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Chapter 10: Two Boys from Lynnwood, WA

Freshman year was finished for Ben at the Colorado School of Mines, it was the middle of May and he sat in his mid-2000s Subaru Outback in the cell phone lot at Sea-Tac waiting for John to message him. Ben had been preparing himself for their trip to Idaho and the concert, he had Luke Comb’s ‘Hurricane’ blaring over his radio and was trying to sing along. He didn’t see a couple of girls around his age in a Tesla pulled up next to him and they could hear him through his window that was slightly rolled down. He noticed them laughing, put on a pair of shades, and sunk back into his seat. John’s flight had already been delayed for over an hour and now they would have to fight the heaviest afternoon rush hour traffic up I-5.

The girls in the Tesla were still trying to get his attention, the one in the passenger seat held up her phone and pointed at it trying to get Ben’s number. Ben sat back up and flashed them his best limp wrist gesture and the girls started laughing again. While Ben was fully out of the closet at school, John still had not told his family about his relationship with Ben or being bisexual. John had told his parents that the trip was a “boys” trip to Seattle and then Idaho for the concert, but they didn’t know it was just going to be just him and Ben.

Ben’s phone rang, it was John ready to be picked up. He waved goodbye to the girls in the Tesla, got back on the expressway to the arrivals level, and the 4 where John said he was standing under. He immediately recognized John, he was wearing the same navy blue Under Armour Mines shirt and navy shorts that first time they met up at the gym. Ben had gotten a bit bigger spending all that time with John at the gym and he had worn John’s shorts as much as John since they fit him now without falling down.

Pulling the Subaru over by John, Ben hopped out and gave him a long hug. “How was your flight?”

The first words out of John’s mouth were “Freaking Delta.” John tried not to swear in public as Ben opened up the back of the wagon. “As much as it was cheaper out of O’Hare that was a nightmare from the point when my brother dropped me off.”

As Ben picked up John’s suitcase, John noticed the definite muscle on his arms below the sleeves of the loose blue Under Armour workout shirt Ben was wearing. John touched his arms and squeezed after Ben had loaded the bag in the trunk. “See, what did I tell you, you wouldn’t regret working out with me, looks like it’s paid off. You better keep in shape over the summer.” John put his carry-on in the trunk and Ben closed it.

Ben grinned, as much as he never wanted to be a gym rat, he liked the change in his body and confidence, maybe the girls in the Tesla were attracted to that too. “I am,” He replied. “Evan came by after I got back from Colorado and we caught up, he missed me and it was just like old times. He told me he needs a workout buddy for the summer though and he’s getting a plus one pass for me to work out at the UDub Rec, maybe while you’re here we all can go too.”

“Wow, that’d be great, I bet the gym there is huge. Does he know you came out though? John opened the passenger side door and got in.

Ben got back in his seat. “Yeah, he liked my coming out post. I would have told him myself and talked to him in person, but his family was in Anaheim over Thanksgiving, then I didn’t get to see him at Christmas because they went to Boston and New York.” Ben started up his car and pulled out.

“His family sounds loaded, but from what you told me he sounds like a nice guy, hope I can meet him soon.” John fiddled with the radio in Ben’s car. “Were you listening to country music?”

“Maybe, I got a bit bored waiting for you, I was almost going to park and take some pictures of the terminal and meet you at the baggage claim but those ramps in the parking garage looked scary. Anyway, you’ll meet Evan tomorrow. He’s taking us out for Dim Sum and we can do the Space Needle after if it doesn’t rain. You know, I told him a lot about you too and he wants to take you out on the water rowing when we get back from Boise.”

Ben merged onto the interstate, the traffic going south was thick, and northbound was moving for now, but he knew it would be a different story when they got closer to downtown.

“Buuuuhben.” John said playfully.

“What?” Ben said, looking over to his passenger. “We still got a bit of a drive to Lynnwood, it’s just south of Everett, but I think they put both on the signs. We can at least take the car-pool lane.”

“Oh, nothing….“ John pondered. “I just might have caught a glint in your eye when you were talking about Evan. What were old times like?”

Ben gripped the steering wheel tight. “Babe, as I said, we did fool around in middle school, I might have given him blow jobs, but he never went beyond touching my dick and helping me rub one out where I finished. He tried to taste his cum once when he slept over at my house but he pretended to gag and ran to the bathroom to wash out his mouth. After we outgrew sleepovers and both of us started to have a lot more responsibility in our scout troop it stopped. I never got any hints he was anything but straight aside from his somewhat homoerotic rowing crew posts which I assumed were just a joke for all of them. We were still best friends in high school, but I never admitted to him I had those feelings for him.”

