared me at first that he always cried softly while I fucked him. I thought I was hurting him, but he'd reassured me they were tears of joy. It was just another thing about him that was so cute. He kept his moist eyes fixed on mine as I fucked him gently.

He seemed hesitant, but he finally spoke. "Te amo papi."

He was always unsure about his high school Spanish, but that was perfect. "I love you, papi." It was sweet. "Te amo también mi güerito guapisimo," I replied.

He looked like he was concentrating on my words, but he was smiling. He said "I love you too, my very handsome little blond boy. Is that right?"

I stroked the side of his face and said, "Perfect. Your Spanish is getting better."

"I have a reason to practice now!"

I kissed his pretty lips again. "Now I'm going to fuck you harder. Is that okay?

He grinned and said, "Pound me into the mattress, Fernando!"

It was exciting when he called me "sir" or "daddy" or "papi", but nothing was sweeter than hearing my name on his lips. I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him upright, while he was still impaled on my cock, and I leaned back and stretched out my legs so that I was seated and he was facing me. I wanted to kiss him while we fucked.

"How about you pound me into the mattress instead."

I crushed his lips with mine and made him do the work of fucking himself on my cock. I kept my hands on his hips and guided him up and down so that he wouldn't pull off me. I kissed his lips, his chin and his neck. His round butt bouncing on my lap, his warm culo moving up and down my dick, it was driving me closer and closer to orgasm.

Matty screamed, "FUCK ME, FERNANDO! FUCK THE SPUNK RIGHT OUT OF ME WITH YOUR GIANT COCK! YES! YES! YES! I'M CUMMING NOW, PAPI!"

Our bodies were slippery with sweat and Matty's heart was pounding in his chest. Mine soon joined his. I wasn't as loud as he was, but I was no less vocal. I slammed him down and held him tight while I sprayed my load inside him.

"Take my seed, you sexy little thing. Take it deep inside your culo. Fuck yes! Take it all. I fucking love you, chico!"

We stayed like that for a minute or so until we were both breathing normally. Then we lay back down on the bed, and I pulled his slender body next to mine and used my embrace to keep him warm. We just lay there, basking in the afterglow of our coupling.

Matty broke the silence. He was twisting my chest hair between his fingers. "I'm not really a slut, Fernando, and I didn't really lay a trap for you."

I brushed his hair out of his face. "I know that, chico. It was just sexy talk. That's all."

He sighed and kissed my sweaty chest. "Good. I didn't want you to think I was a schemer, although... I did want you when I first saw you. I didn't dare to dream that a sexy man like you would be interested in a skinny boy like me."

I held him tight and rubbed his back. Of course, my hand ended up rubbing his butt like it always did. It was the only really meaty part of him. And of course, I ended up swatting his butt, like I always did. "And I wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you, sitting there like a sad little boy trying to do his homework in the brutal Tucson sun. Why do you think I always came out to swim while you were there? It wasn't for my health. I got a couple of painful sunburns waiting for my opportunity to get you into my apartment."

He grinned at me and said, "So it was you who trapped me!"

"Oh, mi corazon, I think we trapped each other. Now let's get up and have you clean up your mess before we shower."

We got up and he winked at me before walking out the room naked. I followed him without bothering with clothes either. I stood there leaning over the bar between the dining niche and the kitchen, supervising as he cleaned. He said he liked me to be dominant, a "real man", in his words, so I gave him what he said he wanted. And, as I suspected, he was whining about it before he'd finished cleaning up to my satisfaction.

It was clear that he didn't know what he was doing either. He swept the floor first, and then when he wiped off the counters, knocking more flour and coffee grounds on the ground. When he tossed the cloth back in the sink and turned around, I shook my head.

I pointed at the floor. "There's still coffee and flour to clean up."

He came over and wrapped his arms around me and whined, "But I already cleaned it, Daddy."

I kissed him passionately enough to let him know what I was thinking, then I smacked his butt and said, "I don't care if you've done it five times. It's still dirty."

He sighed and took up the broom again. After he swept up the mess, he put the broom back and gave me a forced smile. I walked over and kissed him yet again. Then I slapped his ass again. "You left grease on the side of the refrigerator."

He exhaled sharply and teased, "Fine! Treat me like a slave then!"

I laughed and replied, "You said you wanted me to be a real man. Well, I am a real man and a real man deserves to have a clean house."

I turned him toward the sink where he'd left the dirty water from washing dishes. "Let the water out, then use hot water and more soap to clean the side of the refrigerator."

I stood close behind him to supervise, and he kept pressing his naked butt back against my groin, trying to distract me. I rubbed it with both hands and then took hold of his hips. "Maybe I'll just be a real man and pound you against this counter while you're doing your housework. Would you like that?"

He pressed back harder against me and said, "Maaaaybeee."

I kissed his neck and said, "Not today, you horny little thing. Every time I fuck you, you squeal and flail around. I don't want you to make an even worse mess. So, start working."

He pouted at me and then playfully pushed his butt back again. I smacked it and then went to get myself a carbonated water. Before Matty, I'd just drink coke and beer. Now I was trying to be healthier. I didn't like diet soda so I thought Id try out the flavored waters.

When he was done, I grabbed him and kissed him again. (I was obsessed with kissing him). I said, "You wanted to do it by yourself today, so I let you. But next time, we will clean up together."

"But I really liked it when you said I'd make you a good wife. I think it would make me happy to take care of your house, cook for you, and wait for you to come home wearing nothing but a smile."

Damn he was cute. I hugged his slender body tight, pressing him against me. "A man and his wife, or boy wife in your case, should do things together. And as much as I love the idea of you being my stay at home kept boy, you're too smart not to use your brain. I want you to finish school and get a job that makes you happy. I wouldn't be able to bear it if you lost yourself completely in me and didn't follow your own path."

He said, "Can I do that and still do all those things for you?"

How was a middle-aged guy like me supposed to turn down an offer like that from a beautiful twink? He'd figure out that the reality of his vision was a lot more difficult than the fantasy, but I could afford to let him enjoy that fantasy for a little while longer.

"Of course, you can, Matty."

I picked him up and carried him into the shower. We cleaned each other and I fucked him again. And since he couldn't cum from getting fucked again so soon, I knelt down and sucked the sweat leche out of his cock.

Then, in a moment of pure domestic bliss, we stood side by side brushing our teeth. He sat on the closed toilet next to me while I shaved and then we went back to the bedroom to get dressed. That's when I got the text from Neto.

