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Chapter 12: Lucky Peak

Ben awoke to the sound of powerboat engines on the water near them. He groaned and turned over on his side next to John, placing one leg over him. John was still out and snoring, oblivious to the world around them. Ben started massaging John’s morning wood through the nylon shorts, he loved how John’s cock would pulsate through the fabric after he let it go. After the sound of the boats drifted further away, Ben managed to fall back asleep. Both of the boys woke up when they heard kids playing and passing by close to their tent, and figured they should get up as well.

John put on his jacket and emerged from the tent free balling in the UA shorts and no socks with his shoes. Ben joined him after putting on John’s previously worn hoodie and started up a pot of hot water for their breakfast. It looked like a lot more people had come into the area for the day since it was now the weekend and the boys figured they should stay close to their site so no one would disturb their stuff and leave for the concert around 4:30 with an early dinner. After eating breakfast, they took a short hike up the nearby creek for Ben to take pictures, did a tiny bit of unsuccessful fishing with the one rod that Ben brought, and cooled off swimming in the water after lunch.

Ben started up their dinner of mac & cheese with sandwiches they had made at home after they got out of the water, while John got changed for the concert in the tent. Ben sat down at the picnic table waiting for John and set out their sandwiches.

Coming out of the tent John had a cheap cowboy hat plastered with Bud Light logos on his head, a blue plaid jacket over a simple blue Old Navy American flag shirt, and cargo pants. If John’s outfit didn’t look ridiculous to Ben at that point, John had also paired red Nike Elite socks with his white Nike basketball shoes.

“What the hell are you wearing? Ben laughed.

“What? My hat? My brother got me this at Country Thunder back home.” John had the same annoyed and embarrassed look Ben had on his face when John was ribbing him about his old car.

Ben was still laughing as he got up to get the Mac & Cheese on the stove and motioned John to sit down for dinner. “You look like you’re about to get wasted at some tailgate party.”

“Oh c’mon Benji, you know I’m not into getting drunk, it’s just a hat. Let’s see what you plan on wearing tonight. I hope it’s not just those board shorts you still have on.” John sat down, opened the bag, and started on his sandwich.

“No, lucky for you I picked out a whole outfit with the concert in mind before we left.” Ben finished his mac & cheese and picked up his sandwich.

“Look at you!” John snapped back. “You sound just like one of Connor’s ‘girl’ friends. Since you think you should get the last say on what I’m wearing on this special day, I can’t wait to see it. You better not come out of there looking like Mason Ramsey yodeling in a Walmart or I swear I’m gonna drag you to the water and throw you in.”

Ben finished his sandwich and had had enough teasing, he stormed off into the tent and zipped it closed, leaving John at the table alone.

John gulped and swallowed. “Benji, I’m sorry, you can wear whatever you want, you’re changing, right? We have to leave in 15 minutes.”

“I am!” Ben shouted from inside the tent. “Get me a bottle of Minute Maid out of the cooler to drink on the way there.”

After John got out the drink and placed it on the front console, the zipper on the tent started to open and Ben crawled out. Ben was wearing his dad’s worn-out “Korry Electronics” blue work baseball cap, a red plaid jacket over his Mines t-shirt, a pair of ripped jeans, and his white Air Force Ones.

John nodded in approval and thought back to what Connor would usually say in situations like this. “Yaas slay! Hope you aren’t mad at me or anything.”

Ben walked up to John, tilted the rim of his plastic cowboy hat back, and planted a kiss on his lips. John was enthralled but shocked, he looked around quickly and concluded no one else had seen that kiss.

“Let’s quickly clean up a bit and put some things away before we leave. Hopefully, no one will take our stuff while we’re gone.” Ben let John go, gave him a small luggage lock to close up their tent, and started putting away their food and dishes.

John paid close attention to the time as he was helping to put away their stuff and Ben was just closing up cabinets of the kitchen when it was 4:30 already. “Alright, we better head over for the concert. I don't want to be late, I’d imagine that place is going to be packed.” John handed Ben his backpack with his camera and Ben put it in the back seat. They both got into the Subaru to make the 30-minute drive to Boise State and Albertsons Stadium.

While walking in the parking lot at the stadium Ben noticed more Washington plates so his assumption had been correct, but there were also a lot more from Oregon with smaller numbers from Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. John showed his tickets on his phone at the gate and they made their way to the upper deck where their seats were.