“Did you tell him when he came over last?” John looked up at the electronic sign saying Lynnwood was still 45 minutes away in traffic.

“He did bring it up if you want to know, and I admitted it, he had some pretty interesting stories about his UW crew so maybe those homoerotic things were more than just jokes.” Ben tried to concentrate on the road as memories of Evan and his crew in their spandex filled his mind all thanks to John.

“Ben, you mean to say you held it back in high school while he probably would have been more than happy to continue to fool around? Missed opportunity…You should have invited him to come with us.” John sighed.

“I thought it was just going to be me and you, and besides if we were more than just friends in high school I likely wouldn’t have met you.” Ben tried to get into the carpool lane the closer they got to downtown in the traffic, but the limit there was even slower than the other lanes.

John got a good view of T-Mobile and Lumen Field as they slowly rolled forward. “I guess you’re right, but maybe when we get back from Idaho we can spice things up… We got tickets for the Mariners game next week right?”

“Wait, wait, you want me to ask Evan if he wants to fool around with us?” Ben was noticeably getting aroused, he tried to hide the erection under the cargo shorts he was wearing with his elbow closest to John.

John smiled. “Well you can put it that way, I’ve never fooled around with or gotten close to someone who was Asian. Most of my high school class was white, but there was one kid on the basketball team who was Japanese, he was a bit short and chubby and I never did get to see him naked under his compression shorts so call me curious.” John waited anxiously for Ben’s reply.

Ben laughed. “You would have loved Meadowdale then, most of my friends were Asian, but OK I’ll ask, but not tomorrow. If he says no I’d be upset with myself the whole time we’re in Idaho since we leave the next day on Friday.”

John sounded a bit relieved that Ben was willing to ask. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” John finally got his first view of the Space Needle as they emerged from the downtown tunnels.

Ben was glad to be out of downtown and close to home. “Anyway, I got the tickets for the game on the 23rd you wanted, my dad is also taking us to a Sounders game next Saturday, and you’re lucky they just reopened the Boeing Factory tour this year.”

“Hmmm, how much are you spending on me these two weeks? John sounded concerned. “I only paid for my airfare and the concert, I feel like I owe you a lot more now that you mention all that. I should at least pay for the gas on the trip, it was my whole idea.”

“Johnny, don’t even mention it, my parents are so excited to meet you. You staying over is the most important thing on my mom’s calendar this year aside from my brother getting married in July.” Ben started to move from the left lanes as their exit was coming up.

“Well, I mean I’m guessing your family isn’t as loaded as Evan’s.” John tapped on the dashboard of the Subaru which was probably almost as old as them.

“What, my car? It’s my mom’s old car, I didn’t care much for driving and it was only mine starting in senior year. Before that, I would still ride my bike and take the bus around. Besides you saw all the stuff in my dorm, I pretty much had everything I wanted growing up. If you’re worried, Evan is taking us out in his Lexus tomorrow.” Ben sounded a bit annoyed and embarrassed.

“No Benji, I didn’t mean it that way, I’m sorry if you took offense, I just didn’t want to be a burden on everyone here.” John took his most apologetic tone possible.

“Seriously John, stop talking like that, you are our guest now as well as my boyfriend.” Ben took their exit, stopped at a red light, and grabbed John’s hand. “Now I don’t know what my parents are cooking for dinner, do you want to grab something for yourself to eat? Chick-fil-A is just around the corner.”

“Again, I don’t want to be a burden. If I’m going to be staying with you for over a week when we get back from Idaho I might as well get used to it, I just hope you have lots of carbs in your fridge.” John started to rub his stomach as they passed a Denny’s.

“We can stop at Winco on the way back from our trip, we’re almost home.” Ben made the last turn into his neighborhood and pulled into his driveway next to his dad’s Tundra.

John instantly regretted giving Ben such a hard time about spending money, Ben’s house looked modest but was bigger than his own in Wisconsin, with lush green tall trees all around it. Ben had plainly lived a much more privileged childhood than him.

Ben’s mom had heard them arrive and she ran out to John as he got out kissing him on the cheeks. “John, look at you! We’re so lucky Ben finally brought you home! Ben go get your dad, he’s out in the back barbequing your favorite, Kalbi short ribs. You eat ribs right Johnny?”