Can you come over to the house this morning? And can you stop by Jimmy's apartment and bring him some clothes? He's here. There's too much to text. We'll tell you in person once you get here.

Also, bring his PrEP. It should be in the medicine cabinet.

Matty was freaking out and he insisted on going over to the apartment with me. Josh was sitting there, making himself at home. He looked surprised to see me. My anger was roused when Matty stepped behind me and grabbed my arm for protection. He really was scared of this guy, and I knew there had to be a reason. I quickly made sure that Matty couldn't reach my holstered sidearm, just in case.

I glared at Josh and demanded, "How did you get in here?"

He shrugged insolently. "Jimmy let me in."

Matty said, "He's lying. Jimmy's not here, but Josh has a key."

I moved closer to where Josh sprawled on the couch. "Is that true, Josh. Do you have a key to this apartment?"

"Yeah. Jimmy gave it to me."

I held out my hand. "Give it to me, now."

He stood up and said, "Fuck you. I'm not doing anything illegal here. You don't have any right to take my key."

I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, extending it fully and putting him in a lock. Then I forced him to the floor and pressed my knee into his back. "What did you say to me punk? I told you to give me that key and the next word out of your mouth had better be `Yes, sir' if you know what's good for you."

"Fuck you! This is police brutality!"

I twisted his arm up against his shoulder blades and then thumped his face into the carpet. "Wrong words, punk. And just between the two of us, I'll bet that if I search you, I'll find something you don't want me to find and then I can take your ass to jail. What do you have to say?"

He gulped and spat out, "Yes, sir."

I let him up, but I kept an eye on him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. Then he fumbled around until he pulled the key off the ring. He threw it on the floor and said, "There! Take it."

I slapped him so fast that he didn't even see it coming. "Pick it up and hand it to me."

He was so angry that he was shaking, but he was also scared. I could see it in his eyes. He squatted down, picked up the key, and handed it to me. I took it and handed it to Matty. Josh started to skirt his way around me, but I grabbed him around the throat and pressed him against the wall.

"I have no idea what's been going on between you and Jimmy and I'm sure you don't want me to find out, but I'm headed over to his hiding place right now to talk to him. If I discover that you are as big of a hijo de puta as I think you are, or if I see you anywhere near Matty again, I will beat you so badly that you'll wish you were dead. And if you lay a finger on him..." I leaned in to whisper in his ear "... I'll end you. Don't think I won't, you pathetic little piece of shit."

When I let him go, he scrambled around me quickly and left. Matty was so pale I thought he was going to faint. He didn't shrink away when I put a hand on his shoulder, so I pulled him into a hug. "I didn't scare you again, did I?"

He shook his head and swallowed. He was obviously struggling to make himself talk. I just held him until he did. And for the second time in a situation like this, his first words were, "I've got to pee."

I walked to the bathroom with him and waited for him to finish. Then he said, "I was so afraid of Josh that it didn't even register with me that you were being scary too. Thank you. I needed to see that; I think. I've been so terrified of him."

He told me about Josh touching him sexually, about him forcing his kisses on him at school and threatening to rape him. He told me that Josh was the one who flattened the tires on his bike, and he told me how Josh would get Jimmy drunk and then touch him too. He was crying so bad that I sat him down on Jimmy's bed and held him for a while before I packed some clothes for Jimmy.

All that was going through my head was that I should have beaten that pathetic son of a bitch to within an inch of his life. Josh was the reason Matty had been so terrified for the last few weeks. I had to breathe slowly in order to calm myself down. I didn't want Matty to see me explode again. I would find a way to make him pay for what he did.

To say that I was shocked when I opened the drawer and saw that Jimmy owned only women's panties and some sexy underwear with the butt exposed would have been an understatement. Had he turned the boy into some sort of sex slave?

Jimmy had struck me as somewhat easily influenced. I could see him falling into the clutches of a predator like Josh. I grabbed a few things, some shorts, tee shirts and the bottomless underwear. Then I grabbed his pills. The boy was taking PrEP so that confirmed my fears and raised a few others.

I'd always worn a condom until I went monogamous with Matty. He'd been a virgin when I first made love to him and he didn't seem the type to play the field, but I was going to have to talk to him about it. Hell! I was going to have to talk to Jimmy. Unless his parents were more understanding than I expected, he wasn't going to have anyone to play father to him.

I saw Jimmy's backpack, so I shoved all his schoolbooks I could find inside it, along with his laptop. It was heavy, even for me, but I threw it over one shoulder. Then I took Matty under my arm and walked down to my car. I needed to find out what this was all about.

 

Jimmy

I awoke with a start. I didn't know where I was, and I was lying naked in bed with... Neto. It was all coming back to me. The party last night where Troy had tried to force me to sell my body to anyone he chose. The fear, the crying, and then Neto, coming in like a goddamn martial arts hero, talking shit and kicking ass.

Neto's arm was slung casually over my shoulder and my body was pressed up against his. I could feel his cock pressing against my butt. I felt warm and safe under the blanket next to him. And then the humiliation came over me. When Neto rescued me and brought me here, he'd been so kind and so... manly... which is a strange description for a guy like Neto who's so flamboyant in his mannerisms. He's always talking with his hands and calling guys sweetie, honey, girl and sometimes even girrrrrrrrrrrrl . But in my mind, despite all that, he was super manly, like a comic book hero who'd come out of nowhere to rescue me. I'd tried to repay him with a blowjob last night, but he'd rejected me completely. I'd had to beg him to let me sleep in the bed with him.

I'd been terrified of coming up against Troy and Josh last night. I knew that I would have if I'd gone home. And I had this overwhelming fear they would somehow know where I'd actually gone, and they would show up here. When Neto made me a bed in the Arizona room, I feared they would find a way in and take me while no one was looking. Afterall, what is an Arizona room, but a porch that's been screened in?

I had to pee, so I carefully wriggled out of Neto's embrace and got out of bed. I didn't have any clothes, so I picked up the towel I'd worn after my shower last night and wrapped it around my waist. The house seemed old, but nice. The tile floors were cool on my feet as I looked around for the bathroom. Neto's room opened up into the living room. Half the furniture looked new, like it was purchased for a college student's room from the local Target, but the other half looked like something an older Mexican woman would have in her house. I guess I meant the style was like it was imported from Mexico and it looked old. It was mostly bent wood staves with leather stretched across it. There'd been a store back home that sold furniture like that.