“Not the greatest seats, but you can see everything on the big screen, are you enjoying yourself yet Ben?” John asked.

“Yeah, it looks like a sold-out crowd. I didn’t think he could fill up a stadium in Idaho.” Ben remarked.

“Are you kidding? Luke Combs is huge, this show was sold out the day the tickets dropped. I was able to get them from a reseller at a somewhat reasonable price. I know he’s no Taylor Swift but look at this place.” John was hyped up, he had been waiting for this all year.

Ben waited for Luke Combs to take the stage and after the first song, Ben had something to ask. “Why does he have a red Solo cup on the stage?”

John answered. “That’s his thing, he’s always got a Jack and Coke while he sings.” John pretty much knew all the lyrics to the songs, it was all his older brother would listen to when he took John out for rides in his truck before John could drive.

It wasn’t until Luke played the familiar chords of the Tracy Chapman classic that Ben’s ears perked up. He knew ‘Fast Car’ by heart too, it was one of the songs his transgender friend Avery had listened to with him back in his freshman high school year since it was a queer anthem.

“Oh my God,” John shouted at Ben “I didn’t think he would do this tonight but it’s on his new album so I guess he had to.” John forgot where he was and grabbed Ben’s hand.

It seemed most around them knew the lyrics too but pretty much the whole crowd knew the chorus.

🎶So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car

Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk

City lights lay out before us

And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder

And I-I had a feeling that I belonged

I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone🎶

After the second chorus, Ben distinctly heard someone behind them say “Are those two dudes holding hands?” He looked around quickly but couldn’t figure out who it was and let it go without telling John.

Toward the end concert, the other song that struck Ben was “Five-Leaf Clover”, he thought it almost an epitome of how lucky he felt to be with John and he knew how the chorus went.

🎶I know I’m a lucky man, but I ain’t sure why I am

Cuz it ain’t like anyone deserves the world in the palm of their hand

Now I hit my knees, thankful as can be

But the one thing I can’t get over

How’d a guy like me, who’d have been fine with three

Wind up with a five-leaf clover?🎶

Ben turned to John, put his arm around him, and gave him a long kiss on the lips. John didn’t push him off but they both heard someone say “Whoah, they’re kissing now.” directly behind them and they turned around after the kiss. Behind them was another kid about their age and a girl and guy slightly older in their early 20s.

“Oh my GAWD, Brittney you did it now!” the younger one said. “Look she didn’t really mean it in that way. We try to respect everyone in our family, but I’m guessing you aren’t from around here, please excuse my sister. My name is Micah.” Micah held out his hand over the back of their seats and Ben shook it.

“I’m Ben and this is my BOYfriend, John.” Ben made sure to put a hard emphasis on the word boy. Looking over Micah, Ben figured him for your average teenage twink, he was tall and lanky, with medium brown hair styled almost into a pompadour, big ears, deep blue eyes, and a wide goofy smile. He was wearing a gray plaid button-up shirt and jeans with ripped knees.

John shook Micah’s hand as well. “I’m uhh John and I’m from Wisconsin” was all he could blurt out before turning back around.

“You guys came all the way from Wisconsin for this concert?” Micah asked.

“No, we drove from Seattle yesterday, we’re just in town for the weekend. We aren’t this lovey-dovey, sometimes the music just takes over and you forget where you are.” Ben said with a grin.

“You guys don’t need to explain anything, I saw you dancing and singing together to Tracy Chapman and it was sweet. My sister Brittney and her boyfriend here just aren’t used to that PDA despite her youngest brother being out of the closet.” Micah looked at Brittney with disapproval.

“Micah! You didn’t need to tell them that, you barely know these strangers!” Brittney was getting visibly mad at her brother for continuing to call her out. The concert had ended and people had started to make their way out of the stands.

“You are being very rude,” Micah exclaimed to his sister. “I don’t know if I can go home with you guys. You know what?” Micah made his way to climb over the seats in front of him and Ben didn’t know what to do but help him over. The people beside Ben were mad at having to go around three people instead of two but Micah took the space of their empty seats after they left.

“Oh, you’re really ditching us Micah? You’re serious? Fine! See if I care!” Brittney pushed her boyfriend to leave and they went up the stairs to the exit without looking back.

John turned around again “Okay, what just happened?