John’s stomach rumbled, with the 1-hour time difference between Colorado and 2 hours from Wisconsin, it was well past his usual dinner time. “Of course, ribs and whatever you have sounds good!”

Ben came back out of the front door with his dad in a cookout apron but wearing the blue ‘MINES DAD’ shirt under. “Johnny!” Ben’s dad exclaimed and gave John a firm handshake then patted him on the shoulder. “Wow, look at those muscles! Ben grab his carry-on and let’s get everything inside.”

“Oh, I can handle that sir!” John tried to stop him as Ben’s dad picked up John’s big bag and started carrying it inside.”

“Please, call me Steven, and this is Sofia, we have the guest bedroom down here ready for you.” Steven pointed down a short hallway leading to the garage and the open door to a spare bedroom.

“Steven, I thought we discussed if John wants to sleep in Ben’s room, that's their decision together.” Sofia held her hands on her hips.

Steven threw up his hands. “I just thought Ben’s bed was too small.” Smoke was slowly starting to billow out of the BBQ on the back porch through the patio door. “Oh my, the ribs!” He ran back out to the patio to flip them over.

John took Ben’s hand. “Ben’s room is fine, we'll take my stuff upstairs ourselves.”

Sofia smiled and went back into the kitchen as Ben and John brought the luggage upstairs.

John followed Ben upstairs into Ben’s childhood bedroom, there were still suitcases and totes full of Ben’s stuff he brought back from Colorado for the summer that he was still in the process of unpacking and packing for their Idaho trip.

“Sorry about the mess, your place probably looks like this too anyway. We have to start loading the car tomorrow after we get back from the Space Needle.” Ben sat on his twin bed and John took in the space. It was evident Ben had an accomplished scouting career. His old uniform hung in a shadow box prominently on the wall, John instantly recognized the red, white, and blue Eagle Scout Medal adorned on the chest, as well as the ‘Senior Patrol Leader’ badge on the sleeve. The number of badges on the sash was impressive and John didn’t bother trying to count them all, there was also a thinner white sash with a red arrow. In a smaller box next to it hung Ben’s blue Cub Scout uniform, with an equally formidable number of shiny belt loops and pins for his Webelos colors.

“So if you were Senior Patrol Leader what did that make Evan?” John asked.

“My assistant,” Ben replied.

“Oh boy, that would have made for interesting conversations if you guys were together!” John snickered and Ben rolled his eyes. Looking behind Ben, John saw a number of tennis medals on some shelves behind the bed and a bunch of other advanced LEGO models Ben didn’t have in Colorado.

“So do you think we can fit in here?” John sat down on the bed next to Ben and leaned back a bit too far and hit his head on the wall.

Ben helped him back up. “You ok? It’s definitely going to be cozy, but the tent will be this way too, it says 3-person but really it’s for 2 adults and maybe a small kid.”

“We were able to sleep fine in your bed in the dorm when Allan was away, this isn’t any different. I just can’t believe I made it all the way out here to your place and we’re really going to be spending two whole weeks together just after we finished finals.” John kissed Ben on the cheek and undid the zipper of Ben’s fly. John looked inside, Ben was wearing the gray-striped UA boxers that John thought he lost in his move back.

“Oh, I wondered where those went.” John felt the tip of Ben’s cock through the soft stretchy fabric as Ben breathed in deeply. “I’ve been so busy moving back home and packing for this trip, I haven’t had a chance to whack off.” John started to jerk faster as Ben leaked precum into John’s boxers.

“John, Ben dinner!” Sofia called them from downstairs.

John reluctantly zipped Ben back up and gave him another kiss. “Let’s go, I’m starving!”

Steven met John at the bottom of the stairs and handed him a cold can of Labatt Blue beer. “It feels so nice having two boys in the house again, even if you aren’t kids anymore.”

“Mmmmm, that smells so good” John sat down and waited for Ben to grab his own drink from the fridge.

“John, would you like to say grace?” Steven looked at John.

“I can if you want….” John started with the sign of the cross “In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Benedic, Domine, dona tua quae de largitate sumus sumpturi Amen.”

Steven’s mouth dropped. “BEN! You didn’t tell me John knew Latin!”

“Steven, don’t be silly, John is likely a Catholic. You are, correct?” Sofia looked at John curiously.

“Oh I’m sorry, uh did you want me to try to translate?” John still had his hands folded in prayer. Ben sat beside him trying to keep a straight face and did his best to hold back his laughter.