Next to the living room was a dining area with a table big enough to hold six people, two on each side and one on each end. A wooden door with a big glass window looked out over the yard. It would have been generous to call it a desert landscape. It was more like a dirt yard with a few clumps of buffel grass. I could see a big brick grill outside in an area covered by a pergola with a wooden picnic table under the structure. The kitchen sink and stove looked old, but the refrigerator was newer. A short hallway led to another door that opened into the Arizona room.

There were doors on both sides of the hall. The one behind the kitchen seemed smaller, so I opened it and found the bathroom. There was a plain wooden plaque on the door, hanging on a cord. It said, "Hold Your Pants."

Everything here was old too. I hadn't been paying a lot of attention last night, but the shower was one of those poles, attached to one end of the large clawfoot bathtub. While I was peeing, I noticed a few tiny stubbles around my dick where it connected to my hairless abdomen. Panic came over me. Josh was going to hit me if he saw that or even worse, Troy might find it!

 

Neto

I woke up to find Jimmy gone. The sheet was still warm, so I knew he hadn't been gone for long. At first, I worried that he'd left. He was in no condition to be out on his own. But then I remembered that he didn't have any clothes with him except for that speedo that was part of his luchador costume. The house was silent, so I walked quietly through all the open rooms. The deadbolts were still locked so he hadn't left the house.

There was only one place left to look. I tapped gently on the bathroom door and called out his name. When there was no response, I tried the door. Luckily, he hadn't locked it. Jimmy was seated on the hard tile floor, his hands wrapped around his knees. He was naked, the towel discarded on the floor next to the toilet.

He didn't even look up when I came in. I sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulder. "Hey? Are you alright this morning, sweetie?"

He shook his head. "I don't have my pills and I need to take them every day. And I have hairs growing in around my penis and... Josh and Troy are going to be so mad at me and they're probably going to beat me up."

I hugged him tight and said, "Whoa! Hold on a second there, cutie. You just let Neto take care of everything."

Then he started crying. "If I don't take my pills, I can get AIDS. And you don't know Josh and Troy..."

I put a finger across his lips. "Shh. I said let me take care of it. I am not afraid of Josh and Troy. I think I already showed Troy that I can kick his ass any day, and Josh... he isn't bigger and meaner than Troy, is he?"

Jimmy managed to laugh while still crying a little. "No. Josh is big, but not big like Troy. And Troy's a lot meaner."

I kissed his forehead. "Then there's nothing to be afraid of. I'll make sure you get your pills. Is it PrEP?"

He nodded and buried his face in my chest. Damn it felt good having him snuggled up next to me like that. I held him for a few minutes and then said, "We have three... no make that four guys in this house and one bathroom, so we can't just stay in here all morning, or the other guys will have to go pee in the back yard and get prickers in their feet."

I helped him stand up and then walked him naked back to my room. I put him in bed and tucked him in. "I have to go back and take care of business this morning, but then I am returning right away."

I took my phone with me and texted Nando while I was on the pot. This whole situation was too much for me to handle on my own. I could take care of Josh and Troy. They didn't scare me, but there were serious legal ramifications and it sounded like those two had other boys working for them. What if they were in the same boat as Jimmy, being forced to sell their cute little twinkie bodies through blackmail.

When I got back in the room, Jimmy was curled into a ball, but he was still awake. I was afraid to push him since he seemed fragile this morning. It brought out the mama bear in me. I sat down on the side of the bed and put a hand on his side.

"Hey, Jimmy. Everything is alright. I sent someone to pick up your pills and some clothes for you."

He nodded but he didn't turn over when he spoke, so I had to listen carefully to make out his words. "I don't know why you're helping me."

I patted his arm and replied, "I'm helping you because I am a motherfucking superhero and when I see a cute little twink boy getting abused, I have to get involved."

He didn't say anything, but I thought he might have been laughing quietly. So, I continued. "And I helped you because I know Matty, and I couldn't leave his cute little cousin in the hands of those brutes."

He mumbled into the pillow. "I thought you were coming to help me because you... you know, because you liked me."

"Oh, honey bunch, of course I was attracted to you. You are a fucking adorable little thing."

He rolled over and gave me a fake glare. "I'm not little. I'm average height."

I crawled into bed next to him. How he could doubt that I was attracted to him, I'll never know. I was wearing a pair of fashion briefs and my nine inches were hard and on display in the stretchy pouch. I wrapped my arms around him and asked, "What is it with you boys? How tall do you think you are?"

"I am five foot nine inches! That's average."

He was laughing now, instead of crying and looking sad. I poked his nose and said, "Hm. You are not five foot nine any more than Matty is the five foot seven he claims. You may be five foot eight if we are generous in rounding, but that is not average unless you live in munchkin land."

He flexed his biceps, so I reached out and squeezed one. It was nice and firm for a boy his size. "And I'm not little. I was a jock in school."

I squeezed his bicep and gave him an approving nod. "Apparently they have jocks in Tiny Town."

I flexed my own bicep. It was significantly larger than his. He ran his hand over it, and I saw his little dick twitch beneath the sheet. If I hooked up with this cute little whiteboy, my sex life was going to change. He was as adorable as could be with his little snub nose, those boyish freckles, and that sweet little booty that was just begging to fucked. His penis was as cute as the rest of him, but it was a little smaller than average. I'd never considered myself a size queen, but I didn't think I'd ever had a real life pecker that small inside me. Bitch, I scolded myself, this is an unworthy thought crossing your mind. I could get used to it, and maybe we could use some toys when I needed to scratch a particularly deep itch. Looking at this slightly broken but totally captivating twink, lying next to me, I realized I could definitely get used to that. Of course, I was lucky enough to have enough cock for two little Jimmys.

I whispered in his ear, "How come your dick twitches every time I call you little?"

He shook his head, but he was smiling. So, I pulled the sheet off him and started tickling him. I climbed on top of him and held him down easily while my fingers found all his sensitive places and made him laugh so loud that I was sure Alex could hear us in the room next door.

"Uncle!" he cried. "I give up. I admit it. I like the idea that you're bigger than me."

His eyes moved down to look at my erect cock dwarfing his own, and he swallowed hard. I flexed my cock and let it flop down onto his. I kissed him gently and asked, "Oh Sweetie! my dick is bigger than most of the guys I've slept with. I may only be five foot ten, but you will learn that there is so much more to all the wonderful things men can do together than the size of your cock. But you sure do seem to be fascinated by the size of mine."

He was breathing heavily. "Hell yeah! It's amazing. I'm just surprised because..." he paused for a moment then added "... why didn't you let me... I mean, I offered to suck your dick last night. When you turned me down, I thought you didn't like me."