“I don’t know, really.” Ben shrugged. “But we should get to the car too, I don’t want to get stuck behind all these people in traffic to get out.” John made his way out of the seats and Ben followed John up the stairs with Micah behind them. “So where do you live Micah, maybe we can give you a ride home if it’s on the way.”

“Meridian, it’s not that far, but I don’t think I can go home either for now. Brittney has a way of making herself the victim of everything, and I’ll never hear the end of it from my parents even in the middle of the night. Where are you guys staying? You don’t think I can just sleep on the couch or whatever for the night?” Micah looked at them with big eyes.

John looked back and finally got his own good look at Micah. “How old are you anyway?” John asked.

“Nineteen” Micah replied, he was so fresh-faced Micah could almost pass for a high school junior, but he was as old as them. John saw a little of Ben in him when they first met and was slightly attracted, especially when he saw the way Micah’s tight torn jeans hugged his slim body.

John continued to lead the way to the car. “You in college too?” He asked Micah.

“Yeah BYU-Idaho, Arts.” Micah struggled to keep up as John was walking fast.

“You’re Mormon then?” Ben asked, then looked back and Micah nodded.

“How about you guys? Is that a yes on letting me stay with you guys?” Micah asked.

“We go to the Colorado School of Mines, but I’m from Seattle and John is from Wisconsin,” Ben replied.

“So you’re engineers? Cool!” Micah was hoping their car was close by as he was losing his breath keeping up with them without stopping.

“Yeah, anyway, we have a campsite past Lucky Peak Park, if you need a place to stay, we can try to squeeze into the tent,” Ben whispered something to John and John nodded in agreement. We just need to stop at the store to grab something for tomorrow morning, before we drive back out there.”

“Camping? Not what I thought but I can live with that, at least we don’t need to sneak past the front desk at a hotel.” Micah was relieved Ben was tapping the remote to unlock his car now.

Ben moved a couple of things in the back seat to make room for Micah and they got in. Ben asked Micah how they could get to a Winco and Micah said it was just across the bridge from them. Micah directed Ben back to the store and Ben parked near the doors.

“John, can you grab one box? I think it’ll be in the first aisle.” Ben took John’s hand quickly then John got out and went into the store by himself.

“You guys are an adorable couple, I guess John is the top?” Micah commented from the backseat.

Ben was a bit shocked a nice innocent Mormon boy would get straight to the point of sex. “You could say that, do you have a boyfriend too Micah?” Ben asked.

“Uh no, we have this Honor Code thing at BYU, I’m out of the closet, but we aren’t allowed to have relationships. Brittney also went to BYU, so that’s another reason she isn’t used to what she saw. Honestly, I could give a shit about the code right now, it’s almost the summer anyway.”

“You’re kinda cute too you know, Micah, I always had a tiny thing for LDS boys, though John was raised a Catholic.” Ben spotted John coming back from the exit with a brown paper bag and set his phone to direct them to the campsite in Google Maps.

John got back inside the car and Ben took the paper bag from him. “I guess we can cut to the chase.” Ben turned over the bag and a red pack of Durex Extra Sensitive landed on the center console. “Micah already asked if you were a top, but it sounds like he has some “Honor Code” shit he’s dealing with right?”

“Honor Code?” John laughed. “Are you a Boy Scout like Ben too? By the way, I’m never doing that again, I tried to use the self-checkout but didn’t realize they don’t take credit, so the old lady watching over it saw I was only buying that. Good thing you didn’t come with me.”

Micah looked at the box on the console but didn’t flinch. “No, I already told you, screw that code. My parents drag me to church every Sunday, but I’m set on not going with them tomorrow with Brittney.” Micah undid his seatbelt, reached for the box, and gave it to Ben. “Don’t think I was just looking for a place to sleep, I’ve already discreetly been with a couple of guys back in Rexburg. When I saw you guys were together it turned me on and I was a bit jealous. Who’s gonna find out about this anyway, you guys are going back to Seattle and we’re gonna be out in the middle of nowhere. If you were wondering too, I've only ever bottomed.”

John shrugged. “Well that was easy, Ben always had a soft spot for you LDS boys, he hooked up with one in school just before we got together. Let’s get back Benji, it’s getting dark.”

Micah couldn’t help them find the site, especially at nighttime, so he hoped the GPS was on point. He remembered coming out to this reservoir when he was a kid for family BBQs and to swim. If his family knew what he was about to do here now, he imagined it would probably be worse than what BYU would do. Glancing at the screen of his phone it was one time he was glad he had no cell service, he just hoped Ben and John were as genuine as they claimed to be.