“No, that will do, let’s eat!” Steven took the longest short rib from the pile and placed it on John’s plate.

Ben nudged John hard on the shoulder and gave him a “WTF?” expression on his face and with his hands.

John quickly finished his first set of ribs and started on another “What did you say these were? Kalme? They’re delicious and cooked perfectly, a lot less messy than when I eat ribs at home.”

“Kalbi, or Galbi, they’re Korean style short ribs, and thank you, John, you better get started on that beer before it gets warm.” Steven drank his own beer and watched John load up on the mashed potatoes.

John grimaced and took a sip of the brand of beer he’d never heard of before and was pleasantly surprised. Both he and Ben had avoided parties and drinking back at school but John wasn’t the type of person to refuse a cold one if it was handed directly to him.

“So John, Ben told us you want to major in Construction Engineering?” Steven asked.

“Yep, maybe not as many jobs back home, but plenty in a big growing city like here in Seattle or Denver.” John had finished almost half the bowl of mashed potatoes that Sofia had made for all of them and was going in for more.

“That’s a pretty high-paying field, and Mines is an excellent school, you’ll probably make a bit more than Ben with his Environmental Engineering degree.” Steven looked at his son who had his mouth full of beans. “Nick, Ben’s older brother, did his Psychology Degree in Colorado too, at CU Denver, so it brought back a lot of memories making that drive to Denver again. It was always interesting to see Ben follow in Nick’s footsteps. They both almost had the same achievements in Boy Scouts, but I think Ben was a slightly better student and got into a much more demanding school. Maybe Ben will get married younger than Nick is too huh, Sofia?”

John started to choke laughing with potatoes in his mouth and washed them down with his beer. “Uh, we’re not thinking that far ahead yet. I haven’t even told my parents, they aren’t as cool as you guys are. Eventually, I will have to one day though.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Sofia commented.  “You’ll always have a home here in Washington if things don’t work out with your parents. We always knew Ben was going to be a special kid and we’re so happy he finally found someone to match his energy, and I can say he’s got very good taste.” Sofia smiled at John and took a sip of her water.

“Thank you, you’ve all been so welcoming, but I don’t think that’s necessary at this point.” John finished the last of the vegetables on his plate and drank the last sip of his beer. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I should start unpacking, we only have tomorrow, and then we have to leave for Boise. Ben?”

Ben quickly finished his own beer and potatoes and followed John upstairs. He found John with his suitcase on the bed unpacking. “What the hell was that?” He demanded.  “Suddenly you are some altar boy who can speak Latin?”

“That’s what 10 years of Sunday School gets you, sorry if I embarrassed you, I just thought it would be funny. Your parents do like me though, huh?” John took out his bathroom bag from his large suitcase. “Which door is the bathroom?”

“Right across the hall, and they are probably just happy I brought home someone other than Evan, to be honest. Anyway, here is a duffle bag you can use to pack your stuff for the weekend, there isn’t much room in the tent for a suitcase.”

Ben and John did what they could before bed to prepare for the trip but by 11 PM John was exhausted from the time change. John quickly brushed his teeth and urged Ben to join him in his bed. Ben was more than happy to go to bed early with John, he washed up and changed into his large royal blue Under Armour shorts to match John who was still in his own navy pair. John had given him 3 pairs like his own in large in different colors for Christmas just before they left each other for winter break, he knew back then Ben was going to get slightly bigger and the thought of Ben and John continuing to share their shorts turned him on.

Taking off the blue workout shirt Ben changed into the shirt that was at the top of his clothes bin from Colorado, the Sounders jersey. John smiled and pushed himself against the wall to make as much room as he could for Ben. Ben got in and instantly dozed off in John’s arms.

Waking up the next morning to no alarm, Ben rubbed his eyes. It was past 9 and his parents hadn’t woken them up when both of them left for work. He felt his morning wood pressed up against the fabric of his soft shorts. Just like John he had been preoccupied with moving back home and settling back in for summer, his shorts hadn’t seen much action since he got back.

Ben pulled the covers back and looked down at John all in their school colors softly snoring. He tapped him lightly on the shoulder ”Johnny, it’s past 9 and we should take a shower before Evan picks us up at 11, but there’s something we should take care of first.” John opened his eyes and looked down at Ben holding his raging boner through the fabric of the soft royal blue shorts.