I kissed him again, crushing his lips this time, and I shoved my tongue into his mouth. He responded with passion, but he seemed unsure of himself. I rolled over so we were lying side by side and I ran a hand down his side. The boy was right. He was built like a slender jock.

I stroked his cheek and asked, "Does it seem like I don't like you?"

He shook his head. "But last night..."

"Honey pie, last night you were in trauma. I have no idea what those bullies did to you, but you were in no shape to consent to anything. If I fucked you... or rather, had you blow me in exchange for saving your butt, I would have been taking advantage of you. But if you still want to have sex today, I'm down with it."

He took hold of my cock and said, "I'll suck your cock for you."

He seemed fixated on giving me pleasure, just like he had last night. I took hold of his cock and stroked it gently. "How about I show you some loving?"

"I haven't had a chance to clean my pussy, so you won't want to fuck me yet."

I kissed him again. "Did those boys ever rip your pants off and suck your dick? Didn't they just hold you and stroke you gently until you came?"

He shook his head. Then he started crying again. "They said I was a whore and faggot! That I was made to serve real men."

I held him and rubbed his back until he calmed down. Then I decided to set him straight so to speak. "Now you listen to me, sweet thing. You are not a whore and there is nothing wrong with you. You deserve to be treated right and that is exactly what I'm going to do this morning. And if those boys fucked your cute little butt or got their dicks sucked by that pretty little mouth of yours, then guess what? They're homos too. And if they tried to demean you or make you feel inferior because you bottomed for them, then they are not worth pissing on if they were on fire. Just let those motherfuckers burn."

He was back to laughing. "You know just the right thing to say, Neto."

"Yes, I do, honey, but now I have something better to do with my mouth."

I kissed him and then kissed my way down his neck and his chest, all the way down to his cock. I held it in my hand and then kissed it. "You have a very, very pretty cock, Jimmy."

He blushed and bit his bottom lip. I thought he was so cute. He wasn't pretty like his cousin, but he was boyishly cute, with a slender, compact little body that was covered with firm muscles. His body was completely hairless, which made him look much younger than he was. Well shit, look at me becoming a younger, hotter and much more fabulous Fernando Castillo.

I licked around the head and then up and down the shaft. He was on the smaller end of average, about five inches. I swallowed his cock slowly, tightening my lips to get a good seal. The boy started moaning almost immediately. He was on a hair trigger. I barely had time to get started before he cried, "I'm going to cum! Oh my God that feels good. Uh, uh, uh, uh! Fuck me... that feels... shit! I'm cumming!"

I sucked every last drop of his sweat cream out of his cock, and I held his dick in my mouth and played with his balls until he lost his erection. When I sat up, Jimmy jumped up and wrapped his arms around me and hugged me harder than I thought he could. He was saying the same thing over and over again. "Thank you, Neto. Thank you."

I pulled him down onto the bed with me so we could lie side by side again. I brushed his hair back and asked, "Hasn't anyone ever sucked your dick before?"

He shook his head. I pressed on, "Do you mean to tell me that you were a virgin when those boys began abusing you?"

He shook his head and said, "My girlfriend Lettie gave me a handjob twice."

I kissed him quickly to avoid laughing at his earnestness. Then I said, "That counts, but it's not the same. So now you've had your first blowjob. Later I can show you some other things you missed. I am so sorry that you fell into their hands, sweet thing. You were a gay virgin and they've got you all messed up. No one who refuses to show you a good time deserves you showing them a good time. They do that because they're selfish assholes."

Jimmy reached down and started stroking my cock again. "I don't want to be a selfish asshole. Can I suck your cock now?"

I kissed his lips again. I could play kissy face with this boy all day. "I'm going to let you suck my dick, but only if you promise me that you're doing it because you want to, not because you're feeling grateful to me because I saved you from Troy. I refuse to accept a pity suck."

He looked into my eyes and said, "No pity suck. I really want to suck your dick."

I rolled over onto my back and stretched out on the bed. "Then get your pretty ass down there and suck it."

Jimmy was more experienced sucking dick than in getting his dick sucked. He wasn't an expert, but he was pretty good. He sucked on the head for a little, then he tried to take it in his throat. But that made him gag and choke.

"I'm sorry. Your cock is only an inch or so bigger than Troy's but it's wider than his too."

I scooted back so I could recline and spread my legs apart. "Don't worry about that. Almost no one takes the whole thing – at least not down their throat. I prefer someone with a talented tongue working on the head more than someone gagging and choking while they try to swallow the whole thing."

That gave him the incentive he needed. He forgot about trying to deep throat my cock and focused instead on the first few inches, and he was good at that. I watched him while he sucked. It was obvious that he liked it. He closed his eyes and made little "mm-mm-mm" noises while he sucked. He couldn't be that good an actor.

He ran his hands up and down my thighs, then across my belly. And finally, he slid under my ass. He kept getting closer and closer to my anus without actually touching it. I even spread my legs farther and pushed my hips up to give him the idea, but he didn't take the bait. He did move one hand to fondle my heavy balls and that felt really nice.

Jimmy sucked and licked eagerly, and his efforts were definitely bearing fruit. I felt that familiar tingle begin to grow in my cock and my balls began to tighten. Jimmy could tell that I was near. His tongue became more active, and he tightened his lips, increasing the suction.

I ran a hand through his hair. "You are one talented cocksucker, Jimmy, and that is something to be proud of. You've got me so close, honey. Just a little more. Oh... yeah... Oh here it comes! Drink my cream right from the tap."

And then I came, and my noises became less understandable. It wasn't like he was trying to pull back, but I wrapped my legs around his skinny body like I was trying to keep him prisoner. "UH! MADRE DE DIOS! TAKE. THAT. LOAD. RIGHT. DOWN. YOUR. THROAT!"

And then I collapsed back dramatically and let one arm dangle artfully over the side of the bed. Jimmy crawled up and hugged my chest. "You're crazy, you know. I'm not that good!"

I gave him a wink. "You have the potential within you to become the best cocksucker in this house, but I want you to know that I will not hand over my crown that easily."

He curled up next to me and wrapped one of his legs around mine. He let one hand brush down my artfully manscaped chest and asked, "How are you so comfortable being so... out there, so flamboyant, so..."

I patted his head. "... so... gay, honey? I have never been very good at hiding who I am. I don't have the voice or the look or any of those things that would let me pass as straight, so I just embrace the powerful queer boy I am instead of trying to hide him."

"But you have a lot of rock-hard muscles, and I've seen you fight. If you dressed like everyone else and acted like everyone else, no one would know that you were gay."