Ben pulled off the lake road after a couple of curves and parked in their spot. “Looks like everything is still here, Micah can you grab my camera bag at your feet there? I’ll unlock the tent so we can get to bed.” Ben put the condoms in his jacket pocket and John walked toward the outhouse.

Micah waited for Ben to open the tent, he was surprised at how small it was, it didn’t look much more than a backpacking tent and they were going to be a cozy fit with whatever else was in there. Ben unzipped the door and Micah kicked off his shoes and handed Ben the bag he was carrying.

“Thanks, while you’re still up can you hang this up in the middle? I almost forgot I had this.” Ben pulled out a small LED lantern and handed it to Micah, who was able to find some loops to tie it into in the center of the tent. Ben was already digging into his duffle bag for his favorite pairs of shorts while Micah was busy with the lantern.

Ben handed Micah his old medium royal blue Under Armour shorts without saying anything. Micah looked at the shorts in his hand, the material was silky and smooth, nothing like the shorts he had at home. He guessed Ben wanted him to put them on as Ben had his own pair and was stripping out of his pants to put them on. Micah stood in the opposite corner of the tent from Ben and started to change. After Micah had stepped out of his pants and went to put on the shorts with his boxers still on, Ben told him to “Lose the underwear.”  

Micah stripped out of his boxers and shirt and only had on a white wife beater over his growing erection when John crawled into the tent. John looked at Micah and his 6.5-inch circumcised cock with the shorts in his hand and Ben clad only in his blue shorts and remarked. “Guess it’s gonna be a royal blue night.” John closed the tent zipper behind him and went to dig out his own pair while Micah pulled Ben’s old shorts on.

Crawling over to Micah, Ben pulled him down onto the sleeping bags with him, he started kissing Micah on the lips and felt Micah’s already hard cock through the shorts. Micah had never felt something so erotic on his dick, the material was mesmerizing and Ben was seemingly an expert at keeping a boy hard. Micah responded by slipping his tongue into Ben’s mouth as they kissed and held each other closer.

John was changed now, and he stroked his cock through his shorts watching them fondle each other. Micah had all his attention on Ben though, and he was glad Ben had made the move on him first as Micah was somewhat intimidated by John, and Ben seemed like the one willing to talk to him more.

Ben started to pull the shorts off Micah, and Micah missed the softness of the material on his dick but he gathered Ben was ready to get on top of him. Micah pulled the shorts off completely and they landed on the sleeping bag between them and John, followed by his undershirt. Ben quickly tried to get one of the condom wrappers open and slip one of them over his cock but it was his first time putting on a condom as he had never used them with John. He finally got it open properly, pulled down his shorts to his knees, and slipped it on over his uncut dick. Micah was one step ahead of him, he was already on his knees ready to take Ben doggy style. Ben bent over Micah and slipped his hard cock along Micah’s almost hairless crack.

Ben and John’s sexual practices had grown a bit more discerning over time and they had replaced the KY with Gun Oil. John tossed the container toward Ben who grabbed the bottle, squirted some on his hand, rubbed it over his condom and cock, and asked if Micah was ready. Micah nodded his head, and Ben slowly slipped just the tip into Micah’s clenched hole. Micah tried to prepare himself for the rest as Ben gripped him at his sides, he made a high-pitched “Unhhhhhhhhh” sound as Ben’s covered cock slipped in deeper. Ben held on tighter as he forced himself in and out of Micah.

John saw his chance to pleasure Micah as well, Micah’s cock was still hard and flailing around as Ben fucked him. John picked up Micah’s shorts, knelt beside the two, and encased Micah’s dick in the nylon, jerking him off while Ben fucked him from behind. All the times Ben had blown his load in those very same shorts or bottomed in them filled John’s mind.

John was a lot rougher on Micah’s dick than Ben but it was still having the same effect. Micah had never been in three-some and the feeling of the soft erotic nylon back on his dick while he was being fucked by another hot twink was mind-numbing. He moaned as he thrust his cock into the nylon fabric wrapped around it.