John instinctively knew what to do, he grasped at Ben’s cock through the shorts and started furiously jerking his uncut dick with the nylon. Ben was already so close and horny it wasn’t much work. After ignoring it for several days Ben was already leaking precum as John touched him. Ben was whimpering and panting loudly as John wanked him steadily with his hand wrapped around Ben’s dick in the soft blue nylon. John was worried someone else at home might hear them so he was glad it wasn’t long before Ben started to moan and buck up into the shorts creaming the inside of them with about 5 days' worth of his saved-up spunk. Some of the cum dribbled out through the front of the fabric and John scooped it up between his fingers and tasted it between his lips. He savored the salty flavor on his tongue and smiled wide at Ben, and Ben knew it was John’s turn.

Ben rolled onto his side and faced John. John slipped his dick through the fly of his stretchy boxer briefs and grabbed Ben’s left hand placing it over his boner tenting in the navy blue shorts. Ben felt a bit hornier and pulled out John’s dick from the leg hole of the shorts and put it in his mouth.

“Oh my God, Benji, I missed your sweet tongue and lips.” John placed one hand on Ben’s head as Ben quickly went down and up over John’s burgeoning cock stimulating the tip of his cock with his tongue. John was close to cumming too now, he barely felt himself scrape on the top of Ben’s mouth before he knew it he was blowing an entire week’s worth of hot cum into Ben’s throat as he moaned “Uhnnnnggh”. Ben couldn’t take this one, and a sloppy mess of jism and Ben’s saliva fell onto John’s shorts, boxer briefs, and even his shirt as John’s cock slipped out of Ben’s mouth.

Ben swallowed what he could. “Shiiiit, that was more messy than usual, I’m sorry hun. Let’s put in a load of laundry on cold and take a shower.” Ben grabbed a laundry basket and stripped naked, throwing in his clothes from yesterday and some other clothes he found on the floor. John stripped naked as well, throwing the clothes covered in his spunk into the basket.

“No one else is home? John asked, still recovering from his intense orgasm.

Ben shook his head. “Nope, my dad starts work at the plant at 7:00 AM, my mom works for the school district in Bothell, and you haven’t met Nick yet, he has a place in Redmond with his fiance.

“Plant? He works for Boeing right?” John commented.

“No, he doesn’t work for Boeing directly, but one of their contractors next door. They make those things that light up the cockpit controls. Anyway, I’ll put this laundry in and meet you in the shower, ok?” Ben admired John’s naked body sitting on his bed one last time and went downstairs naked himself.

Both of them took a quick shower together and got dressed for their day with Evan, they decided to both wear some form of Mines gear to see how Evan would react.

“So what is Dim Sum and is it quick cause we didn’t eat breakfast and I’m starving again.” John anxiously asked, sitting on the couch waiting for Evan to pick them up.

Ben emerged from the laundry room after putting their clothes in the dryer. “It’s snack food, they come around with carts and you point and pick what you want, if you want ribs like last night we can get something similar.”

“Oh good, fast and ready! My kinda place.” John patted his stomach under his gray Mines t-shirt.

“I think we need to stop by at Winco when we get to Idaho and get you a lot more to eat, I don’t think the MREs I have packed are going to work. I was going to stop there anyway before we got to the campsite to get ice.” A horn honked outside, Ben looked out the window. “It’s Evan, let’s go!”

John followed Ben outside and Ben locked the front door behind them.

Evan rolled down the passenger window of the dark compact Lexus SUV and yelled at John. “Hey, Johnny, nice to finally meet you! Hop in the front!”.

Ben got into the backseat and saw Evan was in a purple University of Washington hoodie with a huge gold W on the chest. “Hey buddy, thanks for taking us out, you always know what to order, not like when I accidentally ordered that tripe.”

Evan had a huge smile on his face as he turned around in the Cul-de-Sac behind Ben’s house. His build was definitely what you would describe as a rower’s body, the loose hoodie hid his broad back, wide hips, and toned arm muscles. The only hint of his power today were his huge legs which Evan had decided to show off today in a pair of blue Under Armour shorts with black sides. Evan was slightly taller than both Ben and John and he perhaps could even give John a run for his money with his stamina on any machine at the gym. His body wasn’t all that Ben had been attracted to before, Evan had a round face like John, still had his baby-faced good looks and perfect light olive skin, topped with short black cropped cut hair and dark brown eyes.

“So John, Ben says you guys spent a lot of time working out together at school. Is that how you met?” Evan slowly backtracked the streets both he and Ben grew up on, on their way back to the interstate.