I stroked his cheek. Calling it stubbled would have been a crime against the English language, but he did have few spots that were almost beginning to get prickly. "Sweetie, you're right, no one would know. Until I got excited, and that big old nelly laugh of mine came out. Or until someone pissed me off and my mouth started running off. Or until one of the hot athletes came into class in their gray sweatpants with their packages bouncing around and my eyes were glued on their junk so hard that I tripped across the room. Besides, why would I even try to hide all this fabulousness?"

He sighed. "I'm not like you."

I gave him a little frown. "Do you want to be like me?"

He nodded. "God yes! I realize now that I always knew I was gay, no matter how much I lied about it. And I saw how much shit Matty got, even though he never told anyone; everyone just assumed that he was gay. And he was pretty straight acting except for being so quiet and... well the crying at school didn't help, or the way he got embarrassed any time anyone started talking about sex. But he didn't really act gay. He just wasn't macho enough for the guys. Meanwhile, everyone accepted me as straight, but I wanted to be... I don't know. I am so tired of pretending and hiding."

"You want Auntie Neto to teach you how to be fabulous?" I asked.

He sighed again. "I wish I could. If Dad found out he would..."

I wagged a finger in his face and said, "If you say kill you again, I will wash your mouth out with soap!"

He laughed. "I was going to say he would stop paying for my schooling and for my apartment."

I didn't want to make light of his problem, but I was not about to let him dwell on it either. "You are going to have some difficulties, that's true. But your tuition is already paid through December. At the worst, you just have to take a semester off and work. You go to the LGBTQIIA+ Center and ask for legal advice about applying for financial aid next year without your parent's support figured in. In the meantime, you work part time, save some money, sit back, and let Auntie Neto make you a big ol' queen, don't you worry."

"And what about my apartment?" he demanded.

"That's what the part time job is for. You'll live with roommates."

I didn't tell him about my plan because I didn't want to get his hopes up, but if Johnny and Alex were okay with it, he could stay with us. No one is renting the Arizona Room. He could sleep there. Or... maybe he could sleep with me. I'd have to have him over a few more nights and maybe a weekend or two to be sure that he didn't have any really annoying habits. And if he couldn't find a job this late in the school year, maybe he could be our houseboy. We'd discussed pooling money to try and find someone who'd do the cleaning a couple of times a week. Why not him?

I had been so busy myself that I hadn't noticed until that moment that I hadn't heard Johnny's usual cries of passion while he was getting his regular morning fuck. And if Johnny was quiet, that meant he wasn't getting laid.

 

Johnny

Last night had been a very different experience. I hadn't expected Alex to get into a fight, and I certainly hadn't expected to be the cause of it. Everything had started off fine. Alex and I had gone to the party as Thundercats. We were both wearing full body paint, but he'd chickened out at the last minute and worn a pair of basketball shorts instead of the speedos we'd agreed on. That left him looking like he could pass for a straight Thundercat and me looking like a gay stripper on theme night.

We'd had some words about it in the car on the way there, but we talked it out and I had calmed down enough to still go to the party. Alex had explained to me that his team was okay with him being gay, but they didn't want to see him as less masculine because it would undermine the team image. When I'd pointed out that I was an athlete too, he'd basically – not in those exact words, but close enough in my mind – told me that it didn't matter because people thought swimmers were gay anyway and lots of important gay guys were getting hot swimmer trophy boy-wives. Maybe I wasn't as over it as I pretended, but I was in love with Alex, and I didn't want to fight with him. So, I put on my best smile and went along with it.

 

Alex

I thought Johnny and I were going to fight last night over my decision to dress a little less gay. I'd agreed to go to the party as a Thundercat. Wasn't that gay enough? He'd pouted in the car, which made me want to pull over and spank some sense into his sexy butt and then kiss him until he stopped pouting. But Johnny was a reasonable guy. I'd explained to him that my teammates and the fans were happy to have me as a gay player, but they wouldn't be comfortable if I were the kind of gay guy who was always shoving it in their face. And it didn't mean that we were in the closet. I had Johnny and with him at my side everyone would know that I was gay. They'd see him and how openly gay he is, and it would remind them that I was gay too.

I was so glad that we were on the same sheet of music. He was my sexy swimmer boy, like Tom Daley was for Dustin Lance Black. Everyone knew swimmers were sexy and no one was surprised when another one came out of the closet. It was different for basketball, baseball, and football players. Everyone expected us to be macho. It wasn't fair, but it was just the way life was.

The party was held at one of those old-fashioned mansions downtown that had been converted into an event space. It was held by the Alumni Association as a chance to show appreciation for student athletes and a fundraiser where alumni paid to meet the athletes. There were three different ballrooms and a garden at the back.

It was packed. Johnny and I were athletes, so we both got in for free, whereas my teammates had to pay for their girlfriends. We went into the Cholla Lounge, which was the largest and also the one where the team was assembling before some of the wealthiest donors. Everybody immediately thinks football in these scenarios, and our college had an excellent football team, but ours was a basketball town. I wasn't planning on schmoozing too long, so I left Johnny with the girlfriends. He was friends with all of them, so he'd have something to do.

 

Johnny

I was still a little upset at being treated as Alex's junior, gayer partner when we arrived. It didn't get any better when I was given an underage wristband and Alex got one that allowed him to drink alcohol, not that he would drink and drive, or that I would drink in public while under twenty-one. Papa would lose his cool. It was just another thing to drive home the point that he was the man, and I was... I didn't know what that made me. This had never bothered me before – not until Papa started dating Matty.

That was it! Ever since I saw Papa with Matty on his arm, it made me feel like... I felt like I was Matty and Alex was Papa. And everything that happened after that, while very small in and of themselves, just made it worse. Alex was more macho than me. I understood that from the beginning, but I wasn't another Matty. Yes, I was shorter than Alex, but so was everyone except for a few people on his team. I was six feet tall, not a little under five and half feet. The list could have gone on.

But the final straw that made me get stupid was when Alex went over to schmooze the alumni with his team... and he parked me with the girlfriends. He kissed me and said, "I'll be right back, lover. Stay here and catch up with the girls."

I was also an athlete. I could have left and found the rest of my team, but for some reason I stayed there and turned to the girls. Marly ran a hand down my chest, then let her fingers trail off to my hip, barely missing my dick. She gave me a wink and said, "You're looking nice tonight."