Ben saw what John was doing and too and this was driving him wild and he couldn’t hold it back. He fell onto Micah, whimpered as he spasmed and shot his load into the tip of the condom. Micah could feel Ben throbbing and it finally being pulled out but John didn’t stop, this sent Micah over the edge too and he blew his load into Ben’s old shorts John had grasped around him and fell over on his side. John pulled the wet cummy shorts out from under Micah and wrapped them into a ball before throwing them into the corner with his dirty socks. Ben was still catching his breath but he crawled behind John to watch what would happen next. He took off the condom with a bit of disgust and tucked it into his dirty socks before pulling his shorts back up.

John wasn’t the type of person to let Micah get away with a freebie from him and he took out his dick and pushed it against Micah’s lips while Micah still had his eyes closed. Micah took it in and sucked on it for a tiny bit. But John wasn’t content with just a blow job. After that erotic display, he wanted a piece of Micah as well and squeezed Micah hard on his exhausted butt cheek. Micah accepted, rolled over and John felt for the tube of Gun Oil left on the sleeping bag and pulled his fully erect cock from out of the bottom of his shorts.

Ben opened up another package for John, ripping it at the top with ease this time, and John slipped the condom over his hard cock and coated it with a layer of lube. There was no warning for Micah this time, except John covering Micah’s mouth while John slipped his cock slowly inside him.

Even though Ben was spent, watching this was turning him on again. John had only kept the shorts on with him a couple of times and watching the shiny material crunch against Micah’s red bare ass was captivating. John uncovered Micah’s mouth for a bit as Micah gasped. He went deeper and Micah wrenched in pain before John covered his mouth again. Micah finally relaxed and John went into him faster and faster. John was so close now as he gripped Micah’s naked body at his sides. His toes curled and he bucked into Micah one last time and fired his wad shouting. “Ohhhhh, ahhhh!”

Now naked and exhausted Micah curled up into a ball after John exited him. John took off the condom and tossed it into the corner with the shorts and socks and tucked himself under the sleeping bags with Ben. After a few minutes Ben felt for Micah and the way John had just left him, he sat up and pulled out the last pair of clean shorts he packed, the black and yellow ones John had given him, and a spare packable nylon camping throw blanket he carried for emergencies in his pack. Ben crawled over John and gave the blanket, black shorts, and his undershirt to Micah, before finally kissing him on the cheek goodnight. “Here, put this back on, good night Micah, turn out the lights when you’re done.” Ben crawled back into the sleeping bag close to John, and a couple of minutes later he felt Micah plop down on top of the sleeping bag beside him and turn off the light.

Ben again woke up to the sound of power boats on the lake. John was cuddled up right beside him and Ben was in his arms. He looked over to Micah who was laying on top of the sleeping bag, his bare feet poking out of the bottom of the blanket that was a bit too short for him. Ben felt the need to go to the bathroom so he wiggled out between John and Micah, put on a gray adidas t-shirt, unzipped the door to the tent and went to the outhouse.

On his return, he noticed something on the picnic table that was visible in the daylight. Someone had scrawled “brokeback” in Sharpie into the wood. Ben was certain that wasn’t there when they ate dinner yesterday so it must have been when they were at the concert, or worse yet when all three of them were sleeping in the tent. He felt sick to his stomach and very unwelcome to the point he wanted to pack up and leave now even if it was only 7 AM. Worried the person who wrote it was still around, he crawled back into the tent and the relative safety of John’s arms and lay wide awake until Micah started to stir. Micah had tossed away the blanket and was feeling his morning hard-on through his black UA shorts.

“Feels nice, doesn’t it?” Ben commented and sat up.”You better not make a mess of them though like you did my other ones last night or you won’t have anything to wear home.”

“I know.” Micah replied “Just enjoying myself for a bit. Thanks for bringing me here and looking out for me, the least I could do though is invite you guys over to my place, maybe you can take a nice hot shower before you hit the road.”

“I guess that’s a good idea, but what about your family?” Ben asked.

“They’ll all probably be at church by the time we get there, I’ll send them a text that I’m fine as soon as I can get a signal again.” Micah stopped enjoying himself and got up to pick up his dirty clothes.

“We can’t stay long though, I promised my parents we’d be home in time for dinner in Seattle. By the way, don’t be a stranger, I hope we can keep in touch, if you’re ever in Seattle or Denver maybe we can hang out.” Ben smiled.

Micah nodded and folded his jeans. John had woken up by now and Ben figured it was time to start on breakfast. He put on his adidas pants over his shorts to save his last set of clean clothes for after the shower and told John they were stopping at Micah’s for a bit.