John was still in awe of this fine young athlete beside him. Mines didn’t have a rowing team and John wasn’t aware of the sport in general, but meeting Evan was a game changer, so much intensity packed into a neat and tall frame, John felt somewhat jealous of all the opportunities and different sports Ben and Evan had out here in Seattle.

“Uh, John?” Evan repeated after merging onto the freeway.

“Oh sorry, I was just thinking how hungry I am. Yeah, Ben and I spent a lot of time in the gym, if you look at him now it’s paying off. We didn’t meet there no, Ben and I met when we roomed together on this field trip to Utah just after I had broken up with my girlfriend back home.” John was a bit embarrassed from staring at Evan’s legs.

“Girlfriend, you’re bisexual then?” Evan asked. “Ben was kinda futile when I took him to the gym before in high school, he’d make weird noises and tennis grunts when I’d work out and barely touch the machines or equipment, you must be someone special to get him to workout.”

John looked behind at Ben who was sitting behind him, making himself comfortable with the center armrest down. Ben flashed him a sly smile.

“Yeah, I’d say I’m Bi, Ben is the only guy I ever considered to be my boyfriend. How about you Evan?” John dropped the question, hoping it would help Ben ask later on.

“Oh, in high school Ben and I were pretty much focused on grades, scouts, and our sports. Neither of us was interested in having a girlfriend and we both slipped under their radar. I didn’t start working out seriously until I was applying to UDub, and I guess being fit and Asian was just a weird combination for a lot of girls at our school,  Ben was only really popular in scouts.” Evan looked at Ben in the rear-view mirror.

“So how about at UW? Find someone who makes you feel the same way I do about Ben?” John asked, hoping to dig deeper into Evan’s romantic life.

Evan let out a big laugh but continued to concentrate on the road. “Let me tell you, my life has completely changed since high school and now being in crew in college.  It’s not as big a sport as football as it is on the East Coast like at Princeton or Yale but Washington is still one of the top schools on the West Coast for rowing. My freshman crew is pretty close, and we’re pretty popular on campus so we get invited to all the parties and all that. I’ve fooled around with plenty of girls and well I’ve had a couple of guys interested in me too, but nothing ever materialized into a relationship. You are pretty lucky to have Ben, I’ve known him for all my life, he has some weird quirks but I think that might be part of your attraction to him.” Evan sighed and took the exit off the interstate for Chinatown.

“From that sigh do you regret Ben never asked you out in high school?” John asked in the most direct way possible.

Ben piped up from the back “Johnny, you didn’t have to ask him that now!”

Evan could sense the tension in the vehicle and pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned building and shut the engine off. “Boys, this is pretty awkward. Ben and I did fool around when we were younger, and I must admit those were fun times. When you came out, Ben, it wasn’t a surprise to me at all, then I heard you had a boyfriend as well. It just made me wonder what type of guy you fell for if I wasn’t it.

Ben took off his seatbelt in the back and got between them. “Evan I’m sorry, I thought if I made a move on you or asked and you said no it would change our friendship. John seems to wonder if I did if that would have turned into something. John and I are totally in love with each other and I know that won’t change, but what he’s trying to ask is if you want to hang out with us when we get back from Idaho at my place. I would have invited you over this afternoon, but my dad will likely be home by the time we’re finished here and at Seattle Center.”

Evan thought to himself and tapped on the steering wheel. “Ben, nothing would ever change our friendship. I thought you knew that, but uh OK, it’s not like there will be any big parties over the summer. So long as you are both cool with it, just tell me when you guys want me to come over.”

Ben was somewhat relieved but excited as well. “Ok well maybe you can take us to UDub, and we can look around the gym and get John a day pass, John will probably be itching to get back into the gym and see how big UDub is after our trip right?”

John agreed. “Yup, but all I want right now is food. Please let’s just go eat!”

Evan started the SUV back up and drove the short distance to Chinatown and the restaurant. Luckily for John, they quickly got a table and Evan was already talking to the waiter in Chinese, ordering something before John could even read the first line on the menu.

“Uh did you get something already, ribs I hope?” John asked.

“No, I just asked for two forks for you guys and Jasmine tea, or did you want to use chopsticks? I can order for all of us and add honey garlic ribs but if you see something else you want ask me first if it’s on our order.” Evan took the menu from John and started checking off things quickly as if almost by memory.

“Forks are good. How about we start with those round things that look like a sesame hamburger bun?” John pointed at a cart going by.