She always touched me like she was checking that I was really gay. It was seriously annoying, but otherwise she was kind of fun. Simone led me over to a table and said, "Come on Johnny, let's just sit here and look pretty. The photographers will be here to get pictures of all the athletes and their girlfriends – and the one handsome boyfriend among us too."

I forced a smile and engaged in small talk. I knew that I could leave. I didn't have to stay here and be "pretty", but I also knew that when the photographers did come, I didn't want Alex to be the only one on the team without a partner. I didn't know whether it was better or worse that so many people came over to talk to us and raved about how attractive we were and how lucky we were to have such strong, athletic boyfriends. I was so relieved when the photographers finally came.

Suddenly we were surrounded by the team and alumni. Alex didn't seem to notice that I was a little upset. Maybe I was too good an actor. However, all of the alumni who'd come over were friendly and wanted their picture with the two of us, and Alex was thoughtful and considerate. He always introduced me by saying, "This is my boyfriend, Johnny Chavez. He's an athlete as well, on the swim team."

That usually made them even more interested. One of the alumni, a wealthy real estate developer named Bob Cassidy, even whispered in my ear, "If all the swim team looks like you, I'm surprised that everyone isn't mobbing them."

That made me smile, even though his hand was resting on my butt when he said it. Bob was a handsome older man, maybe in his fifties with black hair that was just beginning to turn silvery gray. Alex took me out onto the dance floor for a couple of dances. That's when I realized that Alex may have had a point about our costumes. We were both getting a little aroused out there, but his excitement was well-hidden by his long loose shorts while I was not so lucky. My speedo started to bulge a little, luckily I wasn't completely hard.

But after the second dance, Alex deposited me back with the girlfriends and went off with the team. He kissed me with a lot of passion before heading over to speak to a new group, and he said, "You're doing great Johnny. The alumni love you."

I smiled a cheery smile and replied, "Thanks. I'll just sit here and look pretty then."

He kissed me again and literally said, "Great. That's what you do best!"

As he was walking away, Simone said, "Ooh, he's right, you know. You are very handsome."

She had no idea how that wasn't helping. It also didn't help when donors started coming over and asking the girls to dance. I decided to get up and leave. I was going to find my teammates and see if they were getting any attention as athletes instead of as an appendage of their partners. As I was walking away – no I did not storm off, even though I felt like it – I ran into Bob Cassidy.

Bob handed me a drink. "You look like you need this."

I took the drink and sipped it. I was surprised that he'd given me alcohol since he'd definitely noticed that my wristband said I was under twenty-one. I said, "Thank you, but I'm not legal and my dad's a cop."

I tried to hand it back to him but pushed it back toward me. "Are you driving home?"

I shook my head and replied, "No, sir." I almost chuckled at the idea that Alex would let me drive his car. It wasn't that he didn't trust me. It was that he liked to be in charge. Sometimes he didn't unlock the car until he was there to open the door for me.

He pushed the cup toward my lips. "Then have a drink. In my mind, you're legal."

I took a drink. It was some kind of whisky drink with lemon. It didn't taste bad, but I wasn't much of a drinker. Papa had allowed me the occasional glass of wine or beer at home since I turned eighteen. Before that he was worried about Mom finding out and challenging his custody rights, but he'd always drilled into me not to drink in public until I turned twenty-one. Maybe it was the way I'd been treated like Alex's arm candy all night. Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Cassidy was treating me like an adult and an athlete instead of just an athlete's boyfriend.

He talked to me about the swim team and my other interests. He seemed interested in me, but I thought it was just an alumnus schmoozing with an athlete. Even when he asked me to dance, he pointed out that the girlfriends were dancing with alumni. His hands touched my hips and my sides while we danced, but he avoided anything more intimate.

After a couple of other dances, he went to buy another drink while I was using the bathroom, but he was waiting when I came out. He held another drink in front of me and said, "Let's go take a walk in the garden. You can tell me all about your freshman year so far."

This drink was sweeter and thicker. It was orange juice with some kind of sweet red syrup mixed in. He said, "Sorry. It's a tequila sunrise. It's supposed to be in layers, grenadine on top and orange juice on the bottom. I got the layers mixed up walking over here."

I smiled and said, "It's very sweet and I can taste the... tequila, right?"

"Yeah, tequila. That's a double, so it's a man's drink, more than appropriate for a strong young man like yourself."

We were walking through the garden, heading in the general direction of a gazebo. There weren't too many people outside since the music, the dancing and the bars were inside. Suddenly Mr. Cassidy took hold of my arm. He whispered, "Don't look back. There's a security guard back there. Just finish your drink in a hurry in case he comes here."

I drank it down while he kept watch. Then he took my cup and stacked his inside it. He patted my shoulder and said, "Good. He's turned in another direction. Let's just walk this way for a while."

He put one hand in the small of my back and guided me toward the gazebo. When his hand slid lower, I didn't think anything about it because he'd been drinking, and I assumed he wasn't aware that he was doing it. That last drink was much stronger than the first. I started to get dizzy and giggly.

I said, "I'm sorry. I should probably go back inside before I trip out here in the dark."

It wasn't pitch black, but the garden was only lit with fairy lanterns strung in the trees. Bob laughed and said, "I didn't realize you were such a lightweight. Let's go over to the gazebo. There's a bench inside and you can sit down for a minute or so and recover."

I let him lead me into the little structure. Then he helped me sit down. It was brighter in there because of a light in the ceiling. I was taking deep breaths, trying to clear my head when the lights went out. I called out, "Hey? Did you turn out the lights."

He sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. He tightened his arm and said, "I did. You don't want anyone to see you like this, do you?"

I shook my head and giggled, "No! If Papa finds out I was drinking here, he'll be so mad."

Mr. Cassidy pressed his face against mine so that our foreheads were touching. "No one ever needs to know about any of this."

It felt like my skin was on fire and my head was spinning so bad I wasn't sure what was happening. When Mr. Cassidy's lips pressed against mine, I should have gotten up. I knew that, but somehow, I couldn't bring myself to do it. When I didn't resist, he kissed me again. I could feel his hands on my sides, sliding inside my speedo and working it down over my hips. Mr. Cassidy kept kissing me, occasionally stopping to mumble, "So fucking beautiful. Did you know that, Johnny? You're the handsomest guy here tonight. If you play your cards right, I can help you go far. I have connections, you know."

I didn't remember much more after that. I think I may have drifted in and out of consciousness.