When the three of them sat down to eat Ben showed them what he found on the table.

“That’s odd.” John commented trying to rub it off with his finger.“ Nothing was missing and they didn’t touch anything else?”

“No, they didn’t touch our food, just did that to the table. We should probably pack up quickly and be out of here, the sooner the better”. Ben set out the last of the bacon he had cooked on the table.

“Fine by me.” John smelled himself under his armpits. “A hot shower with you Benji sounds perfect now.”

Micah was content with toast fresh out of Ben’s camp oven with some of John’s JIF and left the bacon to his hosts. After eating they were able to be packed up and on the way to Meridian by 9 AM.

John felt a bit guilty; he had somewhat ignored Micah and he was finished last night and wanted to talk to him a bit more before they left for home. “So Micah you said you came out, but it sounds like your family hasn’t fully accepted that?”

“Yeah, I have 8 brothers and sisters and I was the only one who turned out gay, they say the more boys you have the higher the chance your youngest son will turn out gay, guess that turned out to be true for my parents after their 5th son. We were taught to treat everyone fairly, but when it came to my own sexuality they made it clear they didn’t want anything going on in their house. Between that and having to deal with the Code living in residence at BYU in Rexburg, it’s been a real shitty 2 years since I’ve come out.” Micah looked at his phone and sent a quick text to his mom that he was fine and on the way home.

“Oh, I can relate to that.” John looked back at Micah. “I was raised to be the perfect Catholic boy and I’m the youngest brother but I haven’t come out to my parents yet. Maybe it won’t be as bad as I think when I tell them I’m bisexual.” John was happy Micah was as open to him as Ben but he had another question to ask. “You don’t seem like the type to like country music, what brought you out to the concert?

Micah laughed. “My sister was the one who got the tickets, but I love all kinds of music, I play the guitar and sing a fair bit. Luke Combs was probably the biggest name that’s been out here in a while, so I had to go. It’s funny you guys came all the way out from Seattle to see him here too. Anyway, Ben, you’ll want to take that next exit and make a right.

Ben pulled up to Micah’s house, it was bigger and newer than Ben’s and in as nice a neighborhood.  Micah was glad to see only his Kia in the driveway. “Good, they’re all at the meetinghouse, do you guys want anything else? We don’t drink coffee but I think we have apple and orange juice.” Micah got out of the car and opened the front door for them.

“I could go for an apple juice after the shower, thanks Micah.” John grabbed his clean clothes from his bag and Ben did the same before following Micah inside the house.

Micah led them upstairs to a bathroom in between two boys’ bedrooms. “This is my own bathroom for now, Trevor is on his mission in the Philippines. You can use my body wash and whatever you want. I’ll grab some towels, leave them in here, and wait for you downstairs before you go.”

John stripped naked and stepped in the shower, turned it on and Ben stepped in behind him. John pulled him close now that they were alone again, kissed his neck, and felt Ben’s cock under the running warm water.

“We better not.” Ben reminded him. “If Micah’s parents don’t want him having guys over, imagine what they’d do if they found two strangers making out in his shower.” John agreed and let Ben go. Micah had a huge assortment of hair products in the shower, Ben couldn’t even figure out which one was shampoo. He squirted what looked like some volumizing shampoo into his hand and passed it to John. John had at least found the body wash Micah was referring to and finished soaping up his body before starting on Ben’s. Finding something in the line of bottles that resembled conditioner was another task. Ben read “moisturizing conditioner” on one brown bottle and put it in his hair before handing it to John.

When they were finished they saw Micah had placed two towels on the counter, folded their clothes back neatly on their bags as well as laid the black and yellow shorts he had worn home on Ben’s bag. Both of them dried off and put on their clean clothes to say goodbye to Micah downstairs.

Micah was making himself eggs when Ben and John found Micah in the kitchen. “You’re right, you guys don’t have much time. My parents just texted me and they’re on the way back already.” Micah pointed toward the glasses and carton of apple juice on the counter.

John chugged a glass of juice while Ben gave Micah a hug goodbye followed by John and a bro-hug. Leaving Micah in the kitchen, Ben and John made their way to the front door and were just getting back into the Subaru Ben had parked on the street when a dark blue Yukon pulled into the driveway behind them. Ben drove off without a word, hoping Micah wasn’t in too much trouble for not coming home last night.