“Those are for dessert, I’d save mine until after, but they’ll be cold.” Evan passed their order off and poured John a cup of hot tea. “So John, what's life like at Mines? Did Ben tell you he applied and got accepted to “UDub, WSU, UM in Michigan, and Mines but decided on Mines because of the male-to-female student ratio so he could concentrate on his grades, but it seems it was the exact opposite!”

Ben pouted and tapped on his empty plate while John laughed and answered. “Mines is a pretty solid school, it’s not that big, and you can just walk a couple of blocks and you’re in downtown Golden with plenty of places to eat and hang out. If a former gold rush town isn’t your vibe, Denver isn’t that far away on a bus. I am looking forward to sophomore year though when I can bring my car and explore Colorado a bit more.”

“With me right?” Ben placed his hand on John’s on the table.

“Of course with you Benji, but I know you were just happily taking the bus all over the place, so you can meet me wherever we want to go an hour late if you want.” John eyed some short ribs on a plate coming towards them and immediately dug into them as they were placed on the table.

Evan smiled and glanced at Ben. “Hope you are bringing lots of food, John can eat!” Most of their other dishes came out quickly and before everyone knew it they only had space left for the sesame balls John spotted earlier.

“Evan, Benji said you had a lot of rowing stories, any particularly good ones?” John asked as he could see the dessert cart coming by again and Evan pointed at the balls.

“I dunno if you heard stories before from Ben about what crew is like but it does get wild sometimes. Last year there was some chick who slept with everyone in an eight, and at the end of the year, there are unofficial awards for whoever got to sleep with the most crew. I think the best thing about it is you don’t feel guilty about not sleeping over because we’re all early risers.” Evan watched as John sliced open one of the balls with his fork examining the paste inside. “It’s red bean, try it!” John tasted one half of the sesame ball and gave Evan a thumbs up.

“Anyway,” Evan tried to remember where he left off. “I think the one Ben liked since you know he’s into this sort of stuff was on our San Diego trip. This one kid, Easton in my crew, I think he’s from Bremerton, kind of reminds me of Ben, since he has blonde hair and was uncut too. Usually, we don’t wear anything under our unisuits, I never did even back when I was in club rowing. Easton insisted on wearing a Speedo under his. We told him it was stupid and wondered how he was comfortable like that, but nothing would change his mind.”

Evan took one of the balls for his plate and continued with the story. “So the first night of our San Diego trip while he was in the shower we took all his underwear, shorts, speedos, and even his pajama pants and hid them in the fridge in another room. He comes out and starts looking in his bag, seeing nothing but t-shirts, his jeans, and socks. ‘C’mon guys, what did you do with my shit?’ We’re all laughing our asses off, and he starts looking all through the room for his stuff and trying to beg us to borrow underwear or something but none of us would have it. So he reluctantly puts on his unisuit without anything under it and is forced to sleep in that and a t-shirt over. The next morning he gets out of bed and there’s dried stuff all over the front of his crotch. He must have had a wet dream all over his unisuit and was forced to go wash it out before we got out on the water. When we got back to the room he agreed to lose the Speedos to get the rest of his stuff back. I might have been the one that kept the Speedo from the trip though.”

John was enamored that Evan kept some trophies too. “Sounds a lot like my high school basketball team! Did anything happen between you and Easton?”

Evan motioned for the check and handed the waiter his card. “Uhm maybe I’ll tell you some other time, I can tell you this, Easton had nothing to be ashamed of when he was wearing nothing but a unisuit.”

The waiter came back with Evan’s card and receipt and Evan finished off the last of his tea. “So are we ready for the Space Needle? It turned out to be the perfect day to take you up there, just a bit cloudy.”

Ben had tried not to make John feel like the odd one out when they dressed in their Mines gear for the day and it seemed to work as he was being treated like a tourist just like John when they got to Seattle Center. He was also glad Evan and John were getting along just fine. John took the obligatory selfies from the observation deck of the Space Needle with the water, Mount Rainier, and downtown Seattle in the background.

On their way north on I-5 atop the Ship Canal Bridge, Evan pointed out the University of Washington campus and the University District for John.

“Wow, it’s huge.” John admired it from his vantage point in the passenger seat. “Nothing like Mines and Golden, you’re gonna give us a tour when we get back right?

“Of course, just think Ben, you almost went here too.” Evan and the boys continued on their way back home after crossing the bridge. Ben knew UDub would have been a different experience than Mines, while he might have been with Evan, he would have never met John, who completely changed his life.