 

Alex

I was a little annoyed when I couldn't find Johnny. I'd paid my dues to the team by letting wealthy donors take selfies with me and listening to their insipid stories about their own college days. As soon as I was able to, I got away from them and went looking for Johnny. I wanted to enter us in the costume contest and then I was going to dance close to him and show him that I was right about our costumes. I knew he'd get aroused if I ground my cock against his ass, and then maybe we'd slip off to a quiet spot and make out... or something.

I couldn't find him on the dance floor in the Cholla room, so I checked the bathroom. Then I looked in the Saguaro room and the Ocotillo room. I was beginning to worry. The swim team hadn't seen him all night, and neither had my fellow teammates. I was back in the Cholla room when I saw Rebecca Martinez, one of the team girlfriends.

"Hey, Rebecca, have you seen Johnny?"

She was getting pretty drunk despite her under 21 wristband. She laughed and said, "Not for a while, Alex. You shouldn't have left him alone for so long. I saw him and that Cassidy guy dancing a while ago."

"Did you see where they went?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Maybe they went to the bar. That man was buying him drinks."

That didn't sound like Johnny. He had an occasional sip of one of my drinks back at the house, but he never drank in public. It wasn't that he was afraid of his dad. It was that he respected him so much. He didn't want his dad to be disappointed in him. I checked the bar again. I saw Tyrone, another teammate, buying a beer.

I walked up and put my hand on his arm. "Have you seen Johnny or Mr. Cassidy?"

He shook his head, then he laughed. "Dude, are you saying that Johnny's with Ben Cassidy?"

"Yes! Do you know where they are?"

He clapped a hand on my shoulder and leaned down. "I haven't seen them, but you may want to find them quickly."

"Why?"

"You didn't know that Cassidy likes athletes?"

He wasn't making any sense. Of course, Mr. Cassidy liked athletes. He donated enough money to the teams. I held his arm tighter. "All the donors here like athletes."

He shook his head again and then tapped me on the forehead with his index finger. "Wake up, Alex. All the other donors like athletic teams and the athletic program. Cassidy likes athletes!"

Suddenly it was like someone had poured ice water down my spine. I ran off and started asking people almost at random if they'd seen Mr. Cassidy. Finally, one of the alumni whose name I couldn't remember said, "Last I saw him he was walking in the garden with the other Thundercat."

I ran outside and looked around frantically. There weren't very many people in the garden. And none of them claimed to have seen Johnny or Cassidy. My heart was racing a hundred miles an hour. As soon as my brain noticed the darkened gazebo sitting back in the cactus garden, I knew. I ran as fast as I could.

The moonlight streamed into the structure. Otherwise, it was dark. Johnny was stretched out naked on the bench. He was so intoxicated that he was almost unconscious, and Bob Cassidy stood there casually rearranging his clothes. Like all the big donors, he'd come wearing a suit with a little face mask. And his suit was streaked with Johnny's body paint. I looked back and forth between them, getting angrier with each passing glance.

Bob Cassidy clapped my shoulder with his hand. "Looks like you boys will be getting those new showers you were interested in after all."

And that's when I did it. I grabbed that smug son-of-a-bitch by the collar, and I punched him in his face. Then I punched him again. I pulled back my fist, but his nose was already broken, and his lip was split open. I dragged him out of the gazebo and threw him into a patch of conveniently placed cholla cactus. Good! He'd be pulling those thorns out for days!

Then I rushed back into the gazebo and helped Johnny sit up. His lips were a little swollen, like they always got after an intense... oh please let it be a kissing session. He had cum on his thigh, but it was just a thick smear in the right place to have leaked out of his dick. There wasn't enough for a full load, and his dick was wet. That bastard must have sucked his dick. Then I kissed Johnny. There was a taste of cum on his lips.

I had to check. I rolled him over and checked his anus. It didn't look like he'd just been fucked. Of course, Cassidy could have used a condom. I wet a finger in my mouth and slipped it inside him. He was so slippery inside that I panicked, but I pulled my finger out and held it to my nose. Then I tasted it. Just lube. Not a hint of cum. I hoped it meant that I caught Cassidy before he could get too far. Fuck that! He's already gone too fucking far. I wanted to run after him and beat his face into the ground, but Johnny needed me.

Johnny was so out of it that I didn't know if he'd even remember any of what happened tonight. I looked around until I found his speedo. Even though he was smaller than me, I had a hard time wrestling him back into it. I sat with him and gently coaxed him to wake up enough to walk out of there. He looked like he'd been rolling on the ground... or getting fucked hard. I hoped no one figured it out for his sake. The story would fly around the school for weeks and Johnny would not be happy about that.

We walked out to the parking lot. We got a few stares, especially from the security guards at the gate. They probably assumed Johnny was drunk. I suspected there was more to it than that. I strapped him in the passenger seat and drove him home. It hadn't sunk into my brain yet that I'd just beaten the crap out of one of our major donors. All I could do was berate myself for leaving Johnny alone for a minute. You didn't expect these kinds of things to happen to a six-foot-tall athlete. Cassidy was only a couple of inches taller than him, and he was a lot older, probably thirty-five or forty years his senior. That was probably why he used alcohol – and probably drugs – to get what he wanted.

I had to carry Johnny into the house. The lights were out and there was no noise, so I assumed that Neto had gone to bed early. His night had to have been better than mine and Johnny's.

If Johnny hadn't been out of it, we would have showered before bed, but I just put him into bed, body paint and all, and then I joined him. We'd both leave paint smears all over the sheets. We could always throw them out and buy new ones. I had some texting to do. I needed to find out everything I could about Ben Cassidy.

 

Johnny

I woke up feeling weak and sore in my joints, but without a headache, so I didn't know whether I had a hangover or not. Alex was sleeping quietly next to me. I got out of bed and went to take a shower. I let the warm water stream down my face, hoping it would clear my brain. I didn't remember coming back home last night. I didn't really remember much. I'd danced with one of the alumni and... he'd given me a drink, a sour whisky drink. Then he'd given me another, something really sweet with tequila in it.

Oh my God! He'd kissed me. I suddenly remembered the kiss and then I remembered... Damn! I remembered kissing him back. I leaned against the wall of the shower and let the water pour down my back. I felt like an idiot. How could I have put my relationship in danger by kissing Mr. Cassidy? I didn't even like him... I mean, I liked him... or rather I didn't dislike him... he had treated me with respect... at least I didn't remember him being a creep... and I absolutely didn't love him, or even like him in that way.

I was still in shock when the shower curtain opened, and Alex stepped into the tub with me. He wrapped his arms around me and turned me to face him. I choked back a sob and said, "I'm so sorry, Alex."

He had a look of confusion on his face. "No, Johnny, no. You don't have anything to apologize for. It was me."

We held each other until the water started to cool down. Then we cleaned up and got out of the shower. We didn't really say anything until we were back in our room, back in our bed. Alex pulled me close and held me tight. I whispered, "I kissed another man, Alex."

He stroked my wet hair and sighed. "Shh. Don't. It's not your fault. I left you with Cassidy. I didn't know what he was when I left you, and I came as soon as I found out, but that's not the point. Nothing would have happened if I hadn't left you alone in the first place."

I planted my elbow on Alex's strong chest and looked him in the eye. "What do you mean? He gave me a drink and... yeah, he was the one who kissed me, but I kissed him back. I may have been drunk but..."

I always felt small in Alex's arms. He pulled me up to his face and kissed me. He knew exactly how to quiet me down. He rolled over so that I was beneath him. He held my face in his hands and kissed me again.

"Be quiet and listen to me. Ben Cassidy is a predator. He saw you and he stalked you. It's not your fault. You were tricked by a manipulative asshole. I knew he was gay, but I didn't know about his history until I texted some friends last night."

I sighed. "I got drunk and I acted like a... fool."

I'd almost said slut. I must have said or done something to make Cassidy think he had a chance with me. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so persistent.

Alex asked, "How many drinks did he give you?"

"Two," I responded.

Alex laughed and shook his head. "You seem small and delicate in my arms, but that's because I'm so much bigger than you. You're a young, healthy male in amazingly good shape, with about 170 pounds of muscle on you. Two drinks shouldn't have made you lose control."

"That makes me feel worse! It means that I must have led him on or something."

Alex kissed me quiet again. Then he said, "No, you didn't. If you'd have given him encouragement, he wouldn't have needed to drug you. Sam told me last night that his older brother knew a guy on the baseball team six years ago who swore that Ben Cassidy had drugged him. Just be glad we were at the party and not at a hotel. This guy ended up in Cassidy's hotel room and... there's no way to sugar coat any of this Johnny... Cassidy raped that guy. And no one was ever able to prove it. He's a predator and a rapist."

I let my head fall back against the pillow. "What did I do, Alex? I... I don't remember exactly what we did."

He held me tight and whispered in my ear. "I don't know for sure, but I'll tell you what I suspect. He sucked your cock and... um... you had the taste of cum in your mouth when I kissed you last night; it had to have been his."

I was shaking my head and mumbling, "No, no, no. We've only been with each other since we got together, right?"

Alex ran one hand gently down my face and then brushed a finger across my lips. "You're right, baby. It's just been you and me. And as far as I'm concerned, it's still just been you and me. This doesn't count. You didn't do anything."

"But I still went off with him..."

Alex's voice grew louder. "Stop! Let me finish. I tested your butt. You had lube and only lube up there. And there was no sign of puffiness or redness at all. He didn't get a chance to take advantage of you that way."

I cried, "If I hadn't lubed up before going to the party, he wouldn't have thought I was there cruising for action. I swear, Alex, I only did it in case there was someplace we could slip off together."

I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my knuckle. Alex said, "Well, at least that clears that up. I was so worried he would have ended up fucking you if I hadn't showed up when I did. But, more importantly, you're okay now and you're going to be okay. What he did was fucked up, and that's what I did to his face. I fucked it up. He won't ever touch you again, and I am never going to leave you alone at a public event again. From now on, you're at my side."

I didn't have the energy to tell him that we hadn't even begun to discuss the important issues. We'd work it out eventually. I'd explain to him that I wasn't his Mrs. Xiao, and I wasn't going to be his subservient little boy-wife. I'd leave that to Matty. Alex and I would be fine. Wouldn't we?

We had just gotten dressed when there was a tentative knocking on the door. It had to be Neto, so I called out, "Come in!"

He peeked around the door and said, "Whew! You two are decent. I just came in to borrow one of your longer tee shirts, Alex."

Alex threw him a tee shirt without asking. He caught it and said, "Your dad and Matty should be here any time and there's nothing to eat. I'm going to order a pizza."

When we came out into the living room, Neto was sitting on the couch with a short white boy who appeared to be naked except for Neto's shirt. They both got up and Neto made introductions. "Guys, this is Jimmy Koenig. He's Matty's cousin. Matty, this is one of my oldest friends, Johnny Castillo, and his boyfriend Alex Xiao. Johnny is Nando's son and Alex is one of our star basketball players."

 

Fernando

We drove over to Johnny's place. Matty was moving around in his seat like he was nervous or agitated. I asked, "Are you doing okay, chico?"

He sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah. I think I am... maybe. I was glad to see you do something about Josh, even though it got a little intense for a minute. But I'm worried about Jimmy. I knew Josh was a bad influence with the alcohol and the drugs, but... I'm beginning to think that Josh may have been harassing Jimmy the way he was harassing me."

I didn't say anything about that possibility. Given what I'd seen in Josh's drawers, I'd say that it had gone beyond harassment. I put a hand on Matty's knee to give him some reassurance. "Everything is going to be alright, querido."

A pizza delivery guy was leaving as I drove up. We said "hello" and then went into the house. Matty ran over to where Jimmy was standing and threw his arms around him. The boy was wearing only a tee shirt that was so long it had to belong to Alex. Neto handed Jimmy a plate with a slice of pizza on it and then pointed them toward the back door. "You two sweet things go out to the Arizona room and talk. You have a lot to catch up on."

If Neto was sending Matty out of the room, he had something serious to say. He looked over at Alex and said, "Could you take those boys a couple of cokes and then shut the door on the way back?"

I gave Johnny a questioning look, but he just shrugged and offered me some pizza. I smiled back at him. "Gracias no. Matty actually made breakfast this morning."

"Any good?" he whispered.

I shook my head. "It's the thought that counts."

Johnny looked terrible. A flash of annoyance passed through my mind at the thought that he'd probably been drinking at that alumni party he went to last night. But then I allowed it to pass. He was nineteen now and I had to let him make mistakes.

Alex came back with a plate in hand. He put it down on the table and said, "Apparently Matty already ate, and Jimmy is too nervous to eat more than one piece. Everyone's here now, so you need to tell us what's going on."

Neto cleared his throat and gestured for everyone to take a seat around the table. He looked at me when he spoke. "Alex and Johnny have been pestering me about why Jimmy's here and I've been making them wait for you."

Then he told us the story. He started with his encounter with Jimmy in the bathroom, and he told how he discovered that Jimmy was being forced to sell his body by Josh and another character named Troy. It was a shock, but there was more to come.