When they got back to Ben’s house Evan offered to help them pack the car since he had half an hour before he had to drive back to school, Ben agreed since Evan knew his way around all their gear for scouts as much as he did. Ben opened the garage and pulled out his dad’s full camp kitchen because the backpacking stove he had planned on bringing wasn’t going to cut it.

John grabbed two REI sleeping bags in stuff sacks by the door and looked back at Evan who was helping Ben with the propane. “Evan, what was Ben like as a Senior Patrol Leader?”

Evan got up from what he was doing and answered. “Ben was always a patient leader, willing to talk to anyone, he had a good relationship with the Scoutmasters, kids, and even their parents, which is a tough thing to do at times. His dad was an assistant Scoutmaster too and it’s hard trying to operate under that dynamic and not have some people nitpick and try to make something out of everything you do, speaking of which…”

Steven’s Tundra pulled into the driveway and he got out. “Hey! All my favorite college boys are at home again! Did you have a good time today Johnny? Ben, why did you drag that thing out? I thought you were only bringing your backpacking stove?”

“Dad, the MREs aren’t going to be enough for John.” Ben replied, shaking off a bunch of cobwebs from his shoulder.

“Oh, okay I get what you mean, just make sure you and Evan wipe that thing down, we haven’t used it since Memorial Day last year.” Steven patted John on the shoulder and went inside the house through the open garage.

Locking two small propane cylinders into a carrier, Evan continued. “That’s not to say Ben himself didn’t play favorites and it wasn’t me! Walker was 2 years younger than us and he had a bit of a rough time starting out in the troop as his parents had just gotten divorced. Even when Ben was just Historian or essentially a photographer he had taken Walker under his wing even when that wasn’t his responsibility and was in fact mine as Troop Guide. Walker is Senior Patrol Leader right now, Ben, are you still in touch with him?

Ben had just finished setting up the camp kitchen and was wiping it down. “Yeah, Walker turned out to be a great kid, he just got into Gonzaga right? He sent me this supportive DM after I had my coming out post, and well, he’s never thought of himself as straight either.

Evan was stunned. “Okay, that I didn’t know. Is that why you guys were kinda close?”

Ben shook his head. “No, we never talked about that stuff, you were the only one who I fooled around with in scouts, I was always scared of other people and my dad finding out.”

John and Evan continued to load the car as Ben checked things off his handwritten list. “Okay, I think that’s it aside from our clothes and we’ll put the food we have in the cooler just before we leave. Thanks, Evan!” Ben patted Evan on the shoulder after they loaded the kitchen into the trunk.

“Sure thing, I’d invite myself to come with you, but we have the Pac-12 championships next week and I can’t leave for a whole weekend. Just hit me up when you get back for you know…” Evan waved goodbye and walked back to his Lexus and drove off.

“John, can you get our clothes? You can grab the stuff out of the dryer and pack that as well. I’m going to make sure my car is set for the trip.” Ben popped the hood of the Subaru and took off his Mines hoodie.

John gave Ben a quick kiss on the lips after Ben tossed the hoodie into his car. “I’m so lucky you chose Mines”. On his way into the laundry room John grabbed the stuff from the morning out of the dryer. As he passed by Steven nodding off in his chair watching Fox News, he wondered how Ben turned out to be nothing like his dad except for his love of the outdoors but kept it to himself. John laid out two pairs of matching navy blue and white Under Armour shorts as well as his navy Mines shirt for them to sleep in for that night together on the bed, packed Ben’s favorite royal blue shorts in Ben’s bag, put aside one set of clothes for the drive, and brought both of their bags back to the car.

Ben was almost done with the car when John got back to put their bags in the back and John helped him vacuum the front seats.

“I think we’re ready, we’ll fill up at Costco before we hit the freeway, there’s already going to be tons of traffic at 7 AM, but I guess you already experienced the Seattle gridlock.” Ben closed the hood of his car and held John’s hand. “This is my first real road trip without my parents. The furthest I’ve driven myself was to staff at camp, and half of that was on the ferry.”

“I’m sorry if I screwed up your planning, I’m not always complaining about being hungry, the time change is still throwing me off.” John ran his free hand along the side of Ben’s car.

“Don’t even mention it, Johnny, that’s just one of your quirks I fell in love with too.” Ben locked his car and closed the garage behind them as they settled in for an early night’s sleep.